A Harsh Reality | ✓

Chapter 11

Amanda

I barged into his room, tears cascading down my cheeks as I made my way towards him. My vision was blurry because of the tears, but I saw him stand up. When I reached him, he wrapped his arms around me and I cried into his chest. After a few moments, I calmed down and he pulled away. Tyler gasped as soon as he saw my arms.

"Amanda, what did he do?" I tried to speak, but the words got caught in my throat. I looked down at my arms, they were red and had cuts all over them. Blood was slipping down onto my hands and then dripping onto the wooden floor. I sniffed and managed to speak.

"He-He used a-"

"Did he use a knife?" Tyler asked, trying to stop the blood from falling. I shook my head.

"He sma-smashed a bo-bottle," I said in between sobs. Tyler pulled me inside his bathroom and helped me sit down on the counter next to the sink. I washed my arms with soap and water when I finished Tyler placed band-aids on the cuts. We stayed in complete silence as we looked at each other. His blue eyes sinking into my white ones. I knew he had always been jealous of my eyes, but I was always jealous of his. Beautiful shades of blue and green mixed together in a small circle. We only shared the same chocolate colored hair.

"Did he throw the bottle at you?" he asked quietly. I shook my head.

"I landed on top of the shattered glass after he smashed it against the floor," I explained still sniffing lightly. Tyler inspected my cheeks, and when his face flashed a second with worry, I knew he had found the red mark. I looked down at my arms, dozens of different colored band-aids were covering them. Guess I'll have to use long sleeved shirts until the cuts healed. I hopped off the counter and went inside his room towards the door.

"Thanks, Tyler," I said, brushing the back of my hands against my cheeks in an attempt to dry my tear-stained skin. I opened the door as Tyler smiled at me. I smiled a quick smile back and went across the corridor to my room. I locked myself inside and the first thing I did was grab my sketchbook and a pencil. I took out one of my old photographs and drew, music blasting through my headphones as I escaped reality for a while.

After a few moments, I heard a heavy knocking on my door through the music. I took off my headphones groaning and looked at the time. Woah, what? I've been drawing for almost two hours. Oops. I stood up and opened the door. Tyler was there.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm going out."

"Wait, what?" I said, "With who?"

"Do you remember Finn?" I nodded. Finn had been Tyler's best friend since they were little, I knew Finn had missed him terribly after he found out he left.

"Well, he's here, but leaving in a few days," he explained, "So I'm going to meet him downtown and catch up."

"Okay," I replied.

"I'm walking since it's not that far away," he added, "Finn will bring me back." I nodded again.

"I'll be back in a few hours, be careful." He kissed the top of my head and went downstairs.

I closed the door and sat down on my desk's chair again. I processed the information. Tyler was walking, leaving his car behind to meet his old best friend downtown. That's when a lightbulb made a popping sound inside of my head.

"Tyler's walking!" I exclaimed and stood up abruptly, "Meaning, I can use his car and he'll never know!" I shook my head, maybe I should stop talking to myself when I'm alone in my bedroom. I grabbed my jacket from my bed and went into Tyler's room. I opened the nightstand's top drawer and sitting there neatly were his keys. I took the cold metal keys in my hand and looked at them. I moved to the window and watched Tyler leave the house. When he was out of sight, I rushed downstairs, knowing Dad was already gone I didn't worry about running into him. Mom was still at work, so I had plenty of time. The shattered bottle was still on the floor, part of it on the carpet. I told myself I would clean up when I got back.