~~~~~~~~~LEVY'S POV~~~~~~~~~~
As I had hoped, the day passed on rather quickly soon after the whole incident. The amount of homework given to me on the first day wasn't enormous. However, with the work I have to do when I get home, it'll have to be another sleepless night. I sighed as I collected my belongings as soon as the final bell rang. I headed to my locker to take out the extra textbooks and supplies I needed for the homework and essays. As I walked out the door of the school, I caught a glimpse of Lucy and the others. She saw me and started to walk through the students rushing towards the door. I put my head down and walked as fast as I could to the conjoined school. In the overwhelming crowd, I managed to lose them. At the entrance of the elementary school, numerous parents gathered around to pick up their child. I tried to find Hiroki, spinning in circles and standing on my tippy-toes over the taller parents and kids.
"Levy! Levy!" As I turned around, there stood Hiroki with his hands over his head, waving them back and forth. The biggest smile was plastered on his face. He hesitated walking over to me before turning to three other boys his age and give each of them a high five. He then ran over to me, giddy and happy as ever.
"Hey Hiroki! Those your new friends?" I inquired, pointing to the boys. The boys had seen me pointing and waved to both of us.
"Yea! That's Andy, Riku and Charlie. They're all in my classroom and guess what? They all love anime too!" he explained happily. Hiroki had dived in headfirst into the world of anime this last summer and became obsessed. While I like to watch anime, I prefer the manga myself.
"That's great," I smiled.
"They even asked if they could hang out with me soon. I'd love to show them my new gaming console!" At this, I froze.
"No. They can't come over to our house, Hiroki," I said frantically.
"Why not?" he pouted. I leaned over and whispered in his ear.
"You know how Joseph can be." Joseph was the name of our stepfather. I used to call him dad but.... things happened and he's lost that respect. He's lost all of my respect, to be perfectly honest. Hiroki know this but never understood why. I never told him how horrible Joseph really is because he needs a father-figure in his life, even if in reality he's a jerk. Even though Hiroki doesn't know about me, he has seen the drunken bouts of rage Joseph after coming home late at night. He knows Joseph's an alcoholic and smartly avoids him on those nights. Then, Joseph would kiss up to Hiroki to gain his trust once again and the cycle repeats over again.
Hiroki frowned and grudgingly nodded his head, shoulders sagging. It was terrible seeing him sad, especially with his usual bubbly personality. "Maybe you could go over to one of their houses, instead?" I said carefully.
Hiroki looked up at me, poker face set, and shrugged. He hadn't mastered his poker face yet because I could see in his eyes that he was unhappy. I sighed and took his hand.
"Lets go home"
As we walked further away from the school, Hiroki regained his happy persona once more and went on about his day. I smiled and laughed at his jokes. Once we reached the house, I placed my books on a table in the hallway towards the living room. I turned to Hiroki and told him to start his homework. We were alone for most of the day with both mom and Joseph at work. Hiroki pouted and got on his knees dramatically.
"Please, oh, Please Queen Levy! Let me do-eth my homework-eth later-eth!" he cried. I giggled at his little act.
"Good sir! Should thou do thine homework at once, might he be rewarded with mac n' cheese?" I declared in the worst British accent I could muster. He gasped and bolted up to his room. I smiled as he left before heading into the kitchen.
~
"Soup's on!" I called. Silence greeted me before thundering steps came my way. He jumped in his seat as I put down his plate and dove in. He shoveled spoonful after spoonful of mac n'cheese down his throat. It didn't even look like he was eating- more like inhaling.
"Slow down, you'll choke." He slowed down the slightest but by then he was already done.
"Seconds?" he asked. I grabbed his bowl and served him another pile. Soon he was full, patting his belly and sighing in content.
"Thanks, Lev." I smiled at him and picked up his bowl.
"Go finish your homework" I got work washing the dishes as Hiroki went upstairs. It would be at least four hours before mom got home. And Joseph too, if he wasn't out drinking. I donned an apron and yellow rubber gloves. Under the sink, I grabbed a bucket, a few cleaning products and a scrubber. After mixing hot water and numerous chemicals, I got to work scrubbing the floor. All rooms on the first floor were either tile or hardwood while the rooms on the second floor were carpet. An hour and a half passed before all the floors were scrubbed and polished. I began polishing my mother's china and silverware she would keep in a glass case in the living room. It was mindbogglingly tedious and my arms started to become sore from the scrubbing. I dusted the antiques that Joseph would bring every now and then. The laundry, the walls, windows, tables, rooms; all cleaned.
Just as I was putting away the cleaning supplies, my mother came home. I smiled and waved at her. She just looked at me disdainfully and made her way to the master bedroom. I sighed and started to make dinner. Joseph would be back soon and he always berates me, or hits me, whenever food isn't prepared for him. I decided on making a pot pie. As soon as I placed the pot pie in the oven, Hiroki came downstairs.
"Levy, what does this mean?" He pointed to a word in the book. "The word is supercilious," I answered. "It means disdainful or that its unworthy of your notice."
"Thanks Levy! You're a genius! I wish I was as smart as you!" He smiled as I chuckled.
"Read, read, read! Speaking of, what's that for?"
"We're supposed to read a new book and then make kinda like a sales pitch. You have to convince at least five people to read the book we picked," he explained. I smiled, remembering doing the same project when I was in middle school except mine was on How to Kill a Mockingbird. But I specifically remembered having to do it with a partner.
