When I look at you - Reggie Peters <3

Fourteen.

My dad was silent the whole way home. I'd rather him yell at me because at least then I know what he's feeling. As we approached the house, my stomach started doing flips as my dad glared at me before he he slammed the front door behind us.

"Do you have any idea how stupid you have made me look tonight?" My dad said in a scarily low tone. "I got a call at work, telling me to come and get my daughter because she's too irresponsible to be smart. Helping your little friend sneak out while she's grounded? I got a call from her father telling me about what happened."

"I'm sorry, Dad. But tonight was important." I said as I watched my dad walk into the kitchen. "Me and Julie had this-"

"I don't care how important it was!" My dad yelled as he forcefully grabbed a plate from the cupboard. "All I care about is that you made me look bad. I work at a very respectable place, a place where people don't get calls saying that their daughter cannot do a simple thing right!"

"How was I suppose to know you were at work? You're never here! And when you are, you act as if I don't exist! I don't even know who you are anymore!" I yelled back to him, finally having enough of him yelling at me all the time.

My dad just continued to glare at me, none of us backing down and breaking eye contact.

"You know, if mum could see us now, she would be so disappointed in how we both turned out." I whispered harshly. "What happened to us?"

That was when my dad snapped. He threw the plate that he had in his hand at the wall next to me, small pieces flying everywhere. I touched my cheek when I felt something on it, moving my hand away to see some blood. Hopefully it's just a small scratch.

"Don't you dare mention her in this house!" My dad screamed as he came closer to me, me backing away until my back hit the wall. "If it weren't for you, she would still be here. If it weren't for you, we'd still be happy. You ruined everything."

My eyes filled with tears but I refused to let them fall. I refuse to let him see me weak. He stared at me with so much hatred in his eyes before he raised his hand and smacked me across the face, making the cut from the plate he threw bleed even more. I closed my eyes at the sudden stinging, before I opened them up again to see him walking away.

"Clean all this shit up." He spat as he walked up the stairs. Once I heard his bedroom door slam shut, the tears in my eyes finally fell. My back slid down the wall until I was sitting as I wrapped my arms around my knees, resting my head on top of them as I silently cried.

After a while I stopped crying, I stood up and started to pick up the shattered plate pieces and move them to the bin. I cut my finger while doing this, but it's easy to hide a cut on your hand. A cut on your cheek? Different story. After all the pieces were picked up, I swept the floor for good measure before heading up to my room to get changed into some comfy clothes. (Outfit below)