The Boy Next door (j.b)

Chapter 9 ~ Purple Cheek

*EDITED*

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~ Chapter 9 ~

I was in the shower. Every move felt like another punch, and I would cringe in pain each time.

I had a huge black and blue mark forming on the right side of my stomach, near my life ribs. I was happy it would be covered, but the marks around my wrists would probably show, so I quickly brought out a long sleeved sweater and put in on, along with a pair of grey sweats.

The other problem was my face.

I could feel a bruise forming, but luckily, it hadn't turned all that black and blue yet - like the one on my stomach. I covered the area with some matt foundation in case it would start turning blue while they were here, and brushed on a little mascara.

I felt like shit, but at least I didn't look half bad.

I put my hair in a ponytail after brushing it, but of course that was a mistake, I was red on the back of my neck, after the amount of times he smashed me against the wall. I sighed, and put my hair in a style with half up, in a ponytail, and half down.

After what felt like forever, I skipped down the stairs, and the house looked like shit. There were empty beer bottles on the floor, and a few smoke packets here and there. He had thrown his clothes on the floor, for some kind of reason, and it was all left for me to clean.

I ended up cleaning it, of course I did. But I wasn't going to let Justin see this side of me. I wanted to be a different person for him. Maybe I could be something else than that broken, abused girl, who had two friends,

For him, I wanted to be normal.

Andrew and kendall knew about my dad, and after a lot of convincing and forcing, they promised me not to tell anyone, considering it wasn't really their story to tell.

I took a seat on the couch, and I hissed in pain as my back hit the rest. I am so better off standing.

The doorbell rang, and I checked the clock.

Shit, it was already four o'clock. Had it really been two hours already?

Kendall and Andrew were at the door, Andrew's arm resting over Kendall's shoulders lovingly. They were smiling.

The smile  didn't last long when they saw me.

"What did that shithead do now?" Kendall crossed her arms, fury read all over her face. She angrily stepped past me into the house, and Andrew quickly followed, an identical look on his face.

"Sure, come on in, make yourself at home," I mumbled ironically.

She rolled her eyes. "Your face is double size, honey. Did he hit you there?" She hinted towards my right cheek.

I shrugged.

"Holy shit," Kendall mumbled, it looked like she was about to hit something.

Please, God, don't let it be me.

"It looks bad, Ari," Andrew tried to touch the right side of my face, but I quickly backed away.

"Yeah," I mumbled, "I'm aware, thank you very much."

"But isn't he supposed to be working today?" Kendall asked, clapping away Andrews hand. They never lost the serious faces, and I was kind of sick of the same episode happening over and over again.

"Well, he got fired. He told me that it was my fault," I told them, as I crossed my arms over my chest. And again, I forgot the bruise I had on my right ribs, and quickly retreated my arms to resting on each side of me.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell the police? Like seriously, this has gone way too far," Kendall looked concerned.

They didn't know about my mom. They thought my dad just hit me and that was it. I used to tell them that my mother lives in another city, that we really didn't have much contact. I couldn't tell them the truth about mom.  It was too hard. I just couldn't.

"I am sure. Just please. Stay out of it."

They nodded. "What are you going to say when Justin gets here?" Andrew asked.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. The doorbell rang, and I was almost certain it was Justin.

"Tell him I fell downstairs and hit the floor real hard, okay?" I explained, as I exhaled to try to keep my composure.

They nodded again, following me out to the frontdoor. I was nervous, Justin kind of just came into our lives like it wasn't even hard. But we were lying to him. And they weren't white lies. These lies were so much deeper. But I couldn't just suddenly open up to him either, so I opened the door, and lied to his face.

Hope he believed it though.