Our Chemical Direction

Chapter 2: Meeting The "Prank Master"

{Thorn's POV}

I grabbed the blonde boy's hand and helped him stand up. I led him to where I guessed the kitchen was and washed the powder off his face. It smelled like flour. "Thanks, I'm Niall." he smiled with a thick Irish accent. I looked around him for a piece of paper. There was a notepad on the counter, along with a pen. I wrote my name on the paper. "Well, nice to meet you Thorn." he grinned like a Cheshire Cat, holding out his hand. I shook it and gave him a half hearted smile. 'Who's Louis?' I wrote on the paper. "Oh, that's one of the boys. In fact, here he comes now." he answered, turrning his head to the doorway. All the sudden a short boy with brown hair came walking in. He was wearing a grey t shirt with teal, tight rolled skinny jeans. "Louis, this is Thorn." Niall introduced. Louis smiled and held out his hand. "You're a very pretty girl for being emo." he chuckled, shaking my hand. I immediately froze in place. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. I saw him do the same and pull his arm back to his side. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I was joking around. I didn't think you'd take it seriously." he panicked. I didn't take very much offense to the name, but it was just the flashbacks that gave me horrible nausea.

[Flashback]

I ran up the stairs but fell flat on my face once I felt a tug on my ankle. I turned my head around and saw my stepdad dragging me back down the staircase by my ankle. "Come here, you emo bitch. I'll make it to the point to where you'll be in so much pain that you can't lift your razor blade." he spat, dragging me towards the center of the room. He stepped on my head and kicked me in the stomach. I tried crawling away, but failed. He turned me on my back and punched me. "Bitch, you won't go anywhere until I fucking tell you I'm done with you." he screamed in my face. I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. "Good. You know your punishments. Tell me them." he ordered. "Sexual intercourse for going upstairs and a 2nd class beating for running before you were done." I gulped. "That's right, Emo Queen." he smirked. He started hitting me over and over in the ribs. I let a tear slip down my cheek as he continued to do so. A few minutes later he got bored and started to rip off my clothing. I tried to cover myself up, but he ripped my arms away. He then continued to grab me.

[End Of Flashback]

I made a squaking sound and dashed out of the kitchen. Liam saw me and tried to follow. He grabbed my wrist and spun me around. I stared at him with a mad expression. I wasn't actually mad at him, but I couldn't let him see the pain underneath. If I didn't have my walls up so high I would've looked at him with the most pained look in the world, due to him grabbing me. It didn't hurt, it just reminded me of my abuse. "Our room is the first room on the left." he whispered. I nodded and ripped my arm out of his grip. It felt good to do that and not have someone chase you. I opened the door and fell onto my bed. I started scratching the blankets, desperate to find the spot where the covers seperated from the sheets. I soon found it and crawled underneath, silently letting tears escape my eyes. Luckily Liam left me alone and never came into the room. I cried for 15 minutes before getting out of the bed and cleaning myself up. I had to fix not just my makeup, but my hair too. Suddenly I saw a razor blade sitting on the sink. Liam must've used it to cut the soap into smaller pieces. I grabbed it, washed it off, dried it, and dug it into my skin. It stung for a millisecond, but my arm soon grew numb. I watched the dark red drip into the sink. I smiled as I remembered all the other times I used one of these. The last time was 5 months after Gerard adopted me. I felt like I didn't fit in, and I felt like my mom and stepdad were going to track me down. When I cut, I felt like all my problems flowed out with my blood. It always makes a feeling of reassurance wash over me. The feeling that I'm fine now.

I walked into the living room and found everyone was in a circle. "This is 'I am sorry', Louis." dad said, showing them all the sign for 'I am sorry'. What? They're teaching them sign language?! The whole reason I'm mute again is so I don't have to talk to them! I slipped pass their little group and into the kitchen without anyone noticing me.

I opened the fridge and found some chicken in a bag labeled Nando's. I put it in the microwave along with some garlic bread that was in the bag as well. 1:00 later I took my plate out and sat at the island by the microwave, stove, and sink. I ate all of it considering I was starving, and put my plate in the sink.

