Bruised

Chapter Thirty-Two

Bruised 32



{1 week later}



I roll out of bed to my feet. Amber is still asleep on the bed all curled up. Today's my birthday.. I don't think much of it, just like any other day within the year. I don't feel any older or different.



I don't want or expect anybody to say anything about it. I know I made a big deal with Amber's birthday and everything, but I don't want that to happen with mine. First of all, Amber was turning eighteen, that's a big deal. It's also the day she was born and who knows where I would be without her today. Second, ever since mom passed away and I've gotten older, they don't mean too much to me. Usually I would just party extra hard and get wasted, maybe get laid. Nothing out of the normal.



I make coffee for Amber and sit in the living room. The reason I make coffee is because Amber can be really grouchy in the mornings, but with her coffee she's not. I don't really like waking up and getting snapped at for doing something wrong.



I take the time to just let my mind go empty. But it doesn't stay blank for long. I start thinking about how it would be if mom was still here. Maybe I would still like my birthday. It's not like I hate it, it's just nothing big.



I hear a small bell ringing and see Apollo walking around. He's gotten pretty big within the last few weeks. He still hates me and shows it by scratching me any chance he gets.




Following Apollo is Amber with her dark hair in clumps as it flowed down. Her face was still pale from sleeping and she was still dressing just an oversized shirt she put on last night. She went straight to the coffee maker and poured a cup of the bitter black liquid. She also dumped sugar and milk into it.



She sat down next to me without saying a word. She usually takes a few minutes to wake up anyways. "Good morning." I rest my hand on her thigh. Amber bent her head to the side so it rested on my shoulder. "If you're still tired, go back and lay down." She shook her head no. "Happy birthday," came out of her mouth.


"It's not a big deal though."

"You only turn eighteen once!" She mimicked. "I'm not eighteen, smart one." She laughed.


****



"Come on! Let's go." Amber was trying to drag me out of the apartment to go do stuff but I didn't want to. She wanted to make my birthday a big deal when it's not.


"Amber I already told you, I am perfectly fine with staying at home." She shook her head. "Get your ass up, and let's go." She demanded. "Damn, alright." I pulled a shirt over my head and walked with her out the door.


"Where are we going?" I asked. She had grabbed her keys and began driving to the unknown destination. "Some place out.. I don't know, where do you want to go?"


"I don't know. You're the one who wanted to get out so badly. Oh and tonight there's this party, you're coming." Caleb had told me about it last night and I wanted to go.


Even after countless tries, Amber still doesn't like going out to parties that much. She will go with me if I ask her to, but for the most part she doesn't come. "Okay.." Amber made a left turn into a Starbucks drive through. "Do you want anything?" She asked. I shook my head. She ordered some type of drink. I couldn't tell if it was coffee or tea.



To make time pass I checked my phone.


From: Madison
Happy birthday! What are u up to today?


I texted her back saying thank you. Things were still pretty bad with her and her parents. She's still kind of pissed at me for what I did, but I ended up helping her in the long run.


"Do you want some?" She took a sip from the green straw. I'm guessing it was coffee, it looks like what she usually gets. I shrug and take the plastic cup from her. The flavoring was very good but really sweet. It was some type of vanilla coffee.



"So do you know where we are going now?" I asked one again. "Yes, but I'm not telling you."



"You know it's really tempting to distract you while you're driving.. I really want to."


"No Isaiah. I don't distract you." She slapped my arm. "Yes you do with your fat head!" I teased. "Shut up."


****


"What are we doing here?" I asked taking my seatbelt off. She had driven us to our city's amusement park. "What do you think? There's nothing else to do." She reached for my hand as we started walking.



"So what should we do first?" She asked. "You're not going to like what I want to do." I like the heights, they don't bother me. "Since it's your birthday, I will do what ever you want me to."


I drug her over to a small ride. I didn't want to terrify her so suddenly, thought it would be better to take it slow.


"Isaiah this is huge." Amber commented. It was a tall tower like structure that had seats around it. The seats would rise up all the way to the top of the structure and come falling down. It looked pretty cool to me.


