Just How Life Is.

Just How Life Is. Chapter 12

I moved my arm and it hit something. As I woke up more I realized there was an arm slung across my waist. I opened my eyes.

Troy’s sleeping face was about two inches away from mine. My eyes widened, wondering what was going on, then I remembered the events from last night. Riiiiiiight.

Since he was asleep, and I couldn’t move because his arm was wrapped around me, I decided to study his face. He was sleeping on his left facing me. His left side was the side with the big bruise on his face that was starting to fade. The rest of his skin was pale, and his black hair had moved away from his eyes. A shame I can’t actually see his eyes, I mentally sighed. His mouth was closed and every so often you could hear his breathing from his nostrils.

I wondered if he liked me. I probably did like him, and I knew so much now. He-

Crap he’s starting to move.

Pretend you’re just waking up too!

I closed my eyes then I heard him yawn quietly. I opened my eyes a little and he was looking at me, “Morning,” he said softly, not moving his arm away from my waist.

I smiled, “Morning.”

We didn’t say anything for a moment, just sat there in a comfortable silence. We seem to have a lot of those moments. Then my phone went off. I reached for it and put it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Good God girl! Now you answer?” Faith yelled through the phone.

Troy eyed me with a raised eyebrow. “Er, what time is it?” I said.

She let out a frustrated sigh, “10 AM. Can you explain to me what’s going on? Like why I had to cover for you.”

Ah, right. I looked at Troy. I couldn’t tell Faith, no matter if I wanted to.

“Um, I just woke up so I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll call you when I’m aware of what’s going on.” I said quickly, then hung up before she could say anymore.

Troy was looking at me, “Your friends will be wondering right?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry I won’t tell them. I’ll just come up with some excuse.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, looking away.

“Don’t be.”

“So, um, is your step brother home, or will I have to climb out a window?” he said after a moment.

I chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll be fine. He won’t wake up ‘till past noon anyway.”

He nodded, then sat up stiffly, he cringed a little and muttered an “ow.”

He moved his shoulders around a bit, “Yeah, I’m gonna be sore for a few days.”

I sighed a laugh, “We should probably change the bandages. It’ll hurt even more if they get infected.”

I lead him into my bathroom, thankful I hadn’t left anything out, like dirty clothes. He removed his shirt and the bandages; I got a wash cloth and put it under warm water to wash the dried blood away. When I looked at his back I made a “yeeesh” noise.

It was super mega bruised, and the letters looked even worse. There were trails of dried blood everywhere; no doubt they would leave permanent scares. It was like a tattoo but more painful.

Troy remained silent, probably not wanting to know how bad it was. I washed off the blood as best I could but he kept flinching. It must be pretty tender.

I helped him put new bandages on, then we walked out into the kitchen quietly. There was a note on the fridge.

Kid,

I won’t be back until dinner time. Which means I want dinner made for me. Please and thanks.

Jared.

I laughed, crumpled up the note and threw it away. Yeah, we’ll see about that dinner.

“Well, I think I should be going,” Troy said awkwardly.

I frowned, “You’re really going back there?”

“I have to,” his hair was covering his eyes again.

“But won’t he be super pissed?”

“He said he won’t be back until tomorrow. Hopefully he’ll be calm by then.” I frowned but nodded. He then pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead, “Thanks for everything,” then he walked out my front door.

I sighed, what am I going to tell Faith, my friends? I don’t like lying to my friends. I guess I’ll just hold off on it.

The day went by quickly and thankfully Faith didn’t call me back. But she probably knew something was wrong.

I was lying on the living room couch when Jared came home. “It’s 5:45.” He stated.

“Yes, it is,” I replied, not knowing how to respond.

“Did you get my note?” he was standing in front of me now. His hair was combed back; he was wearing a gray business suit. Could he really have done that thing?

“Yes, I did,” I replied.

He motioned to the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and sat up. “Alright dude, I get it, we’re family and should do nice things for each other. But I’m not just going to make you dinner ‘cause you asked me. It’s not like you ever did nice things for me.”

“You should do it because I told you to and I’m older than you,” he said.

I stared at him for a moment, then let out a laugh, “Ha, that’s a good one. Maybe if you asked more nicely.” I walked past him and into the kitchen.

“I wrote please and thank you, didn’t I?” he said, giving me a “what more do you want” look.

I gave him a look and pulled a water bottle out of the fridge. I took a sip, then started to walk past him again, but he grabbed my arm. I looked up at him and I saw an idea sparking in his eyes.

He lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder; it was a good thing my bottle had its cap on. “What are you doing?” I shouted.

He started moving, then he dumped me in the pantry. A small closet with bags of chips, flour, and some pots, and other assortment of things. I got up, about to charge, but he closed the door in my face. I heard the lock click.

“Jared? Jared! JARED! What do you think you’re doing? Let me out!” I yelled, pounding on the door.

“Maybe if you listen to me,” he said from the other side.

“Jared, don’t be absurd!”

I heard him chuckle, “I’ll let you out when you decide to listen. And if that doesn’t happen, well you have food and water in there.”

“I’ll tell mom!” I said.

“Are you sure you will?” his voice was now close to the door, and it was threatening.

I thought about telling him that I knew about what he did, but he would probably just get rid of the evidence.

I sighed, and looked around. It was dark in here; of course there was no light. I just hope I wouldn’t get closterphobic.

After a few minutes of silence Jared said, “If you sleep, time will go by quicker,” he chuckled in a way that said he had won. I grumbled. I hate you Jared.

But I sat down, and before I knew it I had fallen asleep.