Fascinated by Him

Chapter Ten - Bruises

The school week rolls by quickly and before I know it it's the weekend again. I spend most of my time focusing on school work and the girls. With things being quiet lately, there wasn't much else to do. Going to another one of Ben's games was the only exciting thing to take place during school, but it left everyone feeling down when the boys ended up losing their first game yet.

           Which also left my brother in a mood. I avoided him the best I could when we were at home. I knew he would get over it eventually, but I wasn't going to push my luck. Dealing with a pissed-off Ben was not one of my favourite things.

           The last time I stuck around when he was in one of his moods things ended up getting pretty nasty between the two of us, so I avoided it at all costs.

           I was starting to also become suspicious that Luke was avoiding me for real this time. He was barely here at our place and, if he was I didn't know about it. We still haven't said a word to each other since the kitchen incident, which made me believe he was trying to dodge me on purpose.

           Not that I wanted to see him. I was still angry at how he made it out to seem like I was following him around. I asked a simple question about the girl he was with, he made it seem like I was some obsessive stalker of some sort. Thinking about it just stressed me out, so I tried to keep myself from worrying.

           I laid there at the television watching an episode of Wentworth on Netflix, just passing the time.

           It was a Saturday night and I was all by myself. I wasn't in the mood to go to a party with the girls. There was one taking place at one of the guy's houses on the football team. I didn't know who he was, I wasn't familiar with everyone on the team.

           Ben was gone and if I had to guess, he was with everyone else who was attending the party. That left me in the house all by myself, which I was alright with. I didn't mind being alone tonight. I usually hated it, but I just felt like being by myself.

           Hearing footsteps making their way to the stairs in the living room where I was, set me on edge. I was supposed to be the only one here, I knew Ben wasn't going to be home soon. It was only around ten at night, much too soon for it to be him.

           I sat clutching my blanket. Glancing over the couch in the direction of the hallway, I tried to make out who it was, cursing myself for not leaving any lights on, or locking the doors when I should have. Isn't this how people usually got killed?

           I watched way too many crime shows I thought to myself. A tall figure makes its way into the glow reflecting off the television. As quick as I could I reach over to the side table and flick on a light, bathing the room in a low yellow glow of warmth.

           Sitting up as quick as I could I started taking in the appearance of the person before me, tall and lean with a black hoody, and pale denim jeans with holes. It wasn't till I got to his face that I felt myself let out a gasp of air.

           His dark hair sat messily on his head, his green eyes staring at me. It wasn't the fact that he was standing in the hallway that had me worried. It was the state of the right side of his face; mottled black and blue bruises that fanned the side of his jaw and his eye, making his usually handsome face look rugged. It was a ghastly difference compared to the flawless left side of his face. You could tell it was still swollen, which let me know that it happened recently.

           I jump off the couch and run over to him before I even think about what I'm doing.

           "What happened?" In a rush, I reach out to lightly grasp his face.