"No it's not. C'mon. I will hold your hand." We waited in line watching people enter and exit the ride. I was holding Amber's hand and I could feel it getting more and more sweaty-er. "Oh.. Isaiah I don't know if I can do this."


"You will be fine." I kissed her forehead.


Next thing I know, we are up to choose a spot. Amber and I sit next to each other and pull the bars down on our chest. I tightly grab her hand and try to calm her down.



The seats rise slowly and for a third of the way she was fine. She closed her eyes when we got up a little high and squeezed my hand tighter. I, on the other hand, was perfectly fine. The view was great! You could see all types of buildings and roads from up here.


"It's okay beautiful.. You'll be fine." I purred. Amber let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes. "OH MY GOD WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" I screamed. Amber jumped and slapped me on the arm. I started laughing at her while she freaked out.


I heard a click and went went falling down. I could hear Amber screaming next to me alongside the others on the ride. It felt like we were never going to stop, but eventually we did.


The bars on our chest were released upward and off of us. Amber was shaking next to me. "Hey are you alright?" I asked as we followed the others to the exit.


"No. I hate you so much Isaiah. That was not funny!" She stomped off to a bench and sat down. I laughed to myself and caught up with her. "I'm sorry I scared you, I shouldn't have done that. Will you forgive me?" I lifted her chin up with my index finger. "Fine.. But only because it's your birthday." I smiled and kissed her.


****


"I'm hungry! Let's go get a candy apple." I suggested. Those are the best things this time of year.



We went up to a stand and ordered one so we could share. I took a bite letting the sour green apple juice fill my mouth. I passed the stick to Amber and let her have a bite. We trade back and forth until Amber has had enough and I eat the rest.



"You know you make me feel like shit sometimes." I said with a mouth full of Caramel. "How?"


"Because you make me feel like a human garbage disposal. Anything you don't eat, I'm stuck with." I chuckled a little. "You don't have to eat it. And you look just fine."


"Oh so are you starting to say something?" I raised my eyebrow. It's time to mess around a little. "Depends..."


"You said I looked fine.. That's it?" I made it sound like I didn't like her just saying the word fine.


"Yeah.. I guess so. What do you want me to say?"


"That I am the sexiest man ever to walk this earth." I threw the stick with the core in the apple away. Amber sighed, "Okay, you are the sexiest man to ever walk this earth. Cocky much?"


"Oh, I don't need you to say that to me.. I already know I am. I want you to scream it out to the world." I lifted my arms up lifting Amber's up too.


"No. I'm not going to scream that out in public."


"Bye." I dropped her hand and walked the opposite reaction. I walked off fast so she had to run to keep up.



"No Isaiah!" Amber jogged up to meet me. "Say it."


"Isaiah is the sexiest man to ever walk this earth." She shouted. The people in front of us stared back and made weird faces.


I put my index finger on her lips. "Shh. Keep your voice down.. We are in public." I whispered.






"Ooo I want that! I want cotton candy." Amber pointed to a clear bag with pink and blue fluffy cotton candy inside. "No! You're not going to eat it all. I'm going to be stuck with holding it, or eating the rest." I had become Amber's personal cart with arms and legs. She had me hold the giant teddy bear I had won for her, the drink we shared, both of the shirts we had gotten, (Amber made a big deal about the shirt and she got to pick out the design. It was a dumb shirt with "Aye, she's mine" and "Aye, he's mine." In my opinion it was dumb and cliché but Amber gets what she wants..) and a half eaten turkey leg that I had wanted.



I hadn't let her eat the turkey leg because I wanted it to myself. Just kidding, she ate a few bites and then stopped asking for it.


"Babe can I please have the keys to your car?" She knew I didn't like having to hold all of mostly her stuff.

"Yeah, just let me have the drink." She traded me the drink in my hand, and my turkey leg for her car keys. I began walking all the way out to the car.


I put all of the stuff in the back seat and locked the car. I heard my phone ringing in my pocket.


"Hello?"


"Happy birthday son!" My dad's voice sounded through the small speakers. "Thanks.."


After hearing the clicking of the car and I started my walk back to the food stands to find Amber.


