Behind These Bruises...

Behind These Bruises...[Part 15]

"Is everything all right?" Kyle asked, his face growing serious. My dad was staring me down and I knew I was in an enormous amount of trouble. I saw him let go of the pretty girl's hand and clench his fists. I felt like breaking down in the middle of the restaraunt and crying. My heart was racing and my stomach clenched. For the second time in my life after my mother died, I felt truly scared.

"I-I-Yeah. No. I just-I just need to get home, Kyle. Please," I stammered, barely able to get the words out. Right then, Laila brought back Kyle's card and we stood up. I could barely stand still on my legs because they were shaking so much.

"Do you know that man?" Kyle asked.

"He's my father," I choked out.

"I'm sure she's just a colleague," Kyle said. I wanted to laugh at the hilarity of that statement. A colleague! There was no way. They had been holding hands! She was wearing a sexy red dress. There was no way in hell that she was just a fellow employee. But what made Kyle's statement even funnier was that that's what he thought what was bothering me. That I saw my father with another woman. That was partially my source of discomfort, but it was mostly the knowledge that I knew I was going to get it bad when I got home that was frightening me. I had lied to him and he found out. He would be even angrier now that I knew he was seeing some younger woman. And he would take all this anger out on me.

Kyle and I sat in silence on the way back to my house. I'm sure he was a little more than uncomfortable with the whole situation. And me? I was scared out of my mind. I wanted to tell him to take me away--far, far away--so that I wouldn't have to face my father's wrath. But I would have to deal with it sooner or later. Might as well deal with it now.

When we got to my house, I sat in Kyle's car, staring ahead, not blinking. He stayed silent, as if knowing I wanted to say something first.

"I don't think we should go on a second date," I said finally in a small voice. I felt extremely guilty saying this, but I had to. I had to end it. "The dinner was nothing short of awkward. You and Leah are better off together," I said. To my surprise, Kyle nodded.

"I know. The dinner was awkward. I was going to tell you the same thing, but when we got back to school after Thanksgiving break," Kyle said. "I thought maybe you'd be too upset to talk about that right now," he added. I shook my head, feeling slightly better that he felt the same way. At least that was easy.

"As cliche as this is going to sound, I'd really like us to stay friends. You're a nice person and easy to talk to," I said, finally bringing myself to look at him.

"Yeah, definitely," he agreed. I tried to muster up a smile, but failed. I leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Kyle," I whispered, and then got out of his car. I took a deep breath and walked into my house. Although he wasn't home yet, my fear heightened 10 times more. I went and changed into some sweats and washed my face. My hands wouldn't stop shaking and it seemed like my heart would fail on me because it was still beating so fast.

After about an hour, I heard the sound of a car door slam shut. I was sitting in my room, my door shut. I didn't have a lock on my door because my father had taken it off. Probably solely for this purpose. I heard the front door open and also slam shut. I flinched and felt my heart race even faster. And then my door flew open and he was livid.

"Dad, please-" I started, but he grabbed me by the hair and I let out a small scream.

"YOU LIED TO ME?! YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO LEAH'S HOUSE, NOT A DATE WITH SOME BOY. HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME? HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" he yelled. He threw me to the ground and then picked me up again by the hair. I could feel tears stinging my eyes. "DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARASSED I WAS? COMPLETELY SHOCKED THAT MY DAUGHTER WAS AT A RESTARAUNT ON A DATE WITHOUT MY KNOWING?!" he shouted, throwing me across the room and against the wall. I yelled as my arm hit the hard wall and I heard a crack.