Just. Survive. Somehow.

Chapter 3: Are you Stalking me?

Faith's P.O.V

The weekend felt lonely and quiet, usually the way I liked them to be. No disruptions from my low life Mother coming in drunk and nearly choking on her own vomit. No midnight phone calls from random sleazy middle aged men looking for a 'good time'. Because clearly that was all my life seemed to come down to... it was like I was trapped with no way of escaping.

I found it hard to concentrate on anything other than that boy Lukas. Whoever and whatever his story may be I was completely and utterly obsessed by his entire existence. I found it absolutely infuriating that I was so infatuated with wanting to know every single detail about his life. What was his favourite colour? How does he like his eggs made in the morning? Was he close with his family? Stupid and meaningless points to him; but to me, it was everything.

Meanwhile, my thoughts became disturbed by the sound of glassware smashing against the cold kitchen walls and a intense screaming match breaking out beneath me. Typically, the arguing was a regular occurrence and I could feel my eyes rolling back into my skull further until it felt like they had disappeared. "Get the fuck off me, you filthy rat" Sophia (my 'Mum') shouted loudly to the point I could hear the whimper in her voice without even being present in the room. A husky male voice quickly responded "Where is my money Sophia, you owe me and now I'm here to claim back whats rightfully mine". Somehow I recognised the strange male's voice like it was an thing of the past. One more violent crash and I was down stairs like a lightening bolt.

*Flashback*

I remember hearing the laughter of children and feeling the sand settle between my toes, in this moment everything was perfect. The waves crashed against the shores in the most peaceful way, as if the sea danced with the sand. This was my one and only happy childhood memory. Before I grew up and realised that I was basically alone in the world, everything felt normal within this very moment.

Every time my Mother came home plastered; unsure of who I was, I pictured that one brief but happy memory. And when I say brief, I meant shockingly hasty moment...

"Jamie, can we not discuss this here?" Sophia almost whispered to spare me the embarrassment, she also sneaked away as if I was not supposed to hear the conversation currently occurring.

A raspy, deep voice soon spoke up confidently, "She is my Daughter too Sophia!" causing my ears to instantly burn. He had my immediate undivided attention for obvious reasons.

The next sentence to leave Sophia's mouth cut me like a knife. "We both didn't want her, you know that. You said it yourself! I gave you your supply of drugs as a compromise for having her so you would stay away".

Tears streamed down my stained cheeks as I dragged my knees up to my chest. The sad thing was, I knew it was true. I understood that I wasn't supposed to be alive. It just broke my heart to hear it said out loud so openly and honestly. At this point, I was done. I was eight and I already realised the tragedies of life and love or in my case, to not be loved. However, it takes a certain type of strength to pick yourself back up and walk away from a situation.

This was why I fought.

*Present day*

Snapping back into reality, I bolted down the wooden stairs into a war zone of smashed plates and a pathway of droplets formed by my Mother's blood. For safety purposes I kept a loaded gun hidden under one of the wooden floorboards and knew that one of these days, it would definitely come in handy. After seeing the state of the kitchen, I decided that today was precisely that day.

I walked carefully tiptoed across the wooden planks whilst dodging the broken shards of glass everywhere, looking for a way of safely stopping the situation without getting myself hurt in the process. Peeking around the corner, I see Sophia crouched to the ground with her head in her lap while the mysterious male figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Sophia" I whispered as she jumped out of her skin. "Has he gone or should I call the police?" I spoke with uncertainty still holding the gun in aim.

"What the hell are you doing with that thing! Yes I'm fine, go to your room!" She protested but still sounded in shock. I left her to it.

I mean after all; just because she was blood related, doesn't make her family. You have to earn that title. She was just there. I had to get out of the house for a while and clear my head but I had nobody to go to when I was feeling low. There was only one place in the entire world that made me feel at home and that was at that beach. And off I went, I just got into my car and simply left as if it was the easiest decision I have ever made. Unfortunately, I knew it wasn't permanent and that really sucked.

*1 hour later*

For some extremely odd reason sea breeze and sand between my toes gave me a reason to carry on. I felt like I needed to be here right now and that nothing else exactly mattered. The sound of children laughing with their families somewhat comforted me as well as saddened my soul because I was envious of what they had. I wish I had someone to look at me as if I was valuable and my being was truly worth it. Nothing could ruin my happy place and I mean nothing on this planet.

Suddenly, I felt a loud sigh coming from behind me followed by a "You've got to be kidding me". I turned around, both confused and intrigued at what I had heard. There stood the boy I ran over and the boy who loved Oreo Chocolate milkshake, the one and only Lukas Peters

"Are you seriously stalking me because I swear I'll call the police" Lukas sternly replied.

"Of course I'm not! This is MY happy place!" I quickly claimed.

Lukas looked at me with sympathy as he could sense something was wrong purely with the way I answered him.

"You can join me, if you would like to". I secretly prayed he would accept my offer so I could find a way of getting to know him.

He looked hesitant at first but soon responded with a plain and simple, "Sure. Why not, aye".