Abused {ACM}

Chapter 15

We all sprinted inside and shut the door, slamming it. We went to Austin's living room and peeked out the window.

My dad's car was parked in front, and he was getting out of it.

He saw me.

Abby's POV

"Crap!"

That was the only thing I could think of to say.

So I said it again.

"Crap!"

Panic filled my system, and my hands started trembling.

"Abby, go out the back door." Austin growled. "Now."

Usually I would scold him for being so alpha-male and bossy, but right now I did what he said.

"If I go, we all go. Come on." I tugged on Macey's hand, who was the closest to me, and we started crawling frantically towards the kitchen, hoping my father wouldn't see us through one of the windows.

My knees hurt, and the tile was cool under my palms.

If you had looked in and hadn't known what was going on, and saw eight teenagers crawling around on the floor, you probably would've found it extremely hysterical.

I almost wanted to start giggling myself - that was probably because I was turning a bit hysterical, though.

"Abigail Brooks. I can see you." I heard him growl from outside.

I automatically whimpered and winced at the sound of his voice.

I felt Austin stiffen by my side.

I stopped crawling and swallowed thickly.

"Come here, Abby."

I sat up, and felt everyone else sit up, too.

Austin grabbed my left hand, and Macey grabbed my right.

My voice shook as I called out, "No."

My father was standing outside the door, which had glass on it so he could see in and we could see out. The placed panes morphed his figure a little bit, not letting us see each other clearly.

I watched his expression go from confused to amused to a bit hysterical, to just down-right furious. Sometimes I wondered if my father was mentally ill.

I am dead serious here. I'm not even trying to insult him.

I really do wonder that sometimes.

"No?" He guffawed. "No? Are you disrespecting my others, young lady? Come out here, now. We'll talk about this at home."

"And by 'talk', do you mean you calling me a 'bitch' and pummeling me until I'm almost dead?" I cried out. "Why don't you just do it then, huh? Daddy? Why don't you just fucking kill me?"

There was a long silence after that.

None of my friends spoke, but I could feel their wide eyes trained on me.

I was shaking from all of the emotion - too much. It was too much. I was so sad...I was just so sad, but angry, and I didn't know how to contain it.

So I just kept on talking.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot. You don't want to go to jail for killing your own daughter. Always comes back down to you, doesn't it, Daddy? You selfish drunk."

More silence.

Austin let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, kissing my cheek but leaving his lips there, lingering.

A silent, comforting act.

One I was grateful for. It calmed me down, and I took shaky, deep breaths.

I heard my father sigh and go to the car.

A door slammed.

We all sighed, and I placed a hand on my heart, feeling my skin pulsate from the pressure it was beating.

"God, Abby..."

It was the only thing Alex could think of to say.

"Are you alright?" Robert asked, breaking away from Zoey to come and rub my back.

"Yeah." I forced a smile onto my face, swallowing back the tears, tipping my head back so they wouldn't flow out. "I'm just fine."

"Would this be an appropriate time to say, 'bullcrap'?" Jake retorted.

Austin nodded. "Very appropriate, I think."

I snorted and rolled my eyes at them.

We sat there for a while, calming down.

But just as my heart rate was back down to normal, the back-door slammed.

We forgot to lock it.

Zoey let out a shriek, and Alex was immediately there to grab her hand. We all stood up, and I felt Macey let go of my hand, but Austin grabbed on again. I impatiently tore some hair out of my eyes, whipping my neck around.

My legs were trembly, but I stood my ground and held my chin high.

And from the kitchen and into the hallway came my father...and my mom.

I froze.

My mom.

My mom was here.

That car door slamming hadn't been my father getting in.

It was my mom getting out...