The Scars Within [boyxboy]

The Scars Within {7}

                “Lionel! EJ, you fucking idiot!” Melissa cried and knelt next to me as my back exploded into stinging pain. My head whipped around to glare at EJ. He smirked at me. “Oh hey Lionel. Didn’t see you standing there,” he said, his hand on the door handle. Shit. I just got taken out by a fucking door.

                “Hey guys, what’s going on? Are you okay Lionel?” Mr. Cope asked, appearing behind EJ. “EJ whipped the door into Lionel’s back!” Melissa cried in annoyance.

                Mr. Cope gave EJ a shocked look. “It was an accident Tommy! It’s not like I could see through the door,” EJ said innocently. Mr. Cope, Tommy, frowned but nodded. “Okay EJ. But be more careful in the future. Don’t just whip the door open. Are you okay Lionel?”

                Shit, I was a little impressed. EJ really had his step-dad whipped, didn’t he? Judging by Melissa’s furious expression, he played this act a lot. I wondered if he played it up with his mom, too. Probably. He was probably the kind of guy that put on an innocent face while committing the devil’s crimes. And he would get away with it. Impressive.

                “Yea, I’m fine,” I said, ignoring the stinging in my back and the fact that there was going to be a huge ass bruise there later. Melissa helped me up and EJ smirked at me. “Sorry about that Lionel. Didn’t know you were standing there,” he said, his voice innocent but his eyes triumphant.

                “Shut up EJ!” Melissa said angrily. “Melissa! He was just trying to apologize. He’s right; he couldn’t see through the door. Don’t be so mean to him,” Tommy said and placed a hand on EJ’s shoulder.

                Melissa sighed in annoyance. “He doesn’t even feel guilty, dad. But whatever. What did you want, anyways?” she demanded. He smirked wider. “I was just coming to ask you if you had seen my speakers. You do have a habit of taking them, and Brewer and I want to jam out in my room.”

                “I don’t have them. Now get out of my room!” Melissa said, and angrily pointed. “Melissa, stop acting so immature! Come on EJ; your mom has them,” Tommy said, shooting Melissa a look before leading EJ out of the room.

                “EJ’s got your dad whipped,” I said as we sat on her bed and she nodded sadly. “I know he does, and I hate it. His mom and my dad both buy his innocent act. I can’t even bust him for drugs or alcohol, and he’s always smoking and drinking. He just shoots those innocent eyes. Well, eye, technically. But you know what I mean, right? Just cranks up the innocent act and never gets in trouble.”

                “Because they pity him,” I said simply and she stared at me curiously. “His face. Whatever fucked his face up, his mom pities him for it. He’s her son, and she feels bad his face got so fucked up. It probably put him in a shitload of agony, right? She probably feels too bad yelling at him after watching him suffer. And your dad doesn’t want to upset EJ’s mom.”

                Melissa shrugged. “Probably. Like I said, it was a really bad accident. I think something shattered in his face or something.” “Was his dad supposed to be watching him when it happened?” I asked and she shrugged again. “I told you; I don’t know the details. I don’t even know what kind of accident it was. Just that something sliced his face up. It might’ve weakened his eyesight, or he could’ve just been born with one eye weaker than the other. My dad never talks about EJ’s eyesight or his face. It really upsets his mom when someone does.”

                I nodded. “I could imagine.” Melissa sighed sadly. “I do feel kind of bad for him, though. He wears the bandana over his eyes, so he obviously can’t see out of it when it’s covered, and it kind of sets him off balance. Like, he’ll clip himself on a wall or a table or something a lot. He did use to be a nice guy, and that’s what makes it hard. I don’t actually hate him. I just hate the things he does,” Melissa said with a sad sigh.

                She shook her head and forced a smile. “But…enough about my stupid step-brother. Do you have any siblings?” I shook my head and brushed my hair out of my eyes. “Nope, it’s just me. And I like it that way.” I grinned.

                “What’s your family like, Lionel?” she asked curiously and it was my turn to shrug. “I don’t know. I’m never really home. I’d rather be out and about, you know brah?” “You don’t know what your own family is like?” she asked, laughing. I grinned and wider and joined her laughter with another shrug. “I don’t know. We’re just…familyish? I guess.”

                I folded my hands behind my head and cracked my neck casually. “So where’s your mom?” I asked. Melissa bit her lip uncomfortably, but it didn’t bother me. It was the 21st century. Marriages were falling apart left and right. Unbroken families had become the minority.

                “My parents divorced when I was 8, and my mom moved away. My dad has full custody of me,” she said quietly. I nodded, uninterested. A common story, nothing special. Oh, sure, I could feel bad for the children in broken marriages. It usually wasn’t their faults. But shit happened. Deal, brah. It’s life and that’s just how it goes nowadays.

                “So why does EJ hate me so much? I just got here,” I said, smirking a little. Melissa nervously twirled her hair around her finger. Oh, she was lying to me. I knew that. Little bitch knew what happened to EJ’s face; she just wasn’t telling me. But I was kind of happy. It would be more fun to figure it out on my own, anyways.

                “He just likes to think he’s so big and bad, or whatever. He thinks he’s the best around here, and he doesn’t want anyone to take that title away from him. It’s just immature.” Immature, but interesting. So EJ Morris wanted to be the shit around here? Fine. Challenge accepted you cocky, one-eyed piece of shit.