Chloe woke up in a cold sweat somewhere around 4am. The nightmares had picked up where they left off, this time intense enough to actually wake her. Chloe wasn’t sure whether she should be happy that her mind was gracious enough to let her exit the horror, or be upset with the lost sleep, as crappy a quality as it was. Her body was shaking violently, and her shirt had patches of sweat on the back. She threw off the thin sheet she had been sleeping with and went to her bathroom to splash some water in her face.
Upon entering her bathroom she saw her already pale face had turned a few shades lighter, making the circles under her eyes appear darker. She turned on the faucet and splashed her face a few times before wiping it off with the hand towel. She went back into her own room and changed out of her sweat sodden shirt before opening the YouTube app on her phone and playing a four hour rain video. Oddly enough when Chloe couldn’t sleep the sound of rain often helped give her body the little push she needed, and occasionally lessened the intensity of her nightmares. She returned into the falsely comforting arms of her bed, and curled herself into a tight ball, the sheet resting gently on top of her. Ten minutes later the sounds of pouring rain and soft, deep thunder lolled her back to sleep.
***
Chloe woke up, sat up and stretched, the vertebrae in her back softly popping due to the position she had slept in. If she had any more nightmares, they escaped her memory, which is one of the best things she could have hoped for. She changed into some casual summer clothing and stumbled into the bathroom. After spending about twenty minutes in front of the mirror trying to desperately make herself presentable, she gave up and just put her hair into a side braid.
She entered her room again, pulling her iPhone off the charging dock. The lock screen lit up, it was 9:40am, and Chloe had three missed calls and a few texts. She quickly punched in her four digit code, she rarely ever had more than the occasional text from Maddie, and scanned through her missed calls. Two missed calls from Maddie, and a missed call from her mom. Chloe switched over to her text app, and skimmed the texts. Three from Maddie read “Hey can we talk?” “Chloe I really need somebody to talk to.” “Plz pick up your phone!” Chloe blinked slowly and sighed.
“I’m the worst. Friend. Ever!” She mumbled under her breath.
Before seeing what Maddie wanted she was surprised to see a text from her older brother, who was off at Brown University a few states down. He’d always been the prestigious one in the family and didn’t really have time for anything but school and Chloe. Perhaps Zara had been short sided by him but Chloe was still grateful for her older brother- he’d been the rock when their dad died six years ago. He was her protector, sometimes a little over the top but Chloe didn’t care; she was ignorant and happy until he left for college two years ago- it had been all downhill from there.
“Hey- mom wanted to surprise you but I couldn’t contain myself. I have the summer off until fall semester! I finished my classes early this year so I get to spend what’s left of June and July with you! Isn’t it great?!”
Chloe couldn’t help but grin ear to ear- Ethan was coming home.
“Omg really?? When will you be here!?” Chloe texted back rapidly, though she was an hour late to reply.
Before waiting for her brother’s reply that she so desperately wanted, she called Maddie- worry setting in for her best friend. She never did check in to see what happened last night.
“Hello?” Maddie’s voice was really soft, the way it got after extreme emotional distress, generally after she cried.
“I’m so sorry Maddie! I fell asleep and I didn’t hear my phone going off. What’s wrong, what happened?” Chloe said frantically, now pacing her room.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Last night my dad left in a fit of rage, I was just scared. He’s back now. My parents are arguing. I think he’s going to file for divorce this time Chloe.” Maddie’s voice caught in her throat on the word “divorce”.
“Oh my gosh- I’ll be right over there Maddie!” Chloe slid on some flip flops and grabbed her car keys.
“No don’t worry about it Chloe- I live like twenty minutes away!” Despite saying this, you could hear hope in her voice.
“Maddie I’m already on my way over. I’ll text you when I’m there.” With that she hung up, and it was true, Chloe was halfway down the street by the time she hit the off button on the phone.
As Chloe was leaving the neighborhood she saw a black ford truck turning into the neighborhood. Her heart dropped- her brother was home.
“Forgive me Ethan.” She muttered. She couldn’t turn around now- her best friend needed her!
She pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal, nobody was in the street besides herself anyway. Speeding up whenever she could without causing an accident, Chloe made it to Maddie’s house in fifteen minutes instead of twenty. As she pulled into the familiar gravel driveway of her best friend’s country house she understood what Maddie meant about it being the end for her parents. Maddie’s father hit his crying wife across her face screaming “I never loved you!” Chloe was too terrified to get out of the car at that moment, not that she had to wait long. Ten minutes later Maddie’s dad left the house with a giant suitcase, a duffle bag and his xbox. He placed everything into the trunk of his red Chevy convertible and sped off, not paying Chloe any attention.
Chloe cautiously got out of the car and made her way toward the polished wooden door. She knocked, and Maddie’s mom, Carey, answered. She was a mess with tears and mascara streaming down her cheeks, and a red handprint on her cheek. “Oh Chloe! I’m so sorry you had to see that! Maddie’s in her bedroom- come in!”
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Alright so the next chapter was a little late- but I got busy with school and sports. I have a huge English project to work on now! But I'll try to update on schedule.
Anyway- so what does everyone thing about Maddie's dad? Poor Carey! Pretty harsh right? Should he re-enter the story or leave for good?
Leave a vote if you want me to update again soon!
