Maddox

Chapter 2

Picture of Kaden.

I stared at the rare text my mom had sent me.

Meredith, we are having a dinner in town with some of dad's boys. You will be there. You will behave. Make sure you don't go anywhere after school.

I frowned. Seriously, when did I not behave? Had I not lived up to their expectations? I went to every single event, party, or dinner they ever told me to come to. I was perfectly polite, and went by the script my parents had drilled into my head for years. I got good grades, I never dated any boys, I kept out of trouble. I kept expenses down to a minimum, I cleaned the house every week, I had talents. What was I doing wrong?

I reflected back to the time I let a swear word slip when my parents were at home. That was the first time my mom had slapped me. The only amount of violence she had ever shown toward me was bruises from her hands digging into my wrists or arms, often as a warning that I wasn't saying the right thing when we were in public. Since the first time my mom slapped me, my parents had kept a closer eye on me in public. They had added more restrictions to what I should and shouldn't say. They kept expecting me to be more and more perfect. It just wasn't possible.

"Mer, you okay?" Ky called next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Mom and dad are just having a dinner party tonight. Keep your eyes on the road." He smiled sheepishly as we swerved, nearly crashing into another car. I deeply inhaled. That was close.

"So I need to drop you off at home today?"

"Yeah. Though I really wanted to work on my art project today." I had been to Ky's house everyday this week, and now that it was Friday night I had planned to get a lot of work done. Hanging out with Ky was fun too, it was just the two of us for the entire week. I let out a huge breath I hadn't realized I was holding. The stress was already building up. Ky squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"It'll be fun, won't it?" Ky didn't know how bad my relationship with my parents really was. He just thought they were gone a lot, which was true. He just didn't know that I preferred that they didn't come home, and that when they did come home it was a living hell. That hell consisted of unrealistic expectations they made worse and worse with each visit home.

"Yeah. I haven't seen them in a while." I agreed, flashing a fake smile. I couldn't wait to graduate either. To get away from them. To cut ties.

Little did my parents know, I had been saving money since they left. Sometimes in public they would "slip" me money to look like good parents. Every time they did, I saved it and hid it, until I turned 18 and opened my own secret bank account. I also had a part-time job as an art model, which paid pretty well. I knew my parents would kill me if they knew I was doing it- sometimes I had to model nude.

Dad wasn't mean. It was only mom, really, and dad just didn't do anything about it. And I resented him for it.

Over the last five years I had saved over ten thousand dollars. I knew that for graduation they were going to give me $100,000 for college. I would use that for my advantage. As soon as they gave it to me, I would cut ties with them. I'm sure they'd be fine with that anyway. I would use the money and go to college. Get out of here. Move away to where they couldn't find me. Hell, I even considered changing my name.

All I knew was I couldn't live like this anymore. I could never be their perfect daughter, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't take the emotional abuse. All those years they ignored me, and then when they actually were around, they would pressure me to be the perfect daughter they raised me to be. I didn't like the bruises and slaps either.

Ky pulled up to my house. I saw my dad's car in the driveway. Internally I groaned.

"Have fun tonight." Ky kissed my head.