Mind Games and D.I.D

1. (Prologue) What did I do now?

There were many who said she would never make it. Drop out of school, get pregnant at a young age or even be locked away in a juvenile home. But Ferrie was proving them all wrong; if only marginally. Sure, she could admit to having a few anger issues from time to time, but how many other teenagers didn't have their frustrations? However, approaching a complete stranger in the evening dusk with nothing but mindless rage consuming her didn't quell her friend's concerns. Throwing a balled fist towards what was little more than a blur of the stranger also didn't help the situation, but in a moment of sudden exhilaration, Ferrie couldn't help herself. Until that same energy was returned back to her in the form of the stranger's fist, forcefully calming her mind in a matter of seconds with a short fall and a cushion of cold grass.

It was a Monday. But more importantly, it was the first day back at school in her final year of high school. The sound of a high pitch beeping alarm startled Ferrie from her sleep. With a groan, she flung her hand towards the annoying noise maker and felt around for an off button. Having no success in muting the blaring noise, she then wrapped her fingers around the small device and yanked it off the side table, silencing it with a thud on the floor. Ferrie rolled back over in an attempt to sleep for a bit longer, but soon the aching pain ebbed its way into her awareness, forcing her awake instantly. Pain in her hand, a tender ache in her back and after contorting her face into a frown, soreness around her left eye. Ferrie forced open her tired eyelids to notice firstly she was in her bedroom, then raised her right hand up to inspect for the suspected damage. A freshly grazed knuckle was clearly visible, making her sit up immediately.

"What the hell?" She exclaimed, now looking clearly at her hand as she flexed it. "What did I do, now?" Ferrie sighed as she could not remember much of the night prior. Realisation hit as she suddenly recalled her face being sore too, then sprang out of bed to rush up to the large body-length mirror that sat on the wall. Anticipating the worst, she exhaled in disappointment as she caught a glimpse of her reflection and slammed the palm of her hand on the wall at the sight of a freshly colourised black eye.

"Fuck!" She yelled in frustration at the thought of starting the school year off looking like that. Ferrie took a deep breath and peered back into the mirror, pulling back her mess of long dark brunette hair to get a better look at the purplish bruise starting to appear around the outside and very centre of her left eye.

"Easy enough to cover up," she calmly reassured herself that makeup could make her appearance look normal again. A few abrupt knocks on her bedroom door caused her to flinch before hearing a male voice speak loudly from outside her room.

"Ferrie, are you okay?"

"Ah, yeah... I'm fine," she responded quickly, facing away from the door in case he decided to open it.

"Are you sure?" He replied in a concerned tone. "What was that?"

"I just stubbed my toe!" She replied convincingly, as the annoyance in her voice was real, but for another reason.

"Alright, then. There's some breakfast on the bench when you're ready."

"Thanks, dad," she called back while peering into the mirror again. Looking down her slim, underwear clad body in the reflection, all she could see was a few small grazes and scrapes on her knees and arms. She then lifted the back of her night shirt up to around where she thought the pain was in the arch of her back but couldn't see any more visible wounds. Ferrie paused, trying hard to remember what happened the night before. It had been an evening of drinks with her three best friends to celebrate their last day of freedom, before their last year of high school started the very next day.

"Wait... how did I get home?" She quizzed herself, being unable to answer that question no matter how hard she thought. Soon giving up on the internal search for answers, knowing her friends would soon be filling her in anyway. Ferrie smirked to herself, imagining the crazy story possibilities of the night before, then grabbed some liquid concealer to sufficiently hide the fresh bruising on her face.