A Fighter's Love

A Fighter's Love - Chapter 2

Hey, hey, hey! I don't have much to say except to apologize on this chapter being too short. I just really wanted to get it up for you guys quick and this was the best I could come up with, so enjoy!

(Sorry for any errors! And Camille on the side!)

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A Fighter's Love - Chapter 2

“Are you sure I have to go?” Matt begged, his blue eyes stunning me for a second. I grinned and gave him one more passionate kiss before shoving him lightly towards my door. That boy was going to get me in major trouble if he didn’t take him and his fine ass out of my house.

 “Yes, my mom’s already in a crappy mood and she’ll freak if she finds you in here again,” I explained, reminding him of the one embarrassing moment when my mother walked in on us when were both… indecent. He smiled at the memory, gave me one last kiss, and then left. 

 I buried my head in my pillow and prepared to check in for the night when a loud ping filled the room. I groaned but reluctantly grabbed my phone from my nightstand. I read the text from Crystal, a smile on my face.

 Listen, there’s a bonfire at the beach tonight. Everyone’s is going to be there so I’ll be there to pick up in an hour, kay? No excuses this time. We haven’t gone out for a whole week and my parents are being annoying. Wear something sexy!

-    Crystal

 It was getting late and I knew I would be dead if I got caught, but I didn’t want to disappoint Crystal again. I had been bailing on all the parties this week and even if she didn’t admit it to me, I could tell she was getting lonely. Plus, I was usually always there for her to make sure she didn’t go home with some random serial killer. I didn’t bother texting her back because I knew she would be on my doorstep whether or not I wanted to come. I kept her advice on dressing sexy in mind and picked out a sparkly black body con dress. After applying my usual make-up, I slipped on my slinky, black heels and quietly crept out the door.

 Thankfully, I remembered to skip the fourth step and made it through the front door without an appearance of my mother. Crystal waved at me from across the street and I grinned before climbing into her beaten-down truck.

 “You look gorgeous by the way,” she remarked.

 “You don’t look too bad yourself,” I answered, eyeing her maroon, one-shoulder dress. She also had on heavy, black make-up and dark tan lipstick, adding on to the sultry look I knew she was going for.

 “Please don’t get too drunk tonight,” I begged.

 “No promises, babe. And I know you will too,” Crystal promised, grinning from ear to ear. I shook my head fiercely. There was no way I was going to get drunk. 

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“I’m so drunk!” I slurred. My eyesight was blurring and my head was pounding but all that mattered was that I had a bottle of vodka in my hand.

 “I told you that you couldn’t resist this!” Crystal laughed, waving her bottle in the air above my head. I tripped over a lone log and fell into the sand. I giggled loudly and started rolling around, not caring that it was getting into my hair or that my bra was starting to itch.

 “Hey Crystal, come over here!” someone called from across the fire. Crystal squinted through the flames, awarded me with a sloppy kiss on my cheek, and staggered over to the guy who had called her. Still dizzy, I got up and made my way over to the gloomy forest. My dad used to bring me to the beach every weekend and we would go hiking through the woods. Every week we would use a new trail and would find something different each time. One day, we had stumbled across a small pond and spent the rest of the day there fishing, snacking on the food my mom had packed for us, and splashed around in the water. Those were the good old days before he got bored of us and left.

 But right then, I just really wanted to find that pond again. I had a feeling that if I found it, everything would go back to the way it was when my mom still hummed classical music around the house and I could hear the thump of the basketball on the hard concrete when Isaac and his friends would play in the front driveway. Hot tears streamed down my face as I drunkenly ambled through the trees, seeking for that long-lost fishpond. I started running faster and faster as images of my dad rushed through my mind. My feet were starting to ache but I continued on through the dark terrain. A couple of branches caught my arm and I felt the sting of it in the cold air. A tree root appeared out of nowhere and I felt myself land on the ground, hard. My hands had taken most of the impact and I felt my scraped knees started to shudder violently. I felt alone. When my dad had left, I had felt angry, sure, but I hadn’t shed a tear over him. But now, it seemed like I was getting the whole, full shock all at once and heavy sobs racked my body. I curled up in the fetal position and just laid there in the wet, sticky mud. I had no clue how deep I was in the forest, but I didn’t care anymore.

 I closed my eyes slowly and begged myself that if I went to sleep, I would dream about my family when we were once whole again. 

******

“Thank you so much, Officer. But I hope you know I had absolutely no clue about this.”

“Don’t worry, we always get problems like this and we figure out how to solve it, one way or the other. Just please make sure this doesn’t happen again. She could really get hurt.”

“Of course, I’ll just show you and the rest of the officers out.”

All I wanted to do at the moment was open my eyes and tell them to shut up. Every word they uttered sent a ripple of pain through my head and I would have already covered my ears with my pillow if it weren’t for the numbness in my body. An eerie silence fell throughout the room and I sighed with contentment. Finally, some peace and quiet.

I stretched my sore neck and gradually opened my eyes.  My mom looked down at me; her arms were crossed so I took that as a bad sign.

“Shit. My head hurts like a bitch,” I mumbled as I painfully raised myself to a sitting position.

“Watch your mouth,” she barked. I rolled my eyes. Here I was, not being able to feel my toes, and she was lecturing me on my language?

“What happened?”

“Well, if you’re referring to the fact that you snuck out to a party again, got drunk in the woods, and got caught by the police, then I think we’re on the same page.” I gulped and played with the dark green comforter. I couldn’t bring myself to look up into her eyes and face the intense hatred I knew would be shining there.

A sudden thought occurred to me and I gripped my head tightly, sending another current of pain through my body. “Where’s Crystal?”

“She was brought home by the police too, if that’s what you’re asking. Her parents and I had a very long talk about you two,” she sighed. I examined the dark brown bags under her eyes: a sign of stress. Stress that I was causing.

Abruptly, I snapped, “Can you leave me alone for a couple minutes?”

Hurt flickered in her eyes but it was gone too quickly. She adjusted her robe, sent me one last disapproving glare, and left my room. I laid down gently, making sure not to jostle my bruised body and let a few tears escape. What was I thinking? I knew there was no chance everything would be okay so why did I run into the woods? Because I’m stupid. I’m useless, and I hurt everyone around me without giving it a second thought.

My phone was vibrating like crazy but I just ignored it and buried myself further into my covers. I wrapped my hands tightly around my body, seeking warmth that I knew I was never going to get. Right now, I didn’t want my mom. I didn’t want Crystal or Matt. I wanted my brother. I wanted Isaac’s big bear hugs and I wanted to smell his minty, fresh scent. Hell, I would even take his painful pinches or his playful shoves right now. Anything that proved that he was real and not just fading into a figment of my imagination. I just wanted my brother. Was that too much to ask for?