*Trigger warning- this chapter contains manipulation and aggression*
October 17th, 7:00 pm
I sat in the passengers' seat of Miller's car, staring at the side of his head blankly as he drove.
"What's wrong, babe?" He asked.
"Nothing," I was startled out of my thoughts and looked away.
"You know you're going to tell me eventually," he joked and squeezed my thigh.
"I'm just wondering, why couldn't we go to dinner and then go to Amanda's party?"
His smile fell into a straight line, and he put his hand back on the steering wheel. He started driving faster, and I looked down nervously.
"I'm just saying that I could have done both; we could have gone to dinner, and then I could have gone to the party. It didn't have to be one or the other," I said quietly.
He slammed on the brakes, and a loud screech erupted from the tires. My head slammed against the passenger's seat window as I let out an accidental scream. He pulled over to the side of the highway as I held my throbbing head. I looked at him in fear, staring at the cold huffs coming from his mouth.
"Where is this coming from, Rachel," he asked quietly. I saw his knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.
I took a few deep breaths. Even if I didn't feel calm, I knew I had to act calm. It was the only thing I had learned that occasionally diffused his anger; be calm and don't argue.
I played with the necklace he had just given me and sighed, "It's stupid," I looked at him; it was clear that he wasn't going to quit.
I took a deep breath, "In cheer practice today, some of the girls said they thought you were getting kind of controlling." I looked down, scared to make eye contact.
"Are you that much of a pushover that you would listen to what a bunch of stuck up cheerleaders tells you?"
"Well, no..."
"I didn't think so. You're too smart for that." He didn't break his sharp glare until I nodded in agreement. He pulled his car back onto the highway, and we drove to my birthday dinner in silence.
Dear Diary,
Today is my 18th birthday, and it started to suck after around 9 am. Thank goodness that dinner went well. The car ride was awkward, but once we sat down, we started joking around and had a fantastic night together.
My friends claim that Miller is becoming too controlling, but I know they are all jealous because they are all single and sleep around to get attention, which never works anyway. It is ridiculous to me that these girls can't be happy for me when I have to listen to every stupid story about a guy they won't remember a year from now, or the 'unfair' amount of times they have to do their laundry.
Knowing that Miller took the time to create birthday plans for me, made me care less about the petty bullshit. Someone finally wanted me. Not my hot friends, he wants me.