Change of Heart

Chapter 72

**

Finally reaching my house, I went straight to my room and just plopped myself on the bed. I was just so done with today, I just wanted to sleep. A knock sounded on my door just as I shut my eyes. So much for taking a nap. Getting up, I opened the door to find Serine standing there. "I thought that was you I heard."

"Sorry I didn't come up to let you know I was home. I had a pretty long day, so I was just about ready to take a nap." She narrowed her eyes at me as if I was making excuses.

"That's alright. I had homework to do anyways." Looking down, she pointed at the bottom of my shirt. "What happened?"

I looked at where she was pointing and realized there had been a huge hole. Dammit, this must've been when I collided with Zeke's brother's bike. "I was attacked by a bike. The bike won."

Serine started giggling to herself.

"What's so funny?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"That's pretty sad to be beat up by a bike."

Wrapping my arms around her, I started tickling her and she laughed even more. "Don't laugh at my clumsiness." The louder she laughed, the bigger my smile had become. Even after a horrible day such as this one, she manages to make me forget all these hardships, even if only for just a little while.

The front door opened only to be slammed shut again. All that tension just came rushing back. Mike had returned home.

Mike came storming to my room, and pulled Serine away from me picking me up into the air from my shirt. "Caden!" Serine called out grabbing a hold of his arm. "What are you doing?"

Pushing her off his arm, she hit the wall falling to the floor. "Shut up!" He yelled reverting his attention back to me.

My anger stirred and I gripped his arm tight. "You bastard! Why did you-"

I was thrown to the floor and kicked in the side. Groaning, he kicked me several times more. "You got into another damn fight and because of that, you made me miss an important event!" Kicking me one last time, he stormed off. Holding my side, I got up and rushed to Serine's aid.

"Serine, wake up." I shook her several times but she wouldn't wake up. I realized she had been knocked out from the hit to the wall. Must've slammed her head.

Tears filled my eyes as I picked her up laying her on my bed. That damn Mike! This is the first time he's lashed out on her, so why now? I'll never forgive him!

Because of the stupid foster care system, we can't leave him even if we wanted to, and boy did I want to! Only five more years, and I can take Serine out of this hell hole!

Rather than taking a nap like I planned, I sat next to Serine waiting for her to wake up. I didn't know what I could do...I've never had to deal with something like this. The most that's ever happened to her was that she would get cuts on her knees from falling in the cement, nothing more.

I'd call someone to look after her, but I wouldn't know who to call, and even if I did, the only phone in this house is in Mike's room, and there's no way I'd ever be able to use it. More tears fell from my eyes the more I thought about the situation. No matter what, there was nothing...

Serine groaned, and I instantly wiped the tears from my eyes not wanting her to see me cry. "Serine, can you hear me?" Helping her sit up, she groaned even more, holding the side of her head.

Blinking her eyes a few times, she looked over at me with a pained look. "What happened?" Did she lose her memory of this somehow?"

"You fell and hit your head..." I didn't want to tell her about Mike. If she did forget what happened just now, I don't want her to have to relive it, even if it's only by memory. "Sorry, I couldn't catch you in time."

Shaking her head, she gave a light smile. "That's ok, at least you tried, right?" I wanted to cry again. Even as horrible as I am, she looks at me as if I'm some kind of hero. She wrapped her arms around me, holding onto me tightly. "You'll always be here for me, right?"

I embraced her, holding her close to me. I was unable to hold the tears back any longer. Since her face was buried in my shirt, I let them fall, but tried masking my voice as I spoke. "Always."