She Will Be Loved

Chapter 2

"Where do you think you're going!?" My dad asked me. I could smell the terrible smelling booze in his breath.

"I'm going to school, dad." I said.

"Don't talk to me like that!" He said, in a slurred voice.

"Dad, I have to go. I'm going to be late!"

He brought his hand across my face and I winced with pain.

"Dad!"

"Who do you think you're talking to, you little b*tch!?" He snarled at me.

"Just because mom left you doesn't mean you can take it out on me. Mom loved me. And I'm the closest you'll ever get to her!" I snapped and braced myself for what was coming up next.

My mom was the only thing I'd ever loved. But she ran away when I was 6. I'm 18 now. I had one picture of her. That was all I had. I had only a few memories of her. She would always take me to the ice rink to watch her practice figure skating. I remembered the way she would twist and turn along the ice of the rink. And then when she landed her twist, she would look at me and I'd give her the thumbs up. And the other memory I had of her was before she left. She promised that she would come back for me. But she never did.

The reason my mom left is still unknown. But if I had to take a wild guess, it was because of my dad. I distantly remembered them screaming at each other. And then my mom couldn't take it anymore. So she gave up on us. She gave up on everything. Except me. I knew it hurt her to leave me. But she couldn't watch herself suffer, and I knew that. But there was a part of me that still thought she would come back for me. She never did. And I'm not sure if she ever will. I was snapped out of my daydream when I felt a searing pain.

"Dad!" I looked down and saw blood trickling down my arm. I fell to the ground and clutched my bleeding arm. "You just cut me!"

"Maybe that'll teach you a lesson, you c**t." He walked off and turned before walking out the door. "And you know what will happen if you tell anyone about this." He stormed out of the door and left me there. Tears ran down my face and I tried to get up. I ran up the stairs and got a wet towel and washed the blood off of my arm. I couldn't believe what just happened. My dad's kicked me, slapped me, pulled my hair, and he even threatened to kill me once. But he's never cut me. And I knew what would happen if I told anyone about this. He would throw me on the streets and leave me on my own. It wouldn't be a problem if I actually had friends. Everyone thinks I'm a creep.

9:00. It read on the clock. I put the towel down and ran out the door and down the street to school. I ran across the courtyard and down the hall into my homeroom, passed my teacher writing on the chalk board.

"Late again, Sophie?" He said without turning around.

"Sorry, Mr. Conway. It won't happen again."

"If it happens again, you'll have a detention."

"Sorry. I promise it won't."