𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 & 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝." ~ 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬

✮ 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 ✮

ꜱᴜɴᴅᴀʏ

４：００ｐｍ

𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐎𝐕:

𝐓𝐖: 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 & 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄

As I lay buried beneath my covers, my mind swirled with the familiar toxic thoughts.The events of the past week replayed in my head like a broken record; the fight with my moms, the suspension from school, and the crushing feeling of being trapped. Emily's constant criticism about every fucking thing I do and JJ's stupid passive aggressive remarks. Why can't they just leave me alone?

It's been three weeks since Ember and I fought, three weeks since I told my moms that I quit soccer, and three weeks JJ and Emily have been giving me the silent treatment...well JJ mainly.

 Dinner has been awkward between us. But with Henry around he eases the tension by talking about school.

I tried talking to my grandparents about it but they said "JJ and Emily are just trying to teach you a lesson, dear." Horrible way of teaching a lesson.

The weight of my problems crushed me, making it hard to breathe. In those moments, the darkness closing in around me, I wondered if the world would be better off without me.

Would anyone even notice if I disappeared? I thought, the painful thought echoing through my mind. 

Downstairs, my parents called out again, their voices growing louder, more insistent.

I ignored it but I knew I shouldn't because 5 minutes later she was in my room.

"Florence!  Get up! What the hell is this!?" Emily yells at me. again.

 I take the cover off my head and she holds up my report card, I close my eyes and count.

I wanted to see how long it would take before she just walked out and left.

 "Do not ignore me, young lady." I try to ignore her but with the constant talking it's hard.

I didn't answer her but she kept going. I was lost in my own world, where the only sound was the pounding of my heart and the relentless chatter of my inner thoughts.

I guess my grades had been her final straw. It feels like I let her down once more. The shame and guilt suffocated me.

As the minutes ticked by, my mom grew more frustrated, her yells grew louder.

"Answer me!"

"My grades." I answer, looking up at the ceiling to avoid having to look her in the eye.

 Emily rolls her eyes with a scoff and a shake of her head, "Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out Florence."

I rubbed at my eyes, trying to shake off the fog. "I know mom."