alleyway [h.s]

chapter 1

2019

"Ugh are you almost done here? I don't know why you are the one who has to stay here late out of all the people that work here." She says, annoyed that I still have work to do, at 11:30pm on a Friday night.

"Al, I told you, I offered to stay and finish up and the owners trust me enough. You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I'll meet you later." I say to my best friend, with very few patience.

"Yeah, they trust you because you dated their fuck face of a son, and they still love you after what happened doesn't mean you have to stay here late all the time. " She says, with a roll of her eyes, which brings a frown to my face.

Me and Alice are total opposites. That's what makes us best friends. I find it easier to get along with someone who isn't the same as you because then, it's like hanging out and being friends with yourself, which would literally kill me. Alice has always been the outgoing one, the party animal. She doesn't take peoples shit, so don't get on her bad side. She once beat the shit out of two guys who once tried to touch me in a bar, while I stood there watching on my shaky legs. I wish I could be like her sometimes.

Me and my ex boyfriend, Sean, dated for a year, we broke up about 2 months ago. Alice was right for calling him a fuck face though.

"Well his parents aren't the problem, and I like staying and finishing up. It's a good distraction." I reply while cleaning tables.

"Ugh whatever. I'm starving. I'm gonna go back to my house. Meet me there later, i love you. Don't be too long now." She says, as she's grabbing her bag and heading for the door.

I only wave her off and give her a tight lipped smile. I love my bestfriend of course, but she can sometimes be a little impatient, but she's a great friend who always sticks up for me.

My thoughts go back to Sean. We met at a party 2 years ago, and made it official a year after that, then broke up a year later, which was two months ago. My mom and my few friends really liked him, his family liked me. A little into the year we were together, he changed. He got violent with me, got drunk, hurt me places that people couldn't see and told me that if I told anyone, he would ruin my life. So, I kept quiet. I let him do whatever he wanted until I had enough and fought back. I broke up with him and told my parents and his, which no longer talk to him because of it. At first, no one really believe be besides Alice. She never liked him to begin with so it was easier for her to believe it. My mom on the other hand adored him, so when I broke up with him and told her the reason, she flipped out at me saying that this isn't something I should lie about and that Sean is the nicest man I'll ever meet. Of course he denied it, but I was the one with all the marks and bruises on my body. His parents believed me after a while. Like my mother. They said that their son wouldn't do that, and they didn't raise him like that. I showed them any picture I could find, that I secretly took, and they believed me. It took a lot for me to open up about it and tell them but in the end, I won. My mom believed me, my best friend believed me, his parents believed me, and now, Sean moved to Manchester. I hope he's not doing what he did to me to someone else. It's a pain that no woman should go through. Men also.

Since then, I haven't had the courage to talk to anyone new. My self confidence disappeared, and I didn't want anyone seeing me and my body at all. I guess that would be any girls reaction after being called every name in the book and being beat up.

My thoughts are distracted by my phone buzzing in my back pocket. I wonder who would be calling me this late. I pull my phone out and see the contact name. It's my mom. I press the green phone button and put it to my ear.