Us Against the World

2

I wake up she's still sound asleep in the bean bag beside me. I lay back but feel a sharp pain in my back. I get up and go to the bathroom. I whipe the muck off the glass so I can see. I lift the back of my shirt, revealing a gnarly bruise. I touch it and it feels like a thousand needles spreading across it. "That doesn't look good." I whip my head around to see
Y/N standing in the doorway. I trop my shirt back down and chuckle nervously. "Ih-it's fine. I've had worse." She walks toward me. "Do you mind if I check it out." I shake my head and she lifts the back of my shirt revealing the bruise. She clicks her tongue. "I'll go get you some ice, stay here." And with that she leaves.

When she comes in she lifts the back of my shirt and the second the ice pack touched my skin I felt as if it were on fire. I stand up and look at her. "That hurt like a bitch. What the hell!"
"I know but it's gonna help the bruising." I sit back down and she places the ice back. I do everything I can not to get up again.

"Oh shit! I gotta get back home or my dad'll freak." I go to walk out the door but she grabs my hand. "Sammy. If anything happens call me." I nod, give her a quick hug and walk out the door.

"Samuel! Where the hell have you been all day!" I walk past him to get to the kitchen to make breakfast. "First of all, it's only nine in the morning. Secondly, you got drunk last night so I'm not surprised that you don't remember pinning me against the wall and telling me you're gonna beat the shit out of me." He lets out an exasperated sigh. "It's an expression dipshit." My brother Becket enters the room. "Dad leave Sam alone." He turns to look at his older son. I inch my way to my room. I lock the door, run to my closet and pull out my Phantom Halo comic. I hear yelling coming from the living room then a bang and a crack. I thought someone got shot in the head so I shove the comic under my pillow and run to where I can see what happened without my dad spotting me. My brother is unconscious on the floor. And there blood on the corner of the table. My dad turns around and I bolt to my room. I hear my dad's footsteps coming down the hall. "Saammmmyyyyy." I hold my breath and hide in my closet with my comic of course. "Saaaammmmmyyyyyyyy." His voice is higher. I crouch down and hug my knees. I wish I'd never left Y/N's abandoned house. I find an old phone and file her phone number. "Hey Sammy what's up?"
"Hey, wanna go to the towns square and keep me company while I do Shakespeare?"
"Sure!"

Once I finished I collected my money and turned to her. "So what do you do with the money?" I swallow the lump in my throat and answer. "I uh- I buy Phantom Halo comics." She smiles. "That's awesome!" I was glad she bought the lie. Really really glad. We walk along the streets for hours. We go into a small little book store. It was filled with the smell of old books. She takes my hand and drags me into one one of the isles. I see a sign hanging from the ceiling. William Shakespeare.

I run my hand across the books spines.

Thuck Thuck Thuck Thuck Thuck.

They were smooth and lined up perfectly. I take out Hamlet and flip through the pages. I wish I could express how the pages felt but I can not. It was absolutely incredible.