It Started with a Hello

xxiv

[Last Name] opened the door to her house quietly. She had been at Hanamiya's all day, and it was now about eight at night.

She tiptoed in, shutting the door softly behind her. She shuffled across the floor, cautious of anything that would make a loud noise.

She thought she was safe, until she passed the living room.

"Oi, [First Name]."

She froze, turning to the living room, and met face to face with her dad.

"You've been gone for a while," he commented, eyeing her darkly, which made her shudder.

"A, uh, friend of mine needed some help, and--"

A loud slap echoed throughout the room.

[Last Name]'s dad glared at her as she put a hand to her red, stinging cheek with tears in her [Eye Color] eyes.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" he demanded angrily, "You think you can come and go whenever you feel like it?!"

She shook her head. "It's not like that!"

"Oh? Is that why you didn't come home last night? Is that why this is the first time I've seen you today?"

[Last Name] said nothing.

Her dad scoffed, spitting in her face. He then took out a cigarette, and lit it up. "Heard you skipped school today."

"I was helping my friend," she somehow got out, shaking in fear.

He shook his head. "Who gave you the permission to not go to school?"

"Dad, I--"

"Who gave you the right?!" he snarled, ripping the cigarette from his mouth, bringing it to [Last Name]'s hand.

She screamed out in pain, her tears falling.

"You bitch. You better be careful around me..." Her dad balled up his fist, making contact with any part of her body-- her face, arms, stomach, anything. "...It's your fault your mother died! You should be grateful that I didn't throw you out in the streets like you deserve! Don't start testing my patients, you whore!"

...

[Last Name] laid on her bed, bloody and bruised. Her dad got a hold of his pocketknife, and there were now cuts scattered across her body.

This was worse he's ever beaten her.

...

Ah, reader-chan's secret is finally out. That's why she would always act weird when Hanamiya would mention her parents. Her dad's abusive and her mom's dead. How will this unfold, I wonder...

-Caity