The Life of Ember Lane

Bruises and Broken Ribs

I woke up from sunlight blinding my eyes. I looked around from where I was on the hard wooden floors. I saw a motionless body lying on the ground in front of the sink. I smelled the putrid smell of throw up that was left in the sink. I slowly got up from the ground and grunted when I remember the bruises and broken ribs he gave me.

It was already morning and school was waiting ever so patiently. My last few months of school were coming to an end. School was never a good part of my life. But my life wasn't very good, so it seemed to fit in perfectly.

I got dressed, and started packing my books in my bag. I walked back down the stairs and grabbed my keys off the coffee table in the living room. When I looked into the kitchen, I saw that my father was gone from the spot he was previously laying in. I looked around, frightened that he would pop out and attack, as if I was in a scary movie.

As I was looking around, I heard the faint sound of throwing up. I ran out the door and into my car. It was the only thing he let me have. But mine was paid for by my money. This car was mine. This sleek black, 67' Mustang Coupe, was my baby.

As I was driving, I passed handmade signs that people had put up to raise awareness. The awareness was abuse. These signs would pop up on almost every street. I ignored these signs the best I could, because I knew they weren't true. No one ever helped. No one ever would help.

That's the problem with this world. They want to raise awareness, but no really ever did. It was as if it wasn't a real issue. So I learned to shut my mouth and keep walking. It was better to hide pain than show it. Usually people laughed or they kept walking. There's really only a handful of people that really care. But I hadn't met any yet. And I probably never would.

As I pulled into the school parking lot, I saw that there was still a good amount of people walking in. At least I wasn't overly late. I got out of my car and made my way into the building.

As I walked down the semi-loud hallways, I got stares from plenty of people. I found my locker, opened it, and started unpacking my bag.

I was almost done when a hand hit my locker door, making it slam loudly. Loud enough to make everyone else in the hall stop conversation and look my way.

"Well, well, well. Look at this. It's the whore." Scott said. He was the jock of the school. The jerk of the school. He was about any bad word, of the school.

"Please, let me go to class." I said softly, barely above a whisper. I started to push past him, but he blocked my way.

"Oh no, I don't think so." he said in a menacing tone. He pushed me roughly against the lockers, making me drop my books and bag. "So who did the little whore sleep with last night?"

"No one, you pig." I said evilly in his face.

"What's that? Does she want to talk back." he said, eyeing me suspiciously. "You should watch what you say." he said. He reminded me of my father. I'd hate to be his girlfriend.

"Why should I? They have always taught us to tell the truth. Well, I'm telling it." I said with a grin. His face contorted with pure rage. It wasn't a pretty face to begin with, this just made it worse. He pulled back his hand, and slung forward with a strong force. It was hard enough to throw me to the ground.

"That'll teach you watch what you say!" He yelled him my face, then walked off. I looked around the hallway, people still staring. Then they walked off as if nothing had happened.

I got up and went to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror, only to find a purplish bruise starting for form onto my left cheekbone. I slowly lifted my shaking hand and lightly touched the purple area. But it stung at even the softest touch.

I pulled out a stick of concealer for my bag. This wasn't the first time this had happened. And I needed to cover up what my dad gave me.

I finished covering up the bruise and started making my way to class. I got in right before class started. I sat in the back of the room, I didn't pay attention in class anyway. I didn't have very many plans after high school and I didn't have the money to go to college. So I doodle, It was kind of an escape. I was in my own bubble and no one ever popped that bubble.

The rest of the day went by fairly quick and I was on my way home before anything else could happen. I yanked the keys out of the car and started making my way up the stairs to the front door. I took a deep breath before opening the door to once again find a drunken man.