A/N- heeeey (: well its been awhile since i last updated so here it is! i feel as though im losing readers on this story :( but i dont know, hopefully not! but if you like this story then become a fan, comment, or vote so i know to keep going with it, maybe? you'd be so cool if you did that! haha well anyways, ill shut up and you can read it now! but first, a picture of the evil Rita is on the side! i plan on putting a picture of a character in each chapter so yeah! haha je t'aime! love, me (:
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I turned and stormed off in the opposite direction of my next class, leaving a confused Alex behind. I decided to give myself the rest of the day off. Ariel doesn’t ditch school so I can’t get a ride home from her. I sighed. Looks like I’m walking. The rain let up so it was just sprinkling now. I went to the opposite end of the school and out the back door. I had no idea where I was going but I didn’t want to be here right now. I don’t like talking about my birth parents. I know nothing about them so why should someone else? I made my way down the sidewalk and started walking toward where ever my feet carried me. I had no destination in mind. If I got desperate, I could always walk home. I’ve done it before. Besides, Rita was never home during the day and even if she was, she wouldn’t care. I turned the corner and made my way towards home. Honestly, I don’t really consider it a home. It’s not the happiest place in the world. It doesn’t make me feel safe or loved. Isn’t that what a home is supposed to provide?
A police siren made me jump about a foot in the air. I watched as it chased a van down the street at top speed and then disappear around the corner. I shook my head. That wasn’t the first police chase I’ve ever seen. Toby and I always got a kick out of watching police chases. Once, he pulled me out in the middle of the night and led us on a wild goose chase to watch one. It ended terribly. The car took a wrong turn and crashed into a poll. Toby and I hid behind a car down the street and watched as the ambulance came and took the driver away and the cops searched what they could of the car. We ran back home as quick as we could. As soon as we got in our room, Toby reenacted the whole thing for me as if I wasn’t there.
“Did you see that? That was awesome!” He exclaimed.
“No duh I saw it. I was there!” I laughed.
“That car was like crazy!” He jumped on the bed and made racecar noises followed by an explosion.
I fell back on the bed in a fit of laughter. I caught myself laughing in the middle of the street at the memory and looked around to make sure no one saw me. I quickened my pace and rounded the corner that lead to home. I walked up the front steps and grabbed my key from the small pocket from my bag. I was about to open the door when I felt something press against my legs. I looked down and saw the neighborhood cat begging for my attention. I’m not usually a cat person but a friend wouldn’t be so bad right now. I bent down and swooped him up in my arms and carried him inside. There was no sign of Rita yet so I had the place to myself for a while. I carried the cat to my room and set him down on the bed where he immediately curled into a ball and fell fast asleep. I sat down next to him and stroked his almost pure white fur. There were little black specks of dirt on him. I decided to give him a bath later to make him look better.
I picked him up and set him in my lap. “I’ll call you Casper.” I announced.
He purred in contentment and curled up in my lap. I scratched behind his ear, watching an almost smile creep on his face. I never thought of getting a pet. Since we always moved around I never saw the need to getting attached to an animal then having to leave it behind at possibly a moment’s notice.
I heard the creak of the door opening and jumped up to make sure it was Rita and not some murderer or something. I walked around the corner and saw Rita throwing her purse angrily on the counter in the kitchen. She threw the cigarette that she was smoking out the window and dazedly looked around. When she saw me, her eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing home so early?” She demanded. I could tell that she had a little too much to drink.
“I wasn’t feeling good.” I lied.
She staggered over to me. “Do you think I care?”
“You should.”
“Well I don’t.”
“That’s very motherly of you.” I snapped.
