The Girl In The Suit

Gemma

When I walk out of the last class of the day, which ended with the teacher shouting, REMEMBER THE PRES START NEXT WEEK, STUDY YOUR ARSES OFF, I see Anne waiting at the gate. She just has her earphones in and humming a tune. Holy fuck. Why did I ever bully this girl?

She sees me and smiles. She takes out the earbuds and wraps them around her phone. She sticks it in her pocket and walks over to me.

"Hey.", she says, still smiling.

"H-hey." Jesus. Thank God I'm not in love with this girl. I'd die of acute akwardosis.

"So, where do you want to go? Spar? Blueberries? Centra? Supermacs?"

"I was thinking maybe my place?" I stop breathing. I can't offer to bring her to my place anyways, I'd rather come out to the whole school than have Anne O Brien see that I'm living with drunks.

She looks at me, and bites her lip. She then smiles. "OK."

And now I hate myself.

I look back and see my old "friends" staring at us. I roll my eyes and we walk out the gate.

We walk in silence for a minute before Anne speaks. "So, why did you give me shit? Like, I believe there's a reason for everything in life so what's the reason for that?"

I bite my lip and start speaking. "When I first came to town after moving from London, I had no one. Then one day, Aoife came over to me while I was in Spar by myself, and she told me I could be friends with her if I gave you shit as well. At first, I was like, 'What?! She's completely harmless.', but then she threatened to tell everyone that I'm.....never mind. So, I did it, even though it killed me and made me feel so shit about myself. I really am sorry. I'll never forgive myself. Are we cool?"

We've stopped walking ever since I began speaking. Anne looks at me for a moment before bringing me in for a hug. I'm surprised at first, but then hug her back.

"Yeah, we're cool.", she says when we separate. She smiles at me.

I then notice we're nearing my house. I can already smell the wine and Heineken. Fear begins to creep over me.

When we reach the house, I hear yelling going on inside. I look at Anne with fear in my eyes.

"C-could you stay here a minute?", I say as I walk through the gate. She nods her head.

I walk inside the door and the place is even more of a wreck than usual. Then, I hear what everyone's saying.

"YOU'RE NOT BISEXUAL, YOU LITTLE PRICK!"

"IM 21, DAD, I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!"

"THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?"

"TO PROTECT MY LITTLE SISTER FROM YOU GUYS! YOU'LL KILL HER IF IM NOT HERE!"

"SHES 17, SHE CAN TAKE CARE OF HERSELF, THE BITCH"

"15! HER JUNIOR CERT PRES START MONDAY! AND OF COURSE YOU DON'T CARE! AND DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER A BITCH, YOU DRUNK CUNT!"

There's a slapping noise, then a crash of a bottle. I don't hesitate in running into the kitchen. My dad is on top of Freddie, punching him. I love him so much, but he's utterly defenseless.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF HIM!"

I push him to the ground, and then he stands up and catches me up by the throat against the fridge. A magnet falls off of it.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING TWERP!"

And he punches me, and I fall to the ground. Freddie pushes him into the table, and then helps me up. The father is unconscious, and the two of us are panting. His face is bruised, and his nose is bleeding. My nose is bleeding too, and it feels broken.

"Are you OK, G?", he asks me as he hugs me.

"I'm fine, Fred. Are you?"

"Don't worry about me sis."

"I love you."

"Love you too."

And then, over my shoulder, I see Anne right there, staring at us, almost crying. She saw the entire thing. We stare at each other for a minute before Freddie and I separate.

"Gemma-", she starts. I push past the two of them and run up the stairs. I notice my mother passed out the couch. I run into the room and I hug my puppy pillow. I start crying, and I curl up in the bed.