The Vacant Truth

Melody

After Eve left, everybody started trickling out of Lily's house. Brooke left with Aaron almost immediately after she had left with Wyatt, probably making up. Kelly left next, then Annabelle. I looked at the clock and suddenly remembered I had to be home at 12. It was 11:50. I hurriedly packed up all my things, thanked Lily for letting me stay over at her house, and rushed to get to my house on time. Luckily for me, I was able to run back to my house by 11:59. I dropped my bags and collapsed on the couch in exhaustion. I sighed, at least my dad wouldn't punish me. At 12:01, the doorbell rang. Still tired, I walked over to the door slowly and opened it. It was my dad's friend. He drunkenly slurred, "I'm just here to check on you for your father. Looks like you're here, I'll go tell him. I must say though, you're not bad looking." I hastily replied, "Well, you better tell my dad. I wouldn't want him wondering where you went. Bye!" I shut the door quickly and sat back on the couch. I closed my eyes, "Why does this always happen to me?" I soon fell asleep, lost in my thoughts.

When I woke up again, I saw it was 4:30. I shot up and rushed to make dinner. My dad had a habit of surprising me by coming home early and if I didn't have dinner ready by then, I had to cook him dinner then immediately lock myself up in my room. That's why I always made sure to cook dinner by exactly 5:00. I was able to prepare it in time with no sign of my dad. He entered the house at 6:30 and I was relieved to see he wasn't drunk for once. We ate dinner in silence. As I got up to leave, he grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "Wait, before you go, I need to tell you something." My heart skipped a beat, what if he decided he didn't need me anymore and wanted to kick me out of the house? I gulped, "Sure, lay it on me." He let go of my wrist and cleared his throat, "I just wanted to let you know that I met somebody and I think I'm ready to get over your mother." My eyes shined in hope, "Really? Is she nice? Does this mean she could possibly be the one?" He scratched his head nervously, "Yeah, about that. She doesn't like kids. Even though you're a teenager she thinks you're too high maintenance. We met months ago but I've only decided to tell you about her now because... I've asked her to move in with me." Still excited at the prospect of him finally treating me right I excitedly said, "I'm just so glad you've moved on and found somebody to replace the hole in your heart. I'll do whatever you want if it makes you happy. If she doesn't like kids I can keep doing what I always do and just cook dinner for you then stay in my room the rest of the time. I'll even eat my meals in my room if she doesn't want to see me." I look into his eyes and see he has tears in them. "Why are you crying dad?" He chokes out, "I'm so sorry, she told me it was either you or her. You have to move out. I've already set it up. You'll live with one of my buddies and I'll try to visit you every now and then. She's cleaned up my act and I don't want to ruin what we have." My heart breaks, I was right, he's forcing me to move out. He's choosing a woman over me, his only child. I was willing to do anything to make it work, anything for him. He might be one of the worst fathers in the universe, but I don't care, he's still my dad and I'll always love him no matter what. Even after he's forcing me to move out of my own house, I'll still love him. I might hate him on the outside, but on the inside, I'll still love him. I rush to my room and pack up everything I need. It all fits into 2 bags. I left behind everything I didn't need. My bags consist of all my clothes, my technology/chargers, and objects that remind me of when I was happy. I look at a picture of my mother, sister, father, and I. I shove it into my second bag. I pick both of the bags up and walk straight to the front door. I look at my father who is still standing in the kitchen and whisper with tears in my eyes, "I hope you're happy." I open the front door and run out. I don't know where I'm going but I need to get as far away as possible from my father. The man who didn't love his child enough to treat her right or even keep her. I'm a failure. I failed as his daughter and was never able to be good enough for him. Why am I always doomed to fail at everything I do? I can't run fast with my bags and hear my father run out yelling, "Where are you going?! You don't know where my friend lives! You're supposed to stay with him!" I stop and turn around to face him. I yell out, "Away from you! If I'm not good enough for you, who's to say I'm not good enough for him! I can't be thrown away again!" I wipe the tears off my face and start running again. I can't let him change his mind and decide to run after me. I stop at the park and decide to rest on one of the benches. I let out the tears I've been holding in all of these years. I cry over my mother and sister, I cry over my father, I cry over my friends who don't and I will never allow to understand what's wrong with my life. I snap back to my senses and realize I need to find a place to stay tonight. Can I sleep on the park bench? I can't go to any of my friends, they can't know what's happened to me. They don't even suspect anything is wrong with me. If they find out about this, all I'll be met with is questions. I can't afford answering all those questions, what if they decide to tell the police about my father? I don't want to see him being arrested. The only thing that matters is that he's happy. If he's happy with his life without me in it, then so be it. I'm not important, I'm the cause of everything that goes wrong. I don't blame him for not wanting me anymore, I'm the reason why my mom and sister left us. Even they didn't want me. I get my blanket out of my bag. I never thought I'd ever have to sleep on a park bench. I let out a sigh, I must have a curse. Everywhere I go, I'm befallen with bad luck. I lay down on the uncomfortable, hard bench and try to sleep. Maybe if I'm lucky, tomorrow will be a better day.

I'm woken up at around midnight by the obnoxious ringing of my cell phone. I answer it and groggily talk into it, "Hello? Why are you calling me at this hour?" I hear Eve's panicked voice speak, "You have to help us. Wyatt, Lily and I got trapped in a storage container. You know how claustrophobic I am!" If I was tired before, it all faded away as I realized how much trouble she was in. I asked her, "Where are you? I'll be there as soon as I can." She blurted out, "We're at Danny's Storage Unit, please get here soon." I nod my hand and calmly reply, "Don't worry Eve, I'll be there as soon as I can." She shakily says, "Thanks, you're the best." She hangs up after that. I decide to call Annabelle, she picks up after 2 rings. Meeting me with the same reaction as I met with Eve she asks tiredly, "Why are you calling me so late?" I speak hurriedly, "Eve got stuck in a storage container with Lily and Wyatt. I figured since you know how to pick locks you might be able to pick the lock on the storage unit." She sighs, "Fine, but she owes me big time for this. I'll bring everything I need to pick the lock. Where exactly is this storage unit?" I answer, "It's Danny's Storage Unit." She replies, "Got it, I'll meet you there." I hang up and pack up my blanket. I hide my bags inside a nearby bush and rush towards the storage unit to save Eve and Wyatt.