Trusting Milo

I

I N D I G O

I woke up to the alarm blaring in my ears making me wince as I sit up to turn it off. What is the point of me even going to school? I was rather intelligent without it. It doesn't matter though. My father prefers me to be gone and out of his hair while he does who knows what throughout the day. I groggily made my way to the bathroom feeling a desperate need to shower since I didn't get the chance to yesterday after unpacking. According to Jim, we needed a "change of scenery" so we moved from Denver to Los Angeles last week. If you're wondering why I call him by his first name, you will soon realize that we do not have your typical father-daughter relationship.

It's different here; palm trees replaced the familiar pine coned ones, an ocean instead of snow covered hills, sunshine when it should be gray. It's a lot to take in. My thoughts were interrupted by the pounding on my bathroom door. "Don't use up all the fucking water, you ungrateful shit!," Jim yelled through the thin walls. I rolled my eyes, knowing I was safely out of sight behind the shower curtains. I generally keep my mouth shut when dealing with him. I am well aware that he gives zero fucks about my existence; I'm strictly here to clean and cook.

"Yes sir," I grumbled in response. Jim happens to be the spawn of Satan; lucky me. I have learned within the past seventeen years not to talk back to him, to make eye contact, or to even breathe in the same oxygen... I rushed out of the bathroom in my towel, frantically searching for something to wear. I glance at the clock on my night stand only to see that I am behind schedule and today is my first day at a public school.

I let my long and thick chocolate colored locks flow to the small of my back, not feeling the urgency to search for my hair tie this morning. I caught myself staring at my reflection, taking in the girl on the other side. She had dark bags under her dull and lifeless pigment green eyes complimented with a grotesque bruise lining her jaw that required some concealer. Quickly, I patted the concealer on and added some mascara. After throwing on my ripped black skinny jeans and loose beige sweater, I made my way downstairs.

Jim scowled at me as I walked into the kitchen. "C-Can I have a banana o-or granola bar?," I asked nervously. I was hoping he had already left for work so I could eat... "Absolutely not. You didn't clean the dishes last night," he replied with a devilish smirk. I refrained from letting my jaw hit the floor. This man is unbelievable.

L A S T • N I G H T

"What in the hell do you think you are doing?!," Jim snapped at me.

"You had finished your plate. I thought I could have what was left," I replied.

A sharp stinging sensation erupted on the left side of my face, as he back handed me; my body flinging to the ground like a rag doll. I could hear him laughing maniacally as the hot tears began to pour down my face.

"I haven't eaten in four days, please?!," I begged.

This only infuriated him more.

He stalked over to me, his face as red as fire. I felt the steel toe of his boot come intact with my rib cage making me double over, screaming in agony. A jolt of pain came from my scalp as he lifted me off the ground by my hair throwing my whole body into the wall. I felt my head hit the vinyl wood; black spots appearing in my vision. I wanted to beg him to leave me be, or to just kill me already. However, I must have blacked out because the next thing I knew, I woke up on the floor and it was clearly passed midnight so I went upstairs to get some rest.

B A C K • T O • P R E S E N T

I bit my tongue, tasting the copper immediately. He always knew how to make my blood boil. "Yes sir," I replied through gritted teeth while making my way to the front door. I slipped on my 'once were white but are now gray' vans, grabbed my deck and skated the way to school. It was about ten minutes before Willow High came into view. I felt my palms begin to sweat as I rolled through the parking lot. My social anxiety was at an all time high as I saw people turning around to stare at me, making my legs begin to shake. I swiftly got off my board and held it to my side protectively, scurrying my way into the school towards the office.

"Why hello?! You must be Indigo!," a cheerful woman sang. I gave her a soft smile and nodded. She handed me my schedule and pointed me in the right direction towards my locker. I shoved my board and a few of the text books in just before hearing the first bell ring loudly above my head indicating that I was now late. Wonderful. Because being the new kid wasn't already gaining its own attention as is; note the sarcasm. I shuffled through the hallway looking for the right room when I ran into a wall-- nope, my mistake. It's a human.

"Watch where the hell you're going, jack ass," he spat.

The pain from my ribs erupted through my whole body, making me want to crawl into the nearest hole and die. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry! I thought you were some random kid..." he said nervously. An apology? Hm, seems foreign. I wanted to say that it was okay and that I was fine but the words wouldn't form and my voice wouldn't work. He looked at me quizzically.

"Are you okay? I didn't think you fell that hard," I could see the guilt clear on his face. Poor thing. I took his hand that he had reached out to me and let him pull me up off the ground. "Thank you. I'm fine," I whispered while looking down at my shoes, averting his gaze.

No eye contact, Indie. You know better.

"Name's Tanner."

For some reason, I felt the need to look at him. I mean, he wouldn't introduce himself if he didn't want me to know who he was... right? I looked up through my lashes and saw a rather handsome young man. He had tousled, short, butterscotch colored hair in an ivy league fashion with doe brown eyes, a few freckles sprinkled across his nose. He was definitely a good foot taller than my petite 5'1". As a short person, that whole extra inch is sacred.

"Uh-- Indigo," I babbled out. Not like you would remember it, anyway.

I looked up again to see his smile fade into a frown.

Shit, did I say that out loud?

"Indigo is actually my sisters favorite color, so I can remember that," He shot me a quick smile. I felt my cheeks heat up. Okay, so I did say that out loud. Metaphorical face palm, in session.

Tanner was actually surprisingly easy to talk to. We had first period, Psych AP, together and were even paired for a project. I went through a few more classes before it hit lunch. I'm not one for cafeteria's-- you know, with the social anxiety and what not. So, I stopped at my locker to grab my deck and made my way to the parking lot. I put my head phones in and let myself escape for a while. I noticed some of the different cliches outside; the jocks, the cheerleaders, the band geeks, the nerds, the goths, and at the far end of the school were the bad boys.

Four guys stood in the corner, one of them being Tanner. All of the boys seemed to be just around the same height. The guy next to him though... that was who I couldn't stop staring at. He had jet black hair with a comb over fade, tattooed from the neck down. He was wearing a white v-neck that hugged his chest and denim jeans that fit him perfectly. I quickly shook my head of the thoughts, hoping I hadn't drooled.

I continued to skate around the school, feeling the anxiety desiccate; at least until I heard my name being shouted across the lot. I whipped my head around to see Tanner smirking at me, motioning for me to join him. I hesitantly rolled to where they stood, feeling the lump in my throat begin to form as they all looked me up and down; probably trying to figure out what a piece of shit like me is doing here.

"Indigo, meet the gang," Tanner cooed.

P L E A S E • V O T E