"GWEN! GET THE FUCK UP!"
Gwen immediately woke up and sat up. What day was it? She's pretty sure it was Monday. A bright new start of the week. She couldn't wait until she finally left for school to leave the house.
Her father stormed into her room and slapped Gwen across the face.
"S-Sorry, sir..." Gwen stammered before standing up, only for her father to grab her wrist. He dragged her to the living room and threw her to the wall.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE AND GO TO SCHOOL BEFORE I BEAT YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T GO!"
Gwen quickly got up and ran out to school. She saw the other kids there as well. She walked over to her Egg Chair and sat down, taking out a book to read. Now, Gwen was only a little girl and so she thought that all kids were supposed to get hit by their parents. She didn't think it was normal to eat 3 times a day, and she thought everyone had to sleep in the basement whenever they did something bad. Poor girl never got a good childhood which is why she always acted so depressed.
"Hey, Gwen!"
Gwen flinched at the sudden name call. She saw Duncan running up to her.
"What do you want?" Gwen asked in her usual monotone.
"I have an idea of how we can escape!" Duncan smirked.
"Oh, please, not this again," Gwen sighed.
Duncan's frown dropped at this. "Do you have any ways?"
Gwen sighed and closed her book, leaning her head on her hand. "No, but I know it's impossible to escape."
"Why?" Duncan asked, curiously.
"Well, if we do, Chef will get mad at us..." Gwen said, thinking of Chef beating them up for not following his rules.
Duncan raised a brow, "What would he do?"
Gwen sighed and put her knees up to her chest. "H-He might... He might... B-be-"
"He might what?" Duncan asked then smirked. "He might beat us? Oh, please! How many horror shows do you watch?"
Gwen sighed and rolled her eyes. Did he really not know about-
"What's that?" Duncan asked, pointing to the side of Gwen's head. Gwen put a finger to where Duncan had asked about, and winced in pain. Duncan gave her a mirror and she took a look.
"It's a bruise," Gwen sighed.
"How'd you get it?" Duncan asked.
Gwen was about to say truthfully, but then asked him a question first. "How are you parents like?"
"Well," Duncan searched through his head. "They're very kind, nice, feed me lots of cereal, let me play places, kiss me before leaving, yeah. Why do you ask?"
Gwen sighed. So not all parents were like this... More families probably loved their kids. Why did Gwen have to be so unfortunate?
"How are yours like?" Duncan asked.
Gwen got up and started to walk away only to be stopped when she found a hand on her wrist. She looked back and saw her father staring down at her with a huge smile on his face. Gwen's eyes widened as she tried to run, but he grabbed her and pulled her up so they made eye contact. He then started to choke her so she couldn't breathe.
"Gwen! GWEN!"
Gwen was snapped out of her trance as she looked at Duncan. She looked around and could see she still was on her egg chair. She sighed and slouched down.
"Are you okay, Gwen?" Duncan asked, worriedly.
"I'm fine..." Gwen sighed.
"You never answered my question," Duncan said. "How is your parents like?"
Gwen looked down at the thoughts of her dad came into her mind. His beatings, his curses, his threats- it was too much for her. She just wanted a normal loving family like Duncan and probably everyone else. She suddenly felt something wrap around her. She noticed Duncan hugging her as she felt tears rolling down her face.
"Don't worry, I'm here for you," Duncan said. "Why did you start crying?"
Gwen looked into Duncan's eyes and felt something different. He felt so warm and kind... She's never felt that before.
"Gwen? Are you okay?" Duncan asked again only gaining a nod in response. "Why did you cry?"
"I-I'm sorry..." Gwen said, trying to stop crying. "I-I promise I won't cry again..."
Duncan grew confused at this. He wasn't mad at her for crying. He was more worried than mad. Everyone cries once in a while, right?
"Gwen, it's okay to cry," Duncan said, grabbing some of Gwen's bangs and pulling them to the side. "Everyone is allowed to cry."
"Not me..." Gwen said, sadly.
"What do you mean?" Duncan asked.
"I-I want to be alone right now..." Gwen said, getting up and walking away from Duncan.
Duncan stood there confused. He's never seen Gwen cry before. She was acting different and Duncan wished he could understand why.