Next thing I knew, I felt a sharp pain go across my cheek. I threw my hand up to my cheek and felt it’s warmth underneath my hand. I was too stunned to say anything or do anything back to her. This was the first time in a long time that she’s actually slapped me. The first time was when I was around ten and she asked me to bring her one of her precious drinks and apparently I didn’t bring it to her right away which resulted in me getting slapped across the face. Toby was at a friend’s house when it happened so he couldn’t do anything at the time. But when he got home later that night, he found me crying myself to sleep cuddling with some ratty stuffed animal I had ever since I was little. I would always bring it out whenever I was upset. He didn’t even have to ask what was wrong because my cheek was that red. He crawled into my bed next to me and held me and sang to me until I fell asleep. I always used to beg for him to sing to me. I used to tell him he has the voice of an angel. He would always just chuckle and ruffle up my hair like he always does. He didn’t let Rita get away with hitting me though. He told her the next morning that if he finds out she hit me again then she would call the police for child abuse. I guess the seriousness in his eyes made her back off. Not this time though. He wasn’t here to defend me.
“What’re you gonna do now? Your brother’s not here to save you.” She spat.
I wiped the surprised look off of my face and stood straighter. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now. She was drunk and there’s no telling what she would do to me at this state. I turned and walked back in my room and slammed my door shut. I went to the mirror to inspect my cheek and saw a hand print clear as day on it. There was no way this was going away before tonight. I still had to meet Alex at the library for that stupid project. I looked at the clock. It was only 4:30. I got the piece of paper that had his number on it out of my pocket and composed a new message on my phone asking to meet him at the library at six. He replied almost instantly, agreeing.
I decided to take a shower early since I had some extra time on my hands before I had to meet him. I blasted the hot water and got in and started dancing from foot to foot to get used to the hot water. When I finally decided to get out, I was greeted by a room full of steam from the shower. I wrapped the towel around me and made my way back to my room careful to stay out of Rita’s way. She was probably passed out in bed. Casper was sleeping peacefully on my bed when I walked in. I strolled over to my mirror to inspect my cheek just to see that it was still slightly red and a little bruise was starting to form. Hopefully it would be gone by the time I met up with Alex. I quickly blow dried my hair and braided it to the side. By the time I was done, it was 5:30. I got dressed and made my way to the library on foot. I didn’t feel like asking Ariel for a ride because even if I did explain to her that it was strictly for a school project, she would never let me hear the end of it.
I finally reached the library right when the clock hit 6:00. I sat at a table towards the back and waited for Alex to arrive. I really wasn’t looking forward to working with him but I’d do just about anything to get out of the house. I was starting to tap my fingers anxiously on the table. I checked the time. It was a little after six o’clock. What if he just stands me up? Nah, he wouldn’t do that. Hopefully not. A few minutes later, I saw a shadow approaching the table. I looked up and saw Alex standing over me, out of breath. I raised my eyebrows.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. I was taking a nap and I overslept.” He apologized.
“It’s fine.” I said as he pulled out a chair next to me and sat down.
“So you wanna get started?”
“Let’s just get this over with.” I groaned.
“You alright?” He asked, cautiously.
“I’m fine.”
“Okay.” He said, unsure.
He set his book on the table and opened it up. “So who do you wanna do our project on?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
He sighed, shut his book and leaned his elbows on the table. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
I just shrugged. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him or tell him about what happened. I could tell that my cheek was still somewhat red. Hopefully my hair was covering it up enough so he wouldn’t see it. It wasn’t any of his business what happened and it’s not like he cared anyway. I saw him narrow his eyes and slowly leaned over towards me. I looked away, avoiding eye contact with him.
“What happened to your cheek?” He asked as he moved my hair out of the way.
I jerked away. “Nothing.”
“Then why is it all red?”
“I ran into something.”
“Ran into what?” he asked. “A hand?”
I didn’t answer him. I just continued staring off in the distance.
“Who hit you?” He asked, suddenly all defensive.
“Why do you care?” I snapped.
“Because I don’t want you hurt.”
I shook my head. “Whatever.”
He put his hand under my chin and turned my head to make me face him. “Who hit you?” He asked again.
I couldn’t meet his eyes. “Rita. My adopted mom.”
“Why’d she do that? Are you okay?”
“She was drunk and yes I’m fine.” I insisted.
“Does she do that a lot?”
“Get drunk or slap me?” I asked.
“Both.”
“There’s hardly a time when she isn’t drunk and no this is only the second time she’s done this.”
