Better Off Dead (boyXboy)

Chapter One

Kellin's POV

"Get out of bed now, you worthless piece of shit!" I hear Mr. Eaton yell from somewhere in the house. The truth is, I've been awake for the past half hour trying to convince myself to get out of bed. I have good days and bad days. Yesterday was a bad day, so I'm dreading today.

Nevertheless, I threw off my covers and pulled my ass out of bed, sighing loudly. I put on a long sleeved, black shirt and made sure my arms were covered. Then I searched for my favorite pair of black skinny jeans, finding them abandoned in the corner of my room. I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and make sure I look at least half presentable; the truth of the matter, is that I look like complete shit. I have dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep and my eyes look empty, lifeless. My face is extremely pale and my body frail and thin, most likely due to a lack of food. It's not like I don't eat by choice.

"Whatever," I mumble, walking out of the bathroom. Why do I even care about my appearance anyways? No one will remember what I look like in a few months time.

I slip on my toms, and head downstairs quietly. If I'm lucky, I will be able to avoid the Eaton's altogether this morning; luck has never been on my side.

"What the hell took you so long, Princess? Too busy primping for your boyfriend to glance at a clock?" I hang my head, and keep walking. I'm late enough as it is. If I hang back, my mouth will get ahead of me and Mr. Eaton will come after me.

"Hey, faggot! Show some respect, would you? If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have a place to be right now. She asked you a question, I suggest you answer it." Respect?! Really?! He is the last person that can preach about respect! I feel my face go hot, so I bite my tongue and shove past him, but Mr. Eaton grabs my wrist and roughly pulls me back. "Do you need hearing aids? I told you to answer her, you little shit! Maybe I should give you a little lesson on respect," he threatened. My jaw tightened and my hands balled into fists.

"You shouldn't use words you don't understand, Mr. Eaton." Now I look at him. His face has gone red with anger, and my wrist hurts because his grip is so tight. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground.

"You fucking worthless piece of shit!" His foot connects with my ribs, and all the air escapes my body. "You should be grateful for everything we've done!" He kicks me again, and I gasp for air while curling into a ball. "You're nothing but a huge fucking waste of time!" He grabs me by my arms and yanks me up off of the ground. His fist connects with my jaw, and I ignore the metallic taste in my mouth. "Get the fuck out of here! If I find out you didn't go to school, there'll be hell to pay tomorrow. I don't wanna see you until after school tomorrow, got it?" He spits the words at me and I hold back tears. I'm such a fucking crybaby sometimes. I'm just giving into him by getting upset, so I swallow hard, and shove the feelings away. I just nod, and he shoves me away roughly. Taking the hint, I stumble out side and head in the direction of school.
***********

The walk here was uneventful. As soon as the house was out of my sight, I let the dam I had built crack. Tears flooded down my face the entire way to school, but I didn't care. People stared at me, but not one person asked if I was okay, and it was probably for the best. What would I have told them?

Instead of going to first block, I duck into the nearest bathroom and assess myself in a mirror. My jaw is swollen and a bruise is already forming. My sides hurt like hell, so I decide to pull up my shirt. I take a sharp breath when I see the dark bruises covering my stomach. Perfect. Just fucking great. I silently curse my stepfather for the millionth time. Suddenly, it all becomes too much for me to handle. All I desperately want is a release; something to take away the pain.

I watch in the mirror as I unhook the silver chain from around my neck, and pull it out from under my shirt. My eyes wander down to my hand; in it is an evil thing that I can't seem to get away from. I stare at the blade, and watch the dull lights bounce off of it. A tear escapes, and I quickly wipe it away. I've done this so many times now that it shouldn't even matter. I roll up my left sleeve, and bring the sharp metal to my skin, drawing a thin trail of blood as I slice it. I sigh as another tear rolls down my cheek, but I ignore it this time. Just as I'm about to do it again, something stops me; the sound of footsteps.

