Playing Rough

Chapter V

Chapter V ─ Asphyxiation

[ B R Y A N   C L A Y ]

I opened my eyes and was met by the plain white, high ceiling of my room. My head was banging, perhaps because of the alcohol, I decided to drink so I could pass out. I groaned as I tried to sit up, my bones cracking.

This wasn't a rare occurrence in this household, especially not when Jen is back in town to torment me. I thought that when Jenna went to college, she wouldn't have the time of her day to make her unwanted presence known. Boy was I fucking wrong.

I was considering downright practice today, I must have already overslept by a few hours, so going to classes wasn't even an option, not when I both felt and looked like dog shit. I knew Kyle would scold me for not being present for practice. He may have been one of the most chill coaches there were, but boy could the man do a complete one-eighty and ruin your day for something as simple as missing practice. I shuddered at the thought of coach yelling at me again.

I rummaged through my messy covers in hopes of finding my phone, thankfully my scavenging mission was over shortly. I cursed under my breath, scolding myself for not charging the battery overnight, I didn't know whether the measly seventeen percent could survive a day's worth of football practice. 

The screen read a little past twelve-thirty in the afternoon, other than that, it was unsurprisingly empty. Sometimes, I wished I had a place in the world, but as soon as I steady my feet and attempt to take a step further, my past comes crashing back in. Ever since Michael decided to play stupid games on me, I became even more closed off than I was. My mental health deteriorated rapidly and by now, despite being the quarterback, I had no one to call a friend.

I was pissed, I was hurt and I wanted to lynch my coach and principal for trying to bring the teams to better ground. East Aredale and West Aredale were like water and oil - we didn't mix, and we sure as hell wouldn't after this.

I knew I was being a dramatic little girl, but being forced to endure Michael and now my sister again just sent me into overdrive. My natural coping mechanism had become severe amounts of alcohol, it wasn't good for me in any way, shape or form, but then again, I didn't care.

Thankfully, one of my demons was gone for the time being. Jenna had left yesterday morning and I couldn't have been happier about it, however, it didn't help that my sister was an abusive bitch going out of her way to remind me of how much of a failure I was - that's what pushed me over the edge last night.

Ever since my sister somehow found out I was gay, my entire world crashed and burned. You know, once upon a time Jen and I were so close our family was closer than ever before. Of course, that was until Jen's homophobic tendencies surfaced and she outed me in front of our very conservative family, driving my parents away from me.