He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
He took his hand off my cheek and reached into his bag and pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write something on it. “If things ever get to the point where you can’t deal with it any longer or things get really bad, don’t hesitate to call me or come over at any time. It doesn’t matter what time it is or anything, okay?”
He slid me the piece of paper. It had what seemed to be an address on it. “Thanks.” I said, surprised.
“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “So should we get started?”
“Sure.”
He opened his book back up and got started on the project. We decided to do our project on President Roosevelt. It was his choice, not mine. I just agreed so we wouldn’t have to search on what to do for hours. We stayed there and worked for about another hour or so. Surprisingly, we got a lot done. It was around 7:30 when we packed everything back up and the library was beginning to close.
“Do you need a ride home?” He asked.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Did you walk here?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t matter though because I don’t live that far away.” I lied.
“Then let me give you a ride home. It’s late and I don’t want you walking around outside alone.”
“I’ll be fine.” I repeated.
He grabbed the crook of my arm and led me to the door. “No, I’m giving you a ride home.”
I pulled back. “I don’t need one.”
He turned around and looked me dead in the eyes. He was closer than expected. I breathed in the scent of his Hollister cologne. “Please?”
“O-okay.” I stuttered.
“Thank you. Now was that so hard?” He said playfully.
I rolled my eyes in response. He still had a grip on my elbow as he led me out of the library and towards the back of the parking lot to a fancy red Camaro. I froze in front of the passenger door with my jaw practically on the ground. I wasn’t aware that he was rich. His hand was placed on the handle, ready to open it for me but when he noticed my expression, he stopped.
“Is something wrong?” He asked.
“You’re rich?” I squeaked.
“Um, I wouldn’t say rich, no.” He said as he opened the door for me.
I slowly climbed in and he shut the door and got behind the wheel. “You have a Camaro!” I pointed out.
“Yeah, I’m well aware of the car that I have, beautiful.” He chuckled.
I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Did he just call me beautiful? I shook it off.
“So, you live around here, yet you have this kind of car?” I asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“I don’t necessarily live around here. I have like, a thirty minute commute to school every day.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
He nodded. “Which way to your house?”
“Um, that way.” I pointed to the left.
He flipped on the turning signal and made his way down the street. I really didn’t want him to see where I lived but he insisted on giving me a ride home. After a few more turns, it was made obvious that it was beginning to become the ghetto. There were homeless people on the side of the street wearing nothing but what seemed like dirty rags, graffiti on the side of buildings and homeless animals digging out of the trash cans for food. I embarrassedly looked down at the floorboard.
“You live here?” He asked in what seemed like shock.
“It a beauty, huh?” I said sarcastically.
“You sure you don’t wanna spend the night with Ariel or something?”
“I’m sure.”
“Where’s your place?” He asked.
I pointed to the small, cramped house at the end of the street. “Over there.”
He slowly made his way down the street and came to a stop in front of my house. “Do you want me to walk you in?”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t want you to meet Rita.”
“Why?” He asked, confused.
“Because, one, she’s probably drunk and two, she’s not the nicest person in the world.” I said.
He looked from me to the house and then back again. “I don’t feel very comfortable leaving you here.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for the ride.” I said as I reached for the door handle.
He reached over and put his hand over mine. “Do you still have the paper I gave you?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. Please, don’t be afraid to use it, okay?”
“Why did you give it to me?” I whispered.
“Because I care about you, believe it or not.”
“Why me? Don’t you care about Sarah or Ariel or someone else?”
“Sarah, I don’t really like. Ariel is a nice girl but she’s not my type.” He stated.
“I honestly don’t believe that but okay. Thanks, again.” I got out of the car before he could say anything else.
He was still parked outside, watching as if to make sure I got inside in one piece. Even when I got inside, it was like I could still feel his eyes watching me. I shut and locked the door then made my way over to the window and carefully pulled back the curtains to see if he was still there. I let out a sigh. Of course he was. He was looking at the house. Just looking, as if there was some secret mystery lying beneath it. He wasn’t looking in my direction where I was hiding behind the curtains, though. After another minute of scanning the house, he slowly peeled off and made his way down the road. I let go of the curtain and leaned back against the wall. What a night.