How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 28

I yawned, reached for my phone, and froze when I heard a yawn from the other side of my bed. Then, it hit me like a freight train when I realized who was lying beside me in bed. I turned my head slightly, peering over my shoulder to see if he was still asleep or awake. I didn't want to move too much for fear of waking him up. I raised and caught my reflection in my vanity mirror across the room from my bed. I sat there staring at this wild girl, looking back at me with her hair going in every direction but down. I couldn't let Austin see me like this; he'd run out of my room, thinking some alien had taken over my body. I slid out from under the comforter onto my plush grey area rug and started crawling on my hands and knees over to my vanity. I stopped at the end of my bed, gently placing my hands on my white sleigh footboard so I could see over it to make sure Austin was still sleeping. Austin was lying on his left side, facing away from me, so I couldn't tell if he was asleep or faking it. He yawned, and I quickly let go, ducking down before he could see me staring at him. I didn't want to try to explain why I was staring at him from the end of the footboard. I crawled to my vanity to grab my brush before he woke up. 

"Rylee, what are you doing?" Austin yawned. 

My arm stretched out in mid-air toward my vanity. "Uhh...I'm looking for something." 

"Why are you down on the floor?" 

"Umm..." I hurried up and grabbed my brush. "I dropped my brush." 

"You dropped your brush?" 

"Yeah." I started brushing my hair. 

"I saw you grab your brush. What are you doing?" He yawned again. 

"Nothing." I shot up, tossing my brush onto the bed. 

"Nothing. Huh?" He raised an eyebrow as his eyes studied my hair. "What time is it?" He reached for his phone on the nightstand. "Wow, it's only ten." He stretched. "What do you want to do today?" 

"I don't know." I tossed my hairbrush up on my bed. 

"Rylee! Whose car is that in the driveway?" 

My eyes widened with fright as heavy footsteps moved closer to my door. "Hurry! Get in the closet!" I grabbed Austin's arm, yanking him out of the bed. "Don't make a sound," I whispered, shutting the closet door. 

"Rylee! Open the damn door!" Dad yelled on the other side of my closed door. "Rylee!" 

"What?" I opened the door, standing there, not opening it any wider. There was no way I was letting him in my room to snoop around. "Sorry, I was changing my top. I thought you weren't coming back for another week." I tried to walk out of my room, but he blocked me. Dad's hazel eyes were angry, and the crease between his eyebrows seemed even more profound than usual. 

"I was passing through and thought I'd stop by to see how you and Jules were doing. Now, whose car is that in the driveway? I'm not going to ask you again!" He slammed his fingers into my chest, causing me to stumble backward and let the door fly open. Dad walked past me, looking around the room. "I know someone's in this Damn house! What have I told you about not letting anyone in my house." 

"Dad, she's a friend from school." That's all I was able to get out before my head whipped to the left, and the right side of my face felt like it was on fire. "I'm sorry. She and I went out last night and didn't get back till late." I turned my head, looking into his cold, emotionless eyes. There was no remorse for smacking me across the face or anything. Instead, he stood there staring at me, waiting for me to lift my hand to my face so he could mock me for being weak. I learned the hard way when I caressed my cheek after he smacked me. The minute my hand touched my cheek, ridicule and insults quickly followed. He told me that only weak, spineless people grabbed their faces and that he didn't allow people like that in his house. 

He looked down at his watch. "Shit. I need to go." He turned and walked out of my room. "By the way, where is your sister?" He kept walking down the stairs. 

"She stayed the night at a friend's house," I said, bracing myself for another slap. 

"What did I tell you about letting her stay the night at people's houses? Damn it! Do you ever listen to me? I don't have time to deal with this now. I'll be back in a week." He slammed the front door. I stepped down off the bottom stairs and peeked out the little window next to the front door to see if he was still in the driveway. I didn't see his truck anywhere in the driveway or in front of the house. I couldn't move away from the window for fear he would come crashing through the door, cussing me out or smacking me. 

"Rylee, are you okay? Rylee?" Austin's voice was barely above a whisper. "Is he gone?" 

"Yeah...He's gone." Austin's arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I leaned my head back against his shoulder. 

"Rylee...I..." 

"Stop. I don't want your pity." I broke free from his grasp and stormed off down the hall. I didn't want him to know about this part of my life; he found out the worst way possible. I walked into the kitchen and stood there staring blankly at the refrigerator, then over to the counter and stove. I had no idea why I walked in here, but I had to get away from Austin and his pity. Now, he's going to feel sorry for me, and all he will see is poor little abused Rylee. 

"Rylee, are you okay?" Austin asked close behind me. 

"Please don't." I turned and headed back up to my room. I didn't need pity right now. I just wanted to be left alone with my thoughts and humiliation. I closed the door partway and curled up on my bed with my phone. 

"Rylee, can I come in?" Sadie asked, peeking her head in through my partially opened door. 

"Yeah." I kept my eyes on my phone. 

"Austin wanted me to come in and check on you. He went home to get a shower and said he'd be back later. Is it always like that?" She climbed up on the bed. 

"It didn't use to be like that? When Mom was alive, he never raised a hand to us. When she died a few years ago, something changed, and he became so angry. Except he's never mean to Jules." I rolled over toward the window so she couldn't see me cry. 

"Rylee, you need to tell someone about the abuse. You shouldn't have to live in fear in your own home; it's not right. You can come stay with me." 

"I can't tell anyone. He'll kill me for sure. I could never leave Jules here alone with him." The tears streamed down my face. "Why would you offer to let me come stay with you? You don't know me." I rolled over, wiping the tears off my cheeks. 

"Because Rylee, it's the humane thing to do for someone in a horrible situation. Even though he's your father, he's not a parent. And you're better off without him. You aren't his punching bag because he's mad at the world. That's not right. He needs to get some therapy for his problems. You need some help because of what he's done to you." She motioned me to sit up, wrapping her arms around my neck. 

Author's Notes:

Poor Rylee! She needs to confide in someone about her home life. 

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