Kennedy's POV
I walked home with a spring in step. Maybe it was because of the music playing through headphones , but I'm more inclined to believe that it was due to last lesson. I left that classroom feeling immensely proud of myself , stupidly proud you could even say. I mean you couldn't blame me , being complimented by an extremely sexy teacher does that to a person.
I don't think she noticed , and if she did then she did well at hiding it , but aside from mindlessly colouring in that map the librarian made me , I had my eye set on Miss Foster almost the entire lesson. The way she bit her lip when she was concentrating and twirled her pen in her fingers while she was thinking, was both sexy and cute all at the same time.
Averting my gaze from her when only sat a few feet away was proving a difficult task , it sounds immensely creepy , but I like to think that I was gazing , not staring..at least that's what I've convinced myself.
As I crossed the main road and walked down the penultimate street before my own , I couldn't help but ponder what I heard somebody shout out in class today. I think it was Cameron who called Miss Foster a quote-un-quote 'lezza' , and although she scolded him for it , rightfully so , she never denied the allegation , which I thought was interesting?
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I rounded the corner and turned into my street. Mrs Donnely's car from next door wasn't there , she must've been out at bingo or something. Wait it's Monday , yep she's definitely at bingo.
From what she's told me via our weekly gossip , tea and biscuits round her house , her and Pete Watkins from Sature Avenue have the hots for each other right now. Oh old people and their idyllic romances.
As I approached my driveway , I noticed that Gavin's car was parked there and I groaned aloud. The guy was an absolute dick , and under different circumstances , I wouldn't be able to comprehend why mum kept him around.
But for the time being , I have no choice but to play nice. As long as we keep Gavin around , the longer Gavin , or rather his money , keeps mum alive. It sounds rash , but cancer treatment supplied by a private doctor isn't cheap , and if a slap to the face and a bruised shin here and there was what it took for me to ensure my mum's recovery , I would take it in a heartbeat.
I opened the front door and dumped my bag on the ground to tidy up later. I then ran straight upstairs and into mum's bedroom , to both check that she was okay and to give her her afternoon meds.
I quietly creaked open the door , afraid she might've been asleep , but smiled and sighed relaxedly when I saw her awake and sat up in bed watching TV.
You'd think that after a while I'd grow accustomed to seeing her this way , pale , skinny and so terrifyingly fragile. But it never got easier ; in my mind she looked nothing like my mum , and not recognising her for how she used to be was one of the most painful things you could imagine.
But I'd never admit that to her , never in a million years. I tell her how beautiful she is almost every day , and in many ways , I really am telling the truth. But physically , it's like the person she used to be doesn't even exist anymore , and that , more than anything , is what keeps me up at night.
"Hi Mama.." I said softly , as I crept into her room.
She turned her head slowly in my direction , smiling when she saw me in the doorway. "Hi baby , I missed you.." , she replied , her voice quiet and raspy. I can't remember what she sounded like before she got sick , all I know for sure is that she never used to sound like how she does now.
I walked over to her bed , put a hand on the headboard for support and leaned over her , placing a gentle kiss onto her forehead.
"I missed you too , mama.." I reciprocated.
"How was your day at school, baby? Tell me everything." she asked , with a slight tired slur in her voice.
The only reason Mum's at home right now is because she wanted to be here for my first week back at school. As much as I tried to tell her that it was better she stay in the hospital , she wouldn't have it. If one thing's for , it's that cancer hasn't affected her stubbornness.
As much as I love being able to see her every single day , it makes me uneasy having to leave her at home and in Gavin's care while I'm at school. Don't get me wrong, I know that he would never do anything to hurt her or neglect her in any way , he manages her necessities like topping up her meds , making sure she eats , helping her go to the toilet and whatnot. But it's the little things that he seems to ignore , like asking her if she's too hot and needs the window open , or re-plumping her pillows to make sure that she's comfortable.
