Battered and Bruised.

January: entry 6

"Well," Chase started. "Like that she is abused at home." My mom went silent. "Oh, well, um you see, its, um..." she shot a look at me. I nodded, encouraging her to tell the truth. "It's true..." she said, with a disappointed look in her eyes. "You see, her father is a drunk, and he gets short tempered, so he beats both J and I..." she said, tears welling in her eyes. "Then when I get drunk, I beat her, since I also get short tempered." She said, still looking with disappointment. "Oh." Chase stated. He looked sad, but he can't help what happens behind closed doors... "I'm trying to convince James to go to rehab, to get better, we want to go together." I had never heard of this plan before, why hadn't they told me about it? it's so dumb. They needed help, I knew that, but why can't they just ask me before they get it? "So you see, we're trying to kick this bad habit..." She said. "Well, do you think if my parents would allow it, Justine could spend time at my house, you know, while you guys go to rehab?" Chase asked. Oh no. I don't want to spend time at some guys house that I barely know. "Of course!" She said clapping. "Thank you, Chase!" My mom said, happily, Chase smirked at me, "You ready to go?" Chase asked. I nodded my head and we left.

We started up the street.

"Chase, um, I- Are you angry at me?" I asked, stumbling over my own words. 

"No, why would I?" He replied, questioning.

"Because you just seemed angry. You look tense..." I stated

"Don't think that just because I'm tense that I'm angry." He said

"Oh, okay." I answered.

We continued up the street, he walked up a set of steps, got out a key, and started to unlock the black door, with a "Welcome Friends!" sign nailed to it. "Voila!" he said. "This is my house." Chase said. "Mom?" He shouted. "Guess she's at work..." he trailed off, almost talking to himself, but knowing someone was in his presence.

"So, this is your house?" I asked. it was HUGE. It had about three stories and a balcony, it almost deserved to be in one of those rich people's neighbourhoods. "Yeah, it's not like I'm some bad guy raised in 'da hood'" he said laughing, I giggled, it's true, Manor-way High was a pretty expensive school, it was really nice, I got here through a scholarship, when I'm bullied, I focus more on school. The people in Manor-way? Not so much. Chase sat on the couch. "C'mere, I don't bite...much" he grinned, I walked over slowly to the boy on the couch, I sat down, a few feet away. "Why are you so far away? I'm not that mean." He said. "No, but you're big." I said, yes, I know, what 15 year old girl is scared of big? Well, I am, so get over it. "What's so bad about big? I can protect you better than some twig of a guy." He chucked, he scooted closer to me. I stayed where I was. "Oh, so now you're letting me close, what about at Hana and Liz's place? What was so bad about me then?" He asked, curious. "Well, I didn't even know you, all I had to go by was 'that creep that stared at me all of math class.'" I said, annoyed. "Ooh, so I was a 'creep' was I?" He asked.

I heard small footsteps run down the steps "Hey! Why are you home early?!" A boy around 13 asked. "Because I had to help a friend out." Chase replied, the boy looked at me, then back to his older brother. "Well, mom said-" he began, only to be cut off. "Mom said I couldn't come home early without a valid reason, and I have one." He looked at me, I nodded, he could tell almost anyone he wanted. "What's that reason?" The boy asked. "I had to see if something was true." Chase said "And why are you home early?" He asked, adding on to his statement. "Half day, and what did you need to know?" The boy asked. "Look, Drake. I'll tell you later." The boy who's name was Drake looked at me, "Who's she?" Drake asked. "This is my friend, Justine." Chase said, getting annoyed, but holding it in. "You mean girlfriend?" Drake said. "No, she just wants to be friends." Chase said, it's true. I did. "OOOOOHHHH! FRIEND ZONED!!!!" Drake shouted. Chase finally got sick of his brother, and lifted him over his shoulder. "Alright, punk, beddy bye time." Chase said, Drake was pounding his fists on his shoulders, having no effect whatsoever on his older, taller, and much stronger brother. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I'M TELLING MOOOOM!" Drake shouted, I laughed, it was funny. "Oh no you're not! Because I can say you were trying to take your meds early." he said "What meds?!" Drake asked. "Exactly!" I heard Chase say, as I heard a bedroom door close. He came rushing back down. "Sorry about that." He smiled. I laughed. "It's fine, your brother looks a lot like you." I said, he was almost a spitting image, except for the height difference. Same blue eyes, same brown hair, same posture, almost exactly alike. "Nah, he's like a more annoying version of mini-me." he said laughing. We sat on the couch watching T.V. Until we heard the door open, it was a well-dressed woman in a pencil skirt and blazer covering a white polo shirt.

"Hey, Chase.Who's this?" She asked smiling. "This is Justine, her parents they um," He looked at me, I smiled giving him an "It's okay." look. "Her parents are going to rehab, do you mind if she stays here? You know, until they can get better?" He asked. His mother sighed. "Chase, you know, what am I gonna do with you." She asked. "Its fine with me, but she'll be staying in the guest room." She added. "Okay." He smiled his cheekiest smile. He looked down at me, smiling. "Thank you, Mrs...?" I asked "McAfee, Julia McAfee." She smiled. "Thanks, Mrs.McAfee." I smiled. I could tell she had an interest in me, but I was still scared she wouldn't like me. "Your father will be home soon, he has to stay until 6."  Julia said. "Oh, okay." Chase called back, not really caring. "I'm still debating weather to pull out the baby pictures..." Julia began, attempting to get Chase's attention. "You know, put some right here," She pointed over near the hallway at the door. "so when anyone enters, they can see how adorable you were in the bathtub." Chase shot his head back. "No need for that, mom." He said. I laughed at the fact that he actually cared about how he was seen through other people's eyes. This was gonna be a different experience.