"What the hell are you doing?" an angry, yet gentle voice says from behind me. I roll down my sleeve and pocket the blade. When I turn around, I see a Hispanic boy about my height and long brown hair watching me with a mixture of hurt and sympathy.

"Why the fuck do you care? You don't know me." He crosses his arms and takes a few steps closer to me. Who the hell does this guy think he is?

"I'm Vic; I care because I used to do that too. I know this seems cliché or whatever, but I don't care. Why were you doing that?" The anger is gone and he genuinely seems to want to help. Too bad for him; I'm too far gone. I just stare at him in silence. "Fine. Fair enough, we just met. You don't have to tell me why. What's your name?"

"Uh, Kellin. Look, I'm fine, really. You can go."
"I'm not in a hurry," the stubborn bastard says, hopping up onto the counter. "Look, I just... I just want to help. I know it's not my place... I just can't stand to see such a beautiful person hurting so much." Wait, what? Did he really just say that to me? I just blush a million shades of red and look at my feet. I can hear his smile. "Tell you what. I'll give you my number. If you need someone to talk to or just want a friend to hang out with, call me. Just... please don't hurt yourself anymore. It's not fair to you."

"Why are you being so nice to me? We just met. No one cares about me," I accidentally blurt out before I can tell my big mouth to shut up. Fuck.

He turns his head to the side, contemplating, then jumps down off of the counter with a smirk on his face. Holy fucking hell, that smirk is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my entire life. No. Stop it. "Well, bad news Kellin. I care about you. You look like you need a friend. People as flawless as you don't deserve to be sad and lonely." He smiles, and turns around to where he threw his stuff. He rips a piece of paper out of his binder, scribbles something on it, and hands it to me. "Seriously, call me whenever you need something." I just nod, giving him a confused look. "Alright, see you around Kells," he calls over his shoulder in a bright, cheery voice.

"Uh, yeah. See you." My mind is spinning and I feel like throwing up; not only did I just make a.. Uh... friend, but he was flirting with me and told me he cares about me. What the fuck just happened??
*********

The last bell rings, and I take my time gathering my things. I have no clue where I'm going to stay tonight. I don't have any friends I could stay with. I'm tempted to call that Vic guy, but I just met him; I don't want to give him the wrong impression. I walk slowly and mindlessly to my locker, put all of my stuff away, and head toward the front doors of the school.

Not knowing what to do, I sit on a curb facing the parking lot, and watch as it steadily clears out. After about an hour, most of the cars are gone. I still have no fucking clue where to go. I guess one night sleeping on a park bench won't kill me. I stand up and start heading in the direction of the park.

"Hey, Kellin!" A vaguely familiar voice yells above the roar of a car. I turn to see Vic has pulled up next to me in a little black car. I stop walking and smile a little.

"Hey," I say rather awkwardly. He flashes me a huge, perfect smile.
"Need a ride?" I shake my head. "Sure? It's not a problem. Where do you live?"

"No, I'm good. I don't wanna be a burden," I say after a moments' hesitation. I look down at my shoes, and play with the edge of my shirt sleeve.

"Hey, are you okay?" I start to nod my head, then stop. Why should I lie to him? He wants to know how fucked up I am and why, right? Fine. I shake my head. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I, uh, I don't have anywhere to go."
"Well, you do now. Hop in, amigo." Before he or I can change my mind, I open the passenger door and climb in.

"Thanks," I say to Vic as he pulls out of the parking lot. He smiles again. He sure does smile a lot; I'm not sure I will be able to keep up. Then again, maybe this whole friend thing will be nice. I haven't allowed myself to get close to anyone since Camden cheated on me.

Finally, I smile back at him.

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Hey guys! Wow, thank you so much for reading my shitty little stories and supporting me! It honestly means the world! Sorry this update took so long, but it's the end of the school year and a lot is going on. I've also had a little case of writer's block. Hopefully I will be able to update more regularly when school is out in a few days. If you haven't already, please check out my other story Falling For Danger. Thanks for being so patient with me! I love you all! ~ Kaleigh