If it were up to me , I wouldn't go to school at all and I'd stay home to be her full time carer instead. But once again , mum wouldn't allow it. She always tells me how much potential I have and how talented I am academically, and not to let that go to waste. Even though she's sick , she's still my mum and therefore she's still the boss.
"Let me get you your meds and then we can talk about it.." I say , smiling softly.
"You're such a good girl.." , she replies , propping herself up slightly in bed.
I walk into her bathroom and open up the cabinet above the sink. I then dig through the various medicine bottles of all different colours and sizes until I find the correct one. I needn't check the label for the dosage as I now know it like the back of my hand , 2 Doxorubicin to be taken with water.
I opened the bottle, shook it upside until two pills fell into the palm of my hand , and then screwed the top back on again , sticking it back in the cabinet how I found it. I then poured her a glass of water and walked back over to her bed , placing the pills in her hand and holding the water ready for her to gulp down.
"Thank you , baby.." she said , tipping both pills into her mouth at once and taking the water from my hand.
After she swallowed the pills , I took the water back from her and placed in on her bedside table.
"Do you feel okay, do you want your pillows fixed?" I asked softly and she shook her head.
"I just want to hear about your day-" she patted the space next to her on the bed "-come lay down and let me play with your beautiful long hair.." she said.
I nodded my head and walked around to the other side of the double bed ; I gently climbed on , being careful not to bounce the mattress too much, and laid down next to her , moving the pillow down the bed so my head was laying at her waist height.
I wriggled slightly to get comfortable and then settled down , feeling her place her hand on my head and begin to gently comb her fingers through my hair. The feeling of her playing with my hair always relaxes me , and has done ever since I was little. The way her fingers softly rake through the strands , coming across a tangle and then soothing out the mess , delicately and with an immense amount of care.
"Talk to me , baby.." she whispered.
I smiled , "Well what do you wanna know?" I replied , softly.
"Everything.." she replied.
I cleared my throat and then thought back to the start of the day , a smile subconsciously pulling at the corners of my lips at the thought.
"The school's really nice..the people too.." I said , smiling.
"Did you make any friends?" , she asked , tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"I haven't really had time to make friends yet.." I said , honestly.
"No girls take your fancy?!" she queried. I couldn't see her face as I was facing away from her , but I could tell via her tone of voice that she was smiling.
"No mama , not yet.." I replied , only half lying. I couldn't exactly say yes , because I knew she'd then ask who and I wasn't prepared to explain my attraction to my history teacher to my mother.
"I may be poorly , Kenn , but I'm still your mother and I can tell when you're lying.." she argued , that same smile most likely still plastered to her expression.
"I'm not lying , Mama.." I half-whined-half-laughed.
"Kennedy Rose , just tell your mother who you've got your eye on!" she pestered , sliding her hand down to my torso and jabbing me in the ribs , making me squirm.
I laughed , gently grabbing her hand and holding it so she'd stop with the tickling. "Okay , okay! Fine..there is somebody.." I admitted.
"What's she like?" she asked , chuckling lightly.
I smiled sheepishly , not sure how I was gonna go about this but I was sure as hell gonna try. Even if I had to make some of it up , that didn't matter as long as it made mum happy.
I took a breath , "Well for starters , she's older.."
"Oh so she's in the year above?" , Mum asked , continuing to run her fingers through my hair.
"Something likely that.." I dismissed the question quickly with a smile. "She's beautiful.." I continued.
"Not prettier than you though I'm sure.." Mum argued.
I rolled my eyes with a smile, "I didn't get to talk to her all that much , but from what I gather , we have very similar senses of humour.." I said.
Mum hummed approvingly in response.
"She loves dogs , she's tall and she's got these beautiful brown eyes. Her lips look like Aunt Julia's , they're big but not stupidly big like what's her name.."
"That Kardashian girl , there's like twenty of them but I know the one you're on about.." Mum filled in for me.
I nodded , "Yeah , and she's even prettier when she smiles.."
