Black Roses

chapter 6 (accidental friendship)

I didn't think anything of it, the fact that when I told Liam id leave him alone after I got my answers he'd be that serious. We have been avoiding each other at school for almost a month. People have calmed down about him, and every day when I'm leaving school I still see him with that girl. My final assumption is that they are a couple.
It's Friday and I text my mom, reminding her ill be home later than usual. I get to the library as I'm automatically greeted by Jordan. "Hey weirdo guess what?" Jordan snatches a book that I'm returning out of my hands.
"What hippy?" I reply.
"Rachel graduated college and got a job as a dentist so we have an opening." He excitingly tells me.
"Your point is?" I ask.
"Oh come on, it means you can get a part-time job here. I've already convinced everyone your great and they have no problem with a high schooler like you working here, plus I know how badly you're dying to move out of your mom's house. So I found a cheap apartment and since your not eighteen yet you can leave with me for a year or so."
"Jordan as much as id like to move out, I can't work here. I hafto be focused on my grades and I hate it but I know my mother needs me as well. I'm the only one she has left. Plus living with you seems sketchy." I tease him.
"Abby, screw grades. I ended high school with straight C's and look at me now."
"Your not in college, you have a low paying job and your living with your friends," I say.
"Yeah see, I choose happiness instead of a boring plan life that everyone else lives."
"This is why your nickname is hippy." I swipe my book back from Jordan and quickly turn it into the return bucket. I tell Jordan I hafto go and I begin my walk home.
I arrive at my doorstep around seven seeing the front door wide open. I quickly grab out my knife from my backpack kinda hoping I get to throw it at a robber. But when I walk in I see my mom's purse and keys thrown on the group with the refrigerator light lighting up the kitchen. I close the door and pick up her purse disaster landing myself into the kitchen and putting it away. That's when I hear the freezer door slam so hard it shakes the kitchen. I turn around seeing my mom holding a bottle of tequila that's half empty.
"You're home late." She slams the bottle down onto the counter and trips over herself. She was obviously drunk.
"I texted you earlier and told you." I try not getting her angry. Nothing good ever happens when my mom's drunk.
"You lying bitch." She throws a spoon at me. I duck and she misses me.
"Mom calms down, you need to go lay down." Still trying to calm her down I walk over to her and take her arm trying talked her to her room.
"Don't tell me what to do you lying whore!" She slaps me hard in the face and pushes me into the side of the counter scratching my back harshly to the point where I can't tell if I'm bleeding or not. I try slapping her back bit she grabs my wrist and digs her nails into my arms. I feel my scars opening from the pressure of her fingers and I cant take the pain anymore. I kick her in the crotch and she lets go but quickly grabs my hair and pulls me downward. I don't get him I'm losing this fight, I'm like ten times bigger than her boney ass. My next step was to make her let go of me, quickly run up into my room, grab some things and run over to my neighbor's house to stay the night. Which happens often. She turns me around and gets ready to backhand me, but suddenly a manly figure steps in front of me and takes the hit.
"Who the hell are you?!" My mom's yells and with no reply, the guy turns around. He picks me up and I can finally make-out his face. It's Liam. I grip on his shirt tightly as suddenly he started running at the speed of light again. Within seconds he puts me down at a rusty looking door inside an apartment complex. Opening it he covers his mouth and nose.
"There are band-aids in the cabinet around the corner in the bathroom. Go quickly."
I rush to the bathroom as I could tell the smell of my blood was bothering him. He has a lot of explaining to do. I open the cabinet to not only see medical supplies but to see packs of blood with blood types written on them. I get somewhat dizzy by the sight of them. I grab some peroxide and a couple band-aids. Uncomfortably I take my shirt off to examine the marks on my back. There was a huge gash, fortunately, it was only bleeding a bit. I look around the bathroom for a bigger band-aid and with luck, I find one. I sit on the purple carpet underneath the sink. Taking some peroxide I see half a broken nail in one of my cuts.
"Oh Jesus H Christ this is gonna hurt like a bitch." I whimper out not looking forward to this. I take the cap of the peroxide and pour some in lightly pouring it on my arm.
It automatically fizzled up causing the nail to fall out but didn't stop stinging. I couldn't help but yell out a little. Still shirtless and my scars showing I hear a knock on the door.
"Don't you dare come in here!" I cover myself with my shirt just in case he walks in.
"I wasn't going to I just need to know if you need a new shirt." I thought to myself, my shirt is perfectly fine but I would like a new shirt.
"Uh... Sure."
