Blinded by the Light

five

I woke up to the sound of the front door slamming. I guess I fell asleep last night just laying on the floor. A tear slipped from my eye as I thought about last night. I looked over at my phone and grabbed it. It was 10am. There were multiple missed calls from Nat and texts from Carter.

"Hey, wanna go to the mall today?"

"If you're going, we'll meet there by 12"

"Yeah sure. Sorry I slept in a little. See you there." I replied and got up. I had a major headache, so I took an Advil. I turned the shower on and waited for it to heat up. I looked in the mirror. I looked horrible. I had dried blood above my mouth and on my cheek.

I brought my hand up to my cheek and grimaced as I touched it. It was bruised around my cheekbone, right under my eye. It was sort of purple but I could easily cover it up.

I hopped in the shower and cleaned off. When I was done, I wrapped my hair in a towel and picked out what to wear. I chose my ripped jeans and a led zeppelin t shirt with red converse. I put my hair in two braids as I did my makeup, and when I was done it was wavy.

I covered up the bruise on my cheek. I was able to hide it easily. By the time I was done, it was about 11:15. I grabbed my bag and walked out the door.

The mall was a little crowded considering it was noon on a Saturday. I met Carter by the pretzel stand at the front. We talked for a little as we walked around.

We kind of shopped around a little at a few stores until we got to hot topic. I probably bought 4 band t shirts. We started to walk around more, when we saw Nat and his two friends. He glared at me as he walked towards me.

I tried to walk away as fast as I could but he harshly grabbed my arm and yanked me back. "Hey why have you been ignoring me?" he yelled in my face. I was frightened by how angry he was. "Why are you avoiding me, huh?!" his grip on my arm tightened. I tried to wiggled out of it, but it was too strong and it was hurting me.

"You're a selfish little bitch, you know that?" he yelled. "Hey, get off her." Carter tried to pry him away, but he flung back and hit her cheek. She screamed and fell. "You're such a dick!" I yelled at him. I wiggled out of his grip and slapped him, hard.

He reached his hand up and I felt the impact of his fist on my bruised cheek. I fell to the floor and held my cheek. It hurt really bad. "We're done, Nat." I mumbled. "What?" he yelled. "We're done! I'm sick and tired of your little game! You're an ass and you're fucked up!" I yelled as I looked up at him.

He didn't say anything. I got up and grabbed my bags. As Carter and I were walking away, I saw that blonde kid I ran into in the halls. He was staring at me without expression, like he did in the classroom. I sighed and looked away as we walked out of the mall.

* * * *

It was dark when I pulled up to the house. I felt dizzy as I saw Andrew's car parked in the driveway. I walked through the front door and closed it quietly behind me. I saw Andrew walk from the kitchen. He stopped when he saw me.

He began to walk towards me and I yelled at him to stay away from me as I backed to the living room. He ran up to me and punched me. I fell on the ground but quickly got back up. He punched my stomach and I bent over.

"Why do you come home drunk every night now and beat me?" I cried as I ran to the kitchen. He ran after me and grabbed my arm. "Because you deserve it. You don't do anything right and you just cause people stress because you're a dumb little shit!" he roared and kicked my shin. I grabbed my leg and held it as I screamed in pain. Tears were streaming down my face.

I wiggled out of his grip and ran through the hall to the front door. I ran outside and ran down the street. I ran around the corner and stopped. I caught my breath and listened for any signs that he was coming to find me. I didn't hear anything so I kept walking.

I walked up to a high bridge by my house. It went over a current that lead to the ocean. I cried as I looked over the bridge. My life has literally crumbled before me. It just turned to shit. I don't want to live it anymore.

There's no reason to anyway. Andrew is just going to keep beating me, Nat will probably start bullying me, and my mother, the only person who actually cared about me, is gone. There's nothing to live for now. Andrew will probably end up killing me anyways.

As these thoughts rolled around my head, I jumped up on the ledge of the bridge. I cried as I stood up on it. It was the only thing for me to do, it's not like anyone needs me in their life. It's for the best.