broken//matthew espinosa

Chapter 11: i cant do this

matthew
You know how the smell of nail polish annoys a lot of guys? Well it doesn't bother me. Kind of like how guys think that some girls laughs are crazy and obnoxious, I think it's pretty cute. But not that fake giggle that girls do. The real laugh. The laugh that shows you that: "hey look, I just made someone happy." Those are the best laughs.
Stephanie has the best laugh.
"Let's do something." I say, laying on her bed. Her room is cute. It's pink, and there's a lot of stuffed animals. This is the first time I've been to her house, so my eyes keep looking everywhere.
"Like what?" She says, concentrating on painting her nails a minty green color.
"How about we go play in your backyard?" I say, standing up and looking out her window.
"Your such a kid." She laughs.
"Is that your moms car?" I ask, looking at her. Her head shoots up from the desk and she walks over to the window.
"Uh um yeah um you should um go." She says. I stare at her in confusion as she opens the door to her room.
"I'm not leaving you." I tell her. She paces back in forth.
"Matt she's going to be even more mad at me if she finds out someone's here." "I don't care. She can hurt me not you."
"Matt she'll be inside any sec-" she's interrupted by her mom opening the front door.
"STEPHANIE COME DOWN HERE!" Her mom yells. She starts to walk out but then quickly turns around.
"Don't leave." She says, then walks downstairs. Once she's downstairs I slowly walk downstairs, just enough so they can't see me but I can see them.
"How do you explain this?" Her mom says, pointing to the dirty counter.
"I um..was making lunch." She says. Her mom shakes her head and slaps Stephanie.
She's drunk.
Stephanie stumbles back and her mom storms off to another room. She sits in the ground and feels her cheek, tears streaming down her face.
"Stephanie." I say, walking over I her. I crouch beside her and she covers my mouth.
"I told you to stay upstairs." She whispers.
"Your mom just slapped you and you expect me to do nothing?" She moves her hand away from her face, and her cheek is bright red.
"Does it hurt?" I ask her. She nods.
"What is going on in her-" her mom walks in and stops at the kitchen island. Her eyes meet mine and they're full of anger.
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" She yells, running over to me. I stand up and Stephanie stands up too. She moves in front of me, but I position her so she's net to me.
"M-mom, t-this is m-my b-boyfriend M-Matthew." She stutters. Her moms face gets even more angry.
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She screams.
"Please Ms. Brooks I lo-"
"GET OUT!" She screams again. I pull Stephanie's hand and we leave the house. I pull her into the sidewalk and start walking, but she loosens her grip.
"Matt.." I look at her in confusion.
"Let's go." I tell her, grabbing her again. She pulls away.
"I can't do this." She says, rubbing her eyes and then looking at the sky. I grab her hands.
"Yes you can." I tell her. She looks at me, tears in her eyes.
"I just need to get away." She says. She hugs me, and I run my fingers through her hair.
"Do you want to stay at my house?" She nods, and I take her hand, leading her to my car. She sits down and takes deep breathes.
"It's going to be okay." I tell her, placing my hand on her thigh.