"You working with anybody?" I asked innocently. He mumbled something under his breath. I leaned in closer to him, my hand cupping my ear. "What's that?"
"Just a new girl in the school," he blurted out, blushing at the same time. "You liiiiiiiiiiike herrrrrrrrrr!" I giggled.
"No, I don't! STOP IT!" he cried, punching me playfully while hiding his deepening blush. At the same time, the timer went off signaling that the pot pie was done. I grabbed my oven mitts, carefully grabbed the dish and placed it on the counter. The scent of chicken and bread filled the kitchen. Hiroki eyed the pot pie hungrily. I glanced at the clock on the doorway of the kitchen and found that Joseph should have been home around two hours ago. Meaning that he was having another late night. I sighed and asked Hiroki to wash up. He bounded to the bathroom while I opened the door to my mother's bedroom. She sat one her bed, laptop open with her glasses perched halfway down her nose.
"The food is ready, mom," I spoke softly. She continued to type on her computer. I closed the door knowing that she would come down sooner than later. Going into the dining room, I set the table and placed the food in the center. Hiroki came down with mom and sat on either side of the table. I served them each a plate, reminding Hiroki that the food was hot. I took a very small slice of the pot pie and sat next to him. Silence hung over us as we ate.
"Mom, guess what happened at school today?" Hiroki said, breaking the silence. My mother smiled at him, a warm smile. Smiles that she used to give me.
"What?" she responded. Hiroki proceeded to go into a full-on rant about what happened throughout his day. She would laugh at his jokes the same way I did, except her laugh was more elegant and smoother than my loud bursts of laughter. When I laughed at one of his jokes, she subtly gave me the evil eye. Enough for me to notice but not enough for Hiroki to see. I shut my mouth for the rest of the dinner. Soon we all finished and I collected everyone's plate. I then wrapped the leftover pot pie and set it aside for Joseph. Hiroki headed to his room to play video games while I went to my room to start my homework. I was almost finished with my homework when I looked at the time. It read 10:30 pm. I climbed off of my desk and went Hiroki's room across the hall.
"Time for bed, Hiroki,"
"Just a few more minutes?"
"Its already 10:30. You need sleep,"
"Fine, fine. Let me save my game," He clicked save and turned off the console. He then got up to brush his teeth. His room was filled with posters of anime he'd watch. In the corner of his room stood a bookcase as high as the ceiling with a stepladder leading against it. We shared the bookcase, barely fitting all the books we owned. Hiroki came back from the bathroom and climbed into bed.
"Night, Levy!"
"Night, Hiro." I turned off his light and closed his door, making my way back to my room. Knocking my Calculus, English, and Chemistry out of the way, I grabbed my laptop and started on the essay. At the front I typed my name then Gajeel's. I ain't gonna do squat for the essay when I got a clueless, tiny loser to do it for me. I backspaced his name then retyped it again. Then deleted it and retyped it. It was a confusing dilemma. Just then I heard a loud slam that made me jump out of my seat.
Joseph's home. A huge crash sounded followed by the sound of glass breaking. I trembled slightly, he was drunk as all hell. He really can't hold his liquor. It all became quiet for a moment before stomping footsteps came up the stairs and neared my room. I closed the laptop and picked up a nearby book to read.
The door slammed open. Joseph standing at the door, eyes glassy and furious.
"Where's my food, moron?"
I started to shake but refused to look at him. "It was on the table, wrapped up and waiting for you."
"You mean that vegetarian crap?! You can't even do one simple thing, can you?" His words were slurred. He stomped over to me and slapped me hard enough to make me stumble out of my chair. My cheek stung and I hoped there wouldn't be a bruise.
"Worthless piece of..." I was picked up off the ground and shoved into the wall, my forehead hitting the plaster. I was dizzy and ready to pass out but he kept me pinned to the wall, twisting my arm behind my back.
"Have my food ready when I get home," he demanded, his mouth next to my ear. He smelled of alcohol and someone else's perfume. The scent made my head go fuzzy.
Cheater!
"Didn't I tell you to clean the house?!" he yelled and pulled my arm farther up my back. I gave a small cry of pain.
"I did. It's all clean," I whimpered. He growled and threw me back to the ground.
"You are a worthless, ugly, stupid freak. Don't you DARE," he punctuated with a kick,"think you are any higher than that! You should have died along with your pathetic father," he spat, saliva hitting my cheek. Joseph stomped back out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. Silent tears streaked down my face as I wiped the spit off my face.
I should be dead? Why shouldn't I? I'm useless anyway.
I slowly crawled over to my bed and laid down, letting myself slip away to unconsciousness.
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A/N: I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry! There's not an excuse as to why I didn't update sooner. Lack of inspiration to write, I guess. I tried that thing where you write it down on paper then type it up but honestly, I suggest typing first and edit while your typing (just saying). Thank you for putting up with me. I want to take a moment to personally give thanks to all you people who have read my story and/or voted. MY STORY HAS GOTTEN TO FOUR HUNDRED READS!!! I thought that, in writing hit or misses, this story was gonna be a miss. But no, this is the highest I've ever gotten! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I LUV YOU ALL! X3
P.s. Again, I am so sorry I didn't update sooner. And for the long A/N.