Stuck with him

Chapter 7

"I SURVIVED"

Joey's POV:

I looked inside and saw her sitting right where i left her. Her hand hanging above her head. She was asleep or did she pass out...? I walked towards her silently and looked at her hand which was bruised badly with a little dried blood on it too. Oh. What have I done? I gulped and sat down in front of her. Her face was tear stained and i felt real bad. So she'd been crying. I am such an idiot. I put my hand on her shoulder very lightly, but still it made her jump and scream.

"GET AWAY FROM ME."

"DONT TOUCH ME!!!" She pushed me with her right hand, shaking and trembling. She looked scared.

"Ariel! Ariel! It's me." I held her by her shoulders and shook her a little. "It's Joey." I said slowly and she looked up at me, sniffing. Then she wiped her tears and looked away from me. I opened the handcuff and she instantly pulled her hand away from it. She rubbed her wrist and winced. I just kept staring at her, not knowing what to do. Should i say sorry? Or should i just stay silent. While i was debating in my head, she got up and walked out of the class without saying a word. I followed her immediately.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I asked running after her. She ran faster like she was running away from me.

"Away from you." Well there you go. I ran faster and caught up to her and grabbed her wrist which was hurt and she winced. "Ouch." She said and i instantly let go of it.

"Sorry. Sorry." I said raising both my hands up in the air. "Just. Come.....let me take you to the hospital. To your mom." I offered and she backed away from me again as if she is scared of me.
"Ariel!" I groaned. "Come, dad's waiting for us in the hospital. Please." I motioned towards my car.

"No thanks. I can go by myself." She said angrily and then walked away towards the road.

"Ariel!" I walked after her and this time grabbed her by her elbow. "Why are you being so stubborn."

"Are you serious? Why should i trust you anymore? Huh? What if you just take me some other place and lock me there too?" She pushed my shoulder. I rolled my eyes. Dramatic much? Well can't blame her now, can i?

Ariel's POV:

I was trying so hard to keep my tears in but i couldn't and Joey was just being an annoying ass.

"Why would i do that?" He said and i just turned towards the road looking for a cab.

"Oh I don't know. For your amusement or something. Since i am just a toy for you and your friends to play around with." I replied sarcastically and looked back at the road. Damnit no sign of any car. I just wanna get away from Joey. After like a minute or two of Joey just standing there, staring at me, a car stopped and the driver looked at me.

"Need a ride?" He asked looking me up and down smirking. I was scared but I looked at Joey and then at the other guy and decided to get in the car. I was about to get in the car when Joey grabbed my arm.

"What the hell Ariel? Are you seriously going with this guy?" He asked gritting his teeth.

"Why do you care?" I snapped back.

"Look at him. Can you really trust that guy? For all we know he could kill you or something." He said lowering his voice so the guy can't hear and I turned to him.

"Oh really? Well someone could've killed me in there in the school too." I said pointing towards the school. "You didn't care about that. How come you care now? Do you know how scared i was all that time. Sitting there alone. How I flinched at every little sound for six hours straight. Sitting with this guy doesn't seem so scary now. Oh and at least my hands are not tied." I motioned towards my bruised hand and gave him a fake smile and reached for the door handle.

"Just come with me. I am serious Ariel. I don't trust this guy." He said pulling my arm again.

"At this moment, I don't trust you either." I said and he just groaned.

"Dude just fuck off." He told the guy and he showed him the finger and left. Joey just rolled his eyes.

"Ugh. Joey! Ugh!" I stomped my foot hard on the ground.

"Stop being so dramatic and let's just go. I don't want dad to be any more mad at me after what you've done. Like seriously? You had to call him? Out of all people. Him? Now he is never gonna let this go." What?! After what I've done?! Is this guy for real? How is this my fault? THATS IT! I can't take it anymore. I just looked back at him. Furious. Enraged.

"ARE YOU REALLY JUST SO FULL OF YOURSELF!!! Do you not see what is happening? My mom is in the freaking hospital and you are saying I shouldn't have called your dad? Because daddy would be mad at little Joey for doing what he did, which is all your fault by the way, not mine. Maybe if you had picked up YOUR damn phone, i wouldn't have to call him. Maybe if you didn't lock me in there. All of this never would've happened in the first place." I pushed his chest with every sentence, stepping forward. He was going backwards. I didn't wanna hold back anymore. I have had enough.

"Just shut it alright! I only did it because i wanted some peace. Sometime away from you. I am so sick of you following me around everywhere. I am sick of you sticking your nose in every fucking thing i do. I AM JUST SO SICK OF YOU." He yelled in my face and i backed away removing my hands from his chest. Tears welling up in my eyes as i stared at him. "I already had enough problems in my life and then you came out of nowhere and added to them. Do you have any idea what-?" He was talking and i interrupted him.

"Wait. Wait." I just couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. Maybe i was trying to stop myself from crying or maybe it was what he was saying.

"Problems? PROBLEMS?!" I said and started laughing.

"What problems do you have golden boy?! Wait lemme guess." I tapped my finger on my chin and pretended like i am thinking. "Daddy is not buying little Joey the latest model of the BMW. Or..........Joey freaking Mercado got rejected by the model chick from the other night. Or............Ooh oh I've got a good one. Or maybe that HIS FUCKING OMELETTE IS NOT THE WAY HE LIKES IT!!" I yelled back in his face. Ooooh mic drop. He was stunned, his mouth agape. Maybe he was speechless. I continued.

"I AM SICK OF YOU TOO. But do you know why i put up with you? Because I've got problems. Real problems. You wanna know what real problems are?" I asked getting a little closer to him, staring right in his eyes. He was staring back too.

"A real problem is when your dad leaves you and your mom, because life gets tough. Because he is a coward who couldn't face reality. I've seen that problem."

"A real problem is when your perverted landlord bangs on your door at 2 am because you couldn't pay the rent on time and you hide behind your mom because he looks at you in a fucking perverted way. I was only thirteen. THIRTEEN. Well I've seen that problem."

"A real problem is when that fucking asshole hits your mom and kicks you both out of the house in the middle of the night and you can't do anything. That feeling of helplessness is killing. I've seen that problem."  A tear escaped my eye remembering all those painful moments and i wiped it quickly.

"A real problem is when you stay homeless for days. I've seen that problem."

"A real problem is when you see your mom crying silently every night because she thinks she couldn't give you a good childhood. She blames herself for everything." By now the tears were pouring down my cheeks and I couldn't control them anymore. I dropped down to the ground. All the emotions and tears that were bottled up inside of me for years. I couldn't hold them in any longer. I just cried. "I remember everything so clearly. I remember how my mom was struggling so hard. How she would cry and she didn't know that I noticed her crying but i was always crying along with her and it killed me to see her like that." I sat there for a minute or two while Joey just stood there, without saying a word. I looked up at him. "You have no idea, how lucky you are Joey. To have a father so caring and loving. Who cares about you and your future so much. I wish i had a father like yours." I quickly wiped my tears and got up.

"Well I've been through all of that and hell of a lot worse than that and I've survived and if you are so sick of me. It would be a relief for you to hear that, I can't do this anymore."

"I QUIT!" I said and walked away from there.