Azalea

Is that a coping mechanism?

i pull my bike up to the same place it was earlier and jump the fence, my arm stinging with the sudden movement. i suck in a harsh breath and sneak over to the wall beneath my window, scaling the wall.

i climb into my room and hear the front door slam open and footsteps rushing through the house.

i ripp my jacket off and place my arm in the cast, leaving it on top of my bedsheets. my door slams open and i hear several people enter the room.

"well, she's here and safe. i don't know why we had to rush home" says someone from the direction of the door.

"yeah but the window wasn't open when we left, Vince at least pretend to be worried" my oldest brother says.

shit, i forgot to close the window.

i move my head and wiggle a bit to find a comfortable position, causing everyone to become eerily quiet.

"come on, lets go analyze the fight. see what happened" i hear my dad whisper.

i hear footsteps leaving my room and going down the hallway, my door clicks shut when the last person leaves my room.

i wait a few minutes before i get up and change into my pajamas, i clean my face and take my contact out. in the light i can see several small bruises forming around my body but with the right clothes they wont be noticeable.

i glue the cast back together and get back into bed, its going to be a long day tomorrow.

~morning~

i wake up just after 7, 4 hours of sleep, better than usual.

i go through my routine and put my contacts in and brush my teeth, then i get dressed.

i chose a simple black t-shirt and some black techware pants, then head downstairs.

nobody else seems to be awake yet so i go and sit on the couch to relax. i must have been sitting for almost an hour by the time someone else comes down. they sit next to me and i look up at my brother, i don't know which of the twins he is but i cant see any bruises on his face so i'm guessing it's not chase.

i look at him and sign "which twin are you?" and he looks at me and says "i don't know sign language, but..... would you mind teaching me a few things so i can understand you a bit better?" i smile and nod at him, causing him to relax and we start going through common words and their signs. 

we must have lost track of time because before i know it i hear someone yell my name from upstairs, i look at my brother and sigh, he laughs before yelling "she's downstairs". i block my ears and hear him laugh again.

i see my dad round the corner and i sign "good morning" to him with a smile.

his smile drops slightly but behind me Leon says "she signed good morning" in a matter of fact way. hearing this, my fathers face lights up causing me to smile back.

i hate smiling, but when you get found by your real family after being stuck with an abusive shit most of your life, people expect you to fucking smile. of course they don't know about the abuse but they will find out sooner or later.

"you ready to go get an x-ray on your arm?" my dad says, i look at him and nod, chewing on the side of my cheek, notably mind you. i need him to see my nervous tendencies, its the same reason i have very noticeable tells when i want people to pick up on my lie. i  mean i have had 10 years to perfect this shit, i would expect it to be almost flawless.