The Bad Boy Hero

Chapter 6

Sometimes I’d think it was all a dream. Sometimes, mainly in class, I would think about going home and finding mum making my tea and dad coming home and giving me a cuddle before we’d all sit around the dining table and have tea and talk about our day. Then I’d get home and realise I hadn’t seen my mum in two months, I knew she was home but I knew not to disturb her, and when she was gone Dad would be there reminding me why I was working so hard to leave this place, leave him. I wish I had the courage to tell people, tell Mattie or Tess or the police... or even... or even Jasper just someone, anyone who could help me. But I didn’t. It carried on, over and over, a nightly occurrence for weeks. By day I’d go to school, work hard, daydream, tutor Jasper, and see Mattie when I had the day off the next morning. Then I’d go home and find dad already in a state falling over himself, sending me threats, and giving me bruises he knew no one would see. How did no one see? There was a knock on my window and I jumped before realising I had been zoning out again, it was a Thursday night I was sat in my car in front of the Ryder house, and Jasper was knocking on my window. I blinked then quickly wound down the window to see his smiling, not smirking, face. He had been so nice the past few weeks, and since I hardly saw him in school, except in English, I could almost forget the bad boy that everyone else saw. But even Tess said she had seen an improvement since he was in her design class and ‘rarely got into trouble anymore’ my answer to this was he wanted to get into Uni but Tess wasn’t too sure.

“You alright? You’ve been sat here a while?” he looked concerned

I frowned for a moment “Yes, fine, thank you, sorry,” I don’t want to go home. Please don’t make me. I pleaded with my eyes but I knew it was a lost cause, maybe I could go over to Tess’ or Mattie’s or...

“Want to come in for a bit?” he motioned back to the open door “Watch a movie or something?”

“Yes!” I said too quickly “If you don’t mind?” he gave me a questioning look, I was used to this look by now so quickly wound up my window and got out of the car.

“No it’s fine, I’m alone all week so I welcome the company,” What was with him being so nice? It wasn’t like we were in a tutor session anymore; usually he kept his distance after the hour, sometimes two hour, sessions. “And anyway you looked like you need the company more than I do, you having an argument with Dickhead?” he looked almost delighted at the thought as he closed the door behind us, I removed my shoes again and followed Jasper in a different direction than normal

“No, Mattie’s fine, I’m just like you,” I paused then added “I have no one at home either,”

“Right,” Jasper nodded a small smile on his face as we reached a kitchen that fitted in perfectly with the magnificent house, he grabbed some snacks and two cans of Pepsi before he set off again and I trailed behind him silently thinking of what to say to my knight in shining armour who didn’t actually know he was my saviour.

“Why don’t you like Mattie?” was the first thing that came to mind, that I didn’t get the answer to a couple of weeks ago from my said boyfriend, and it was apparently the wrong thing to ask since Jasper sighed as we came to a movie room.

“It’s a long story that I don’t think you want to know,” because it painted Jasper in a bad light? Or was it the other way round? Had Mattie done something? “Don’t worry about it,” Jasper smiled softly he planted himself on a plush white sofa and turning to the TV on “You like Marvel right?”

“Who doesn’t like Marvel?” I gave him a preposterous look sitting on the sofa too

“A lot of girls actually,” he shook his head

“Whack jobs,” I commented shaking my head “and before you say it yes I’m weird,” He put on Batman and I nearly flipped “This isn’t Marvel!” I yelled a little too loudly