Recap:
“No f?cking way. Your Kylie’s childhood friend. You’re the one who I had a huge crush on” Daniel says wide eyed.
“Wait, what?” Kylie and I both gasp at the same time.
Well shit
Reality:
Daniel just exposed himself for having a
Childhood crush on me ….
“Um, okay then. How about we do this homework” Kylie says as I shift uncomfortably.
“Uh yeah, that sounds good” I say taking out my finished math homework and 5 other sheets of it, copying down the answers for a bunch of Daniel’s friends.
“Uh, Kisses? What are you doing?” Kylie asks seeing the 6 copies of our math homework.
“Doing some of the jocks homework” I say finishing up one page of it.
“You still do that for them? Kiss, stand up for yourself” Daniel says taking the pages away from me.
“Daniel, incase you haven’t noticed. I can’t fight. I don’t go to the gym or football practice everyday like you and the rest of the guys on your team. I’m the schools nerd who works two jobs just to make money to go to any college. I do what I have to get by, and I would rather not add hospital bills on top of my car and boarding payment” I say standing up looking at Daniel’s shocked face.
“You are so much stronger than you think. I remember when you and Kylie were inseparable and I just started playing and taking football seriously. I went up to you and you got mad at me for interrupting your conversation with Kylie. You punched me in the face. And damn did it hurt. I can promise you, I will stick up for you and you will not be the one paying or ending up in the hospital. If anyone ever lays a finger on you, I will not think twice about putting them in the hospital” Daniel says anger flashing through his eyes at the last part making me flinch, squeezing my eyes closed.
“Are you okay?” Kylie says placing a hand on my shoulder causing me to flinch a second time.
“Um yeah, I just need to go to the bathroom. Where is it?” I ask and Kylie gives me directions.
“Thank you” I say rushing out and looking to see 5 missed calls from my mother and 6 from my father.
“Shit” I mumble lifting up my shirt to see my ribs still severely bruised. Well, that’s only going to get worse.
“Hey guys, I’m so sorry but I really need to get home. My parents are really mad at me” I say and they nod.
“Okay, I need to head to football anyways” Daniel says grabbing his football duffle bag and I follow him down the stairs and watch as he fills up his water bottle. He is pretty damn attractive. “Stop staring” Kylie whispers in my ear winking at me causing a light blush to fill my cheeks.
“Lego” Mason says grabbing my hand with his free hand as we walk out the door.
We listen to music in the car and find out we listen to the same music.
Soon enough we are at the school and I start to feel nauseous at the thought of what’s waiting for me at home.
“T-thank you Dan. I’ll see you tomorrow” I say stuttering a little bit.
“Yeah sure Kisses. Are you okay?” He says concern lacing his voice.
“Yeah of course” I fake smile and get into my car, watching Daniel walk to the football field.
I speed home hoping that the faster I get home, the less I get struck.
As I’m getting out of the car my phone bings and I see I have a missed call from Daniel and a voice mail. I’ll listen to that later.
I walk into the house to see both my parents sitting on their usual spot with beer and wine bottles everywhere.
“Hmm, the little whore is home” My mother says slowly standing up, along with my father. Chills run throughout my body.
“Where were you?” My father says. It’s just now that I realize the time. Shit its late. I can’t even say I was at work.
“I was doing some homework at the library” I say and they shake their head laughing.
My father slaps me across the face. Hard. Tears well up in my eyes and I feel something trickle down my cheek. Blood.
My father leans in towards my ear and bites my earlobe harshly. “Come home after 7 O’clock again and you’ll see what happens” He whispers, slapping my ass hard. Something tells me it won’t be a beating that time.
I quickly nod and run upstairs, ignoring the shortness of breath.
My bathroom is thankfully connected to my room so I go in there, turn the shower on and try to shower his touch off of me. And I thought it couldn’t get any worse.
After my shower I observe the big red handprint on my face and the cuts it left. It’s gonna take a long time to cover in the morning.
I go to my desk and quickly scribble down the homework answers, the hand writing shaky. Which in the jocks place, is probably more believable.
