Scrambled

Chapter 14; Competiton

I woke up the next meaning replaying last night over and over again in my mind. Was it just a dream? Did Aaron really take me on a dream come true date? Nope it was real, because Po, what I named my panda, was still on the bed with me. I sighed. It was magical. I got up and went to my closet. I was going to go to Church with Aaron and his family then lunch afterwards. I pulled out my blue sundress and long gray sweater.

It was going to be nice to be in church again. I hadn't been since my parents announced their divorce. I slid on some grey boots and went to my bathroom. When I finished brushing my teeth, I did my makeup and unbraided my hair. I'd left it in the braid knowing its be super curly the next morning. And it was. I skipped down the stairs and got a glass of chocolate milk. I put some toast in the toaster.

"Where are you off to, it's 10:00 in the morning." I heard my dads voice. He sounded grumpy. I slowly turned around to see him sitting in our living, in the dark. Creepy. I let out a nervous laugh.

"Um, church. Is that a crime?" I asked. My voice shaking. My father got up and walked closer to me. His eyes were wild and his breath smelt like he'd been drinking all night.

"No. You're staying here." He said harshly. I took a step back and tried to get out of his reach but he grabbed my wrist. His grasp tight. I tried pulling my arm free, but his grasp was getting even tighter.

"MOM!" I screamed. This man was not my father. He was just a familiar stranger.

"Oh you think your mother will save you?" My father sneered evilly. I grabbed my glass of milk from the counter with my free hand and threw it at him. The glass shattered at the impact. I'd crashed it on his head. He grunted and smacked my face. I let out a high pitched scream.

"MOM, DAKOTA?" I hollered. I tried my best wiggling out his grasp and succeeded. I didn't far before he grabbed me by my hips and threw me on the floor. I banged my head on the floor. I heard a ringing noise. My vision was blurry. Ow. Then I saw him walking towards me. I scrunched into a ball. Then wham! I heard a crack. Someone had hit my father in the back and he stumbled over.

Mom. She ran over to me and put me in her arms. Dakota took the pan from my mothers hands and knocked my dad in the head. My fathers body crumpled to the ground. But his chest kept rising. He was alive, just knocked out.

Tears slid down my cheek. I tried sitting up and my head spun. I buried my head in my mothers chest. I heard Dakotas voice in the background, she was on the phone. With the police.

The sirens alerted me they'd arrived. My father was starting to wake up. I was standing behind my mother, I hadn't moved in the last fifteen minutes. Dakota walked carefully around my dad and got the door. The officers walked in and so did Aaron. I forgot that he was going to pick me up. Aaron looked from my father to my mom and then to me. My hair was wild my face was tear stained and I had a forming bruise on my cheek.

Aaron rushed over to me, and I jumped into his arms. And sobbed. Ugh. I felt safe. And at home. I blocked out the wailing of my mother, the angry screams of my dad, and the whispered curse words of Dakota. I cried into Aaron's firm shoulder. "Please take me out of here." I whispered to him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he hoisted me up higher in his arms. Aaron said to my mother that I'd be back soon, and he took me out of my completely shattered house.

I stayed silent in the entire car ride and briefly said hello to his siblings. We were sitting in Aaron room. I was straddling his lap and my head lying on his chest. I didn't say anything, and there was a purple blotch on my left cheek. Aaron kept rubbing my back whispering that I was safe. That I was okay. That everything was fine. I heard the door creak. I lifted my head and saw Blake holding a plate of muffins, Sloan had a hand on her stomach and Tyson was holding a blanket. I smiled which kinda hurt. Blake sat next to us and held my hand. And Sloan sat on the other side of us a hand on my thigh. Tyson stayed put and leaned against the doorway.