Steal My Soul

18 | ken

Ken

Sweat slicked my forehead and trickled down my arms and back.

The gym was fairly empty at three in the morning. The water fountain turned on and off and the silence and the treadmills wired to life every time a janitor swept across a vacant aisle. My muscles strained against the weight as I pushed past my limits.

I could feel the jazz buzzing effects of my pre workout wearing off. The weights tumble out of my hand, clanging onto the floor. I got from the bench fast, breathing hard and heavy.

I wiped the perspiration off my face with the back of my hand, taking a swig of my orange flavored energy drink. I winced as a sharp twisting ache prodded my chest. When I walked up to the racks filled with weights I pretended not to feel the blistering heat that swarmed my body.

A tinge of dizziness tries to consume me but I fight against it, blinking rapidly. The weights blurred in front of me. My right eye was still tender, swollen, burning, and purple from last night.

When my dad finally had a chance to pay attention to me and stop swapping spit with his secretary he started yelling at me the minute I walked through the door. He has been bragging about me to his coworkers, saying that all my hard work and success was because of him. He even went as far as to say I would be the starting quarterback a third year in a row which has never been done at Pale Thorn Academy.

But then Dominic Bath's hotshot lawyer father waltzs in the conference room to boast how his puny son stole the spot from me. All before I took care of it. Then he grabbed my middle of the semester grades before I could get to them and saw I had a B in honors history. My dad sucker punched me before I could even explain myself.

Even though when he gets riled up and his temper flares I never see them coming. He had me staggering back into the door and clutching my chest to catch my breath. He stomped towards me, grabbed a fistful of my shirt, and spit at my face.

"I got my spot back on the team," I stammered raising my hands to my face as I got ready to block another blow.

"And what about your history grade? I thought you said you aced that exam. You're wasting the money I have to hire you the best tutors in town and making me look like a fool in front of my company," he sneered.

I swallowed. "I'll still pass this quarter!"

He leaned into me, nose pressed against mine. The rings on his fingers were pressing into my chest, cutting my skin. I could feel the cool trickle of blood going down my ribs.

"We're Rouxs, it's the best or nothing,"

His words bit at me, nipping at my skin. Then he released me and clobbered up the stairs. I shaking when the maids found me.

The smell of beer still lingered in my nostrils. For my father, anything below an A was a failure. Anything but being at the top of everyone else was being a failure.

I picked up two bleary black blobs that I thought were the biggest and lunged them towards me. The high pitched ring of the bell from the front entrance chimed and I glanced over my shoulder. A shade of honeycutt brunette tresses and a warped figure passed by me quickly.

A silver charmed bracelet, glimmered in the light. My heart went erratic and I froze, letting the dumbbells slip from my fingers. It was the exact charm bracelet that I had gotten for my mom for her birthday.

She was heading for the exit. I sprinted towards her, my sneakers screeching against the glossy wood floor. I grabbed her shoulder a little too roughly, leaving a sticky sweaty handprint against her ginger tan.