After I do my homework and study I put my headphones in and listen to Daniel’s voice mail.
Hey Leah. Just wanted to check on you. I hope I didn’t do anything wrong or say anything wrong. Kylie said she wants to drive you to school tomorrow and talk to you about something. I hope to do this again sometime, it was fun. I’ll tell Porsha good night for you. Bye
I close my eyes in an effort to stop the tears the well up in my eyes. But despite my best efforts one escapes.
If only I could fucking tell you why I act the way I do. You would understand why I flinched at that anger that I saw in your eyes today. That it reminded me of what flashes through my fathers eyes when he looks at me. That when Kylie touched my shoulder, It was where I got hit by my mother a week ago. Why I was so shocked at how neat your room was. All the excuses and stories I make up about my bruises or Injuries. Why I would rather work overtime than go home to my abusive parents. Why I jump at every opportunity I get to not go home.
Maybe then you would understand why I act the way I do.
I woke up to what I thought was my alarm clock but was really Kylie calling me. “Hello?” I mumble into the phone. “Hey Kisses, What’s your address? I’m gonna drive you to school today” Kylie says happily into the phone. “Thanks Kyl but I have work after school so I’m just gonna drive myself. Thank you though. See you at school” I say quickly hanging up and getting dressed. I change into a grey hoodie that has the word ‘coffee’ across the front in dark, bold block letters. I put on some leggings and my converse because I have gym again today. I write a sick note quickly and then curl my hair a little bit. I cover up the hand print as best as I can and grab my bag and keys and head to school. I’m in the middle of my third period class when my teacher comes up to me. “Kisses, the nurse is looking for you” I quickly thank her and head off to Mrs. Green’s office. “Hey Kisses, just wanted to check up on that bruise of yours” She says smiling and I nod lifting my shirt up. “Any pain?”
“I’m here to see your mother” Tara says and I freeze again. “Um, she’s not home right now” I stutter out not knowing what to do. “It’s okay, I can wait. May I please come in?” She says and I nod, mentally giving myself a pat on the back for cleaning up all the beer and wine bottles earlier. “Please, sit on the couch. Would you like anything to eat or drink?” I ask and she shakes her head no and turns her attention to the TV. I sit next to her just waiting for my mom to get home. When I hear the car pulls up a warm feeling picks up in my chest and I know what’s coming, an anxiety attack. I stand and walk slowly towards the door and open it. “Mom, you have a visitor” I say pointing to Tara. “Tara? Why are you here?” She slurs and cringe hoping she doesn’t realize. “Are you drunk?” Tara says concern lacing her voice. Of course she’ll realize she’s an adult. “No, not at all. I just want my daughter to go get me food. Go now, I want pizza. Leave me and Tara to talk alone. Drop of
I wake up and get changed into a navy blue tank top, a gray cardigan and black ripped jeans. I pair it with some high heel boots. I throw my hair into a cute messy bun and do my causal makeup. I grab my backpack and duffle bag that I’m bringing to the Green. The drive to school was happier. I spent the drive listening to music and looking forward to tonight. “Hello Ms. Kisses” Kylie says as her and Daniel walk up to me when I get out of the car. “We are going to have so much fun” Daniel says in a girly voice and throws his arm around me. “Shut up Dan” Kylie says causing me to laugh. “Thanks guys. It’s nice to have friends as inviting as you” I smile at them and Daniel blushes a little. “Eh, don’t thank us. We love you Kiss” Daniel Says and I hug her. “Let’s get to class” I say and we walk to class right in time. I go to my car and follow the Green to their house. Thankfully Mrs.Green taught me how to wrap my side so I can do that on my own now and the bruise on my face has fa
