Tied by Roses

~Chapter 2

I spat out gravel as I tried to stand up and then I was grabbed by my collar.

"Who are you?" I asked finally able to take a good look at the person bothering me. He was wearing a leather jacket, a red ball cap, and red sneakers. His faced implied he didn't want to be bothered with conversation.

"Your worst nightmare." He said but his eyes were somewhere else.

"Seriously dude, it's the first day. At least wait untill tomorrow for the bullying to begin." I brushed myself off getting ready to walk away.

"Oh  this is much more than bullying Anabelle Corneese. Don't mistake me for what I'm not."

I scoffed and turned to walk away when the boy grabbed my shoulder blade sending pain down my right arm.

"Don't try to hide or run because it won't work. I will always be there, especially when you don't want me to." He explained.

"Who are you? What's your name? Must be a senior." I inquired.

"If you want to know so bad I'll tell you just one thing." He looked at me seriously, "They call me Tag."

"Who's they?"

'Tag' just looked up at the sky then and I blinked my eyes annoyed but also dazed. "Bye Tag." I said walking away.

I didn't want to go back inside yet. I knew my expression would give away something happened and the last thing I need is for my friends to grill me. I walked to some rocks far out on campus and sat on the top of one. I thought about all the events that took place and before I knew it, my eyes were closing.

"Like a fire, you ignite it and then it wears away." Josephine explained. She was burning a piece of paper to create a visual aid to her analogy, "That's how our family is seperating. It was all peachy in the beginning; mom and dad happy to have two beautiful daughters, but then the fighting began.

"Remember when the fighting began or maybe you were too young. I remember the first fight perfectly. It was four months ago and you were coming into my room. My purple hair was rocking back and forth, side to side as my music blasted from the stereo. I turned down the music when I noticed you were crying. Mom was yelling at dad about working overtime and not being home and dad was insulting her to get even."

The paper completely burned into ashes and Josephine blew out the fire.

" 'You're never home, you're always at work! You don't even pay attention to your family!' Mom screamed first.

'Well someone has to pay the bills you runup!' Dad yelled as a comeback.  

'Damnit Jefferey! I bet you're fooling around with sluts instead of working overtime anyway!' Mom replied."

Josephine gazed out into the stars.

"Don't think the family is gone just because I'm not there anymore. You're the family's last hope, you can bring it back together. But there's a lot more to the story than you know. Don't settle for what you already know, find out the truth Belle. Find out."