{ Splatoon } My Colorful Life

The Last Straw

{Nathan's POV}
After Ellie and Max's parents picked them up, everyone left the party. Me and Isabelle were the last ones to leave. "C'mon, Isabelle, let's go..." Isabelle was curled up, asleep, in a chair. "Five more minutes, please..." She mumbled. I sighed and resorted to carrying her home on my back. While I was taking her home, I recalled all the weird things that happened today.
1. Some random girl became our team's biggest fan
2. She threw a party for seemingly no reason
3. Ellie and Max just fainted for some reason
4. My best friend is asleep on my back and I'm escorting her home at 12:30 in the morning.
Man, today was weird.

"Thank you for bringing Isabelle home, Nathan," said Isabelle's dad. "No prob, Bob," I replied. "See you tomorrow." As I was walking back to my house, I said to myself, "Isabelle's dad is real cool. I wish my dad was as nice as hers..." I shook off that thought and opened the front door. "I'm hoooome..." I said quietly as I entered. My dad was on the sofa, staring at me with wide eyes. "Nathan, where were you? It's almost 2 in the morning! Me and your mother were worried sick!" I replied, "Taking Isabelle home. From the party earlier..." My dad stood up and stormed over to me. "Why did you get back so late, though?" I answered, "There was a thing... That happened... At the party. And Isabelle was asleep so I had to carry her home." My dad angrily said, "And what about last night, when SOMEONE ATTACKED AND ROBBED YOU?! Young man, you could have been killed! You should know better!" I replied, "But Dad, I-" He cut me off. "No. I don't want to hear any of your excuses! I'm considering taking away your turf war privileges!" I was shocked. "Dad, you can't do that to me! I'm on an official turf war team! What will my friends do without me?! ...What will I do without my friends?!"
"ENOUGH!"
SMACK!
My dad slapped me so hard it sent me flying hard into the wall. I held my hand to where my dad had hit me. My dad's eyes widened as he walked over to me and tried to help me stand up. "Nathan... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
I didn't say anything. I just started crying and ran out the door. I didn't dare to look back. I couldn't believe it. My dad always does this. He punished me for helping people. Is that so wrong? Eventually, I couldn't run anymore, so I just sat on the sidewalk and cried.
"Excuse me... Are you ok?"
I looked up and saw a girl in a black hoodie with the hood up and a knee-length grey skirt. "Are you alright? You're crying..." She asked. I just buried my head in my knees and replied, "Leave me alone." She sat down next to me and asked, "Why are you crying?" I answered, "My dad hates me because I helped someone. And this wasn't the first time, either..." The girl said, "I know how you feel. My parents hated me because I wanted to help someone. But they didn't hurt me or yell at me for it." I lifted my head out of my knees and asked, "What did they do?" She answered with,
"They abandoned me."
My eyes widened. "Your parents abandoned you for trying to help someone? Th-that's horrible... I'm sorry for asking..." The girl shook her head. "It's ok. I've been wanting to talk about it to someone for a while. Now a feel a little better." Poor girl. She must be lonely. "Do you still help your friend out, though?" The girl's face fell. "I can't." Now I was even more curious. "Why is that?" The girl shed a tear and responded, "He's dead. He was killed trying to help me for once." I felt even more guilty for asking that question. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad..." She wiped away her tears and said, "It's ok, it's ok. It's kinda funny, but you remind me of him." I replied, "Really? Uh, I mean- Thanks. I feel a little better now." The girl smiled. "So do I. You should head home, It's getting late." I nodded and stood up. "Goodbye. Thank you..." She said. I had no option but to go home now.

I walked up to my room. My parents were asleep, so my dad wasn't at the front door waiting to apologize. I looked at myself in the mirror. There was a big purple bruise left from where my dad hit me. Better cover that up, I thought to myself. Afterwards, I thought about that girl. Why would her parents abandon her for helping a friend? And why was he killed? It's probably personal to her. I just went to bed and hoped tomorrow would be better than today.