Welcome To My Life

Chapter one.

    “Skylar! Get down here now!!!!!!” my mother screams. I sigh and get up from my bed.

    “What?” I cross my arms. I see Jeff sitting at the table reading a newspaper looking up at us.

    “Do the dishes! I need to go to the store soon.”

    “Have your husband do it,” I say and turn around and start walking back to my room.

    “Now, Skylar,” my mother growls.

    I groan and go to the sink and start throwing dishes into the washing machine. She leaves and I finish as quickly as possible. I then run to my room and shove a chair under my door. Soon I hear a loud BAM and some hard and fast knocking on my door.

    “What? I’m doing homework,” I lie.

    “Open the door, I need to check something,” Jeff says twisting the doorknob.

    “Check it later, I’m busy!” I say as I quietly open my window and put one foot out of it.

    “Skylar if you don’t open it now I swear to god I’m going to beat you.”

    Crap. He will too. “One second.” I say as I drop to the ground and start running. He’ll figure out I’m not there soon enough, and I don’t want to be there when that happens. I run Cait’s house, she’s been my best friend since freshman year. Before her I didn’t really have a best friend, I just had some school friends.

    I knock on the side of Cait’s open window and then climb right through it. She’s sitting cross-legged on her bed, eating an apple, and reading her math book.

    “Sky, what are you doing here?” she asks surprised.

    “Family was fighting at home and I don’t want to talk to Jeff right now. He’s being a jerk,” I lie.

    “What happened? What did he say?” she bites into the apple and moves the math book making a spot for me next to her.

    “He just was being a jerk. No big deal, I just wanted to get away from him.”

    “I don’t know what your mom sees in that guy. He creeps me out. He seems like the abusive kind. You know what I mean?” she swallows and stares at me waiting for my response.

    “Yeah, hey what was the math homework?” I ask looking at her math book changing the subject quickly.

    “Oh! Yeah! It was so easy! I did it yesterday, I’m just looking over next week’s lesson.”

    :Oh my god Cait! You are such a nerd! How are we friends?!?”

    She raises her eyebrows at me, licks her lips and clears her throat, “Well, back when I was a freshman I joined this thing called ‘band’ and there was this frizzy haired freak playing the flute and I felt so bad I invited her to come and sit with me and my friends. She was such a loner that she agreed and here we are.”

    I push her and laugh. “You’re such a jerk!” I smile and her bedroom door opens.

    “Oh! Skylar! When did you get here?”

    “Oh, just a few minutes ago,” I say turning to face Cait’s mom.

    “Alright, I just came to tell Cait something… but it can wait.”

    She goes to close the door but I quickly throw in, “Hey, if my stepfather calls or comes around can you tell him I’m not here? I sort of left in a hurry and I don’t want him to find me.”

    She thinks for a second but after looking into my pleading eyes she agrees and doesn’t ask any questions. “You two have fun.”

    “Cait, can you help me with the math homework?”

    “Sure! Of course!”

    She pulls out a piece of paper and hands me that and a pencil. She goes into the lecture my teacher gave us yesterday and I tune her out, just enjoying no yelling for a while.

    Thirty minutes later I hear a knock at the front door. “Is Skylar here?” a deep male voice asks. The voice makes me shiver.

    “No, she stopped by earlier but she left. I don’t know where she could be. I think she said something about going to the library.”

    “Is she in your daughters room?”

    “No.”

    I hear footsteps and then, “Excuse me, I did not invite you into my home. You need to get out now.”

    “I need to check your daughters room.”

    “My daughter just got out of the shower and is probably naked! You need to leave this house right now before I call the police.”

    The steps stop at the word ‘police’ and then I hear him retreating. “If you hear from her tell her to come home right away.”

    The door slams shut and I whisper, “The window, quick get the blind!”

    Cait runs and closes it quickly and soon enough we hear, “I swear to God Skylar if you are in there…”

    “You need to leave! My mom told you, she’s not here! If you don’t leave by time I open this blind we’re calling the police!” a minute later when she opens it, while I hide, he is gone.

    “Why does he want to find you so bad?!” Cait asks worriedly.

    I sigh and shrug.

    If you haven’t realized yet, Cait doesn’t know what I go through at home