Normal Things (Tate Langdon FanFiction)

Chapter Nine:

Mom woke me up for school the next day and offered to help me with my makeup, which was code for: Let me help you mask the bruises and cuts on your body so the other kids won't taunt you. I politely declined her offer and got to readying myself for the day.

I slipped into a pair of soft, lovingly worn, pale blue skinny jeans and a navy long-sleeve that dipped slightly in the back, revealing the soft skin stretched over my upper spine. I pulled the sleeves over my hands, hiding the horrors of them. Slipping my feet into my lone pair of white Vans, I padded down the hall to the bathroom, flipping the light switch with a thin finger.

The girl that met me in the mirror looked better than the last time I saw her: her eye wasn't swollen any longer, slowly revealing the golden iris behind her eyelids. Her cheeks were still pale, but the bruises were disappearing, giving way the menial freckles that dotted the skin under her eyes. The cut in her eyebrow was gone, just a tiny scar now, barely visible.

The bruises on her collar bone were faint, still there but faint. I brushed through my hair and twirled it into a bun at the back of my neck. Adding the lightest bit of eye shadow and kohl to my eyes, trying to make the dark circles under my eyes look less pronounced. I swept on a layer of vanilla Chap-Stick and appraised myself in the mirror. I looked OK.

Satisfied, I walked out of the bathroom, grabbed my bag from my room, and made my way to the kitchen. Mom was sitting on the couch, spooning cereal into her mouth from a neon bowl with a spoon shaped like a whale. "Goo—mor'ing," she said, her mouth filled with Captain Crunch. I smiled and waved as I made my way into the kitchen.

"Morning, Mom," I replied, reaching in the pantry for a toaster pastry.

Popping them into the toaster, I opened the cupboard above the counter, pulling down a black travel mug, filling it up with scalding water from the Hot Water tap. Taking out an Earl Grey tea bag from its box, I went to making tea while my pastries were cooking; from the smell of them, they smelled heavenly.

"How'd you sleep, Pen?" Mom asked as she waltzed into the kitchen, setting her empty bowl in the sink. I opened my mouth, near to answering, when the toaster popped and my pastries jumped for joy in being done.

Taking my pastries out of the toaster, I answered. "I slept OK."

Mom nodded her head and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. Her lips were soft and warm; I smiled and walked to the pantry, getting the honey bear and Nutmeg, and came back to the counter.

"I'm going to be home early today, Pen," Mom told me as she was making her way out of the kitchen.

Without asking why, I called "Okay" over my shoulder and went to fixing my tea. Mom was dressed and ready for work when I walked into the living room, my tea held in one hand, the last pastry—in all of its warm, buttery, goodness—in the other.

She was fixing an earring into her ear, and bouncing around in one Mary Jane, her bare foot reaching for the other. Waving Bye to Mom, I walked out of the house and went to my truck, climbing into the cab. Turning the key in the ignition, I backed out of the drive and made my way to school. 

+++++++++++++++

Uncle was writing on the whiteboard behind his desk, scribbling something about projects being due and that the type of project being due today. He turned when I walked in.

"Penny..." he drawled, a smile creeping across his lips, only to have it slowly droop into a look of disappointment and concern, his brow knitting together. I suddenly wanted to back out of the classroom, which made no sense. Uncle was family. I shouldn't have wanted to run away.