Nikolas

CHAPTER TWELVE

I woke up with a pounding headache. 

The sun was too bright as it shone through my curtains and spilled into my room and my feet hurt like a bitch. 

I groan and pull my blanket over my eyes before curling into a fetal position. I really shouldn't have gone to that party last night. Though I had sobered up a lot near the end of the night, I still had a disgusting hangover. Or whatever you called this. I was just going off of movie and book terms. But aside forget about it's name, it sucked dick. 

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to relieve the pain in my head, but it's no use as my phone rings. If I thought it couldn't have gotten worse, the sharp shrills of the phone made the ache worse. 

I suppress the urge to smash it with a brick and get it to shut up. Throwing the blanket off of me and entering the real world, I reach for my phone and answer the stupid call. 

"Hello?" My voice is groggy but I don't care, I was in too much pain to care. 

"Unnie? I called last night, why didn't you answer?" Summer's sweet voice comes out on the other side, waking me up from all the pain and sluggishness. My eyes widen as I gasp, "Holy shit, I'm so sorry, Summer, I must've fallen asleep." 

I pray that she would buy my lie and roll out of bed. 

"It's okay!" I smile when her cheery voice reassure me. 

"How was it?" I ask her, letting her get into all the details. She must've been in the car with Ashton as the engine rumbled quietly in the background. She explains to me all that she did, in her excited little voice. I never really let her go to sleepovers in our old town. Her school didn't have exactly the best people witht the best parents. After the first report of rape when a girl went over to her friend's house, I refused to let Summer go to any house. 

She hated me for that, but I didn't budge, thinking of her safety. But now? We were in the neighborhood of organic food and private schools. So I shoved all the paranoia out of my head. Summer needed friends, too. She needed to fit in and have the best middle and high school years a girl can get. 

As she rambled on and on about how fun it was, I shoved the tiny dress off my body and turned on the shower. She hung up when she arrived home and I stepped into the scalding hot water that poured down. The showers here were nice and hot which was another reason I didn't grab Summer and run away. 

I wanted her to have all the hot showers she wanted. I'd protect her from the monsters and let her live in the light. Especially monsters who shoved their dick down your throat when you asked for something. 

I shiver, cowering into myself. After that night, it was hard to put anything in my mouth. It was hard to even look at myself. But I learned to just push it to the back of my mind and focus on the more important things. Saving money and keeping Summer safe. 

I think I've been doing a fine job with that. 

Scrubbing myself clean, I stare down at my unshaven legs. I've never shaved in my life. Elodie asked about when she was helping me lace up the complicated boots, but before I could tell her that I didn't have the luxury to buy shaving cream and razors, she praised me for 'defying the stereotypes of women'. I didn't understand her. 

There was a razor and some kind of fancy shaving gel on the shelf, but I didn't touch them. I really couldn't give a fuck if my legs were hairy or not. My mother dragged me into waxing sessions every three months to get my pussy waxed. She never commented on my legs, but she'd stare at the bush that grew on my vagina, a bush that was only natural, and would say the most cruel things. It hurt like a bitch and made me tear up and hate her even more.