Liam comes back within a couple of seconds and slightly opens the door covering his eyes tossing a black shirt over to me. "Thanks," I say. I unfold the shirt to see its a tank top. "Shit," I whisper. Not wanting to make him feel bad though I put the tank on not knowing how to cover my scars. I put my arms behind my back hoping he doesn't notices them. I slowly walk out of the bathroom and see him on a couch a crossed the hallway from the bathroom. Continuing to walk slowly Liam spots me.
"I knew it." He says jumping off the couch "I knew something was wrong with you." He almost runs over to me and grabs my wrist from behind me.
"Fuck, is it that obvious?" I ask so I know to do a better job of hiding it.
"No actually, if I were a human I would be completely fooled. I would have zero idea that you self-harm."
"What? Wait a minute buddy, you have some explaining to do first." I don't let my self-harm issue distract myself from the real issue.
"Like what?"
"First of all, why the hell where you at my house, how did you know what was happening and why bring me here?"
"Great now I feel guilty for helping you." Liam crosses his arms.
"Im not mad, I'm just confused." I sigh.
"I know I said we shouldn't be near each other, don't be mad but I watch you." Liam sounds ashamed of himself. "This is my house. I'll explain more later. It's just, its almost ten and I think you should sleep."
"HERE?" I question loudly.
"Well yeah, I don't want you going back to your place untill tomorrow's. It's not like your mom is gonna come searching for you. I just don't feel comfterbail with you being around her."
Jesus he sounds like a worried mother. I sigh giving in to the fact that he's not gonna let me go home. "Where am I sleeping?"
Liam points over to an old dark red sofa. "I have some blankets and pillows in the hallway closet. You go make yourself at home."
I walk over to the couch waiting for liam to hand me blankets and pillows. I was hoping the blankets wernt scratchy like my grandmas are. I hear the closet door shut and quickly look up to the roof pretending like I wasn't waiting impatiently. There's a reason why teenagers shouldn't live alone, I think Liam is a reason why. Even though I'm not sure if he lives alone, the place was depressing. There wasn't trash everywhere like a dump his was just pretty empty. Liam places the blankets and pillows next to me and sits. "You know I didn't need your help, I've gotten into fights with my mother before."
"I was just trying to help you, she was getting really handsy and I saw you bleeding, I almost lost it for see reason."
"Never mind I don't care just tell me one thing, how did you know I was cutting myself?" I lower my voice.
"What?"
"Dont try and play me, I heard you say " I knew you were cutting," so how did you know?"
"Its vampire stuff."
"I have all night." I didn't care how long his story would last for, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer of my own question.
"There are all kinds of vampires, but the main ones are raisers, there born vampires and can fool any human easily. They are the only ones who can change humans into vampires. There born with a sertant power." Liam explanation on vampires was scaring me, I didn't know if he was a pure vampire. I wasn't sure if I was gonna change or not. My theory was wrong.
"Then theres the Trainors, there like me. Turned into a vampire by raisers and there responsible is to raise there newly bitten vampire into a beautiful creature sent into the night sky. Trainors arnt allowed to keep a bitten human alive. Meaning if I had bitten you I would be forced to kill you. If not raised correctly, trainors can go down a level, they turn crazy. Witch is the third type of vampire." Liam became more suttle. "The crazys where turned but never raised. After a couple days the lose control over them selves and go insane killing everything they see. With no companionship they don't care about anything and they spend their immortal lives searching for blood." I feel chills run up my back as Liam continues to answer my question. "The real reason why I didn't kill you was, I can feel emotions. As a vampire it gets super lonley I don't have anyone but my dad. But when I touched you, I felt something. Real pain, a broken heart. You made me feel alive, and I wasn't going to let you die in such a horrible way, with such pain stuck in your heart." Liam spoke with such pain. Like he was reading my mind of emotions.
"I'm not in pain," I lie. "I'm just in happy with myself."
"How, I honestly don't see how you could hate your self so much. I get that you might live in an abusive home and you might be alone move if the time but how does that make you hate yourself."
"Its just, I'm super fat and shit, and I'm ugly. No one likes me even as a friend. And it's super hard to be happy when I'm not aloud to cry or scream out my pain, people for some reason look up to me." Unintentionally I feel a tear start to escape from my eye. That's when Liam quickly pulls me to his chest and hugs me.
"Hey, it's okay. You can scream. You can cry. You can be mad and sad all you want." Liam lifts my chin to make my eyes meet his. "Just don't give up."
I stare deeply, not being able to control myself as I feel my heart beat faster and butterflies consuming my stomach. I felt warm in Liam's arms, I've never had a guy hold me. "Besides." Liam plays with a strand of my hair. "Your to pretty to cry."
I think that triggered it, I think I might be super stupid. I think, I might be, in love, with Liam.