Broken

one.

"Zoella, get me a beer!" The demon I live with demands from the other side of our little house. I sigh, making the all too frequent path from the fridge to Michael's room. When my mother passed he moved his office to his bedroom and became an alcoholic without omission. Michael certainly hasn't become any nicer to me. If anything he's worse than before.

The one thing that has not changed since my mom died is I still get whipped if I am caught in his room. The couple of seconds that it takes to deliver him his liquor is the only exception. "Shouldn't you be at school?" Michael asks me suspiciously.

"Shouldn't you stop drinking?" I can't help but snap back at him. "And since when do you care?" I quietly add hoping he doesn't hear.

"Don't talk back to me Zoella! How many times do I need to tell you that? Do I need to get the belt?" I wince at the thought of him whipping me. It's times like these when I miss my mom the most. She was the only one in my life that cared about me. Michael doesn't care if I were to die of a heat stroke or if I fell of a bridge. He'd probably be the one shoving me off the bridge and then he would celebrate by drinking at the bar.

I walk back to my room, grab my bag and keys, then head towards the door. The moment I open the door the humid air of May rushes in. While I wait for my car to start properly I pull out my phone and start texting my best and only friend.

- hey Weston, gonna be a little late today. Michael was being a dick like always.

Just seconds later he texts back.

- ugh why can't you just move in with my family? anyways drive safe. :) x

I click off my phone and carefully back out of the driveway. While I drive I start to think about what it would be like to move in with Weston and his family. I've been to Weston's house so many times that they consider me family. They all know what happens at my house. They're the closest thing to family I have left. His parents have told me bounteous times that I can come over anytime I want. They never forget to tell me I could move in with them if I genuinely wanted to. They said they would go to court to try and become my legal guardians if I wanted that. I am so grateful for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. I solely think it might be a little weird if I moved in with them because people already say Weston and I are dating, even though we aren't. If we lived in the same house we would be around each other even more than we are already. Another fear I have is we might fight a lot more than we do now. I can't risk losing my best friend.

I put the thoughts to the side when I realize I am already at school. I park my car in the farthest spot from the school and fix my long brown hair in my little hand-held mirror. When I get out of my car I begin my daily search for Weston.

-

"Want to come to my house after school today?" Weston asks me at the lunch table. He asks me this almost everyday and every time I am forced to give him the same answer.

"I can't, Michael is already pissed at me and if I don't go home to clean he will probably murder me," I laugh lightly but I don't think Weston realizes I'm just kidding because there is a little bit of fear when I look into his bright green eyes. "Weston, I was kidding, he may have had a rough patch of hurting me but that phase I over. He hasn't laid a hand on me in at least two years." It's okay to lie to your friends when it will make them feel better, right? I know it's the not the best thing to lie to your friend, let alone your only friend, but I just don't want him to worry too much about me. He's like an overprotective older brother.

I push back his brown curly hair that has fallen onto his face so I can look into his eyes "Are you okay Weston? Do you want me to get you some water?" He looks very pale and it's making me a bit nervous.