Somewhere Between Florida And Heaven

6~ I am not ready for this

The heat of the water had eased the aching. Examining my naked body, I was able to see exactly where I hurt myself thanks to the crash. There were already huge bruises forming on my thighs, probably because of the handlebars I had banged against. Some parts of my body had medium scratches that I am sure of will leave no scars. Well, I hope so...

My right knee looked the worst. A huge bloody wound developed and it was circled by green and purple marks with some light to deep scratches spreading all over my leg.

I covered myself with a big white towel and tucked my hair into a smaller one. I applied some cream to my face and checked it for any other injuries I might have failed to see. Just a small bruise on my left cheekbone, nothing else. It could have ended worse. I'm confident, after two weeks, most of this won't be even noticeable anymore. But like I already said: I hope so.

I went downstairs, still only wearing a towel, and made my way to the kitchen, intending to find a plaster for my knee. It didn't hurt as bad as it looked, but I still need to take care of it, or the consequent scar will look like I kneed in some pile of shit.

I opened the drawer next to the refrigerator and grabbed the pair of scissors and a longer piece of plaster. I cut it to fit the size of the wound. When I was about to cover it up, the front door opened abruptly and both my parents stormed in.

I was startled and then fazed by their agitated presence. I was standing behind the counter and they didn't seem to notice me, when they continued their heated conversation:

"I am NOT going to New-York with you. This is ridiculous!"

"There's no other way! We have to keep up with our reputation! We NEED to!"

"SO?! That family doesn't need us both to advise them, since we all know you're way better than me at our job!"

"I never said that..."

"BUT IT'S WHAT YOU THINK!!!"

"Honey, you need to handle your attitude, or we both know this won't work any longer. Just-- just try for Cami--"

I cleared my throat loud enough for them to hear. I wanted them to acknowledge my presence, to let them know I heard everything.

I knew my parents had a hard time getting along, but hearing my father say it out loud made me feel as if my world was crumbling. The safety I used too welcome, having both my parents there for me, was long gone. But now, the tiny leftovers that still remained, which gave me a small grip of hope, were wiped off in the twinkling of an eye.

They are both realtors and work together since they fell in love with each other. They are the famous realtor couple, and thanks to the power duo act, they made good business. But they started to argue a lot, since my father apparently talked with a colleague about my mother behind her back. Sometimes, they got along peacefully, but then, next thing you know, they want to rip each others throats out. Trust issues play a big role in this situation.

"I-I am not ready for this." I choked out. I wasn't ready to witness them dispute. I never will be. I was at the edge of breaking down in front of them, but I didn't want to make it worse for them than it already was. I may need my parents together to feel secure, but I didn't want to force them to anything because of guilt.

"Honey... we're sorry. You weren't supposed to here this." my mother implied calmly. Her eyes looked so hollow, I couldn't help but feel out of place. She definitely wanted to let of steam. I was the only thing preventing her from continuing.

"If you can't stand being together anymore, please, do what you have to do, don't let me discourage you. I... I can handle it.".

No I couldn't.

Nothing felt worse than realizing my family was falling apart. My parents could soon get divorced and go back to whatever life that had before me. Was the loving parents act just to keep me from breaking down?

My mother got closer to me and placed a hand on my cheek. She faced me with a half serious, half sorry look. She then confirmed my thoughts by saying exactly what would cause me to freak out:

"You know we do all of this just for you, right?"

That was it.

Tears poured down my face and anger took over. How could she say that? Why would they think acting like everything was okay would make me feel any better? I sure as hell couldn't think straight in this moment, but I decided to do what I knew would help me cool off.

I pushed her hand off me and stormed off to my room. I locked the door to make sure they wouldn't decide to follow me and talk some sense into me. I wanted to hold on to the rage boiling inside of me. I headed to my wardrobe and grabbed the first thing I could find, dressing as fast as I could. I looked for my phone in the bathroom and packed my backpack for school.

Someone was knocking on my door, when I swung it open, startling both my father and mother who were standing on the other side. I looked at them for a brief moment, making sure I was ready for what I planned on doing. I jogged past them and left the house as fast as I could with my aching leg. I could perceive them screaming my name a couple of times, but I was sure they wouldn't follow me. They knew I needed space from them and they knew where I was heading to.

~~

I was standing on the front porch and knocked on the door. I don't know why I felt nervous since it wouldn't be the first time asking if I could sleep over. Maybe it was just the doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Wright wouldn't want to betray my parents and would send me back home.

When the door opened, Marco was facing me and his neutral expression swiftly changed to a questionable one.

"Hey" I said.

"Do you mind if stay at your place for a while?". I started to cry again, not able to handle the hurting anymore. He immediately pulled me into his arms and caressed my head, without asking questions.

"You can stay as long as you want." he whispered to my ear.

I felt slightly better, but I knew it wouldn't last long.