Camille.

Chapter Two.

We spent our last class discussing some of the worst things the people at this school had done to make my life a living hell and by the end of the day Hayden Grim was livid. He continued to rant about how they should be hated for the things they did until I stopped walking at my motorcycle. He looked confused for a second until realization dawned on him that I must own said motorcycle and therefore know how to ride it.

"You are a badass..." was the last thing he said to me before walking away.

I climbed on and made my way back home to the usual chaos of my house. My dad was still at work and my mom was up in the attic that served as her library, probably reading Pride and Prejudice again. That left my little brother downstairs, completely unsupervised. When I walked in the door he was laying on his stomach on the floor of our living room watching cartoons and emptying a full carton of chocolate ice cream with his tongue. I quickly stooped down and grabbed the carton from him before removing my backpack and leaving it on the couch. Cameron followed me into the kitchen where he sat at the breakfast bar and watched me make him a tiny bowl of the chocolate ice cream, which he ate with a spoon this time.

While he ate I went back to my bag and grabbed my yellow iPhone 5c from the front pocket. Surprisingly, I had a text message. I opened the message while I walked back to the kitchen and read it as I leaned against the counter.

Why hello there Camille Montgomery

I glanced up to look at the number but instead it had a name. The face behind the text made me smile and wonder how he had done it. It must have been at lunch. Hayden Grim was one clever human being that was for sure. Once I had cleaned up Cameron's bowl and spoon I joined him in the living room and finally texted back.

And hello to you too Hayden Grim

It was seconds before he replied and I held my breath the whole time. We talked about normal things most of the time. We asked questions and quizzed each other about Harry Potter and just talked. It was almost midnight when we finally decided to stop talking and go to sleep, which was a good thing since I had been fighting to keep my eyes open. The only problem was without his distraction, I couldn't fall asleep.

Around eleven my dad had finally returned home. Considering the fact that something was knocked over as he flung himself on the couch, he was drunk as hell. My mom had known before he'd even walked through the door that he had been at the bar. What architect stayed with a potential client until eleven o'clock at night? This started one of my parents' infamously violent fights. The physical fighting probably started with my mom throwing something out of exasperation, then it was all thrown punches and feminine whimpers of pain. At about twelve thirty my little brother crawled into bed with me and I stroked his hair until he fell asleep, wishing I could do the same.

My father wasn't naturally abusive, just an angry drunk. Tomorrow morning he'd have tears streaking down his face as he begs for my mother's forgiveness and promises to never drink again. Then there'll be peace for a couple of weeks. These thoughts soothed my mind and finally allowed me to fall into the peaceful abyss of sleep.

~

The sound of my alarm woke my brother and I up at seven. Silence laid like a thick blanket between us when we heard the shower muffling the sound of our mother crying. Cameron hugged me and left my room to go watch cartoons while we waited for everything to go down. I ran my fingers through my hair then threw it up in a messy, curly ponytail. With my door still wide open, I traded my pajama pants and tee shirt for dark wash skinny jeans and a flow-y, floral tank top. Then, after tying on a pair of yellow low-top Converse, I put on mascara and headed downstairs.

I made my way into the kitchen just as all hell broke loose.

"Elise please forgive me? I'm so sorry! You know I don't mean a thing I do or say when I'm drunk! Please, Ellie?" my dad finally exclaimed, setting down his mug of tea and looking up at her with tears in his eyes.