Lover's Lake | Eddie Munson

06

//brief mention of physical abuse

The next morning when Ann woke up, she could feel the small bruise on her cheekbone. Digging through her makeup, she finally found concealer and attempted to cover it up, giving up, she decided letting her hair down would do more to conceal it than attempting anything with her shitty makeup skills.

"Good morning sweetie, sleep well?" her mother asked her as soon as Ann made her way down the stairs "your hair is down, you usually keep it tied, is there a special occasion?" she remarked, looking at her daughter's hair.

From the dining table, her father stayed silent.

"No, I just wanted to do something different for a change," Ann told her mother, looking at her father briefly. "I'm heading to school now; I'll see you later mom."

"Bye honey!" the brunette woman calls after her daughter, who's already shutting the door to the house. Looking at her husband, she frowns. "She didn't say bye to you, did something happen?" she questions.

The man in question looks up from the newspaper, and shrugs "I don't know. She probably just forgot" he told her as he picked up the steaming hot mug of coffee for a sip, before looking at the newspaper again.

"Hopkins!" Eddie yelled, waving at her over the crowd.

Eddie made his way through the crowded hallway, trying to reach the girl. He could feel people staring as he pushed people out of the way, but he could care less, already used to being stared at. The girl had stopped in her tracks and was looking for him as he slid past some basketball jock.

"Eddie," she said, smiling at him. "I was actually going to ask you something, think you can give me another ride home later today?" she continued, looking at him. Her hair moved out of her face slightly and Eddie squinted.

"why's your hair down?" he asked her, picking up a piece of her hair "You keep it tied at least, usually." But as he finished his phrase, he could see a fresh bruise on her cheek, one that certainly wasn't there the day before. "Holy fuck what is that," he said a little more softly, looking at it a bit closer.

The girl's eyes widened and she grabbed her hair, pushing his hand away "I fell yesterday after you dropped me home" she said a little too quickly "I have my hair down because it covers it, and I'd rather not have anyone question me about it. I tried to cover it but it didn't do anything."

Eddie looked at her, a feeling she wasn't telling the whole truth. "Are you sure you want me to drop you off?" he asked the girl. "Is everything okay?" he whispered, stepping back a little bit to look at her from head to toe.

"I'm fine Eddie, I'll see you later?" Ann said, the lie leaving a bitter taste in her mouth "I'll let you choose the tape today, yeah?" she called out to him as she entered her classroom

Eddie stood in the hallway as he tried to shrug off the impression that something was wrong with his mind.

During lunch, Ann waited for robin in front of the school. They'd agreed to meet here to eat together but the girl was late. Dustin Henderson walked in front of her, but when he saw her, he stopped, coming to stand in front of her.

"Hey, what did you talk about with Eddie the other day?" Dustin asked the girl bluntly. "You guys have been seen together a couple of times since and you've like, never talked to each other before," he said, looking at her

"that's none of your business, Henderson," said Robin who'd just arrived, playfully shoving his hat down on his eyes "It's grown-up things."

Ann laughed and put her hands in her jacket's pockets "You'll probably notice soon enough, Dustin. It's nothing bad if you were wondering." She told him.

"Robin!" Dustin exclaimed with a smile, "You know her? I had no idea you two were friends!" he said to the younger girl, fixing his cap.

"I know her through school," explained Robin to Dustin, as she turned to Ann "And I know Dustin through Steve." She said as Ann nodded along to what was being said, not expecting these two to know each other.

Dropping her bag on the ground, robin grabbed Dustin's shoulders and turned him away from where they'd just been standing, walking a couple of steps forward, pushing him away from their spot. "Us girls have a lot to talk about, so it's better you be on your merry way, dusty buns," said Robin with a smirk, "I'll see you later!"

As soon as Dustin left, Ann told her everything. From Eddie agreeing, to her dad slapping her, showing her the bruise it had left on the girl.

"Are you sure you should go on with your idea?" Said robin examining the bruise on the girl's cheek. "What if your dad does worse?"

Ann was silent for a few seconds, robin was right, and her concerns were valid. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, "I don't think it can get worse than this, you know? And I saw my phone on the stairs today, I think he's reinstalling it because he felt bad." She told robin, running a hand through her hair in frustration "I've already done this much, you know? Stopping now feels dumb."

"The bell's about to ring I think," said Robin, grabbing her bag. "But go with what you think is right. If you ever need my help, just call me"

Ann nodded, and the two girls walked back into the high school, parting ways to head to their different classes.