Stranded || K.TH

1

The first day of senior year was finally here; it's your last-first day of high school to ever happen. Most people would be ready to get out of high school and start their own lives; however, you didn't necessarily feel the same way as others did.

You actually enjoyed going to school, but the reason isn't what you think it would be. It wasn't because you liked doing work or because spending seven hours learning information that would just disappear out of your mind sounded like fun to you. You actually always liked to learn, but the school you went to didn't give a care in the world about students retaining the information. They'd mention it once and just expected you to understand what was happening. It was a complete waste of time if you ask me.

Going to school allowed you to be free from your abusive household. At least at school, you were able to spend time with your friends without living in constant fear. To you, the school was like a vacation from everything at home. Your only priority was school work, and even then that acted as a distraction. Anywhere was better than being at your home.

You grew up in a small town living with your grandparents your whole life. Your dad had left not too soon after your birth, and your mother left just when you turned four. Being "fortunate" enough, your grandmother had been the ones to raise you and take care of your needs; however, your grandmother could be really strict at times, and that came with a price.

Although you appreciated the act, you didn't understand why you were treated so badly. You had straight A's and never got into any trouble. You had never done drugs or slept around like most people you knew. The only reason that you could come up for her treating you like that, was that she held a grudge against your parents for leaving you there with her, and she took it out on you.

It feels so constricting at times like you can't even breathe when you're inside of it. It didn't always use to be this way; the yelling, the cursing, the constant feeling of being unwanted by your own family. It's been like this for the past few years. At times, you thought about if you'd just be better off alone.

꙳⋆ ☽ ┈ 𓇬 ꧁ ❦ ꧂ 𓇬 ┈ ☽ ⋆꙳

*Flashback to the night before*

꙳⋆ ☽ ┈ 𓇬 ꧁ ❦ ꧂ 𓇬 ┈ ☽ ⋆꙳

"I'm so sick and tired of you always disrespecting me. If you don't like being here, then get out of my house!" Your grandmother yells hatefully from across the room.

"Fine, if that's what you want, then I will! I just get treated like crap whenever I'm here anyway!" You shouted back.

You blackout for a moment and find yourself on the floor being repeatedly kicked when you finally come to moments later.

You used to just let her get away with treating you like shit. You'd just sit there and let her say or do whatever she wanted. It was always over the most ridiculous reasons too, making it easy for her to find a reason to get violent. It was just within the past year that you had finally gotten the courage to stand up for yourself; she hated that.

Your grandfather was the complete opposite. Although he wasn't your biological grandfather, he's who you had grown up with to know the best. He spent most of his time at his workplace, where he usually spent working overtime. You knew he did it to stay away from the house. Even when he was at home, he hardly had any interaction with you. Although it wasn't directed to you personally on his behalf, you couldn't help but feel neglected by the both of them.

He always just let her do what she wanted and get away with it. You had mentioned to him before about the two of you living away from there, but he always found a way to stay with her. As much as she abused both of us, he still found ways to love her. You thought he was crazy for staying sometimes. It was obvious that the longer you stayed there, the worse she got.

You get up off of the floor and turned your back on her, rolling your eyes as you began making your way to your bedroom that was right down the hallway. You went inside and locked the door behind you. As you sat down on your bed, you began to feel a tear trickle down your left cheek. You quickly wiped it away, trying to hold them in, but as usual, it failed.

You hated crying; you thought it made you look weak. The eyes being all puffy and red with the entire face being completely swollen; It was not a sight one would want to see. None of your friends had ever seen you cry. Which is kind of ironic considering that's all you did whenever you were alone.

You were a very emotional person; it didn't take much for your body to begin shedding a tear. It wasn't like you cried over just anything though. You just had a good heart and cared about everyone around you. You figured it probably had a connection with the living conditions you had while growing up.

You got up from your bed and began packing some clothes and other important items into a fairly large suitcase. You took one final look around your room before you left.

"This is it. I'm finally doing it." You mumbled to yourself as you left your room, making your way past your psychotic grandmother again.

"Where do you think you're going?" She says as she looks up at you hatefully from the living room couch.

"I'm leaving. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" Your tone becomes sarcastic as you pointed at your suitcase on the floor.

"You won't make it on your own without me. You think anybody else is gonna care about you? They're not."

"Gosh, I don't know why you hate me so much! Sometimes I feel like I would be better off dead!" You stormed out of the house, slamming the door on the way out.

You didn't look back. You knew that if you did, you would end up going back there. You walked to your best friends house that was just 10 minutes away from where you lived. It would've been easier if you could drive, but you didn't have your license because your grandmother didn't allow you to do anything on your own.

You thought about just how much of your life has been taken away because of her. It's like you had been living under her spell or like she had complete control over you. Most times you wished your mother was still around, but just like everyone else in your life, they always left.

When you arrived at your friends house, you explained everything that had happened. She didn't even hesitate to let you know that you could stay there with her as long as you needed.

"You know what? She doesn't deserve you. On the bright side, you'll always have me!" She exclaimed with that big grin across her face that never fails to make you smile also.

Raleigh was the number one person in your life that understood what you were going through. She lived with her grandparents, and both of her parents weren't in the picture as well. The two of you just got each other, and you knew you would be completely lost without her. She was your person.

"Let's go to my room and have fun. Plus, we have to prepare for our first day back at school tomorrow!"

You nod and smile at her as the both of you get settled in before going to bed.

As you closed your eyes to fall asleep, you had no idea that your life would soon be changed forever.