Back For You

Chapter Five.

   Back For You - Chapter Five.

                               Peyton didn’t sleep that night. Not even when her mother returned home and slid into the room just next to hers.

All she did was stare at the window that was now sealed and bolted shut. Even so, she was tempted to perhaps grab a roll of duct tape and secure the edges, just to make her feel at ease. Then again, she didn’t think a flimsy piece of tape would keep Tyler out of her bedroom.

Peyton rolled onto her side, a groan leaving her lips. She shouldn’t be so quick to assume. For all she knew, her mother could have opened her window, or maybe Peyton herself had opened it without realizing it. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts lately and she wouldn’t doubt it if she forget she opened her own window.

Besides, Tyler Moore was locked up in some loony bin. How would he escape, anyway?

Well, Tyler had got into Peyton’s house before. Even when the doors and windows were all locked. And more times than once, she was sure. So what if Tyler had managed to get out? What if he had come back for her?

Her heart leaped into a familiar erratic pattern at the mere thought.

She didn’t want to go back to that horrid basement. She didn’t want to be locked up and wondering if she’d ever get to see her mother again. She didn’t want her mother to fall into that deep state of depression like she had before. All she wanted was to be normal again. She wanted school to be her biggest worry. She wanted to be friends with Mel, even if it meant dealing with the rest of her obnoxious and loud mouthed friends. But she knew that was never going to happen.

She wasn’t the same. She had changed. She was no longer the girl that found the good in everyone. She was untrustworthy, unforgiving, and broken. Just a shell of the girl she use to be.

And that’s why she cried.

She buried her face in her pillow and wept as she thrashed in her bed. She muffled the hoarse cries that came for her as she wallowed in her self-pity. Just like she did every night.

                                                      Peyton felt like a zombie the next day as she walked the halls of her school. She probably looked like one too with her blood shot eyes and dishelmed hair. She didn’t have enough energy to actually put effort into her appearance this morning. It didn’t matter, anyway, no boy was willing to get involved with a tainted girl.

She was numb. Incredibly numb and seeming to look over her shoulder every moment, wondering if Tyler would pop out of nowhere and grab her.

She dismissed that thought when she realized how dumb that sounded. She doubted that Tyler would magically appear out of thin air and snatch her when there were people surrounding her. She didn’t think he was that stupid.

However, no matter how much she told herself this, it never did put her to ease.

Nonetheless, she put on her usual fake façade and got through the day. Talking vaguely with Mel at lunch, another session with Ms. Aguilera, and another awkward confrontation with Jason. Another, somewhat, regular day.

She was glad when the bell rang, signaling dismissal.

She made her way out the back of the school, to soccer and football field.

She watched as a few freshmen girls jogged around the field, pausing only to catch their breath before Coach Matthews screamed at them to keep going.

She felt sorry for the girls. She knew what it was like playing for Coach Matthews, seeing as she had been on the team her freshmen, sophomore, and junior year. She had only stopped playing when the traumatic experience that ruined her life occurred. Coach figured it’d be best if she took time off to cope rather than to throw herself back into the game. Peyton wasn’t exactly pleased at hearing this, but he was right.