"So what are you up to today?" I could hear a woman in the back ground. I didn't even have to think twice to know it was Caroline. "Nothing just at the carnival with Amber."


I had turned a corner and ran into someone and they had ice cold water. Only a few cold drops went onto my shirt but it was still cold. "Jesus that's cold." I looked at the person holding the drink.


"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry.." It was a short Mexican girl with black hair. "It's okay.. Should have watched where I was going." I mumbled. I let her pass me by before I started walking again.


"You have anything else planned for tonight?" My dad sounded oddly curious. Whether he had something planned or not I wasn't coming over.


"Yes actually. Supposed to be going to a party tonight. What have you been up to?" I changed the subject to him.


I found Amber sitting down at a table alone eating cotton candy. I sat down next to her and grabbed my turkey leg out of her hands. "Who are you talking to?" She asked licking her fingers. "Dad," I mouthed.


"Oh nothing much.. Work."


"That's great, hey here talk to Amber." I threw the phone to her ear. Amber looked panic for a second and the started talking into the phone.


After two minutes she handed the phone back to me. "Okay well thanks for calling and all.. We are about to get on a ride so bye." I waited for him to hang up before I did.


"I hate you! That was so awkward. You just threw the phone at me." Amber complained.


"Yep well not like I wanted to talk to him." It sounded mean, but it's not like he needed to call. "That was rude. What if your mom had called? I sure as hell know you wouldn't have acted like that." It struck a nerve when she used mom in a sentence like that. I knew how she meant it but it still bothered me.


"If my mom had called then I wouldn't have been still pissed at my dad." I retorted. "Why are you still so mad anyways? You're not around him anymore."


"Because, when your dad beats the living crap out of you, you kinda learn not to forgive." She dropped the subject immediately. We weren't fighting, just discussing about the topic.


****


"Will you please come on this ride with me!?" Amber begged. It was some dumb kiddy ride. It was a merry-go-round. I didn't want to do it because it just goes in circles, but like I said before, Amber pretty much always gets what she wants.



I nodded and followed her to a big golden plastic horse. "Aren't you going to get on one?"


"No, babe." There's no way in hell I was getting on one. If anybody I knew here saw me, I would die! I wrapped my arm around her waist and stood next to her. "It won't be as much fun." I still shook my head no. I love her to death, but I'm not getting on one. The ride had started and Amber seemed pretty amused with just going around the circles.



"Wow, you're amused easily." She laughed. "This has alway been my favorite ride. Oh when it gets dark, we are going on the Ferris wheel!" I thought by dark we would already be at the party, but that's okay. After a couple minutes the ride stopped and I helped Amber down.



****


"One more ride and can we go home? I still have to get ready.." She nodded. We made our way to the Ferris wheel with bright lights on each little leg that came out from the center.


We had gotten in the tan gondola with the white number 12 printed on the side.


"Do you want me to sit with you or across? If I sit next to you, it's going to lean." She patted the spot next to her for me to sit down. I wrapped my arm behind her resting my elbow on the edge.


As soon as the wheel started moving to let more people on Amber flipped out. We were leaning all to one side since all our weight was on that one side. "Babe, it's just moving a little. You will be okay." I kissed her temple to calm her down a bit. She was really terrified of heights. All through out the day I have been told threats of ending our relationship because I "made her go on the ride." If she didn't want to go, she could have sat down. She would tell me she hates me and that if I made her go on one scary ride one more time, we would be done.


Once the ride started going we were fine. Just to get one last joke in I started violently rocking in the small gondola, making it tilt back and forth. "Isaiah please stop you're scaring me!" She wined. I laughed and calmed down to let her enjoy the ride.


"You know how much I love you right?" I asked her. She nodded. I stood up beside the huge pole that was in the middle between the two seats. "Well I was wondering if you would marry me!" I bent down on one knee.



"Shut up and sit back down!" She lightly pushed my shoulder. I busted out laughing and sat down next to her. "No joke, but you know I love you a lot." She nodded. "I love you a lot too. Happy birthday, I hope it was a good one." She kissed my cheek. The night was still young so there's loads more in store.


