Athena sat up in her bed, her alarm clock blaring. Glancing over she checked the clock seeing that it was six am. Rolling out of bed she staggered to bathroom, cringing at the sight she saw in the mirror. Athena touched the light bluish purple bruise shadowing her left eye. Flinching in pain, she closed her eyes and leaned against the dirty sink, the memory floating in the back of her mind.
"You can't do anything right can you!" Athena's father screamed, pushing her inside of her room.
"You act like I asked for detention," Athena cried as she fell to the floor.
"How long do you have it for?" Athena's father asked. Athena struggled to return to her feet.
"Just this week," She replied, watching her father's face turn different shades of red before he blew up.
"You can't do anything right!" He repeated, taking three quick steps towards Athena and grabbing her by the arm. Athena closed her eyes, feeling her father's hot breath on her face. "Look at me." Athena slowly cracked open her eyes.
"Dad, I'm sorry!" She said softly. "I didn't mean to get detention. It was that stupid boy Spencer!"
Her father took a step away from her before hitting her, causing her to stumble to the ground once again. "Don't come out," He spat before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Trembling, she opened her eyes, back in the dirty bathroom. Looking in the mirror, she placed her hand on the swollen flesh, flinching in pain.
"What excuse are you going to use this time?"
~!~
Family,
Left early. Be back after work. - Athena
Athena set the note down on the kitchen table, placing an empty beer bottle on top of it. She made her way to the door quietly, trying not to wake her mother who was asleep on the couch, cuddling with a bottle of Captain Morgan in her arms. Athena began to make her way down the silent street, the sun just beginning to rise. Her father had picked her up from work in a rage when he had heard about Athena's punishment at school and forced her to get in the car with him, having no choice but to leave her car at work.
Ten minutes passed, pure silence surrounding Athena as she hiked to school. Deep in thought, she didn't hear the car rolling up behind her that began following her closely. When realizing the car was behind her, she began to pick up her pace, her heart thumping in fear. She's heard about things like this; a girl would be walking alone and some guy would slow down, asking her for directions and next thing she knew, she would be tied up naked in some deranged man's basement. The window rolled down, causing her heart to skip a beat.
"Yo Athena!" A familiar male's voice shouted through the car window. Athena froze, turning to see Spencer behind the wheel.
"Oh," Athena sighed with relief. "You scared the shit out of me!" Spencer grinned, stopping the car.
"You need a ride to school?" Spencer asked, eyebrows raised. Athena narrowed her eyes as the early October morning breeze caused her hair to whip around her face. "It's cold out there and I don't want you getting sick." Spencer added after Athena didn't reply. "Get in the car," He demanded. Athena raised her eyebrows at him and he bit his lip nervously. "I'm sorry. Will you please get in the car?" He asked sweetly. Athena stood there for a second, weighing her options when Spencer parked the car and got out, walking to the passenger side and opening the door. "For you, my lady." Rolling her eyes, Athena approached the jeep. Before getting in, she stopped and looked at him, tapping him in the middle of the chest with her pointer finger, looking up at him. Spencer tilted his head down to look at her, an amused expression on his face.
"This is the only time I will ever accept anything from you. Got it?" She asked sternly.
Spencer suppressed a smile. "Got it." Once the two settled into the car and Spencer began to drive he turned to look at Athena. "Hey, what happened to your eye?"
~!~
As the pair turned in to the school parking lot, Athena noticed that the lot was full of students.
"Everybody is looking at us," Athena whispered as if they could hear her.
"Oh well. Let them look," Spencer said with a shrug as he pulled into his parking space. Once Spencer put the car into park and turned off the engine, Athena threw open the door and grabbed her book bag out of the back of the car.
"Whoa, where are you going?" Spencer asked, jumping out of the car.
"Thanks for the ride, Spencer." Athena said with a forced smile. Slamming the door, she turned on her heel and disappeared into the school.
"Dude, what was that all about?" Roman asked. Spencer turned to look at his best friend, noticing the confused look on his face. "When did you two become friends?"
"We aren't really friends I guess."
Roman broke the silence as Spencer closed his door. "Dude, you never called me yesterday. What'd you want to tell me?"
"What?" Spencer asked absentmindedly, opening the trunk. Roman sighed as Spencer grabbed his book bag.
"Before you went to detention yesterday, you told me you had something to tell me. What was it?" Roman repeated, slightly agitated. Spencer slung his book bag over his shoulder and grinned at his best friend, slamming the trunk closed.
"Roman," He said, placing his hand on his friends shoulder. "I'm falling for someone." Roman smiled, opening his mouth to say something but Spencer placed his hand over Roman's mouth, cutting him off. "And I'm going to do whatever it takes to make her mine."
