Paxton Clark
~~~~~~~~~~~
I sit in class and read my book. I tune out the teacher as I sink into the words of my books.
All of a sudden I hear the sound of the door open, the teacher stops talking and all the eyes fall to the door.
Ivy.
"You're late Miss. Moore." The teacher states.
"I know." Ivy tells her before she walks to her seat.
She smiles at me as she sits in the seat in front of me.
I feel my heart race.
I watch as she turns her head to the kid next to her.
"Where were you?" The boy asks her.
"Dad needed help with something." She tells him.
"Oh, I see." He says.
Ivy smiles at him.
"You coming over later?" She questions.
"Of course." The boy tells her.
What? Who is this guy? Ivy, I thought you were mine.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
It's fine. I'm fine.
I look back down at my book and sink back into the words.
"What book are you reading?" I hear her voice.
I look up into her green eyes.
"Pride and Prejudice." I answer.
She smiles.
"I love that book." She tells me.
"Same." I agree with her.
"Do you like reading?" She asks me.
"Yeah, do you?" I question.
"Love it." She says.
I smile at her.
"Ivy! Pay attention!" The teacher yells at her.
She rolls her eyes before turning back around in her seat and facing the teacher.
Don't talk to Ivy like that.
The sound of the bell fills my ear and all the students get up.
I grab my stuff and stick them into my backpack and throw it over my shoulder.
"Here. This is my book of Pride and Prejudice but with my own annotations." Ivy says as she hands me the book.
I smile at her.
"Add your own annotations and give it to me. I wanna read them." She tells me.
"Okay." I say as I take the book from her.
"Thanks." I add.
"Anytime, blondie." She says.
"Ivy, let's go." The boy from earlier calls her.
"Bye, Paxton." She says to me before following the boy out of the room.
"Bye, Ivy." I whisper to myself.
~~~~~~~~~~
I sit in my room and read through Ivy's annotations. Her handwriting was beautiful. How is one person so perfect?
"Paxton!" I hear my uncle yell.
All of a sudden my bedroom door bursts open and William stumbles in with a beer bottle in his hand.
I feel my body shake as I watch him walk closer to me.
"What are you doing?" He questions.
"R-reading." I answer.
"Why are you always reading?! Don't you have anything better to do with your life!" He yells as he grabs the book and rips the page I was reading in half.
"Stop!" I yell at him.
He continues to rip it into pieces.
"Stop please!" I cry as I try to grab the book from his hand.
He pushes me to the ground and I hit my head against the frame of my bed.
"You useless pig!" He shouts as he kicks me in the stomach,
I yell in pain.
He throws Ivy's book across the room and I watch the papers fall out onto the ground.
Tears run down my face and sobs leave my mouth.
"You're so god damn weak." He continues to yell.
I watch as he grabs his empty beer bottle and lifts it up in the air.
"Please don't. Please." I plead.
He chucks the beer bottle at my head and I feel a sharp pain in my head.
I scream as I feel the glass in my skin.
"Go die." He says before stomping out of the room.
I slowly pull myself off the ground and to the bathroom. I stare at myself in the mirror and look at cuts on my face. I pulled my hand up to the corner of my eye where a piece of glass was sticking out. I pull the glass out of my skin and wince in pain.
"Shit." I mutter.
I throw the glass into the trash can and wash my face in the sink. The cuts sting as the cold water hits my face.
I turn the faucet off and look at myself in the mirror again. Tears form in my eyes and run down my face.
I grab the first aid kit from under my sink and grab some ointment. I grab a cotton ball and dip in the ointment, I begin gently dabbing my cuts with the cotton ball slowly.
I bite my lips as the cuts sting.
Once I finish I walk into my room and gather all the glass and throw them into the trash. I walk to the other side of the room and stare down at Ivy's book.
"I'm sorry, Ivy." I whisper to myself.
I crouch down and gather all the ripped pages. I grab some tape and sit on my bed. I start taping the pages together and try fixing the cover of the book.
I finished taping the book and fixing it. It was still a little wonky but it was still readable. I tried my best to fix it.
I'll give it to her at school, which might not be till a few days since I'd have to wait till my cuts healed.
I place the book in the drawer next to my bed. I lock my bedroom door and turn the lights off before getting under the covers.
I stare up at my ceiling trying to collect all my thoughts.
I need to fix this. I need to figure out what I was gonna do about all of this. I can't just be scared all the time. I'm not gonna let myself be pushed around like that anymore. I wasn't gonna let him ruin me anymore. That's not who I wanna be. I'm not going to let anyone see how weak I am. I'm not gonna let my parents' death ruin me. I can't let anything get to me anymore. I need to suck it up and move on. I'm gonna show William what a jerk he really is.