"It was the best one yet because you were here with me." I sat her in my lap somehow.


"I'm happy no matter where we are, how much money we have, what's going on, or what we have, I'm happy as long as I'm with you."


"You can be a real asshole sometimes but I would never trade you for nothing. I'm so happy I took that chance with you. Even though we are probably the oddest couple, I think we are the best." She put her lips on mine while she stroked my cheek. "Nothing like getting called an asshole on your birthday."

"No I didn't mean-"


"I know what you meant." We finished the ride and started walking to the car.



"If you're too tired, I can drive." I stuck out my hands for her keys.


****



"Amber come on!" I called from the couch. She was taking forever to get ready. She's so complicated about everything she does. I take ten minutes after getting out of the shower. I wanted to get up and go because Caleb said he was already there.



I heard the bedroom door open, but saw Chris come out. "Happy birthday." He cheered. "Where are you about to go?"



"A party with Amber, but she's taking forever!" I yelled the last part hoping she could take a hint. He laughed and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "Have fun.. If you ever get to go. Don't have too much fun though.. If you do, use protection." He winked at me and said the sentence in a "fatherly" way. "Shut up."



Five minutes later Amber finally came out. She looked amazing! She had on a skin tight black lace dress. "It's about damn time." I stood up and walked over to her. "Can you even breathe in that?" She looked super small in the dress. "Barely. We can go now." She had on thick red heels that made her close to my height.



Even though Amber may not like to go out a bunch, she sure dresses amazing.


"Since it's my birthday, you have to get drunk okay?" It was something odd to say but you have more fun if you're not completely sober. Plus I want to see her drunk, just to see how she will react to the alcohol.



****


"Just chug it down." Amber was unsure if she should take the shot glass I passed to her. "I will take one with you." I pick up the second small glass. I counted to three then let the burning liquid rush down my throat. I looked over at Amber. She had her face scrunched up like a prune. "That was terrible!"


"Great, so another one?" She nearly screamed a no at me. "Okay, but you have to drink a beer." I wasn't going to force her to drink tonight, but it would be more fun if she did. She took the cold bottle from my hands and smelled the top of it. "No!"


"You don't drink it for the taste, you drink it to get drunk." There are some beers that I do drink for the taste, other then that most beers are gross. "What if I don't want to get drunk?"


"Too bad." I pulled on her hand and we went to dance.



"There you are man! Oh you brought Amber.." Caleb sounded dull towards the end of the sentence. He probably thought it was just going to be me. If it was just me, I would be drunk by now. I'm probably not going to drink as much since I have Amber around, and since one of us has to drive home I thought it would be a good idea for me to stay sober.



"Hey! Sorry we weren't here earlier. Somebody took all fucking day to get ready." I looked at Amber. It was strange to see her holding a beer bottle since normally she stays away from it. I guess I am a bad influence on her but oh the fuck well. I'm not going to force the alcohol into her mouth, but I want to encourage her to let loose for once. This is how I have my fun, so she knows what I do when I go out. Of course now I won't be letting another girl grind on me this time.



"Another reason why I'm single again. You know the only reason I need a girl is to go party with.. Other than that I don't want any girl around me." He was clearly drunk. He loves the attention he gets from girls, what guy doesn't?


"Hey there's a hot chick right there. Go check her out." I whispered to him pointed behind Amber. He laughed and walked his way over to her.



"Drink up, it's only going to get better." I told Amber before taking a large gulp of my beer.



"Do they have anything else beside all this strong crap?" If it's a party they have everything from water to vodka.



I went over to the table of different types of alcoholic beverages on it and mixed a few in a cup for her. "I have mixed them together before I swear it's safe." It's not strong enough for me but it's what I have sometimes.



She took a small sip and kept the drink in her hands. I could tell she was still uncomfortable. I guess it could be scary with loud music blaring, people grinding on each other, and many different types of alcohol around.


"Let loose for a little while, have fun. I'm here, I will stay sober, so don't worry about anything." I put my hand at the dip in her lower back.


