Our spot

7.//Do they care?\\

TW: mention of sexual harassment/ rape.
Drug use and violence.

The two girls excitedly ran across the front lawn and hopped onto their bikes. "Who are we picking up first?" Maggie turned her head waiting for an answer from Juliet. "Joey first, Dawn called me to say she can't come because she has to babysit her little brothers." "Well we cant leave her behind, it's the rule." Maggie claims disappointed. "She said we should go without her. She didn't want to ruin our day, maybe she is coming later when her parents get back home."

"Alright then." Maggie says as she changes her position to go. Juliet follows along and they drive over to Joey's house. It's hot as hell outside but they are used to it, the small town 'Summerville' has soft winters and very hot summers. The girls drive under the bright blue sky until they see Joey fixing his bike in the front yard of his house.

The girls get off their bikes and let them fall against the fence of the front lawn. Joey turns his head to look at them and waves them over. "Hey Jo!" The two friends call in harmony. "Hey there lady's, how you doing?" "We're good, what happened to your bike?" Maggie questions as her and Juliet plop down on the grass.

"Dawn and i were just riding our bikes up in the mountains and a rock got stuck in the chain." "So can't you just get the rock out then?" Juliet questions with a confused look on her face. "That's what I'm trying to do, you smart ass." Joey hisses as he lets his bike fall on the ground from anger. "I'm done trying. Alen should be here any moment, he can help."

Right on that moment,they hear a yell come from the end of the street. They look at the direction the sound comes from and see the silhouette of a tall teenage boy on a bike. "Sup assholes" Alen greets as he throws his bike on the ground and walks across the lawn. "Hey Alen." the girls greet him back sweetly.

"What's going on?" Alen nods at the bike to clarify his question. "Yeah, small problem. There is a rock stuck in the chain of my bike." "How the fuck did you proceed to do that?" Alen kneels next to the bike and looks for the rock. "Can you hand me the screwdriver?" Alen questions, not looking away from the bike.

"Screwdriver?" Joey gives him a confused look but still hands him it. "Did you seriously not try the screwdriver? of course you didn't get the damn rock out you dumbass." Alen tries and immediately whips the rock out with the screwdriver. "How- how did you?" "It's not that hard, man" "Whatever, thanks dude." Alen gives him a silent nod. "Okay we got everyone, let's go." Maggie hops on her bike and looks at the rest of the group. They look at each other and follow along. They all get on their bikes and start driving downtown.

Alen wasn't in a good mood, the group could notice. He's normally not the nicest but being so rude towards Joey is not something he would usually do. The two girls drive a bit behind the guys and lower their speed to create some more distance. "Do you think he's okay?" Maggie suddenly questions as she quickly looks at Juliet and back at the road. "What do you mean? Are you talking about Alen?" Juliet doesn't take her eyes off of the road for a split second. "Yeah, he seemed a bit pissed." Maggie says concerning. "It's probably nothing, he is always pissed." Juliet brushes it off and drives.

The truth is, Alen has a messed up father figure, if you can even call him a father figure. His mother is very unstable and his dad is a drug addict. When Alen grew up, he always told himself he will never end up like his parents. He would stay away from drugs and he would be strong, at least that's what he told himself. But it was harder then he expected to not get dragged into all the shit when you literally live in it, when it's your home.

Alen started doing drugs when he found out his dad had touched a girl who was his age. He knew his dad was low but he was disgusted by the image of his dad raping a girl who could have been his sister or someone in his class.

'THIS MORNING'
Alen lays in his bed. He is the only one awake, at least that's what he thinks. He hasn't slept all night and he feels like shit. The front door creaks open and footsteps come up the stairs. It seems like someone tries to be quiet but fails miserably. Alen knows it's his dad but his instinct tells him to act like he's asleep. He throws his blanket over himself and shuts his eyes in a heartbeat. His heart is beating fast until he hears the footsteps pass his bedroom door. His muscles relax and he sighs in relieve. Mumbles come from the room that is known for him as his parent's room.

The mumbles keep getting louder and Alen keeps digging his face deeper in his pillow. He hears loud bangs on the walls and glass breaking.
'I have to stay strong, I can't let it slip.'
He wipes a small teardrop away before it could even roll down his cheek. No one would ever be able to see such a small tear, right?

'PRESENT TIME'
Maggie did, she didn't saw the tear but she saw it in his eyes. He wasn't okay. Her smile slowly faded away as she saw the pain in his eyes.

Everyone in the friend group had nothing except each other, and Maggie just realised.