Another Day in Paradise

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Dakoda

            I had missed school on Tuesday, but no one had missed me. Piper hadn't even realized my absence, only my teachers' and the attendance keeper who sent a call to my dad when I hadn't shown up for school had noticed. I was marked truant. Yippee.

            I slipped on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, along with a bright green tank top, and my black sweater. Then, I teased my hair around my face so it covered the bruises and cuts, and put a carefully placed beanie on my head so it kept my hair in the same positions. I slipped on my worn DC's and grabbed my back pack, slipping downstairs. My dad was on the couch, asleep with a beer in his hands. The T.V was blaring some channel on MTV of which I ignored. Looking through the cabinets in the kitchen I held a faint hope that maybe we had some food. All the cupboards were empty and I sighed in defeat. I grabbed a paper and wrote down that I was going to the grocery store after school to pick up some food. Then I sauntered outside with a growling stomach, making my way glumly to school.

My mom had left me.

            She left me with my father who beat me, drank constantly, did drugs, and treated me like the maid. She could leave but not take me with? How was that? How could she do that? It's not like I could leave. My dad would call the cops, or catch me, then beat me harder every day after that. A small piece inside me cracked, and I felt my control falter as tears came to my eyes. I quickly pushed them back as I had done so many times before, and hunched my shoulders, slipping into the school. I shuffled up to my locker, grabbing my books with a feeling of despair. I bunched my shoulders together, ducked my head down, and kept my gaze on the floor. Then, trying to become invisible I made my way to my first hour class. I was walking across the cafeteria to the other side of the school, when someone's presence beside me had me look up.

            "Hey, Dakoda baby." I sly voice said, while someone bumped my shoulder. I felt amusement spike the air as I glared up at Malik Robinson. He smiled coyly and I slowly distanced myself from him. I knew exactly what he was doing. The same thing he had since ninth grade. I really wished I could just punch him in the face. I was not in the mood to deal with him.

            "Hi." I mumbled flatly. He slung an arm around my shoulders and I tensed irritated, while his satisfaction burned the air at my nervous gesture. "What do you want?" I asked, stopping. Malik looked to me with his dark brown eyes glinting.

            "Wanna hang out after school?" He asked.

            "No thanks." I said, starting to walk from him. He grabbed my arm, a pout on his face. Annoyance flickered through me, and I wished I had the courage to cuss him out, or get him to leave me alone in some way.

            "Aw, come on baby, just for a little while?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. We hadn't dated once. Ever. I hated Malik, but he would not leave me alone.

            "I'm busy." I lied. He crossed his arms, a smirk curling his lips.

            "Doing what?" He challenged. I opened my mouth to let another lie slide through my teeth, but an overwhelming amount of jealousy and fury slammed into me, causing the breath to be squished from my lungs. Following after, Marc came into my line of view, grabbing Malik's arm.

            "Dude, come on. I got to show you something." He said with a forced grin. His lie was plain to me, and I could see the rage coming off him in waves. Malik shot me a reluctant look.

            "I'm busy…" He said, trailing off.  Marc didn't even look in my direction and a small flicker of something broke off and sank to the bottom of my stomach.