The Darkness in her Eyes

6

As I got out of the car, my dad is outside with a measuring tape and he has a serious look in his eye. He doesn't notice when I walk into the house because his eyes seem to be in a different world.

Mom is on the couch napping surrounded by all her pets cuddled up beside her. I shrug and start the dishes. My brother is in his room, playing his games. I do the rest of my chores and start supper. They will have to deal with more spaghetti, there isn't much in the kitchen.

I lay my dad down a plate and head into my room to delve into a book.

I must have fallen asleep because as I open my eyes it's dark out.

Tap. Tap.

It's Craig.

I crack my window and look out.

"Come out".

Doesn't this bring back memories, as I roll my eyes. When we were together, he did this all the time. He would wait for my dad to be fast asleep and camp out in the woods just to see me for a few minutes.

I slip through the window and wrap myself around the antenna pole. I start to shiver.

"Craig, what do you want?".

"I just came to see you, I know things ended badly, but I was a jerk. "He shoves his hands in his pockets and smiles.

"In case you forgot, things didn't end well between us".

"I know Annie, but we still agreed to be friends". He touches my shoulder. "Are you still working on your poems?".

"No, not really".

"We were each other's muse,'' he declares as he looks at the moon.

He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. "I still love you Annie". He gently kisses me, and I inhale his scent, that even after a year is still familiar to me.

"We can't do this again". I tremble as I push him a little farther from me.

"Annie, we can try again. I miss you,". He looks away. "Annie, I miss you so much".

"Where were you the last six months? Hell, where were you a year ago?".

"I know I was a coward, please forgive me".

"I still feel something for you too, but it's broken now". I say as I start to walk back to my window.

"Just think about it please" he looks pleadingly at me.

"I'll think about it".

I go back to my window and slip inside. I slide the blinds down. I take a few minutes to compose myself. I lay down in bed and try not to remember that night, but it all comes flooding back.

"What movie do you want to watch Ken?" I ask my cousin as I flip through the channels aimlessly. We had finished helping my aunt Theresa move into her house and I ended up staying the night because my mom had taken her night medication all ready.

"It doesn't matter" as he types out a message to one of his friends.

We settle into watching "Friday" and I fall asleep.

I wake up to him on top of me, frightened I go to scream. You promised you wouldn't touch me this way again I say in a child's voice.

"Oh, shut up, it's not like anyone would want something as disgusting as you" he says laughing.

"Please don't do this" Tears streamed down my eyes as I feel as pain in my groin. I wait until he goes back to his couch and I slip into the bathroom. Blood is running down my legs. No one is going to believe me.

I stayed in the bathroom most of that night. I just kept thinking why this keeps happening to me. Why does this always happen to me, I must have done something incredibly wrong.

Mom came and picked me up that next morning. I told her what happened, and we called the police. Mom was frantic and was calling all her family. Aunt Theresa claimed her son would never do something like that and it was probably just kids playing with each other. My mom ended up believing her and they both talked to the police claiming it was only my imagination. They forced me to tell the police it wasn't the truth, and that I had lied. They concluded it wasn't rape, by the time my mom and her sister had talked to the police.

I still must see my cousin from time to time and act like nothing happened. None of my other male cousins wanted to be around me in case I claimed they hurt me too. Bree never defended me because he quit playing the game with us when I turned eleven.

I knew I would not get much sleep tonight, so I chatted with Brandon as he liked to stay up late. I told him my events of the day and how I was feeling. It was good to have a friend with no judgement.