Why Him?

Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning with tear stained pillows. I couldn't believe what happened to my mom, how could someone do that? I wanted to call Corey and tell him about it but I assumed he was still sleeping.

I went downstairs and saw my mom sitting on the couch watching TV.  She turned to me, "Good morning."

Her face looked worse than it did the night before.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Better," she replied.

"Did u call the cops or anything?" I was full of questions.

"Jeff said he was gonna go to the police station and talk to a cop or someone today. I didn't want him to," She said.

"Why not?"

"I don't want this to become a huge deal. And I don't want to put Steve in jail," She told me.

"It already is a hug deal, and if he goes to jail he can't hurt you anymore," I said.

"Yeah, I know," She started, "but he has already been through a lot of bad times and I don't want to be the cause of another."

I scrunched my eyebrows, if he has been through tough times then why would he take it out on someone else? I couldn't believe my mom was ok with this, it was unacceptable what he did and she's acting like its not a big deal.

"Ok, well I'm gonna go to school now," I told her.

"Wait!" She yelled before I walked out the door, "Are you okay? You seemed upset last night before Corey came over. Is everything ok between you guys?"

"Yeah, we just got into a little fight, but it's all cleared up now," I replied.

I gave her a smile and walked out the door. I walked passed Corey's house and noticed him sitting on the curb with his back pack beside him.

"Hey," I said to Corey, "What are you doing?"

"I was waiting for you." He replied.

"For me? Why?" I asked in confusion.

"Uh...cause I want to walk with you. Is that a problem?" He said.

I jerked my head towards him, "Yeah. Why are you being so defensive?"

"I'm not," He mumbled.

I looked down and continued walking.

"My moms ex hurt my mom last night," I said.

Corey looked at me, "Is she ok?"

"Yeah, but she's got a black eye and a few bruises," I responded.

"Well, I'm glad she's ok," he told me.

It was silent for a bit until remembered Corey and I last night.

"Thanks for taking me to the beach last night, it was fun," I told him.

"Yeah," He mumbled.

I looked at him, "Is something wrong?"

"No, why?" He asked.

"You seem upset, you're barely talking to me. What happened?"

"Nothing happened," He said in defence.

******

It was lunch and I was gonna go sit with Corey to see if he was still acting weird, but I didn't want to bug him so I sat with Jen and Ella.

"Hey, girly!" Ella said as I sat down.

"Hey," I said.

"So what's up?" Jen asked.

"Nothing really... But Corey's acting strange. He's acting like he's upset, or like he doesn't want to talk to me," I replied.

"When was this?" Ella asked.

"This morning, he was sitting on the curb waiting for me so he could walk with me. And when we were talking he seemed upset," I told her.

"Well obviously he did want to talk to you if he waited for you," Jen said.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied.

I looked at my food and picked at it with my fork until I noticed Jen and Ella were whispering to eachother.

"What are you guys whispering about?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," Jen said and looked away.

"What?" I was asked again.

"It's just that, we warned you about Corey. We told he will be nice to you and then get bored of you so he'll move on to the next," Jen told me.

I felt offended, "What do you mean move on to the next? You really think I'm that boring?"

"No, we don't, but Corey is just a player, that's all..." Jen said.

There was a long and awkward pause, "Wait...do you know?" Ella asked.

"About what?" I asked.

"The rumour about Jacey," Ella answered.

"Well, no, but I caught them kissing the other day. I was furious, but he told me that he only kissed her because she wanted to get back with him and she wouldn't stop bugging him so he kissed her to get it over with," I said all in one breath.

"Oh my god Kayla, break up with him!" Jen practically yelled.

"No, it's fine! We are fine now," I said, "Anyways, what was the rumour?"

"That was you?!" Ella yelled.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" I said.

"Well, the rumour was that Jacey and Corey have been dating for a while, but they broke up because somebody caught them kissing and that's how Jacey found out that Corey had another girlfriend..." Ella told me.

"Yeah, Jacey has been telling everybody that story. We didn't really think it was true because we knew you were dating him, but now that I know it was you...I think it might be true..." Jen said with a sympathetic look.

I felt tears come from my eyes,  "that's why he was acting weird this morning, cause she broke up with him.."

"Kayla I'm so sorr-"

I jumped out of my seat with tears rushing down my face. I looked around for Corey and saw him laughing with his friends. I stormed over to him and stopped right infront of him. He looked up at me.

"Kayla what's wrong?" He asked.

I was trying to think of something to say, but I couldnt. Even if I did think of something to say, I wouldn't be able to get the words out.

I raised my hand, and then used every force and every emotion I was feeling, and slapped him. I slapped him so hard it even hurt my hand. Then, I knocked his tray of food off the table and ran away. I looked back at him, he was running his cheek and looking at the tray that was on the floor.

~~~~~~
Holy moly it has been a long time since I posted so here a dramatic chapter for y'all. I really hope you guys can forgive for barely updating but I will definitely update mot when I'm done school!💕