I hadn't realised I'd been gushing about her until I'd stopped talking. This was so wrong but I'd be lying if I said that I cared.
"Has she got a good bum?" Mum questioned, her tone of voice unmistakably deadly serious.
I laughed , "Mum! You can't objectify people like that!!" I retorted , making her chuckle.
"Oh come on , Kenn , just between you and I.." she said , continuing to badger.
I sigh , "Yes she has a good bum.." I give in , smiling and shaking my head.
"Well then , she sounds perfect to me..It's clear you really like this girl just by the way you talk about her?!" Mum says , swirling the ends of my hair around her index finger.
I shrug , "I mean I only met her a few hours ago.."
Mum shakes her head , "That doesn't matter , Kenn. If someone catches your eye , it doesn't matter how long you have or haven't known them, the attraction is still valid.." she says.
I smile softly and kiss her hand that I was still holding , "Thanks Mama.."
Mum leans down slowly and places a kiss on the crown of my head , "I love you.." she says.
"I love you too.." I reciprocate , closing my eyes contently.
There were just a few seconds of blissful silence before I heard Gavin's voice pipe up from downstairs.
"Kennedy?" he yelled.
I groaned and rolled my eyes , why can I never have time to myself with him around?
"Kennedy come here.." he yelled for a second time.
"Go , baby.." Mum whispered.
Reluctantly, I sat up from my position laying next to mum and carefully crawled off of the bed. I then fixed mum's blanket , tucking her back in and making sure she was comfortable in bed. Finally , I placed a kiss onto her cheek , told her I loved her and to call for me if she needed anything, and then made my way downstairs.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Gavin frantically searching for something, tearing up the place in an attempt to find whatever he was looking for.
"Where are my keys?" he said bluntly whilst not even sparing me a glance.
I crossed my arms , this is what he interrupted my snuggling with mum for?
"Why would I know where your keys are?" I argued , unamused.
Gavin let out somewhat of a low growl , continuing to make a mess as he looked for his keys which were probably just in his pocket anyway.
"You're always fucking with my stuff. Just hurry up and start looking , the city game starts in 20 minutes and the guys are waiting for me at the pub.." he ordered.
Who does this guy think he is? I'm not his servant , or his slave , or even his daughter.
"I'm busy with homework, look for them yourself.." I told him and began walking away.
As I was leaving the room ; I gasped when I felt Gavin's hand grip my upper arm and squeeze firmly , yanking me back towards him and stopping me in my tracks.
I looked down at my arm and then up at him , that vein that always popped out of his forehead when he was pissed off making an appearance. I clenched my jaw and felt my eyes fill up with tears in response to the pain , yet he continued to tighten his grip.
"Don't give me that attitude, Kennedy , remember your god damn place." he scolded me through gritted teeth.
I said nothing and just looked right back up at him , refusing to have the eye contact broken on my account , I didn't want to give him that power over me.
"Now hurry up and find those fucking keys.." he commanded slightly louder this time , digging his nails into my skin before letting go of my arm and aggressively pushing me backwards.
I was forced to take a large step back in order to regain my balance and stop myself from toppling over. I then raised my opposite hand and rubbed it over my arm , the spot that he grabbed still throbbing with pain.
"Did you check your inside pocket?" I asked, my voice slightly shaky but still purposefully dour.
Gavin said nothing as he reached into his inside pocket , and as I suspected , then pulled out his car keys. Without another word he stormed out of the house and slammed the front door behind him , kicking my school bag that was still on the floor as he walked past it on his way out.
Listening to his car's engine start and then pull out of the driveway, with my back against the fridge I slid down it slowly , hot and sticky tears uncontrollably rolling down my cheeks.
Upon reaching the floor , I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in them , suppressing the sound of my crying in an attempt not to alert mum upstairs. My hands shook and I hated that he had that affect on me , I hated feeling as though I was giving him any power over me at all.
Unsure of what to do with myself , I just broke down on my kitchen floor.