Crusted Away

Chapter 2 - Calls unanswered

Carter continuously called Freya's number, having more doubt whether Freya was actually unavailable as it said on the voicemail or if she was outright avoiding him. In front of him were slides, swings, bars and yet he wasted his time calling Freya unnecessarily. He could've done anything right now from the hundreds of varieties of activities there were. Yet he maintained his composure and continued pressing the call button. It went up from 10 to 20 to 100. Stupid Freya thinking I'm not worrying about her, he muttered under his breath.

"Dude, you've been calling Freya for about an hour already. Just give up on that ugly brat and be with us! I have no idea what went into your mind. But I'm telling you now. As ugly as she is on the outside, she is on the inside too." Drake had always turned to Freya with squinted eyes and eyebrows and despised Freya. The fact that Freya is ugly on the inside was just an extension in his mind that clings onto the fact that she has skin problems. Carter never really saw Freya like that. He never saw her as the 'ugly skin girl'. Instead he saw her as the girl who saved him.

***

"Carter, wear this suit,  we need to get ready for your father's party."

"But what if I don't want to go?" That was a mistake. He shouldn't have said that. He knew what was coming next. He gulped

The contact of his mother's palms met Carter red cheeks. It wasn't just his cheek that was throbbing and fighting back the pain, it was his fragile heart too. A young heart just building itself up already on the verge of falling apart. Many often told him he was lucky. New clothes, food on the table and having money at his disposal. In fact, he was lucky in that sense. But they meant nothing to him, as the family was torn apart. His mother a disciplinarian and his father a mayor out on business all the time.

"Now Carter, wear the suit."

"Yes, mother..."

He tightened the tie that choked him around his neck. He looked outside at the thousands of neon lights that lit up the sky. He took a deep breath and exited his room through the back door. The green grass lay there and it was his ground. His mother was at the entrance, giving brochures about the information of the mayor. His father. Carter was still amazed at how his mother's stern and self centred expression changed into such an optimistic and bright expression. If only his mother kept that expression at home, he would've lived a better life.

Soon, his feet took him somewhere else, somewhere not near the hanging lights, but to the garden filled with roses. White roses adorned the tall trunks of the trees with overhanging leaves. He could hear the scurry of silk laces following him through the grass. It was his mother, resuming once again with a frown taking centre stage on her face. The transition still surprised him.

He looked at her, with sulky eyes. He couldn't takes crowds, and his mother should know that at the least. 

"Carter, why aren't you at the party?"

"Mother, I can't go! I'm sorry, I just can't do this!"

"What happened to you today? You are disobeying everything I say today. I'll just have to punish you accordingly."

He felt the wind of his mother's hand rapidly approaching. He had no reaction time. He didn't even flinch but shut his eyes as a sign of expectancy. He heard the slap of his mother's hands crashing onto cheeks. But it wasn't his cheeks. A girl with an elaborately done bun acted as a wall between Carter and his mother.

"I'm sorry Mrs Wilson, but I can't just let you do that."

Carter was dazed at the strong words this girl portrayed. 

"Freya Murphy..."

"Don't worry Mrs Wilson. I'll be with him in these parts, he won't be completely alone. Now go before I get my phone out and tap triple zero."

Carter's mother stood there for a few moments and turned her back on Carter and Freya, like she was a robot. To Carter from that day onwards, Carter was never hit again, for his mother feared that she would have to give him up to the authorities. Carter's mother also sat him down for a talk where she apologised the most. Freya Murphy, the saviour of his life.