Somewhere, Someday

2

"High off of love, drunk from my hate."

I need to start driving if I'm going to find a gas station. My head's throbbing, the open wound on my head a stinging reminder. David painted me in his anger and abuse, which was something I never thought he could do.

I dated David for almost 3 years, our relationship a huge mistake and waste of time. He never committed to us. I should've known better than to date the guy that steered my life in the wrong direction. Yesterday, he was in our bed with another girl wrapped around his finger, the final straw not only for us, but also for me.

While I was packing up my stuff he had been pleading, apologizing at my feet, but I knew better than to believe him this time. It's always the same, and shame on me for always believing he'd change. David has only ever given me his empty apologies, and I was tired of hearing them.

I threw profanities at him, yelling until my lungs were nearly out of air. He grabbed me and threw me against the mirror, the glass shattering against my body. It shattered just as the world had beneath me years ago at that party.

My phone beeps in seat next to me, notifying me that I have ten missed calls from Kristina. Her name across my screen brings me back into reality, the memories of David floating away for the moment.

I feel bad ignoring Kristina, ignoring the only person that probably truly cares about me. But I know that if I hear her voice now then I will run home to her, run home into her arms.

There is no gas station in sight and the sun has already set. The dark envelops the car, reminding me how alone and lost I am. I've been lost ever since that horrible night.

After David forced me to swallow my first drink I found myself addicted to the taste, to the feeling of being numb. I stopped caring about leaving home, about my grades and my life. The college of my choice revoked my scholarship when they heard of my final grades, and so I found myself staying in my hometown for longer than I had planned.

I moved out of my house after graduation, not wanting to live with my mother anymore. Kristina let me live with her for a bit, which was okay, but soon enough her mom became impatient with me living there for free. I stayed at David's after parties because he lived alone, and because it felt better to sleep next to a warm body after the high disappeared.

Kristina would always assume that we were hooking up, but I never let David sleep with me. On multiple occasions, David promised me he wasn't sleeping with other girls, but I knew better than to believe him. At times I wanted to cave, but fortunately for me, I never did.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see that I'm approaching a gas station. The lights were flickering inside, the place looking rundown and abused from the outside. I pull my car over into the exit and park it in the sketchy, empty parking lot.

I can make out the silhouette of two people near the side of the gas station, one of them on their knees while the other one is leaning against the wall. They think no one can see them in the darkness, but little do they know that night doesn't hide everything.

The man looks over at me and licks his lips, a shiver running down my spine. I run into the little store without making eye contact with the guy. The store is dimly lit with white, flickering lights, the aisles stocked and running throughout the store. I start roaming the aisles in search for bandages for my weary head.

There's a guy behind the counter with dark black hair and stubble, tattoos littered up his arms, and a piercing in his nose. I walk up to him, my posture straight and my body held high. He looks up from his magazine, not surprised at all to see me standing at the counter with a bloody gash on my forehead. Hell, he's probably seen worse around here.