Ever The Same

Normal

Chapter Four- Normal  

I tried not to think about it, but as I stared in the mirror the big red mark on my face wouldn't let me forget. I knew my brother would have a heart attack when he saw this. My mom would notice, but assume I ran into a wall or something. She thinks I'm the dumbest child she's ever met so she avoids me as much as possible. She hates me. But it's fine. She's never been the same since my dad died. None of us have.  

Steven's tried to step in as my fatherly figure. He's always been protective, but never in the way he's been. He feels he has to watch over me which is isn't true, but my mother certainly isn't doing it.  

She secretly blames me for my father's death. I know she does, but she's never said it aloud. My dad was shot almost eight years ago. The never found his killer. It left a hollow feeling in our hearts, but we moved on.  

I tried to cover my face with makeup. It didn't work very well, but at least my face only appeared a slight pink now. I blinked continuously trying to get the red from my eyes. I had to appear like nothing was bothering me. There had to be nothing wrong or my brother would flip out.  

I finished my makeup and quickly returned to my room. I slipped on my red skinny jeans and long fitted black sleeve shirt. I grabbed my black Uggs and ran to my car. My brother was still in his room like I hoped. I slammed the door of my black Eclipse and drove off to school.  

I didn't see Evan all day. I assumed he was home, healing. He'd been beaten pretty bad and had probably decided to stay home. 

Evan lived on his own. His parents bought him an apartment for his seventeenth birthday because they wanted him out of the house. Evan had never had a stable relationship with his parents. It was a good thing he had moved away from it all.  

I decided to stop by his house on my way home, just as I ran into Anna. "Hey!" She cried as she smiled. "Have you seen Zach anywhere he's suppose to drive me home today?"  

I shook my head and stared at the school doors. I wanted to get out of here and find Evan. I had to make sure he was okay.  

Anna pulled my arm and dragged me into the bathroom. She quickly checked to make sure no one was in one of the stalls and locked the main door. "What happened to your face?" She asked glaring at me. I knew she wanted a serious answer. She never took my shit.  

"Ummm," I muttered. I didn't wanna tell her. It was all too much. I hadn't told anyone, even Kendall. And Kendall always knew everything about me. "I ran into a wall..." I looked into the mirror pretending to check out my makeup.  

"That is the biggest bull shit I have ever heard! Tell me the truth Iris."  

I sighed. I knew she wouldn't let me go until I told her and I really wanted to head to Evan's. And suddenly everything that had happened in the last twelve hours spilled out of my mouth. As I told it I remembered every crucial detail.  

I ended with me running home. I looked up to see Anna's face. The look was horrifying. She seemed as if she was about to burst into tears and kill someone at the same time.  

Instead she hugged me. "Iris..." Was all she could manage. And this made my eyes burst. I couldn't take it anymore. All day I'd been thinking about it and was about to break down.  

Suddenly there was a pounding at the door. "I don't know who's in there fucking, but you better get your asses out here right now!" The voice screetched. I knew by the level of cussing that it was no teacher. And it suddenly clicked. It was Stacy White.  

"FUCK OFF!" Anna screamed. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and lightly kissed my cheek. "Everything's okay," she whispered. "I'm never gonna let anything bad happen to you from now on."  

I wiped my eyes and blew my nose in a paper towel. Anna hugged me once again and then we headed out of the bathroom. Stacy was sitting outside of the door, but I managed to ignore her presence. I noticed she looked bigger than the last time I'd seen her. Evan's baby was growing inside her. Nothing was going to change that.  

Anna walked me to my car and then headed across the lot to where Zach's car was parked. He kissed her nose then pulled her into a tight hug. They were so happy. It made me jealous. I hadn't had a good relationship in three years. And I was only in the eighth grade then! I'd had several other boyfriends but none of them clicked like the relationship I'd had with Cody. We were together for about three years and he was my first real boyfriend. Sometimes I missed being in the eighth grade and having my boyfriend hold my hand under the lunch table and have his mom drive us places on the weekends. But I was such a different person then.  

I hopped into my car and quickly drove off. I'd already wasted enough time here. I needed to know he was okay.