The Loner's Journey

Chapter 2

Archer's POV
I woke up to my alarm blaring in my ear. Groaning I smack it to turn it off and sit up in bed. I look out the window above my bed and see the sun just starting to rise over the tree line of the woods my house backs up to. I also notice some dark clouds rolling in and decide I need to get ready quickly before it starts raining since dad won't allow me to use the only umbrella we have. I stand up and stretch then grab what I want to wear out of my closet before heading to the bathroom to shower. I chose a black shirt with a cross design on it, jeans, my favorite black and grey sneakers, socks, and a maroon beanie. I place my clothes and towel on the toilet lid and turn the shower on, then let it heat to the perfect temperature and hop in. I quickly but quietly wash my hair with my mango and pineapple scented shampoo then rinse and repeat for conditioner. Then I grab a washcloth and put some of my body wash on it before scrubbing myself clean and rinsing off. After I'm sure I got all the soap out of my hair and off my body, I turn the shower off and get out to dry myself off then put my clothes on. Once I'm ready I brush my hair and teeth, then head to the kitchen to make my dad some breakfast for when he wakes up. It's one of the things he makes me do for him on a daily basis and if I don't I know he'll be rougher the next time he decides to beat me up. Speaking of, I can still feel a slight ache in my jaw and chest where he hit me really hard last night. After I finish his breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee, I hurry back to my room to check the time and finish getting ready for school. I just barely close my door before I hear my dad open his door to go eat. I sigh in relief and look at my alarm clock. I have a little over an hour before I need to get to school, so I pack up my school books and homework before putting on deodorant and checking to make sure no bruises or cuts are visible in the mirror on the back of my bedroom door. I see a small cut just barely peeking out under my beanie and a purple bruise just starting to form on my jaw. I move my hair a bit to hide the cut and think about a believable story to tell the teachers for my bruise. Once I get done I quietly head to the living room to see if my dad has left for work. He hasn't. I can see his back is facing me from the kitchen table. I come around the corner and greet him. "Good morning father." I say. He turns around slightly to see me and then grunts a reply and turns to begin eating the last bites of his breakfast. Assuming that was all I'd get out of him for a greeting, I walked out the front door and to my school which was at the end of the block. On my way there I see my best friend Danny walking to school as well. He hasn't noticed me yet, I sneak up to him and jump on his back! He yells then realized it was me and gave me a playful glare. "What did you do that for? Nearly gave me a heart attack, Ace!" He said. Ace is his nickname for me. "Well you were wide open and I couldn't resist giving you a bit of a scare. But, did you sleep well? You look kinda tense." I reply. He looks at his phone for a second then turns it off and puts it in his pocket, he won't look at me though. "Yeah, I slept ok. I'm more worried about you." He says. "Why?" I ask. He looks at me blankly like I'm and idiot then turns around and starts walking to school without another word. Eventually he looks at me from the corner of his eye and finally says. "I see that bruise on your jaw, and I know you don't usually wear your hair like that even with a beanie on. What happened? Was it your dad again?" I look away and down at the ground not answering.I start to fiddle with my fingers and sweat a bit. "I'll tell you later, ok?" I say as we enter the school gate. "Fine. But you better tell me everything. No half truths or hidden details." He says. I nod my head and we go to our first class together. I was really glad to find out we had most of the same classes this year. Though I still dreaded gym class where all the jocks and athletes liked to pick on me for my size and lanky limbs. 'But here's to a good first day of school' I said in my head.

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Authors note

I hope you guys are enjoying! We'll start getting into the begging of juicy bits soon!