Thank You || dnf

01

Today was like any other old day for Clay, the boy woke up in the morning, no, not to his alarm he has set, but rather to his parents fighting in the room down the hall. Then he'd get dressed, feed his cat Patches no one knew he had, skip breakfast, brush his teeth then walk to school.

He never bothered to say any type of goodbye to his parents, or any type of have a good day, he knew he'd end up getting yelled at, resulting in him being late. Getting yelled at sounds bad, but the boy found it rather safe, considering the other option was a beating by his father, then a yelling by his mother, more like screaming, but it was all too same for the boy.

The beatings on the other hand were always different, sometimes it'd be a small, but hard, punch in the side, and other times his father would beat him till the boy blacked out. He never said anything, he never did anything, he didn't even yell or cry during his beatings, all he did was be his father's punching bag.

It may sound bad to other people, but Clay knew doing this was the best way to know he'd wake up the next morning, even if he couldn't move without feeling enormous amounts of pain throughout his while body. The boy stopped caring about the pain he felt though, he stopped caring a long time ago since his father's always been like this.

His father has and always will be a drunk, and his mother will always be an angry junkie in Clays mind, this is how it's been since he was born anyways. He remembers his first beating like it was yesterday, and his first screaming at as well.

When he was four, the boy accidentally tripped over his own foot and spilled his bowl of cheerios on the floor by his father's chair. Unluckily for the young boy, his father was already a drunken mess and his mother was already higher than the sun itself.

His father had beaten the crap out of the boy, not caring about his age or how fragile he was, and his mother tormented his ears with her screaming, messing with his mind with insults and petty lies.

That night, the young boy went to bed shaking, having a black eye, split lip, old dried up blood falling from his nose and bruises covering him from head to toe. He didn't understand why his parents did this to him, he said he was sorry, he told them that the hits hurt, he told his mother he didn't mean to mess up their lives, but nothing he said stopped them.

When he told his parents he'd tell grandma what they did, his father only hit him harder and his mother filling his head with even harsher insults and lies. Clay only remembers this day clearly for one reason, and that reason being his parents almost killed him that day, his father nearly knocked the life out of the young boy, and the worst part was, he knew it too.

At school, nobody noticed the boy, even with his height, no one glanced his way, no one stopped him in the halls, not even the teachers noticed the boy. The only time anyone ever paid any attention to his existence was when he was getting beaten by his father and yelled at by his mother.

So it came as no surprise to him that he ended up shutting himself out from everyone, he made sure to stay out of sight as much as he could, he made sure that no one noticed him at all cost, since in his mind, he was still someone who ruined things. It was just like his mother told him, when he first came into the world, the boy would be the one and only reason why people's lives would start to fall apart.

When he'd return from school, it was the same old routine that happened everyday. He'd walk inside, try and escape upstairs to his room, but his father would always catch him and grab the back of his backpack and pull him back down the stairs.

Then Clay would end up getting a small beat for not saying goodbye in the morning, then get an extra hard punch in the stomach for not asking how his father's day was. Of course, after his father was through with him, his mother would come and wrap things up with a small yelling about all the things the boy had to do before dinner.

Clay obeyed everything he was told to do, and always made sure that he did it perfectly since again, he wanted to wake up the next morning. After all his cleaning duties were done, and he got his mother's approval, he would go up to his room for a few hours, only to do his homework.

The boy had no TV, no PC, no desktop and no laptop, he did have a phone, however, he didn't get the charger until late at night before he went to bed. So in the end, it wasn't worth going on anyways, knowing the battery would drain within minutes of usage.

At around six or seven in the evening, the boy would take a quick, cold shower, not wanting to use any hot water for his own safety. Then between eight and nine at night, his mother would yell for him to come down for dinner.

He has to eat at the dinning table with his parents, but he's not allowed to speak, he's only allowed to nod his head to what his father would say. He also wouldn't be allowed to leave the table till everyone was done eating, nor was he allowed seconds. The boy didn't complain though, at least he got one meal a day since his father wouldn't fund him for lunch.

After he was excused from the dinner table, his father would gave him his charger and send him to bed, letting him know if he wasn't asleep in ten minutes, the boy would wish he was never born. After hearing this every night, Clay would rush to his room, plug in his phone, change his clothes, hide his cat before turning the lights off and laying down.

He'd fake being asleep knowing he couldn't fall asleep in the remainder of time he had left, and just let his father mess up his entire room. Messing up his room was they way the boys father could tell if he was asleep or not since he would sneak into the room quietly then make a loud noise to see if there was any flinches.

Of course, Clay has gotten used to this behavior so he knew when his father was there and when he was going to do something, he knew it was bad since even his cat didn't make a noise. When his father would leave, closing the door rather loudly behind him, Clay would lay there for a few minutes before getting up and grabbing his cat.

He always snuggled with her before falling asleep, she would calm him down and create warmth for him since his room was cold and his blankets were thin. The following morning just began his burned in routine until the school week was over and began his lonely weekends.

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First chapter, please don't hate me too much, I'm sorry for such a sad beginning, but it's what it needed.

If you or someone you know struggles with domestic abuse, please don't be scared to tell someone, it's not right and should be stopped immediately.

Thank you again for reading, look out for the next chapter, and take care of yourselves, love you all <3