Let Me Open Your Eyes

Chapter 4 - Lullaby

{"Nothing is safer than 

                                  the sound of you reading aloud to me"}

Sometimes Ellis Montgomery preferred to surprise me without announcement.

I was walking to my lesson after lunch on a Tuesday when it happened. My wrist was grabbed and I was shoved against a wall, my eyes connecting with cold dark eyes framed with long eyelashes. I clenched my jaw and refused to look at Ellis, diverting my gaze to the ground straight away. I refused to let him make me feel smaller than I already felt. His face was red, getting seemingly warmer with every second he looked at me as if my existence alone angered him.

It used to bother me, the anger that I saw. I used to try interrogating him, when it first started. I would hold my chin high, look straight into those cold eyes and let it out. I demanded to know why he hated me, what I had done to deserve this. I never got the answer that I was looking for. After a while, I gave up on trying to stop him and simply clenched my fists, waiting for him to finally get bored.

"Where do you think you're going?" his groupies appeared behind him. The anger boiling underneath his skin seemed to simmer, amusement filling his features instead as if it was all a joke to him. Like I was a joke. "Sorry, what was that? I didn't hear you?"

I gritted my teeth in annoyance as his friends laughed and refused to look into his eyes. Instead I shoved at his strong chest but he just stayed where he was, his breath fanning my face and his eyes trained on his hands that were by my head. He leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear darkly, "is someone scared?"

My chin started to wobble.

"Ellis, teach the bitch a lesson for hitting you like that" one of them sneered and I recognized him as Danny Baker with his spiky black hair that was covered in greasy gel.

I finally let my eyes meet Ellis, seeing nothing but hatred within those dark orbs. He stared into my eyes for a couple of seconds with a nasty glare before shaking his head lightly and smirking at his friends.

"She isn't worth the blood on my fists."

Then he shoved me lightly against the brick wall further before letting me go, stepping away without even looking back.

I sank down against the wall, clutching my sore wrists to my chest and willed the tears not to come. My body shook with every breath I drew in, shuddering violently to try and push away the normal reaction of bursting into tears. I looked up, hearing footsteps that stopped nearby.

It was Mrs Hardly, a maths teacher for the younger students. Her face was filled with concern, her eyes twitching slightly as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing-me curled up in a tight ball.

"Paisley, dear? Are you alright?"

I shot up quickly, ignoring the pain in my back and nodded, pushing past her.

She didn't follow me.

...

I later got a text from my Mum saying that she was going out for dinner with her friends and would be back late. When I got back to my house there was a figure waiting outside the door, smirking at me.

Aspen Blue was slouched against my front door with his arms crossed over his chest, his bright eyes glowing as usual. He pushed up into a straight posture when I groaned and moved out the way for me to put the key in the lock.

"What are you doing here?" I muttered, looking around quickly that none of our neighbours were outside their houses.

He grinned and ruffled my hair softly, the touch spreading tingles throughout my bones. "Can't I visit a lonely girl?"

"How did you know that my parents weren't here?" I narrowed my eyes and tried to shut him out of the door by slamming it quickly.

He stuck his foot in the door and effortlessly slipped in after me, locking it behind him. "Cars weren't on the driveway? You had your key in your hand when most people ring the doorbell if someone else is there?"

"Stalker" I muttered under my breath.

"Your parents aren't here. You don't have to speak quietly, shout to the rooftops if you wish" Aspen rested his head on the kitchen counter I stopped at and looked up at me through his dark eyelashes that held in the streaks of bright blue sunlight radiated from his weird eyes.

"Did you ever think that maybe I don't want to speak to you?"

"Ouch Sunshine, that hurts. But I do actually want to speak to you, I'm afraid..." he smiled softly and I looked away sharply, ignoring the stupid nickname.

"What do you want?"

He softly took my keys from my hands, dropped them on the counter and took my hands in his own. I gasped and he sighed, looking up at me sadly. He was being serious for once.

"Let me open your eyes, Paisley."

"W-What do you-" he cut my shaky words off.

"Let me show you that the world isn't such a bad place. You need to learn that not everyone in this earth that cares about you is going to hurt you. You need someone to remind you of why you are still here..." he looked down.

"Why I'm still h-here?" I froze and snatched my hands away from him, my legs shaking beneath me.

"Paisley..I imagine that the reason you stopped speaking wasn't because everyone in life treated you in the best way" he sighed heavily, "I'm sure at some moments you were considering doing something stupid."

"H-How would you.."

"Call it a lucky guess" he stated. There was a slight raise in his voice and it was almost stern. He was angry.

"Eddie really told you a lot about me, didn't he?" I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away.

"Will you let me?" he repeated impatiently.

I huffed angrily. "What's with the sudden interest anyway? Why me?"

He stiffened slightly and clenched his jaw, "No reason...Why do you think that everything has an ulterior motive? Not everyone in this world wants you to suffer."

"Aspen.." I sighed and clenched my eyes shut, shaking my head once. "Please go..."

He breathed out heavily, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Fine. But you will hear from me again, I'm sorry to say. 11:46.."

"Huh?" I tilted my head to the side making him chuckle.

"Be awake, sunshine. 11:46" he murmured before stepping past me, making sure to let his body brush mine slightly so that I felt its warmth.

I watched him walk out the front door, smiling at me one more time before shutting it softly as if he was never there. I wondered what he meant by those numbers as I trudged up the stairs, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans.

...

Later that night, I woke up with a jolt to loud voices, my parents as usual. I looked at the clock to check the time and groaned softly as a small ache grew in my head from the lack of sleep I had gotten.

"Don't you dare blame me for what happened to her!" my Mum screeched and I winced, shutting my eyes tight and sinking back into my pillows. I laid back on my back after struggling to get back to sleep and sighed.

A soft vibration interrupted my struggling, my phone lighting up. I checked the time, freezing when the clock read exactly 11:46.

Caller ID : Unknown

"Hello?" I held my breath softly.

"Hey, sunshine" Aspen's voice murmured sleepily. "Wanna talk about it?"

My choked sob seemed to convince him that I wasn't ready to talk about it with him. So instead of pushing the subject like I was expecting him to do, he left the matter alone. He ended up reading me a book that I had never heard of, about a man that befriends a little girl that is left at home alone by her parents. I couldn't stay awake long enough to hear the ending of the sweet little story.