The Different Shade Of Grey

Chapter 3

"ANA, WE'RE HOME," my dad says. My mom walks out of nowhere and her face looks extremely mad. She walks towards me and slaps me, hard. I gasp and hold my cheek.
"I'm disappointed in you. Visiting Jack Hyde in prison!" She snaps at me. Even my mom is mad. I'm guessing this man has really left a mark in this family. I look at my shocked dad and back at my mom. I let go of my cheek and I walk to my room, silently crying. I open the door and I shut it closed and I lock it.
My new mission is to find my cigarettes and Reese's whiskey. We always drink it when she's around but sadly, I'm going to finish it.
Once I find them, I let my loud music take me out of my current misery. I drink, smoke and slowly dance to my great loud music. This is how I cheer myself up. My hips swaying and drinking my surrows away. My room steams up with the cigarette smoke.
Each sip of whisky makes me drowsy and less depressed.
With one more sip, I'm officially drunk. I drop the empty whisky bottle and it breaks. Shattered glass on the floor. The thought makes me laugh out loud.
"Being a Grey sucks!" I scream loudly and my happiness turns into loud weeping. I hobble towards my bedroom door and as I swing it open, I scream and fall onto the broken glass. I scream out in excruciating pain and I cry loudly. I feel the glass pierce through my skin and my blood escape out from my back. Stumbling sounds come towards my bedroom door, everything is going up and down. I feel my tears but I can't hear my father growl. As he drops to the floor to pick me up, I pass out in his arms.

I WAKE WITH A POUNDING HEADACHE and a thick and strong stench, invading the room. I sit up and stretch but I wince. There's a stabbing pain that's just throbbing on my back. I look around the room and I find someone I didn't expect. He's fast asleep and looks terrible. I throw myself back on the bed but I moan from the pain.
"Fucking hell," I growl. My dad wakes up and he looks alarmed but relieved that I'm okay, I think. He stands up and leans forward and pulls me into a hug.
"Phoebe, I'm so happy you're okay." He said softly.
"I'm fine dad. Where's the woman who slapped me?" I make a 'tsk' sound with my mouth and I struggle out of my father's disturbing hug.
"She's outside with Ted, don't hate on her. She was really pissed off."
"The one woman who calms me down, slaps me and pisses me off. I should've died." After saying that, my dad gapes at me and I shrug.
"I'm such a burden. No one gets me. Dad, I want to experience teenage drama. No doubt I'm experiencing it right now but like, high school drama. I want to go to a school dance, have a sleepover with my school friends, have a damn boyfriend and do the most rad memories with my friends. Being homeschooled sucks. It's so unfair how Ted can go to Business school or whatever, outside the house," I sigh and look at him, "Why don't you want me to talk to Jack? I might have spent ten minutes or more just talking to him and we did connect."
My dad closes his eyes and when he opens them, they're dark with fury.
"Things that happened between Hyde and I aren't very pretty. Just mentioning his name angers me. I don't want him near you and keeping you in the house at all times, just reduces my stress," he rakes his hair with his fingers, "Bebe, he literally made my life a living hell when he almost killed the two women I love. I thought your mom was going to leave me but actually she was going to save Mia and put her life in danger--"
"But how the hell do I remind you of such a terrible man?"
"It's just the way you act! You talk to me with so much attitude and its fucking useless how you talk to me like that and how you treat me! You treat me the same way he treated me. Phoebe, I'm trying to hard to be a good father but it's such a challenge when it comes to you!" He yells at me and this time, I keep quiet and listen with widened eyes , "You are my little girl and I've been telling you this since day one. I love you unconditionally and I'm trying my very best to earn those three words from you."
"But why don't you listen to me when I say I would like to experience the real world and not the rich and lock-in world. You may obviously see that I'm miserable and I'm trying to escape by drinking and smoking and drugs might also be my key to escape."
"You've literally turned into the younger female version of me," he shakes his head in disappointment.
"Just get out if I'm disappointing you. I'm legit trying to have a proper conversation with you but I'm certainly irritating you. Call Ted or someone who I at least talk to with a proper attitude," I dismiss him with my eyes closed. I hear his footsteps exit the hospital room. With all this anger, the headache just continues raping me and the throbbing coming from my back hasn't stopped. I turn and lay on my belly just to decrease the pain coming from the back. I close my eyes and try to rest until I hear a familiar soft and shy voice call out my name.
"Phoebe," my mom calls softly. Right now, her soft sweet voice isn't calming me down at all. If I could, I would throw grenades to all the Grey family members just to get off my back. Literally.
"Get out and I don't want to see you," I snap.
"Baby girl, please..." She tries to reassure me.
"Get the fuck out of here, mom. You've already touched me violently, so what makes me think that I trust you." Even with my eyes closed, I roll them. Her footsteps are coming nearer and nearer and I feel her hand stroke my painful back. I wince and I turn my head to face her.
"I said get out!" I yell at her. Can't she understand proper English or something? Am I speaking gibberish cause last time I heard, I speak fluent American English.
"Just listen to me," she whispers.
"You're so lucky I don't have my headphones here." I turn my head to the other side so that I can't face her.
"I can't believe that you did that. Visited the man who almost killed both your brother and me, drank your heart out and --"
"Is this your idea of a pep talk or are you just listing the things I apparently did wrong? Cause if it's both, there's nothing good about it."
She opens her mouth and closes it before she speaks.
"Mom, you were the only one I could escape to but no, dad is the fragile motherfucker and Phoebe has to suffer," I hold back the tears and I manage to finish my sentence but voice cracks, "You and Christian are officially dead to me."