Waiting To Exhale

One

  Olivia has lived a tough life; her mother left her and her father is an alcoholic who takes great pleasure in beating her every time he thinks about her mother. Olivia wants nothing more than to feel what love is in her lonely life.

She finally gets her wish when a handsome, young, man comes along and gives her everything she's ever hoped for and more. Mason is ten years older than Olivia, who is only fifteen. To them, age isn't an obstacle. Mason is a controlling drug dealer who manipulates Olivia into doing things she never imagined she would do. Despite all of the warning signs, Olivia doesn't want to leave. Mason gives her everything. She needs him.

At least that's what Olivia seems to think.

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Thanks for taking the time to check out this story. I really do hope you enjoy it. 😘❤

Also, this story is undergoing editing so please excuse any "mistakes" regarding facts about the characters
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   Feet shuffle against the floor as busybodies begin their quest to find their friends or make someone's life a living hell. For some reason, high school seems to be full of girls that think they're better than everyone else or guys that go around sleeping with every girl they can get their hands on. Pigs. If you're not a part of those two groups then you're considered (for lack of better words) an outcast or loser.

   That's where I fall. I don't have any friends. The whole school seems to hate me for a reason I can't seem to figure out. I didn't do anything to anybody as far as I know. I prefer to keep to myself. I don't have the fancy clothes or long Brazilian weave the other girls have so that only makes school harder on top of the bullying. Gabriel, nor I, exactly have the money to acquire such extravagant items. I'll just have to make do with my baggy clothes and messy hair.

   This usually makes me the butt of everyone's joke. It's easy to pick on someone that doesn't have anything, especially when you don't know what it's like to have nothing.

   The bell rang out a minute ago for us to transition to either our next class or lunch so the hallways are filled with hormonal teenagers and adults that are positioned at the end of the hallways as monitors. I don't have any lunch packed with me but I'm willing to skip lunch again to keep from being harassed. I'm not the confrontational type so people view me as an easy target. Oh, who am I fooling? I am an easy target. No one is going to stand up for me and I can't even do that for myself.

   I slither through a group of girls on my way to the bathroom. One of them, I can't tell who, push me to the floor. When I get up I give them a dirty look that they just brush off. Let's be real; I can't fight. Those girls could tear me apart if they wanted to. I'm used to being pushed around anyway.

   I spray the stall with some cheap but sweet-smelling perfume I found on my way to the bus stop. It stinks in here. I pull out my sketch pad and pencil and begin sketching the time away. This has become an everyday thing for me. The only downfall is I'll have to sit in class for the rest of the day hungry. I'm always hungry. Gabriel barely keeps food in the house.

   Gabriel is a rough-rounded guy. Ever since Nikki stopped being...Nikki, he hasn't been himself. I look a lot like him, which he is thankful for so he doesn't have a constant reminder of that woman. He's pretty average like me. He has brown skin and muddy eyes that always seem to be red and eyelids that seem too heavy for his skinny frame. He hasn't shaved in a while. He sort of resembles a caveman. At least he still has all his teeth.

   It seems like I'm the one taking care of him instead of him taking care of me.

   It's inequitable if you ask me. But no one asked me.

   By the time I realize lunch is over I'm presented with an odd drawing of a single flower that appears to be dead in the midst of bright, happy flowers. I never know what I'm going to draw until after I draw it. I pretty much let my thoughts wander and the pencil chooses its path. Not to boast or anything but I'm an excellent artist. It's the only thing I actually like about myself. Gabriel doesn't even know I like to draw but I'd like to keep it that way. He has a nasty habit of taking away all of the things I care about.

   I carefully place my sketchbook and pencil in my bag, straighten up my clothes, and proceed to my classroom.

   I hate going to class. There are some days I'm left alone to wallow in my sorrow but other days where I'm picked on in the most brutal way possible.

   Despite the torture, I suffer every day at school and home I'm an A+ student. I make sure to have all of my assignments turned in on time and my test scores perfect. I have to be good at school work if not anything else. I'm only a sophomore but I don't see myself going to college. I don't play any sports so I probably won't get offered too many scholarships and I can't afford it on my own. Not that I'm thinking about going. I go through enough at school already. I don't want to have to go through that for another 4+ years after high school.

   The bus drops me off a block away from my home as per usual. I wouldn't mind walking if I didn't have to put up with Alfonso and his boys on the way.

   Alfonso is a tall, Hispanic boy. He's somewhere around my age with a short crew cut dark hair, a lean build, his full lips are slightly uneven (top bigger than the bottom). He's quite the eye-catcher despite his prominent cheekbones and floppy ears. He lives with his dad and stepmom. His parents split up after his dad walked in on his mom high off her own supply and doing unspeakable things with Gabriel and so Alfonso hates my freaking guts. He can't get to Gabriel so he guns for me instead. That's pretty low if you ask me but again...no one asked me.

   For a millisecond I think I'm clear of Alfonso and his boys but I thought wrong. They're there, waiting for me at the small liquor store at the beginning of the street. Alfonso is leaning against his fancy car that appears so out of place in such a run-down neighborhood. He's only here to bother me.

   "Wassup Olivia."

   I ignore him as best I can and continue walking. That doesn't stop him. He walks up to me and his boys aren't far behind. They never are. They form a tight circle around me. "I'm still tryna figure out why you keep walking around with these dirty ass clothes on. I mean, the thrift shop ain't got nothing better for you to steal?" His words are laced in his thick accent. I have to strain my neck to look up at him. I'm not that tall.

   I continue to keep my mouth shut. Anything I say is only going to provoke him more than my presence already has. I feel heavy hands on my lower back and before I know it my face slams into Alfonso's hard chest.

   "Yo Alfonso." One of his boys chip in. I recognize him as Teddy. Teddy is a chubby guy with fat dreads and deep dimples that match mine.

   "What's up Teddy?"

   "You think she stupid or sum'?" The thick air is now contaminated by the sounds of their mocking laughter. I cringe at the menacing sound.

   "She gotta be." He turns his dark eyes on me. "She just like that father of hers. You dumb bitch." He shoots a glob of saliva at my face as a parting gift. I use the end of my flannel shirt to clean my face. Once he and his boys are completely gone I run the rest of the way to my house.

   Hot tears stain my face. I didn't deserve that. I don't deserve any of this. I didn't do anything to anyone despite how badly I'm treated.

   It seems like the more I wipe at my tears the more they seem to fall. I should be used to that kind of treatment by now but it still hurts. It always hurts. There's nothing I want more than to finally have someone that loves me the way I deserve to be loved. I know that's probably never going to happen. No one wants me. But, it doesn't hurt to dream.

   I hear the front door open then slam shut roughly. Gabriel is home, and so is the hell that comes along with him.