Damaged

Seven

7

"Where the fuck were you all night?" he yelled. I flinched at the tone of his voice and knew that I wasn't getting out of this without a couple of bruises.

"I was out, I didn't think you'd notice since you were screwing my mother when I left." I couldn't help the smartarsery from coming out. I immediately regretted it, but it was who I was now.

I felt the fist connect with my face to tell me wordlessly that I'd fucked up. Like I needed to be told. "Your attitude is appalling, young lady!" dad shouted, throwing me across the room. I hit the front door and realised I could make my escape.

"You want to talk about my attitude?" I cried in disbelief. "You did this to me! My attitude is on you!"

As the Sperm Donor lunged at me, I slipped out the door and rode away. Fuck that was close. I knew I was going to have a decent bruise on my cheek by the time I got to school, but it was worth it to see the look on his face. I laughed into the wind, the rush of adrenaline making me giddy.

When I pulled up at school and dismounted my bike, I couldn't stop smiling. My cheek was stinging so I went to the bathroom to check it out. It wasn't too bad, just purple and shiny. When the bell rang, I headed to home economics in a good mood. You might think it was strange that I would be happy when my father had just beaten me, but it wasn't that uncommon, so what I'd gotten today was nothing to me.

I walked into the home ec kitchen with a grin and scanned the room for a potential partner. I spotted Daniel in the far corner and hastily made my way over. "Hey Dan," I called as I got closer.

"What the fuck happened to your face, Lettie?" he exclaimed in greeting.

I shrugged. "My arsehole of a father got angry, so he hit me. It's nothing."

"Nothing?" he yelled, throwing his hands up. I rolled my eyes at his overdramatic overreaction. "You have a massive bruise on your cheek and I'm pretty sure your eye is bleeding!" He reached a hand towards my face.

"Well don't draw attention to it, Daniel, for fuck's sake!" I hissed, slapping the hand away and glaring at him. "You think this is bad? You should have seen me after he found out I'd traded in his car! I couldn't walk for a day and a half! This is nothing, Dan. I could have had a lot worse but I got away."

"Scarlett, how long has this been going on?" He seemed calmer now, but there was a hard glint in his brown eyes that made me shiver.

"It doesn't matter. Let's just forget about it, okay? I'll be fine by tomorrow and God knows he'll be leaving soon," I said, hoping that I was right.

Daniel never replied. We just stood in a slightly awkward silence until the teacher began the lesson. We were baking orange cupcakes to sell at lunch, but at the end of the class, Miss Clemence – a tall, thin young woman with glasses and a bob cut – commented on the lack of frosting on mine and Daniel's cupcakes. "Where did the rest of your frosting go?" she asked in her quiet little innocent voice.

"I don't know," Dan replied with a smirk in my direction. "Do you know where it went, Lettie?" he asked.

Shaking my head, I licked a tiny drop of orange buttercream off my thumb. "Nope," I answered sweetly. When class was dismissed, I bid Daniel goodbye and headed around the back of the building to find the guys. Mason and JC were playing a game of one-on-one with a basketball, using a cross marked in chalk on the brick wall as a 'basket'.

"So, your dad's still around, Lett?" Aaron commented as I walked over, offering me his smoke.

I took it gratefully and nodded, drawing back on the cigarette. "Yeah, the cunt got me in the face this morning. He was pissed that I was gone all night, not that he noticed or cared any other day of the week." I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice, and seem nonchalant and casual about the whole thing, but I couldn't mask how angry I was at my father.

"He's a twat, I'm sure he'll piss off again soon anyway," he reassured me, taking his cigarette back.

"Thanks, Aaron. I'm sure you're right," I replied. I watched the boys mess around with the ball for a while, noting that Kai wasn't around. I wondered why but when the bell rang and I realised that I had physics, I smiled.

Aside from being unbelievably gorgeous, Mr James was also a very engaging teacher. I swear I learnt more physics in that one class than I had in all my previous years. I listened for the first time in ages, taking in what Mr James was saying and somehow actually comprehending it.

"Scarlett, I want to see you after class," Mr James said to me as the bell rang. I wondered what this was about. Probably how I'd run out of detention the other day. I wandered up to his desk, where he was sorting through papers, and admired his appearance. His tie was loose around his neck and his gloriously dark hair, which had started the lesson perfectly in place, was messy. It was sexy as Hell. "What happened to your face, Scarlett?" he asked, looking me in the eyes.

I was right. His eyes were a mesmerising combination of green and gold. Then his question registered and I shrugged. "Got hit in the face by a basketball."

"Have you put ice on it? It looks painful."

I rolled my eyes. He may have sounded sincere, but the teachers at this school never really cared about the students. They just wanted their paycheques. "The air at this time of year is icy enough."

I made to leave the room, but Mr James grabbed my wrist. I flinched reflexively, though his touch was gentle. "I'm serious, Scarlett. Look after yourself." With that, he let me go.

As I walked around to meet up with the guys, I tried to ignore my racing heart.