Love, Lies, and Other Ties

Chapter One

I'm standing in my kitchen impatiently waiting for the coffee machine to make the one thing I've been living on for most of high school. I don't sleep anymore and don't eat a whole lot. I tend to just hide. This is why the coffee maker is pissing me off. I have to get out of the house before Trevor wakes up.

Let me bring you up to speed. After my mother passed away on my birthday with me lying in the same bed as her, everything spiraled downwards. I woke up two days later still in my dress and jewelry. I wouldn't talk to anybody. When my dad finally showed up in my room, he was different, cold. He didn't comfort me or anything. He just signed the papers and dropped me off at home. He then left for over a week. He came back putting my mother's death on me saying that if I hadn't been there, then she wouldn't have gotten too tired and would have had the strength to get better.

I no longer would see Tracy because I didn't have a reason to go to the hospital. The day I called him because Tracy asked me to, he lost his job, which he also blamed on me for calling him all the time when in reality, he probably got fired due to coming to work either drunk or hungover. He was no longer doing his job so they let him go. He is gone to the bar 90% of the time. He is a 42-year-old alcoholic that has no job or income.

How do we survive? Well, I had to get a job when I was 14 due to our savings running out. I went to a small hole-in-the-wall diner and there was an older man just a few years older than my dad wiping down the bar. I explained the situation and he kindly said he would hire me for 3 days a week as a cleaner/busboy. I was so thankful. I still work there but now I am head waitress 5 days a week. I'm so tired due to that and school but I still work as hard as I can to get good tips.

Henry, the owner of the diner, trusts me like no other and he has become a father figure to me since mine is hardly ever sober enough to function. I spend all my free time here and Henry is always trying to get me to take a break, but he doesn't know all my circumstances. He knows about my mama passing but not her name, I felt that was too personal. He definitely doesn't know anything about my dad. He thinks I'm just helping him with debt but that's far from it. He doesn't know I have the sole income in my house. We try not to talk about personal things because he knows it upsets me and because of this, I know very little about his family which makes me sad.

With my coffee ready, I go back upstairs and hurry to get ready. I found an okay pair of yoga pants and a hoodie because I know it is chilly outside and I walk the 15 minutes to school. Once done, I straighten my hair, pull my hood up and head downstairs to get my coffee.

I round the corner and stop in my tracks. I didn't hear him get up. He is sitting at the table with his head in his hands. I try to quietly walk past but my Converse makes a slight squeaking sound. As I walk past him, his hand slams down on the table, startling me and making me yelp as I turn to him, my eyes wide with fear.

"DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE SO MUCH FUCKING NOISE THIS EARLY??" he screams.

"Sorry, sir," I say softly. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"What do you think, stupid?" He has gotten increasingly belligerent these past few years. He often reminds me how much he hates me regularly. He has never hit me, per se, but he does grab me pretty hard and leaves bruises that way. His new "friends" have hurt me too by slapping me or pushing me as I play servant to them. Trevor just doesn't care. He also told me I have to call him "Sir" only and not "dad" because he doesn't want to remember that I'm related to him. I'm just here to pay bills and serve him.

I grab a cup, pour some coffee in and take it and the creamer and sugar to him. I quickly back away and grab my coffee so I can leave but I am stopped by him grabbing my forearm hard enough to bruise. Great. "I need you home right after school, I have company coming over tonight and you need to cook." My heart stopped.

"I have work tonight, Sir."

"I don't give a flying fuck, I want you home. These are important people coming over. Maybe he can get me a job. It's my old college roommate and his son. But, after you're done, you go straight to your room and stay there." I roll my eyes and walk out the front door. He always has "friends" who may get him a job but they never pan out. Whatever. I'm almost 18 and can move away.

I walk the 15 minutes to school with my head down. I walk through the courtyard to my locker all without looking up. I don't have any friends. I used to but they all abandoned me the moment my "best friend" turned on me and started telling people I killed my mom. To this day, I still don't know why she did it. Now, I just get bullied and called horrid names.

I walked up to my locker and opened it only to have my hair grabbed and my head shoved in so I couldn't see who had a hold of me. Then I hear her sick laugh. Ginny, my ex-best friend.

"You look good in that locker, Mother Killer. Too bad it isn't big enough for the rest of you!" She laughs and turns me toward her, but I look at the ground. Trust me, it is easier this way if I don't want another bruise or something getting bloody. "Now, Waste of Space, we have new kids coming today which means that you go nowhere near them. We wouldn't want you tarnishing their reputation already."

I just nod my head then she pushes me to the ground, pulls my books out of my locker onto me, and slams it shut before she walks away with her little harlots in her mini skirt and thigh-high, high-heeled boots. I slowly get up while everyone is laughing at me and start gathering my things. I keep my head down until a hand comes into my line of sight helping me gather my things. I try not to look up but when the said hand has tattoos all over, I get curious. I look up into the most beautiful blue/green hazel eyes I have ever seen looking at me like he was worried about me. I know he's not, but I don't even know who this is.

Ginny is standing at the end of the hall watching this whole interaction. This must be one of the new kids she warned me about staying away from.

"Are you okay?" a male voice cuts off my staring contest with Ginny. I look back at him as he hands me the rest of my things and I almost feel like I recognize his eyes, but the feeling is gone as quick as it came. I just look to the floor and reach out for my things while nodding my head to say I was okay. I quickly gathered all of my things and stood up. When I got to my feet, I risked giving one last glance at this stranger to see that he was still looking at me in concern but now there was underlying anger that I am sure was directed at me for one reason or another. So, I did what any normal girl would do and just turned and quickly made my way to my first class while leaving him behind.