Take me away

Chapter Three: Memories

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been really busy with school and I have a play in two weeks 😁 May the odds be ever in my favor

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Kat entered the house with caution, her demeanor shifted and her muscles tensed causing her entire body to become rigid as she opened the door. Carefully closing the front door behind her, she stepped lightly trying not to let her presence be known to her father who was probably sulking somewhere. She could see her bedroom door opened wide just beyond the kitchen and quickened her pace wanting to reach the safe haven. "You're home late." A gruff voice came from her right. The sound made Kat stop in her tracks, she bit her lower lip silently cursing before turning to face her father who was slouched over the kitchen table with a beer bottle in hand. She could smell the stench of alcohol on him from across the room, he was wearing a pair of saggy sweat-pants and a stained t-shirt that Kat thinks used to be white, but it was almost impossible to tell now. She was almost positive he had worn that same shirt for the past week which would explain the stench.

Ever since her mother left, her father had lowered his standards and also seemed to have stopped caring about personal hygiene. He raised his glassy eyes to meet hers before looking her up and down as if analyzing her. Kat shifted uncomfortably avoiding eye contact and pressed her lips together as he began to speak again, "Your mother used to greet me when she came home." He said bitterly as his eyes drifted off her and somewhere distant as if he was really revisiting the past. This wasn't an uncommon thing for her dad to do, he would zone off a lot and Kat had learned by now to just keep silent. "You look like her you know...Your mother." He said turning his attention back to her, his voice was softer now. Kat's eyes refused to look at him and she gave a faint sign of listening with a short nod. He watched her for a moment before lifting the bottle to his lips and tossed his head back taking a large swig before standing shakily. The chair he had been sitting in toppled over hitting the wooden floors with a clatter and a thud. Staggering over to her, he backed her into a wall with his hands on either side of her body creating a cage. He leaned down sniffing her hair, "You smell like her too..." She heard him mutter under his breath which reeked of alcohol.

Kat's body stiffened once more and she pressed herself further against the wall wishing she could somehow sink into it and disappear, she squeezed her eyes shut hoping her father would return to drinking by himself. Instead, she felt his hands slyly slip beneath her shirt and come into contact with her skin just as he had done so many times before. It seemed to be a way that he coped with the loss of her mother, she didn't know why he did this specifically though she imagined he was using her body as some sort of distraction. Kat didn't try to run away or fight back because she knew that would only earn her a hard slap so she allowed him to have his fun until he became bored and trudged back to the kitchen table. When he returned to his drinking, she left him there with the only company he kept these days.

Once she reached her bedroom and had closed the door locking it behind her, she dropped her backpack before collapsing onto the twin sized bed that rest at the far end of the room. The frame groaned beneath her weight from years of use. Kat tucked her knees close against her chest burying her face into the hello kitty sheets she had received as a Christmas gift when she was five, it had been the last present she had ever received from her father since it had been his last month employed. The sheets were torn in some places and the once bright colors had become dull throughout time. Closing her eyes, images of her father's appearance slumped over the kitchen flashed across her mind. Her father who seemed so deep into his depression that he would never be able to overcome it. The dark circles under his eyes seemed permanently etched into his skin, the wrinkles in his face were becoming more defined every day and his grey hairs were beginning to become uncountable.

Kat sighed rolling out of bed and pulled a box out from underneath it which was filled with keepsakes she had collected over the years. This box was a reminder of the past when her family was whole and somewhat happy, her parents had fought throughout most of her childhood except for the short moments behind a camera. It was when they stood behind a camera that they stopped bickering and smiled long enough to capture the image before they returned to arguing. Kat looked through the photographs reminiscing about her parents or more specifically- her mom. She could vaguely remember a beautiful woman with black hair that was softly curled at the tips just like her own. The only real memory she had of her mom that was vivid was when she used to take her to a lake during the summer. She would stroke Kat's hair pointing out boats as they passed while Kat contently licked her ice cream. That was the only real memory she had and it sounds pretty lame, but it's all she had so she clung to it.

Kat didn't realize she was crying until tears began to splash onto the photographs damping the images. She sniffed wiping her eyes roughly with the back of her sleeve before pushing the box beneath her bed. She laid down pressing her cheek against the cold floor as she curled her body into fetal position, she closed her eyes and felt a single tear trickle down her face. She licked it off her top lip tasting the saltiness.

She lied there wondering if her mother ever thought of her and if she did, then did she remember the boats? Did she miss those moments as much as Kat did? Kat pondered these things often and sometimes she wondered if it was her fault that her mother had left. Perhaps if she had thanked her mom for the ice-cream or obeyed more often...She quickly distracted herself from wondering these things and instead thought of the boy in the cafeteria at lunch. Why had he come to her? Why did he bother to talk to her when no one else even noticed her huddled in the corner at lunch? Kat stood from her spot not being able to think of an answer to those questions either. She went to her closet and kicked off her jeans then shrugged out of her shirt before slipping into a larger more comfortable shirt which she usually reserved for sleeping. After brushing her teeth, Kat went to bed early so she wouldn't have to think so much.

Her last thought before closing her eyes was of the strange boy in the cafeteria. 

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Do you think Kat will talk to this strange boy?

Why do you think he talked to her?

Do you she'll open up or will she stay in her comfort zone?

Keep reading and find out!