Not Alone For Long

Chapter 7

Cat's POV

The rest of the day went by rather quickly after lunch. I hadn't noticed and or paid attention to whether or not Harry and I had other classes together because in all honesty after what happened at lunch, I just wanted to be alone.

The last bell couldn't ring soon enough, and soon I was out of the school building. I still had to pick up Jen from kindergarten and then get ready for work. Today was one busy day and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

As I made my way to my car, a firm hand grabbed my wrist which scared me. Really? This bitch wanted to torment me more today? Hadn't I had enough. The hand spun me around and I realized that it belonged to Harry.

"Cat, look I just wanted to apologize for everything today. I don't want you to feel like I invaded your personal space and I don't want you to be mad at me," He stuck out his hand in front of me," Truce?" Hope flashed through his eyes as I starred at his hand.

Why was he being nice to me? Usually people would just beat the shit out of me for a good laugh. What did he want?

"For now," I sighed shaking his hand back before turning to my car,"But don't give me a good reason to regret that, yeah?" And with that I started my truck and pulled out of the parking lot. Leaving Harry with confusion spread clear across his face.

It wasn't like I was trying to be ride but when your constantly harassed and then this kid who happened to be in almost all your classes -which you never noticed before- starts being nice to you, you begin to worry. Why was he acting like we were best friends? Why did he care if I was mad at him or not? And why was he so persistent with me?

I sighed when I pulled into the parking lot of Jen's kindergarten. At least I could drown out the pain of today with her. She honestly helped me in more ways than she could think. Every time that smiled played across her tiny lips, it warmed my heart. And that was enough to get me through the day.

She hopped into the cab of my truck. Excitement boiled over her and I could tell she was ready to burst with every detail of what happened today. I braced myself.

"Cat, I love it there! Everyone is so nice and I made a ton of friends! I even think Gemma and I are the neatest of them! We had so much fun today and OH MY GOSH, we were paying dolls and Gemma was trying to get one into a dress and she ended up breaking the leg off!!" She broke out into a fit of giggles before continuing. "And then we didn't know what to do with it and we didn't want to get into trouble so Gemma went to this play kitchen thing we had there to play house and she stuffed it down the sink!! BEST. HIDING. PLACE. EVER!" And with that, laughter poured over both our mouths.I loved her to death, but she was a weird kid.

Our short drive stopped which led us to Sara's house. I had to drop her off here or else she would be home alone and I certainly wouldn't let that happen. Short 'goodbyes' were exchanged and 'I love yous' before I took off back to our apartment.

The stuffiness of it greeted me and I made my way to the bathroom. It times to see just how bad the bruise had gotten. I studied my face in the mirror in horror. All different shades of blue and purple masked my cheek. It was swollen of course and resembled the size of a tennis ball. I tried to cover with makeup as best I could as the emotional pain from today hit my like a wrecking ball.

Why were people so mean to me? What had I did to them? Was I honestly that useless? That ugly? That ungrateful?

Tears clouded my vision as the only thing I knew would stop the pain came into my mind. I, again, absentmindedly went into the medicine cabinet and pulled out the tiny blade. Holding to my forearm and running it forcefully over it until the sink was painted as crimson red.

This was the only way I knew how to deal with the emotional pain. It was easier for me to deal with physical pain than my depressing thoughts. A lot of people say that cutting only makes things worse on yourself, but, in all honesty, right now I felt like I could manage.

I put the razor back in its place and washed off my arm and the sink. Leaving no trace of myself anywhere. Jen didn't need to see that. She needed to be a kid. Have fun. Play. She didn't need her mind to be clouded with worry and sadness like mine.

It was now 3:00 which told me that I had 30 minutes until my shift at 'Eddie's Diner' began.

I hurriedly put on my white uniform work shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans along with some run down converse and made my way out to my truck which seemed like the millionth time I had done that today.

Pulling in to work, I made my way to the back of the small place and pulled on my apron once I was inside. It wasn't the best job but it helped me pay for the apartment and my car which was all I needed. Not to mention that I often times got free food from here so that was always a plus.

After a non eventful day at work which consisted of waiting on customers every whim, which was often times annoying seeing as thought they thought they owned the place, I made my way once again to Sara's place to pick up my little sister.

Four knocks on the hard wooden door revealed and exhausted Sara and a sleepy Jen. I thanked her and have her a small amount of money, like $20, which she declined but I insisted, I picked Jen up and headed home for the last time today. Only to repeat the same exact routine tomorrow.

Jen instantly feel asleep when her small frame way placed on the seat of my car.

I put my key in the ignition and, again, made the 15 minute drive home. I was so thankful I got the truck though cause I used to have to walk this distance, well accept for the kindergarten, but still it was a horrendous.

I finally made it home and carried Jen to our room, which was on the first floor thanks god, and place her fragile body into her pink bed. Kissing her good night, I turned to the kitchen to get myself dinner. And by dinner I meant a bowl of cereal. I didn't feel like cooking tonight. It was already 10 and I still had homework. So after finishing my bowl, I opened up my book bag and began the rather large amount of homework that the teachers had given me, even though it was the first day of senior year.