"her boyfriend's a dick... and he'd simply kick my ass if he knew the truth" -wheatus, "teenage dirtbag"
⊱ ────── {⋅. ♔ .⋅} ────── ⊰
"so we're going to start hooking up?"
"well not literally, johnny, don't get too excited."
book is highly recommende...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
• • •
The week flew by and before I knew it, it was already Friday. And honestly, I couldn't be any happier. I was tired of school already. Thank God I'm a senior. After I had gotten ready, I went into the kitchen area and got myself a bottle of apple juice and an apple. I wasn't too hungry but figured that I should eat something.
"Morning, darling." Mom smiled, walking in and tying her earring. "You're up early."
I shrugged, sipping on my juice. "Woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. Thought that I might as well get ready." I explained.
"Understandable. Okay, I better be off. Make sure Daniel's awake and you're not late." She said quickly, grabbing her bag. She came up to me, kissing my head, "Make good choices. Love you!" And then she was out the door.
I chuckled, shaking my head and grabbing my apple, and sitting at the table with my backpack next to me. I began to do the research for the essay for my history class while chewing on my apple. It was about 20 minutes before Daniel came in, completely dressed and his backpack in hand. "Morning, handsome." I teased, glancing up at him and then back down.
"Mom leave?"
I nodded, taking a bite from my apple. "You just missed her."
"Meh." He shrugged, unbothered. I chuckled, starting to scribble down another bullet point. "Need a ride to school?" He asked.
I shook my head, "Nah, I'll just take my skateboard." I replied.
"You sure? I'm picking up Ali on the way."
"That just supports my answer," I said. "I don't wanna be the third wheel."
Daniel laughed, shaking his head. "Alright. I'm out. Careful on the way."
"Later." And the door closed.
No, I wasn't taking my skateboard. Johnny's picking me up. How would that turn out if I just said, "No, Johnny's picking me up."? Daniel would start bombarding me with questions and then he'd make me come with him and a bunch of unnecessary crap of the sort.
When the time showed 8:30, I got up and went out of the apartment, locking the door behind me. Johnny's car was the first thing I saw, he was leaning against the side with his hands in the pockets of his red bomber jacket. I smiled, going down the stairs. "You know, you could've just gone up to my door instead of waiting," I told him as I got to him.
"That's not very gentleman-like, is it?"
I furrowed my eyebrows at the sunglasses he wore. I found them unnecessary on a day like today. It was gloomy, a sure sign of rain. "Johnny, why are you wearing those?" I asked him, trying to take them off.
He turned his head away with a clear of his throat, "Let's get going. Don't wanna be late." He said quickly, opening my door and letting me go in.
Without further questions, I got in and the door closed behind me. Johnny speed-walked to the other side, scratching his head and pushing his sleeves up his arms. He got into the car, turned it on, and drove us to school. He stayed quiet for the ride, his hand holding mine tightly as if to make sure I wouldn't leave. I found it odd. I mean, he knows that I wouldn't go anywhere.
When we got to school, Johnny turned off the car. "Johnny," I said quietly. He turned to look at me. "Can you tell me what happened?" I asked in the same tone.
He sighed, "Nothing happened, Elle. Just thought I'd wear them-"
"Johnny. That's bullshit." I interrupted. He sighed, staying quiet. "You know that I'm there for you. All the time. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to spend more than 24 hours without you. Now," I made him look at me by cupping his jaw, "I made a promise. To be there for you. Right?" I showed him the ring that I had taken off when things went bad but put back on. "This means that there's no going back." I placed the hand back on his cheek, softly caressing it. He didn't move, I took it as a cue that I was able to take off the glasses.
When I saw his eyes, my heart broke. They were bloodshot red. Puffy all around. "Johnny, what happened?" I whispered, putting my arms down and grabbing his hands.
"Sid." He sniffs. "He... he hit my mom last night." He admits quietly. "I tried to help her, Elle. I really did, but she just pushed me away and all night I heard her screaming for him to stop." He said, a tear falling down his cheek.
I wiped it away, "I'm so sorry, Johnny..." I whispered.
"The worst part? She won't leave him."
"Your mom is the strongest person that I know. After my own, of course." Johnny cracked a small smile, "and I know that when she gets the courage, she's going to leave him. You both are. I know how awful Sid is, and trust me if I could, I'd get you both out of there." He nodded, another tear falling down his cheek. I hugged him close to me, feeling his ragged breathing and hearing small sniffles come from him.
It broke me, knowing what he goes through at home. I couldn't ever imagine living his life.
When he had recomposed himself, I suggested that we leave. He declined and slipped his glasses back on.
• • •
Johnny and I were in the back of the classroom for English later that day. He had his arm around my shoulders and my head was on his shoulder. His glasses were now put away, seeing that his eyes were back to their normal color. I yawned, watching Romeo confess his love to Juliet.
"This bores you?" Johnny whispers.
I nodded, "Yes it does."
"Why?"
"I just think it's a bit cliche that they only talked for ten minutes and he's already confessing his love. It's not realistic."
"That's Shakespeare."
"Yeah, but he could've written the love confession after a day, wouldn't you think?"
Johnny chuckled, rubbing my shoulder and letting out a long sigh. "I forgot to give this to you." He whispers, moving slightly to get something from his pocket. When he got it, he sat back down and handed me a folded paper. "Wrote it last period. You can read it later." He whispered.
I smiled, taking it from him and kissing his cheek. "Thank you."
• • •
A/N:
ahHHHH two more chapters and then the epilogue!!! i'm so excited!!
sorry if this chapter was a bit all over the place. you can consider this a "filler", but sid is gonna be important in the next chapter so, fair warning
so, the epilogue was rewritten by yours truly because i had made it a bit later than i liked, so i made it a bit earlier. if you don't understand what i just said, it'll make more sense when i post the epilogue :))