"But this is your birthday, you should be letting loose." She was being her stubborn self and it was irritating. "Nope. You have fun. Trust me, I have have my fun later." She put the rim of the cup up to her mouth and took a bigger sip this time.


****



Amber was at her tipsy state(after an hour of pushing her) right at the moment and was pretty funny actually. She was dancing in front of me with her arms around my neck.


"You look really sexy tonight!" She whispered in my ear. "Mhmm but you look better." I had still been sipping on the beer I had from earlier.


"Can we go get another drink?" She asked. I let her walk off to go get what she wanted while I scoped the room.


I knew a few other people that where here tonight so I decided to catch up with them. "Hey Isaiah, what are you doing here." I guy named Marcus asked. "To party, what else is there to do?" He chuckled. He was with a white tall blonde chick I had seen earlier. She wasn't very attractive to me with her big hair and vibrant pink lips.


I saw Amber out the corner of my eye stumbling over next to someone. The guy she was next to grabbed her waist with his hand and her arm with the other. He had asked her something but I couldn't tell what. I didn't like that.



"Hey babe, need help?" I pushed his arms off of her body. "No I got this!" Her words were slurred, yet stern. "You're such a goof." I helped her walk away from the guy. I wasn't going to start anything just yet.


"Isaiah can we sit down? My feet hurt." Amber walked herself over to a crowded couch and sat her butt down on the cushion. "Having fun yet?" I rubbed my arm against hers.



"Yeah I guess kind of.. Okay we should go dance." Amber took off her heels and threw them on the couch grabbing my hand.



She kept her backside close to me as we danced. At one point I had to guide her hips at a steady pace for her.



The air had become sticky and thick the longer we stayed in the house. Amber followed me outside so I could smoke. "You should really let me try one of those! I almost tried one when I was fifteen but then something happened and I didn't. Please?"


I shook my head no. "I don't want you starting these. They are bad and you don't need them." She scoffed. "You smoke them all the time. Hypocrite." She mumbled. "Do as I say not as I do."



She was confused for a few seconds until she got what I had said. "No, just one puff won't hurt, please?" I still refused to give it to her. I didn't like me smoking at all. I started it a few years back and I wish I hadn't. It was only a couple times when Chris and I hung out with some other friends.. We started bad habits we couldn't quit.



"I know where you hide them dumbo. I can get them anytime I want to." She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the cold brick.



"Here, try it." I passed her the cigarette halfway gone. She wasn't going to like it the first time. If I hadn't have given it to her, she wouldn't have shut up. She might as well and learn her lesson. She inhaled the smoke but quickly coughed afterwords. "Yeah it hurts doesn't it." She continued with her coughing fit and passed it back to me.


"Wasn't what you though was it?" She stayed quiet knowing I was right. I only passed it to her knowing he wouldn't like it. She can barely stand the smell of a cigarette on me, let alone actually smoke one herself.



"Do you want to go back inside or home?" I had done all I wanted to tonight. "Home."



I walked back in the house to let Caleb know I was leaving. "Hey I think I'm going to go ahead and leave."


"Okay, happy birthday by the way." I said thank you before looking for Amber. She took another shot with some other people when I found her.


"Okay I think that's enough alcohol for tonight.. Let's get you home." She wined but still kept up with my pace.



"Carry me!" I shook my head no. I didn't feel like holding her while trying to remember where I parked the car. "Please!" I started ignoring her. She was begging for me to carry her.




"Hey speak Spanish to me!" She spilled the words sloppily out of her mouth in the car. "Amber I don't know a lot of Spanish."


"You're Mexican! You should know. Say something!" She demanded hitting her hand on her leg. I searched for something I had remembered. It's been a long time since I have spoken it. I only use it every once in a while to talk to family members. "Te amo."


"What the hell did you just say?" She sounded shocked. I repeat what I had said earlier to her again. "It means I love you." I put my hand on her thigh.


"Aw I love you too. Say something else!"


"Amber I don't know a lot. Uhh cuando lleguemos a casa que necesita dormir." She looked at me in a funny way.


"You need sleep when we get home." She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "Not here! I said when we get home."


