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Playlist Love

Chapter 16

“What a life; what a fucked up lovely home.

---

I went to school the next day with my head in the clouds, and not in the good way. My mind felt fuzzy and convoluted with thoughts of last night.

I spent most of the night after Vic left trying to figure out my feelings. I concluded that yes, I thought Vic was attractive in terms of his face features, and maybe his personality wasn’t too shitty, but that didn’t take away from two facts that were hard to ignore.

One: Vic was a dick at school. Sure, he never bullied anyone physically, but he would say things that would rip a person’s spirit apart.

Two: Vic was straight. Sure, he wasn’t dating anyone at the moment but maybe he was taking a break from relationships. At least I knew that he wasn’t whoring himself out to the entire school.

I sighed. How much of our game of truth or dare was really true? Would he have lied to me about being a virgin? And if he did, why? To make me feel better?

But then I thought back to the look on his face and in his eyes. He couldn’t have been lying. Whatever expression graced his features was not one of a liar.

I sighed as I closed my locker. Here he goes again, messing with my brain even though he hadn’t said anything to me yet. How could I let one person have such power over me? It wasn’t right; it wasn’t fair! I’d only just met the dude, and under the worst circumstances, and here he was making me wonder what it’d be like to get close to him, to feel his skin again mine. To have his lips pressed against...

Woah Kellin, slow down.


I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds and opened them. Thankfully no one had noticed the thoughts in my head making me crazy. No, the other students were busy talking to friends and ignoring me, just how I liked it.

I turned my head and smiled. “Hey short stuff,” I said. They were coming down the hall and even if they weren’t in arm’s length, it was comforting to know that they would be soon.

“I’ll have you know that that’s very offensive. Wait, which one of us were you talking to?”

I shrugged. “Both really but this works too.”

Lynn punched me in the arm with enough force that I had to soothe the area with my hand. “That was uncalled for.”

“It actually wasn’t but this works too,” she said smugly. I stuck my tongue out at her and she returned the gesture. We were standing in the hall line two idiots, our eyes closed and our tongues out while people walked by and whispered about us.

“I’ll never understand you guys’ friendship,” Ashley said. I retreated my tongue back into my mouth and blinked at my other short brunette friend.

“You don’t have to understand it, you just have to accept it.”

“And if I can’t?” she retorted.

I shrugged. “It’s your life, dude, but not accepting it would be the worst idea ever.”

Ashley rolled her eyes playfully before speaking. “Whatever weirdos. I’m gonna go take some pictures for the yearbook before people get too awkward. See you guys later!” Lynn and I waved to our friend as she walked down the hall.

Ashley was an aspiring photographer. She took amazing pictures and wanted to do it for a living. Her dream was to photograph bands on tour and set up her own brand. I was sure she could do it. That girl was nothing if not determined.

“So,” Lynn started as she walked to her locker. I followed close behind.

“So?” I asked.

“Why were you standing all alone and brooding when we walked up?”

I shrugged and watched as she fiddled with the knob of her lock.

“Don’t you just shrug at me, spill the beans.”

I didn’t want to for fear that I would annoy her with my Vic talk. She’d told me before that she loved all the juicy gossip I had to deliver, but I never wanted to make every conversation about me and my boy problems.

“It’s nothing, really,” I said. She rolled her eyes as she picked up her books and shut the metal door.

“I know you’re keeping something from me, but I won’t push it.”

I smiled. “Thanks,” I answered, confirming that I was indeed hiding something.

She put her arm around my shoulders, bringing me down to her level. “Don’t mention it, kid.” She gave me a noogie as she dragged us away from the lockers.

“You have to remind me why we’re friends.”

“Simple,” she spoke, “because I’m the only one who’ll put up with your crap.”

***

A long school day later and I was finally home. I hadn’t seen Vic all day which was very relieving. I didn’t need him to talk to me and make the jumbled mess in my brain worse.

Wait, why was I even thinking about him?


I collided my palm with my forehead and mentally scolded myself for getting sucked down the rabbit hole of thoughts of Vic. It wasn’t fair to myself to continue to think about a guy who made me miserable in every sense of the word.

Even if that guy was freakishly cute.

“Fuck,” I groaned. I needed to distract myself, get my mind off my feelings and this newfound crush. Lynn had invited me to her house after school, but I told her I needed to study for my government test that was in a few days. It wasn’t a lie, but at the moment I wanted to do anything but study. Unfortunately for me God heard my prayer.

I had gone upstairs after my loud groan of a curse word. I wanted some isolation and my room was just the place to get that. I had just sat down at my desk when all hell broke loose.

The next thing I knew the front door was slamming and there was yelling downstairs.

“Dammit Mary, this is my house too!”

“I told you to stay away! Leave before I call the cops.”

“No. You have no right to do this!”

I slowly got out of my chair and tiptoed to the door, as if any movement from up here would set them off more. I opened my door wider so I could squeeze my body through the opening.

I tiptoed into the hall and peeked over the banister at my mom and stepfather.

“Rick, just go!” Mom yelled. “I don’t want you around me or my son anymore.”

