angels like you (rini au)

T W O

~chapter two~
tw: mentions of abusive relationships, domestic abuse, child neglect

Nini took a deep breath as she twisted the key in the keyhole. She paused for a moment before turning the door knob, wondering if she was really in the mood to be in the house for the night.

She pulled open her backpack, looking at her now ruined book. She was still going to read it, but it took a long time to clean it. The coffee scent was still in there. And it bothered her. Today was meant to be just like every other day: bad. But thanks to Ricky and his friends, it was now terrible. And going inside was about to make it worse.

But she had nowhere else to go. If she did, she would be there. She hated that she was alone, and she hated that she had to go inside, and most of all, she hated that her book was now ruined. Reading brought into her own little fantasy world. A world outside of her own and a world without all of the annoyance and anger she constantly felt towards almost everyone. She had always been an avid reader, and read all kinds of book.

Fiction, non-fiction, romance, action, mystery, anything at all. She even liked online books in Wattpad, despite not liking being on her phone. Reading was her safe place, and it distracted from everyone and everything in real life. Distracted her from lame jocks who spill coffee on her, from idiotic cheerleaders who think they're above her because they can do backflips, from entitled golden boys who think they can do whatever they want because the school has out them up on a pedastal. Distracted her from everything. She wishes the book life was her real life.

Life would've so much better for her if she lived in a Wattpad fictional story.

"Either come in, or stay out there for the night."

She snapped her head back up, her daydream coming to a sudden halt. She sighed as she turned the doorknob and walked into her house. Pictures of different members of her family were placed all around the living room. On the TV stands, hung on the walls, on the tables, they were everywhere.

Making sure to avoid eye contact, she held her head down and walked up the stairs. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," she muttered as she walked faster. She genuinely wasn't even hiding anything, but he made her so nervous that her shaky voice made her answer sound suspicious. "Stop."
She paused immediately, less than a foot away from the first step of the stairs. "What are you going to do upstairs?" he asked her.

"Homework," she lied. To her left, she saw her mom entering the room with a tray of food in her hands. "You still do homework?" he scoffed. "Yeah, I'm a student, I kind of have to," she responded. "I advise you watch the attitude," he snapped, still not making eye contact with her yet. "I have to go do my homework," she said boldly.

She could see her mom standing nervously as she watched the conversation unfold between her daughter and her boyfriend. "Uh, how was school, honey?" she spoke up. "Same as usual," Nini shrugged. "How are your class-"

"Go upstairs," he ordered, cutting Carol off. "I'm having a conversation with my mom?" Nini responded confusedly. "Oh really? Carol, sweetie. Is she having a conversation with her mom?" he asked, in a condescending tone. Nini's mom looked back and forth between the two of the, hating that she was in this position. "Go upstairs, Nina," she said in a soft tone.

Nini scoffed, as stormed upstairs with heavy footsteps. She hated that was angry at her mom. She knew she shouldn't be, mostly because she knew it wasn't even almost her fault. But she couldn't help it. She was angry at everyone, even herself.

***

"Can we have hamburgers tomorrow?" she asked him with bright eyes. "We can if you promise to brush your teeth for at least 3 minutes tonight," he responded, as he took her empty bowl away from her. "Ugh, but I hate brushing my teeth!" she whined. "Yeah, I know, but you kind of have to otherwise your teeth will rot," he warns her. "That's gross!"