7th February 2012
I was woken up by the irritating shrill of my alarm. I lazily reached over and grabbed my phone, turning off the alarm. I sighed. My back, tummy and face hurt. I looked at my phone again and groaned. I set my alarm too early. I set it for 5:30 rather than 6:30. I huffed, realising I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. With that in mind, I decided to get ready for school.
As I stepped out of the bedroom, dad was coming out of the bathroom. I looked up at him and he spotted me. His face showed remorse but I didn't care. My eyes started welling up instantly.
I looked down and closed the bedroom door silently behind me. I looked back up at him and a tear involuntarily seeped out of my eye and cascaded down my cheek. I swiped it away quickly and sniffed. I looked down as I walked past him.
"Ray." He whispered, trying to grab my arm. I pulled away quickly and walked into the bathroom.
I brushed my teeth and took a shower. I looked at my face. I looked worse than I did yesterday. My face wasn't all that swollen anymore but my bruises were so noticable. I had bruised my cheek and a bit of my nose. My lip was busted and I looked like death.
When I came out of the bathroom, dad had already left. I made my way back to the bedroom and got dressed as silently as I could, trying not to wake up Rianne. My hair was still wet and I let it air dry as I got ready.
As I walked down the stairs, I noticed there was no longer any glass on the floor, and my blood wasn't either.
I made myself some cornmeal porridge for breakfast and sat in front of the TV, watching the recorded episodes of My Wife and Kids.
It was about 6:30 now when mum walked past.
"Hey." She said behind me.
"Hi mum." I turned to look at her. She gasped and stared at me but didn't say anything. I saw her swallow nervously and I narrowed my eyes. I looked back at the TV, ignoring her stare. After I ate, I went to wash my bowl. Rianne ran into the kitchen and looked at me.
"What happened to your face?" She put a hand over her mouth, shocked. I looked at mum who was being unusually quiet. Did she know?
"Nothing." I replied. Rianne walked up to me.
"Ray, your face didn't look like this when you came home yesterday, it wasn't this bad." She commented. I shrugged and turned away. She turned me back round.
"Ray why are you hiding this from me? Someone hurt you and I want to know who it was! It wasn't Kieran, he didn't hurt you like this. Ray, who did this?" She asked worried. Now it was my turn to swallow nervously. I breathed deeply.
"No one, Rianne." I walked from her.
"It was dad wasn't it?" She asked, making me stop in my tracks.
"That's why you didn't want to talk to me in the night. I heard him shouting but I thought I was dreaming. He did this to you didn't he?" She asked. I turned quickly.
"It doesn't matter, I'm fine."
"So, he did do it." She stated. I was silent, watching her think.
"If I wasn't dreaming, then mum, where were you?" She turned to mum, who wasn't talking. Mum looked at Rianne quickly but stayed silent.
"Ray was calling for you." Rianne clarified. Mum still didn't answer.
"You didn't go down to help her, did you? I would have heard your bedroom door if you did." She put her hand on her hip and stared at mum who stood up and looked at her.