“And I already said you have no right to do that shit, Mary! My name is on the mortgage and the bills. This is as much my house as it is yours, so if I wanna come in and be in my damn house that’s what I’ll do!”

I flinched at Rick’s words. He hadn’t said anything I wasn’t expecting, but his tone was more than angry. It was venomous, as if he knew he was spitting poison and wanted to infect my mom with every last drop.

I’d never seen either of them like this. Sure, they had their arguments but they always tried to keep them out of sight so I wouldn’t get wrapped up in the drama. Granted, they didn’t know I was listening, but they had to have known that I would be around soon. What got to me the most was how angry they were. My mom had her fists clenched, ready to strike, and Rick looked like he was ready to counter any hit. That alone made me dial 9-1 on my phone.

“Why did you follow me?” Mom asked in a calmer tone. Her face was anything but, but at least she was trying to keep a level head.

“I already told you, I’m here to take back what’s mine.”

Mom scoffed. “That’s an interesting way to put it.”

“It’s the only way to put it. You don’t think I noticed that you changed the locks? I come here to get some things and I can’t even get in. What kind of shit is that?”

“It’s the shit you get for being a shitty person!” Mom was angry again. Her fists had relaxed for a second before they clenched at Rick’s words.

“A shitty person? What kind of shit is that?”

“You’re out at all hours of the night, you’re drinking so much it’s becoming dangerous, and don’t think I don’t know about your little ‘rendezvous’ on Friday nights.”

“You…you know about those?” Rick asked quietly.

“Of course I do!” Mom yelled. “You suck at hiding things. And when your phone goes off with suspicious texts from girls named ‘Honey’ it’s easy to put two and two together.”

I gasped quietly, putting my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t be caught. I knew there was something about Rick I didn’t like, and Mom just confirmed it.

“Why the hell are you going through my phone?”

“That’s what you wanna say? Not ‘I’m sorry,’ or ‘Can we work this out?’ That’s what you wanna say?!”

What happened next happened so fast. One second they were standing apart, staring at each other with hate in their eyes. The next second Mom had shoved Rick, and Rick didn’t like that.

Almost instantly Rick grabbed Mom’s wrist and twisted. She yelled out in pain and fell to her knees. Rick didn’t let go though. Instead he pulled her hair and picked her body up that way. She screamed for help before her oxygen was cut off by Rick’s hand on her neck. I saw his muscles flex as he squeezed.

Tears welled in my eyes as I realized that he was trying to kill her.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in my stomach, I rushed down the stairs. Every neuron in my body was telling me to leave it alone, but if I did then I would no longer have a mom.

Neither of them heard me coming down the stairs so I had the element of surprise on my side. Once I stepped on the floor of the foyer, I grabbed the first thing I could find – my shoe at the bottom of the stairs – and hit Rick on the back of the head with it.

Wasn’t the brightest idea but hey, I went with it.

Rick dropped my mom and turned to face me slowly. The hatred in his eyes dug deep into my soul.

“You little shit,” he seethed.

I gulped quietly and gripped the shoe. “Get away from my mom,” I said. My voice was steadier than I thought it would be considering the fact that I was terrified.

“What are you gonna do to stop me?” I held the shoe up in response, to which he chuckled. “That’s all you’ve got? Pathetic.”

He took a step toward me, and despite my desperate need to run away I stayed in my place. He took another step, and another, and I stayed stuck in my stop. I begged my legs to move, my feet to do something, but to no avail. It was like my body was unable to respond to the messages sent from my brain.

Everything felt numb as Rick pushed me against the wall with so much force that I thought there would be a dent the shape of my body in it.

Rick smirked at me as the pain from the impact coursed through my body. He cocked his fist back punched me in the stomach. “That’s for the shoe to the head,” he said.

He hit me in the stomach again saying, “That’s for being a little shit every damn day.” He lifted his leg up while I hunched over and kneed me in the same spot he had just punched. “And that’s for ruining my fucking marriage!”

That last statement set off a string of physical and verbal assaults that left me on the floor curled up in a ball, waiting for the barrage to end. It finally did when he had tired himself out. He stepped away from me out of breath and opened the front door. With a glance at me on the floor and my mom in the corner with tears in her eyes he said, “Don’t either of you dare tell anyone what happened here, or I swear I’ll kill you both.”

Mom and I didn’t say anything as he slammed the door and left the property. Mom sobbed as she crawled over to me. My vision was hazy and fading in and out, but I could see the pain on her face as she cupped my face in her hands.

Mom picked me up carefully and led me up the stairs. She cleaned the cuts Rick had inflicted and bandaged me up.

That night I slept in her bed with her. We both cried at the thought of what happened. We held each other like this was the last time we’d be together, because it very well could have been.

We cried until we ran out of tears. Our sobs faded into the night as we welcomed the terror and nightmares into our consciousness.

Notes

Comments

@BeautifullyAbstract
I'm working on it. Thanks for your feedback! And sorry I'm just now seeing this

Elise Elise
4/1/18

Ahhh I love this!! Please update soon!!