I heard someone walk into the kitchen. I heard them pacing around me cautiously. I glanced over to my right and saw a knife holder. I grabbed the longest one I could see and whipped my body around. Louis was there. He was standing with his back against the fridge and he had his arms up in surrender. I breathed a sigh of relief and put the knife down. Louis did the same, except put his arms down. 'I'm sorry' he signed. I looked into his eyes. They were a swampy green, but before they were blue. Maybe that means he's not lying. I saw that his eyebrows were shaped like a less than sign.

He really does mean it. 'It's not your fault. It wasn't you.' I frowned. "Yes it is. I didn't know you'd respond like that." he argued. 'Louis, it's not you. Just bad memories.' I signed. He looked confused as he looked towards the ceiling. He looked back at me and smiled a half hearted smile. "Sorry"

I turned around and covered my face with my hands. "I don't need your sympathy, and I'm not your charity case." I mumbled under my breathe. "Did you just say something?" he asked, stepping closer. I turned towards him and gave him a look that said 'does it really look like I'd say anything, you idiot?'. He looked down at the floor. Now I kinda feel bad, but I needed to lead him down the wrong road. "Um, Thorn? Do you want to maybe go on a date with me? I'll pay." he asked nervously. My jaw dropped. 'Sure' I shrugged. I think he understood my sign because he started grinning like mad. "Great! Is 7:00 okay?" he questioned. I pulled out the schedule I kept in my back pocket and looked. I had an interview at 9:00, but that gave me 2 hours with him. I flipped the calendar around so he could see. "2 hours is fine. I'm not trying to ask for too much." he smiled. I closed the book and smiled back. I wrote 'See you then, love. (; Oh, you and your country.' on the notepad and handed it to him. "Alright, LOVE. I guess see you then. Maybe we can even go to a tea shop." he winked, emphasizing all the British things in his sentences. I smiled. 'As long as they have a telly and don't have rubbish everywhere.' I wrote, smirking. He rolled his eyes and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I blushed as he walked out of the kitchen.

I remembered that I needed to pick out something to wear, and ran to Liam and I's room. I burst through the door and saw a speechless Liam. "Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked, breathless. I decided to take a second and play cherades with him. I sat on my bed, crossed my legs, pretended to cut a steak, and started to make soundless conversation. "You're going on a date?" he asked, unsure of himself. I nodded my head 'yes'. "With who?" he questioned. His eyebrows were knitted in confusion. I went through my bag and found a teal shirt and turquoise shirt. "Louis?!" he practically yelled. I held my finger up to my mouth, telling him to be quieter. I nodded my head 'yes' and began going through my bag to find, not grey and teal shirts, but a cute outfit. I suddenly trusted Liam, as if he were a nice brother I never had. "Help?" I squeaked. Liam's eyes were bulging out so badly I thought they would fall out of his eye sockets. "Did you just talk?" he asked, probably thinking he was insane. I nodded my head and watched his reaction. He seemed to shake it off. "Uh, what do you need help with?" he smiled, walking over to me. "Pop outfit. Not emo." was all I said, straining my voice. He grinned from ear to ear and helped me pick something out. It was blue jeans that looked like skinny jeans with the way they were built, a neon green undershirt, with a brown halter top that had a dinosaur singing 'Somebody That I Used To Know' to a dinosaur skeleton on it. I silently thanked him and changed. It was 6:30, and I still needed to do my hair and makeup. "I can help." Liam offered, once he realized what I had left to do. I smiled and he followed me into the bathroom.

He grabbed a q-tip, got it wet, and cleaned all of my eyeliner off. He looked at my eyeshadow pallette and chose my neon green, which I normally wear with one of my BOTDF shirts. He put it on perfectly and picked up my liquid and pencil eyeliners. He applied the pencil to my water line only, so he didn't over do it. Then he took the liquid eyeliner and made thin lines on my eyelids that winged upwards once it left my eyelid.