I was in my room, listening to music, when I heard the front door slam and my dad curse. He was drunk again.
"ANNA, GET YOUR PATHETIC ASS DOWN HERE NOW!"
I went to hide, because I knew what was going to happen.
You see, my dad is always gone. But when he is home, he's drunk and angry. And I'm his punching bag. Whenever I'm around when he gets home he takes his anger out on me.
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs towards my room. I looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. He started to pound on my door, screaming for me to unlock it.
The door burst open and in came my dad, steaming. I braced myself for what I knew was coming.
"You little brat!" he yelled as he slapped me.
I whimpered, which resulted only in another slap across my face.
"Be quiet!" He pushed me to the floor and kicked me in the stomach repeatedly.
I started crying out in pain, but he just kept kicking me harder. In the stomach, my back, and a few kicks to my head.
There was a knock on the door downstairs, and apparently he heard it too. I was thankful for the distraction.
"You got lucky this time."
I scrambled up from my position on the floor once he left. I waited until I heard him say something to the man at the door, and saw him leave. I sighed in relief. He's gone.
I went over to the mirror to see if I had any new marks on my face and body. I pulled my shirt up and saw a few new bruises forming already. My cheeks were red from when he had slapped me, and my eyes were puffy from crying.
I looked down at my wrists, which had a few scars on them. A few from myself, and others from one time when my dad got particularly angry and grabbed my arm and a glass shard and cut me a few times. I shuddered at the memory.
I decided to clean up and go get some coffee. Anything to get me out of here.
I went to my closet and grabbed a long sleeved shirt, some jeans, and my TOMS. Then I went to my bathroom and put some foundation and light makeup on to hide any evidence of my father's beatings.
I grabbed my mobile and my bag and left for Starbucks.
I had never told anyone about my father, except for my best friend, Megan. Actually, I didn't mean to tell her, but one day she noticed my bruises while we were changing for PE. I didn't want to tell her, but I knew that she wouldn't leave me alone until I did. So I ended up telling her everything, and surprisingly, she didn't force me to tell anybody about it. Of course I wanted to tell somebody, but I was afraid of what he might do to me if I did.
I pulled up in the Starbucks parking lot and locked the car. Oh lovely, everybody decided to come here today.
I sighed and got in line.
Once it was my turn, I ordered a Cinnamon Dolce Cream Frappuccino, my favorite.
As I was reaching into my wallet to grab what I needed, the boy from behind me stepped up and said, "I'll get that for you," with a sweet smile.
"Oh, I couldn't-"
"No, just take it."
I didn't want to be rude, so I accepted his offer.
"Okay, thanks," I said shyly.
"No problem love. I'm Louis, by the way." Louis... cute name.
"I'm Anna," I replied.
He started to order his drink.
"Would you like to come sit with me?" he offered when he was finished.
"Oh, sure," I said, as we grabbed our drinks and headed for a table in the corner.
We sat down, sipping our drinks. I decided that now would be a good time to actually look at him. He had light brown hair, sea green eyes, and the most amazing smile I've ever seen.
"Anna? Hello? Earth to Anna!" he said, waving his hand in front of my face. I blushed, "Sorry, I was deep in thought."
"It's alright love. So tell me about yourself," he said.
I wasn't quite sure how to answer that question.
"Um well, I'm Anna, obviously. I'm 17 years old, and I live with my dad," I said, cringing a little at the last part. I hope he didn't notice. "I love to sing and dance, even though I probably suck at singing. I like to read and listen to music. Pretty boring," I continued.
"Where's your mum?" he asked.
I haven't really talked about her with anybody, either. I shifted in my seat a bit.
"She um, my mum died when I was little," I explained.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked," he said, apologetically.
"No, it's okay. I just miss her, is all," I explained.
After a moment, I broke the silence. "So, why don't you tell me a little bit about you, since you know about me now?"
"Well, my name is Louis Tomlinson, I'm 19, I have 4 younger sisters, and I love to sing. I'm in a band with my four best mates, Harry, Niall, Liam, and Zayn. I love to have fun and just be myself," he said.
"Oh that's cool! You're from One Direction, right? No wonder you looked familiar!" I stated, feeling dumb that I didn't recognize a boy from the world's hottest boy band, especially here in the UK!
He laughed, "Yeah, that's me. But please don't freak out on me!" he said as he looked a little worried that I might flip out on him because he's famous.
"Oh don't worry; I'm not going to freak out, haha. I've listened to your guys' music a few times, you're good!"
He smiled and said "Thanks love."
We sat here talking for about two more hours, completely caught up in each other.
I looked down at my phone and saw that it was getting a little late. "I'm sorry, but I really should be going," I said, disappointed that I was going to have to go home so soon. I was anxiously awaiting the day that I turned 18, so that I could move out and escape from my father's torture.
"Oh, okay..." he said, looking a little sad, too.
I grabbed my phone and my bag and stood up. "Hey, maybe we could meet up again sometime?" he asked, slightly unsure.
"Sure! Do you want my number?"
"Of course! Have mine as well," he said.
We gave each other our mobiles to type in our numbers, and then handed them back. When I reached up, my sleeve went up a bit, and his smile fell, obviously seeing. "Um, you weren't supposed to see that...." I explained.
He didn't say anything, just pulled me into a hug. We stood like this for a while. "Anna..." he started.
"I'll see you later?" I interrupted.
"Erm yeah I guess so. I'll text you?"
"Sure, bye Lou!" I said, as I gathered my stuff and gave him another hug.
"Goodbye, love!" he said with a wave, as I turned around and walked out of the shop towards my car, not at all looking forward to what I would probably find waiting for me at home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hey guys! So this is my first story in a while... I hope I did okay! Love yous! xx
