Being Loved

Chapter 1

Tromp... tromp... tromp... Every footstep I heard coming up the stairs made me cringe and cower further into my blankets. The loud footsteps stopped right in front of my door. I held breath and waited in silence. I saw his feet in the crack under my bed room door. I cringed. He stood there for a second. I waited in suspense to see whether or not tonight was yet another night he took his drunken anger out on me. I heard him mumble something and I sat there waiting for my drunk, angry father to decide whether or not to beat the absolute crap out of me. I relaxed after I heard his heavy footsteps shuffle away. I sighed a huge sigh of relief.

I'm not saying my life sucks but it pretty much does but my dad wasn't always like this. He started to drink a lot when I turned fifteen. I don't understand what was going on. I didn't and still don't understand what happened to make him like this. My mom put up with this new found obsession of drinking for two years. Lucky for her, she got to leave two years later. I am now seventeen and living with my dad. I only live with my dad because the court felt that a single man can take care of a child better than a single woman can take care of a child better than a single woman who works harder than anyone in the world. But I guess you have to play the hand you're dealt. I see my mom every weekend and I love every minute I spend with her.

I heard my phone ring, snapping me out of my thoughts. I answered it as quickly as possible and prayed that my dad didn't hear. When I answered, I heard my best friend on the other line and a smile immediately crossed my face.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Want to come over?" She asked, basically pleading.

"God, yes."

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay." I said and ended the call.

I packed a small bag with some clothes. I didn't know how long I would be there so I just stuffed a bunch of clothes in a bag. I heard a car horn honk outside and I knew it was her. I grabbed my phone and my phone charger and ran out of the house as fast as possible. I didn't want my dad to catch me or stop me. I don't really feel up for a "chat" with him. I heard his bedroom door open so I dashed out the front door. As soon as we saw each other, we smiled the biggest smiles in the world. This girl is basically my sister. We have been friends for twelve years. We met playing soccer when we were younger. She played until she was ten. To this day, I don't know why she quit. She was so good. No matter how hard I tried she wouldn't let me quit, and I loved her for that. Soccer gave me something to do and it gave me a reason to get out of the house.

We stopped at a red light and she plugged the auxiliary cord. I already knew what song she was going to play. I heard Cher Lloyd's, "Oath", come on and a smile immediately crossed both of our faces. This song is our song. I know that sounds cheesy but since this song came out it has literally been very true about us. When we were fourteen, we wanted to drive so bad so we took one of her dad's cars and tried to drive. Safe to say one more year did us good because we crashed the car we weren't hurt but we were in very serious trouble. We have gotten into endless trouble together and nothing has broken us apart. She always knows how to cheer me up. She lives like fifteen minutes down the road so it didn't take us to get to her enormous house. She lived in a rich neighborhood where everyone knew each other and everyone was like family. It was kind of weird but it's a nice change of pace from where I'm coming from.

She stopped the car and we both got out of the car and I smiled. Their house is so big, warm, and inviting. This place feels more like home then my house ever did. Before I got to the front door, her older and younger brother came running out of the house. Her older brother, Caden, ran to me and almost tackled me. I laughed as he hugged me, lifted me up and spun me around. When Caden finally let me down, Becca's little brother, Michael, wrapped his arms around my legs. Honestly, his hugs made feel so special and loved not that Caden's don't but Michael is just so small but has the biggest heart.