Parents (Skydoesminecraft)

As Again I Fall

Finally the bell rings. I run out of class to my locker, and quickly spin it open. I grab my stuff and close my locker as people are still leaving classrooms. I head for the outside door. I trip on something and nearly fall flat on my face, blocking the fall with my arm instead. I hear laughter from behind me. I kick back with my leg and pull myself together as that dumb jock falls to the ground. Taylor and Chloe gasp from behind him. I pull myself up and am pushed back down. Russell got up after my knocking him down, and it standing over me. I give him an angry look. He smirks and gives a chuckle. I try to stand up but he pushes me into the wall. I latch myself onto his arm and manage to pull myself up that way. He shakes me off of him and swings at me. I duck, but he ends up pushing me over. I drag him down with me, and he pushes me into the ground. He continuously hits me into the corner. "That'll teach you, teeny!" He gets up and kicks me in the side, "Don't mess with ME!" I push him over in his moment of arrogance, and pull myself up. He growls. He swings furiously at me and I duck under and run out the door. I grab my scooter and head away as fast as I can. Once I remember what awaits me at home, I stop. I'm on the corner of the street, and my house is the 5th on the street. When I left yesterday, I had just cut myself from what happened at school the day before, getting beat up and all. Now there waits... a bunch of worried, screaming, angry people. I want to see them, but I just want them to forget what happened, and for it to be a normal day. But it isn't. I continue anyways, because I want to see them. Besides, my side hurts and I'd like an ice pack. I head over, open the door (I keep a set of keys in my backpack) and head in. Immediately I see Dad peeking around the corner, seeing who it is that came in the door. His eyes widen as his smile and he runs over to me. He puts his hand on my left shoulder and intentionally avoids the right. "Mary!" We smile, "How was your day?" He asks me. "Oh, this morning was great. I went to school, and the jock that was beating me up, I actually fought back! I pushed him over and really pissed off one of the popular girls!" He laughs along, chuckling an "Awesome!" I left off after school. My side still really hurts, and I think my arms are going to be seriously bruised. My cheek burns and I have a headache. "I'm gonna go get the others, they'll be glad to see you. Especially Mitch, he feels terrible about.." he stops. There's silence for a minute. Our smiles fade as we think about what happened. "We can talk about that later. And we will, don't get me wrong. But later." He smiles again and heads upstairs to get the others. I quickly and quietly grab an ice pack from the freezer and get some string. I tie the small ice pack to my side under my shirt, and zip my jacket as they come downstairs. Mitch, Jerome, Ian, and of course Dad. Mitch looks even more relieved than the others to see me. He probably feels responsible, since he didn't tell anyone about the knife. He kept it a secret for me, and he must feel kinda guilty. "Heyo!" I wave to them. They rush down, and I hug each one individually. Jerome, then Mitch, then Ian, the whole time careful to avoid the ice pack so as not to worry them. "You alright?" Ian asks. He seemed to notice my shifting around. I nod and smile, ignoring the seeping pain in my torso. "Did you have any fun today?" Jerome perks up. I grin. "Yea! This morning I stopped that jock from pushing me around! I fought back, and I pushed him down! I pissed off the popular girls, and showed them all I am a force to be reckoned with!!" I exclaim. They all cheer for me. I cheer with them. After we calm down, Dad asks, "Any homework?" No, I got it all done during history instead of paying attention. "Yea, a bit." I lie. I would like to lie down for a bit, maybe dull some pain. Maybe forget that we still have to talk about the knife. I walk up to my room still smiling, and shut the door. I put down my backpack and climb up to my bed somehow. I lay there awhile. I look up at the clock. 4:20. I lean back and slowly fall asleep.

Falling, falling, when will it end
Force me to fold, force me to bend
No longer I back up, away from a fight
Standing I'm strong, I know I'm right

Kick me, hurt me
Kill if you wish
You never mattered
Go screw a fish

I wake up and see the clock. 5:58. I quickly get up and climb down from the bed. I check the secret drawer. Empty. As expected. I hear a knock on my door and jump away, pretending to be putting stuff into my backpack. "Come in." I tell them. It's Ian. "I don't want to be the bad guy, but we have to talk." I sigh. "Everyone is downstairs." He walks off, leaving the door open. I still have the ice pack on my side, and my side hurts a lot less. I'll take it off later. I head downstairs, to see everyone in the living room sitting, looking at me. I walk in and sit down in a rocking chair. We sit in silence for a minute. Nobody seems to know what to say. Ian is sitting with his head resting on his hand, Jerome has his head down, Mitch looks from side to side, peeking at me occasionally, and Dad has his head tilted back all the way, staring into the ceiling. Finally, Mitch pipes up. "Why?" He looks at me, eyes sad. "You could have come to us. We could isolate the problem at school, and fix it." "That would have made it worse. That would not have fixed anything, at all." Jerome speaks, "And cutting did? Come on." I tap my fingers to the armrest, "I was upset. Haven't you ever been upset at anything before?" My tone is incisive. Jerome's is quiet. "Mary.. everyone gets upset. You just need to know how to fix it without.. screwing up everything." I screwed up everything? They don't know the half of it. "Trust me, I know things are bad. I am the one who is experiencing the hell, here." They think they understand. They think being beat up constantly compares to their petty issues. Ha. "It gets better." Ian contributes. "I know it looks terrible, and you don't think I know, but it gets better." Does it? Does it really? "How long does it take? A year? Ten?" I huff. "No idea, but it does get better! I promise." "Screw promises!" My eyes meet Mitch's. Screw promises. "Mary.." Dad's voice is stale, as if he was crying. His face is slightly red. "We worried. We worried that whole day, we worried this morning, we worried through the night. I don't know if they slept, but I sure didn't. We didn't know how you were, when you ran off like that. At the least don't run off. And..." he stops, choking. "Don't do that again." Jerome finishes. I bite my lip to keep from crying. They get up, slowly, and we each head upstairs. Dad goes last.
I fall asleep slowly that night.

Fight me, I dare you. I'm not the wimp that I look like. I'm not adorable once you swing at me. See you in hell.