Broken souls

- Chapter 10 -

I sit at my usual table in the corner and try to focus on my homework, but my gaze keeps shifting back to Avery.

It's weird so see her here. I have been coming to this place for over two years, to be able to study in silence and not be distracted by the loud screaming and arguing in my house.
Occasionally I even help out.
Ben is a great guy and probably the only person besides Avery that I like.

I force myself to focus only on my homework and for the next hour my whole attention is on mathematical equations.

Even though everyone at school thinks I don't care about schoolwork, I actually enjoy having something to take my mind off of other things. On top of that, schoolwork has always been easy for me and I don't need to invest a lot of time to understand the content of every class.

When I pack up all my stuff, Avery calls out to me.
"Caden wait"

I turn to her, still not used to someone calling me anything else than Kingston. But I like the way my name sounds, coming out of her mouth.

"I..I wanted..uhm..to ask you a question"
I slightly raise my eyebrows, silently telling her to go on.

"Well..since we have this project to do,...I was wondering if you would like to come over to my house..to..you know work on it"
I nearly smile at her sudden shyness.

"Sure" I finally reply.

"Okay, that's great" she smiles at me and I can't help but to give her a small smile back.

That's an other thing unknown to me. I don't smile at people.

"What about tomorrow after school?"
"That works for me"
"See you tomorrow then"
"Bye Avery"

She waves a last time goodbye to me, before I disappear through the door and make my way back home.
Although I'm not sure if you could call the house I live in "home".

Walking in through the front door of the small two story house that I live in, my previous thoughts are confirmed.
The living room is trashed and it smells like cheap liquor.
Trying to ignore the anger that flows through my body, I walk upstairs and into my room.
Closing and locking the door behind me.
Since I'm the oldest, I got to have my own room, while my two siblings share a room down the hall.
Technically they are my half sister and brother, but for me it doesn't make a difference.

I'm fast asleep, when a sudden loud crash wakes me up. Glancing at my alarm clock, I see that it's 2 am.
Hearing yelling, I quickly scramble out of my bed and pull a t-shirt over my head, before rushing down the stairs.
Just as I reach the living room I hear the front door slam shut and then my stepdad's car drive away.

Careful to avoid stepping into the broken pieces of glass bottles that are covering the floor, I push through the now tilted over furniture and walk into the kitchen.

My mom is already cleaning up the mess that her husband left behind.

Hearing me walk in, her head snaps up and the sight that greets me, makes me sharply inhale and my heart squeezes painfully.

Her lip is split open and her cheek is coloured in an angry red and purple mark.

"I'm sorry I woke you up" she tries to smile apologetically, but her swollen lip makes it look like a grimace.
"You are hurt" I whisper back.
It's not an unfamiliar sight.
"I'm okay. You should go back to sleep"
Ignoring her, I take the small first help kit out of the top drawer and carefully clean her wounds.
I try not to look into her eyes to see the guilt and shame and focus on cleaning up the floor after having tend her injuries.

Half an hour later, we finish up and I go back to my room.

Sleep only comes difficult that night.