****



"Hey wait I'm hungry! I want to eat!" Amber shouted passing the kitchen. "No, you need to go to sleep.. It's been a long day."


"Isaiah when did we get a cat?" She scratched her head looking at Apollo on the floor. I just grabbed her wrist and gave her a small pull. "No Isaiah, when did we get this cat?"



"Will you please come on? I'm tired." I just wanted to fall down in bed. Amber was drunk, but not that drunk. Only enough to make her clumsy. Maybe she shouldn't have had those drinks.. She's pretty clumsy by herself so we don't need the alcohols help.



"Can I at least have a glass of water or something?" I nodded knowing her getting wha she wants is only going to help get us to bed. I grabbed a cold clear glass cup from the cabinet and poured water with ice cubes in it. Before handing it to her I took a sip.



I walked off to throw my shirt in the hamper filled with dirty clothes. My shirt caught on a bottle of something and fell. I picked it up and walked back to get Amber.



Clear liquid and ice cubes were scattered across the floor. "What the hell did you do?" I asked. "I heard something fall and it scared me." She went to step away from it.


"No, no don't. Let me pick the glass up first." I felt like the woman in this situation. Shouldn't she be helping me? Wait no, that's my part..?


I grabbed a towel and absorbed up the water and picked up the ice cubes. After picking and sweeping up the glass up I let her follow me to the room.



"So I guess I don't get anything special?" I said tossing Amber an oversized shirt. I had to help her unzip the back of her dress. I had to contain myself from wrapping my arms around her and having a full out make out session.


"Oh your gift! I have it, I just want to be sober when I give it to you. Wait what am I talking about? I already am sober. She stepped out of the dress nearly falling over. "Yeah okay.. And I didn't mean that." I did that weird "sexy" thing with my eyebrows.


"No."



"Amber come on it's my birthday!" I pleaded. "With you looking like you do right now, it's kind of hard not to." She blushed and pulled her shirt down more. "Even with you as drunk as you are, you still won't?" She shook her head.



"Please? I will love you forever and ever."


"Speaking of forever, I was at work the other day and this guy, Rico, was working on my shift with me. I had to help train him because nobody else would and he kept messing up. On purpose! I couldn't tell if he was flirting with me or not. When you first started flirting with me, I couldn't tell. Even if a guy comes out and says "I like you" I still wouldn't know. But he's actually really cute though! Not like sexy cute, the little brother type cute and when I helped him clean tables he started going on and on and on-"


"Kind of like you right now?" I laughed. I didn't know whether to believe her or not. She's not sober so there's no telling what's going to come out of her mouth.


"That's not the point! Let me finish! Okay so we were talking and I might have invited him over." I laid down after turning the lights off.


"Mmm Isaiah I want a goodnight kiss!"



"Damn you're demanding." I rolled over and planted my lips to hers. I pulled back to go to sleep but she stopped me. "More," she said.



I had my hand gripped on her waist and the other halfway supporting myself. I could still taste the alcohol on her tongue. I slid my tongue across her bottom begging for entrance. She didn't know how badly I wanted her.



She suddenly pushed her hands against my chest and flipped us over and I was on the bed with her above me. This is different. "You sure you want to do this?" I got my answer when her lips crashed to mine.



****





I rolled my body over and pulled the sheets off of me. I saw Amber still asleep and decided to bug her. She had her head leaning to one side of her body exposing her neck. I put my lips to her neck and instead of kissing her, I blew air causing that weird sound to happen.




Amber jumped up. "Good morning!" She groaned threw the blanket over her face. "Oh shit, sorry. Hangover?" I ran my hand under the blankets till I found her stomach. I scooted her close to me and kissed her forehead.


"Do you want me to make you breakfast?" She nodded her head. I broke out in a laugh. "You seriously think I'm going to make you food!?" She slapped my chest hard.


"I'm not making you any food no matter how hungover you are."


"Leave me alone. I hate you so much for making me drink last night!" Amber pushed back the hair that was in her face. "I love you too."



"Apollo wants food." I whispered to her. She shook her head again. "You're being boring. Let me know when you want to do stuff. Have fun laying down." I kissed her forehead and got out of bed.