I woke up to someone shaking me awake. “Kiss, you have to get up. Scarlet’s here” Daniel’s says and I open my eyes to see the yellow and white jersey with ‘Green’ written across it. “What time is it?” I scratch my eyes looking at Daniel. “It’s 11. You slept late, Sleeping Beauty” He chuckles while he throws on a shirt over his head, covering the view of his perfectly chiseled abs. “Did I fall asleep last night?” I say blushing at his previous comment and getting out from under the covers. “Yeah, It was no problem. Soon after you feel asleep Kylie went into her room and I felt too bad to wake you up so you just slept in here while I slept on the couch” He says and I nod, feeling guilty. “Sorry Dan, you could have woken me up. I feel bad” I say and he shakes his head. “Don’t be silly. It wasn’t a problem at all. Trust me” Daniel says as Scarlet walks in. “Hey honey, can I take a look?” She says and I nod as she lifts up my shirt to reveal the worsening bruise. “Hi Mrs. Green. H
~Fast forward two weeks~ “What’s that from?” Daniel says lifting up my sleeve a little more to reveal the obvious bruise. Shit I forgot about that one, “I bumped into my counter last night. You know me, clumsy” Daniel looks at me knowingly “I have to get to class but I’ll meet you at lunch. My treat” I say running off to class. That was a close one. Daniel and Kylie have been getting suspicious. Tara comes over every now and then and brings Daniel and Kylie but I don’t allow them over any other times. I can’t take the risk. I think they know that there is conflict between my parents and I. They just don’t know the extent of it. My ribs are fully healed thankfully and I’ve been working a lot but making sure I’m home early. Daniel, Kylie and Christine have been amazing friends and I don’t know what I would be doing without them. Kylie took me shopping and payed for a bunch of stuff because I’m low on money. My outfits are now decent and don’t look the same every day. I got some col
“Daniel, I-l”I stutter, too shocked to process anything. “Kisses, I’m begging you” He says, eyes glossy. “I can’t. I can’t put that burden on you, your parents. I can’t do it” I say looking down at my hands. “But you can. My mom has said it, you basically live here. You are like her daughter. It would make her happy to know that you are safe. Please, do it for me, for Kylie, for my mother” He says tilting my head up to look into his eyes. “Daniel, I appreciate it. I love you and your whole family. But I’m okay at home. I’m almost 18, and then, I’ll have no fear of reporting them to the police. I need to go now” I say giving him a hug. “Kisses, I can’t let you go home. Do you know what it will do to me? Do you know what it has been doing to me. From the second I saw you I knew you were different in many ways. When I got to know you I knew there was something you were hiding from everyone. This exact situation had crossed my mind and I pushed it out, in fear of being right. I can’t
~Kisses P.OV~ I find it hard to concentrate on my homework even with the little amount of liquor in my system. I guess I’m a light weight. Soon time passes by and I hear a soft knock on my window. “Kisses, oh thank God you are okay” Daniel breathes out when he finally gets into my room. “I’m f-“ I star to say but Daniel hugs me and that’s when it all goes downhill. “Ugh, I’m such a baby” I say crying. “Sh, no you aren’t” Daniel coo’s pulling me over to my bed. “What happened?” Daniel says as I stare into his gorgeous eyes that I could get lost in, suddenly feeling calmer. “I came home and told my parents about the game and they said I can go if I had some beers with them. I took a sip and absolutely hated it. How can people enjoy that? Anyways, I then went to the bathroom and poured most of it down the drain. My parents made me chug the rest so I had a little less than half of that bottle. Then they handed me another one that is right there actually” I say pointing to the beer
~Kisses P.O.V~ “Mom, Dad? Who is that?” I say confused, seeing a gorgeous girl with my drunken father. “I’m Trisha. How are you?” The lady says and I look at my mother. “Go take the trash out slut. Aka, Trisha” My mother says shoving me towards the stairs. I make my way down the stairs and Trisha follows me outside where I take a seat on the steps. “Honey, are you okay?” She asks sitting next to me. “This is the first time you’ve see my father drunk isn’t it?” I look at her and she nods. “I figured” I say getting up. “I’ll be right back, I need to grab my phone” I say running around back and grabbing my phone off my bed to see a bunch of texts. I decide to call since it’s easier. “Hey Dan, Kylie’s with you?” I whisper cringing at the screams coming from inside my house. “Yes, Kisses what happened? What’s wrong? Do you need me to pick you up?” Daniel says as my head starts pounding. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping to reduce the pain. “My dad came home drunk, with a girl and