Exposure

Chapter 2

A high pitched scream fills my bedroom. My eyes instantly flash open, as I hurriedly get out of bed. It was coming from Danny's room. Stopping short, all the blood rushes to my brain at once. I take a moment to collect myself and head to the room next door. By the time I get there, Dad is already there. He looks at me with an amused expression. He holds up his hand.

"It was only a spider," he says. He looks at Danny who is crouched in a corner on the other side of the room.

"For crying out loud Danny! I thought you were hurt or something." Danny she's speechless. Her frightened eyes glimmer in the sunlight that streams through her window. It reflects off the white walls and illuminates the whole room. Danny was never a fan of spiders. She hated anything you could barely see, with more than two legs. So that was pretty much...everything. I shake my head. "You're such a wuss." Dad goes to the bathroom down the hall to dispose of the spider, his smile beaming the whole time.

"Just get out!" Danny yells clearly embarrassed. I didn't have the energy to fight with her, so I left. I almost run into Dad on the way to the bathroom. He eyes me, giving me a sympathetic look.

"I'll handle her." He kisses me on the forehead and heads down the hall. I close my eyes and let the sweet touch linger. Ever since the divorce, it's not often that my dad shows affection for us. It wasn't because he didn't love us. I guess it was just hard to connect with us as much as he used too. I close the door behind me and lock it.

I might as well get ready now that I'm up. Why does Danny have to be like this? I check the door twice to make sure it's actually locked. Danny would without a doubt purposely walk in on me while I'm in the shower and embarrass me. After the stream of crystal water is running, I wait a few moments so it can get warm. I take a deep breath and shut my eyes. When the water is warm, I strip down and step into the shower. The water runs down my back and face. I stand there letting the hot steam take me away. The slippery soap slips through my hands as I run it over my body. I scrub my skin harshly, wanting all of the troubles to go away. Danny's attitude, the divorce, most importantly, my stress. I always get stressed. Montgomery has taken me to therapy, clinics. They've done different soothing techniques, but nothing works. It will always be there. I stop scrubbing as the floral scent of the soap clogs my nose. All of a sudden, the water starts to spurt. The warm water suddenly turns ice cold. My body flinches away from it.

"Dad!" I scream. The bathroom door slightly creeks open.

"What Ivy?"

"Did you just flush the toilet or something?" As I get out of the shower, the cold air covers my whole body. I grab a towel from the railing.

"No honey. Danny probably flushed by accident and forgot you were in the shower." Right. Like Danny would "accidentally" do that. Of course she did it on purpose. I knew better.

"Well Danny, you want me to get pissed off, you win." I open up the bathroom door and barrel down the stairs to the kitchen. Danny is sitting at the island table eating a bagel, looking too innocent. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I scream.

"What do you mean?" The corners of Danny's mouth tip up. I don't know why it amuses her to anger me.

"Oh shut up!" Feet pound down the stairs. When I turn around, I see Dad.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asks, eye brows scrunched in concern. I violently point a finger at Danny.

"She purposely went to the bathroom just to piss me off!" Danny looks at him with wide eyes.

"No I didn't."

"Just stay away from me!" I grab a yogurt from the fridge before I march up the stairs. When I'm in my room, I can hear Danny getting a lecture. It doesn't make me feel better. Later on, she will figure out another way to get to me. After my yogurt is finished, I grab a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from my closet. I can't lounge in my towel all day, but I can sleep. The wake up call from Danny still has me exhausted.

As soon as I hear it, I know something is wrong. I hear a deep yell from downstairs. As my heart pounds from the startling awakening, I throw myself out of bed.

"Dad?" I call as I rush down the stairs. When I look over the railing, he is in the kitchen with a broken glass in his hands. Around his feet is a puddle of liquid that I can smell from where I'm standing. It smells like liquor. Vodka. His face is red and by the way he's standing, I can tell he is tense. "What are you doing?" I ask, my voice shaking slightly. He was obviously drinking, or was getting ready to drink. Dad has never been drunk before last night and by the way he moves around the kitchen, I can tell that he is already there.

"I can do whatever the hell I feel like," he says in a high pitched voice. As I walk carefully down the stairs, I see that he is crying. He grabs another bottle of liquor out from under the island table. He pops the cap and instantly puts the bottle to his lips. I close my eyes because I can't do anything to stop him. I swallow and count to five in my head. 1...2...3.....4...5. When I open them, half the bottle of vodka was gone. "Your mother thinks that she can take you girls from me." It sounds more like a question. He lazily rubs his eyes.

"I think you should stop drinking that now," I barely a whisper. When I clench my fists, my fingers glide against my sweaty palms. He looks at me, the veins in his eyes deep red. Even though he isn't that close to me, I can smell the sourness of his drink.

"Don't tell me what to do! I will make the decisions! You're just like your mother!" Before I can react to it, the Vodka glass glides pass my face and hits the wall behind me. The liquid bursts all over, covering me in a foul mess. Tears burn down my face, and fear threatens to tear me open. He grabs a third bottle. My legs carry me out the front door of the house. When I close the door behind me, I let the rest of the tears fall. I'm pathetic. Crying hysterically like this, but when I see my dad in this condition, it terrifies me. Heaving heavily, I walk down my driveway. It's warm, and the sun is just setting, creating an orange hue on everything around me. I collapse at the end of the driveway and hug my knees to my chest. Why is my dad drunk? And what did he mean by mom taking Danny and I away from him? Was there a custody issue? Thinking of all this overwhelms me. My tears tickle my cheeks. I look up as I see someone walking towards me. He stares at me with dark brown eyes.

"What?" I ask as I wipe my nose. Who is this guy anyway? And why is he staring at me? When I look up at his face, his head seems like it's a mile high. The setting sun gleams in my eyes, so I look away.

"Nothing," he says. His voice isn't as deep as I thought it would. He looks at the houses around me. "I just moved here. Thought I would meet some neighbors." I quickly try to collect myself. It's too late anyway. I can already tell by the way he's looking at me that I'm a mess.

"There are other places in this neighborhood besides here you know." He nods his head, pondering the thought. As if it never crossed his mind. I stand up. Yeah, he's much taller than me. And I'm 5'6. His face looks gentle. As weird as it sounds. His lips are wide and slim, but at the same time, perfectly full. His hair is slightly tousled and held a light brown tint. He isn't perfect, but who is?

"Why are you staring at me?" he asks curiously. I hoped he noticed so I wouldn't have to explain myself if we ever met again.

"I like to observe people. You know, so I don't forget them. My mom does it too. I thought it was a good idea." He just shrugs his shoulders. The sudden reminder of my parents custody issue pops back into my head. "Well I have to go. If you want to meet some neighbors who aren't drowning in there own self pity, try two houses down." It came out before I even realized. That was kind of rude. He smiles slightly. He almost looks sorry for me. I hate it when people look at me like that. His eyebrows arch.

"Well, my name is Peter. Just in case you wanted to know." He smiles slightly, but it instantly vanishes.

"I'm sorry." I bite my lip. "Um, my name is Ivy." I put my my hand out in an attempt to make up for what I have said. He takes it and shakes it lightly. I turn to leave, and when I get inside, Dad is on the living room couch, passed out. Before he wakes up, I quickly go to the island and grab the remaining bottles of liquor. After I dump the contents into the sink, I take care of the bottles. The next time the divorce comes up, dad is going to have to deal with it a different way. Hopefully, a safer one.