Haven's Knight (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 2 - Part 2

Haven

Fortunately, I had nothing to say about Damien Knight. I just shrugged my shoulders again. Thankfully, Chris took the hint and dropped the subject.

He spent the rest of lunch babbling on about nothing. I had never met anyone that could talk so much about nothing significant. Most people would have found it annoying, but I enjoyed it. He held the entire conversation and I never felt obligated to give any input at all.

The main reason I never spoke was because I was shy, and I didn't want to build any type of friendship with him. I decided that I would let him talk, and I would enjoy the conversation, even if it was one-sided, but when lunch ended I wouldn't let this to happen again.

The bell rang. We both got to our feet and began dusting the grass off of our clothes. I pulled my schedule out of my bag to see which class I had next. While looking at the paper, Chris broke into my thoughts. "Where is your next class?" he asked, peering over my shoulder while I was trying to find it on the map. I pointed to a box on the map that read 'room 19A.'

"Come on, I'll walk you to class," Chris said and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I stiffened when I felt the dull pain radiate through my back. His touch had pressed into the bruises on my upper back.

"Sorry," he muttered and let his arm drop away from me. "You don't like to be touched, do you?"

He waited for me to answer his question, but I ignored him and started to walk back into the school building. He caught up with me and showed me to my next class. I walked into the class and I didn't look back to see if he'd left or not. I never had friends because I was good at keeping people at bay. I could tell from the little time I had spent with Chris that he was not going to give up that easily; but I had more to lose, and there was no way I was going to let him in.

I sat down in the seat nearest to the windows and gazed out at the scenery below. The sun shone brightly down on the trees surrounding the class. The teacher appeared in the front of the class to begin the lesson. For the rest of the day I kept to myself and tried to blend into the background. It worked well, because no one tried to talk to me or look at me. I didn't see Chris or Damien again either. I walked out of the school and to the bus stop. I stood, gazing at the ground until the bus appeared, which did not take long.

The nervous knots in my stomach grew larger the closer I got to home. I wondered if Grant had gone to work today, because if he hadn't, he'd be home when I got there. That never ended well for me.

I held my breath as I quietly opened the front door. Peeking inside, I could see that the living room was empty. I slipped through the door and turned and closed it. There was a faint click as the door closed.

The house was quiet. I walked quickly to my room. Once I got to the safety of my room, I closed my door. I walked over to my bed and dropped my school bag next to it. I needed to have a quick shower. I always made sure I showered when I got home because if things got out of hand later I didn't have to worry about going to school feeling dirty.

I collected my pajamas and snuck quietly into the bathroom situated across from my bedroom. Inside the bathroom, I didn't waste any time. I switched the shower on and stripped naked. In five minutes I was done. I rinsed the soap from my body and switched the shower off. I dried myself quickly and put my pajamas on. After dressing, I slipped out of the bathroom and back into my bedroom. The house was still quiet.

My next task was to get my homework done. An hour later I was finished and I began to relax a little. I lay down on my bed and thought about my dad. I thought about him every single day. Not only did I miss him, but he was a reminder of happier times, of when I'd been loved. Sometimes, I dreamed of when I was little, before Grant had come into my life. A time when I felt safe and I didn't live in constant fear.

I realized it was time to start supper. I hated leaving the sanctuary of my room, but I had to cook, because if I didn't have supper ready by the time Grant got home in the evenings I was guaranteed a beating.

I got up and left the safety of my room to go to the kitchen to start cooking. I searched the cupboards for something I could make, but there weren't a lot of options. I settled on some pasta with meat sauce. I glanced up at the old clock fixed on the kitchen wall. Grant would be home in thirty minutes. I was extremely glad that the pasta wouldn't take that long to make.

Unfortunately, the only thing we never ran out of in this house was alcohol. My mom's drinking problem had worsened over the years. She was drunk almost ninety percent of the time. I didn't see her often because she spent all of her time in her room drinking herself into a stupor. The only time I would see her was when I went into her room to change her bed linen. I did all the chores in the house. I cleaned the house and did the laundry. Luckily, we had a washing machine, so I didn't have to wash everything by hand.

Ten minutes after I had finished making supper, I was busy dishing up the food, and I heard the front door open. I couldn't help the nervous twist inside my stomach at the sound of Grant entering into the flat. I stood still. My breath instantly hitched in my throat when Grant walked through the kitchen doorway. His brown hair looked greasy and in need of a wash. He glared at me and his dark-brown eyes pierced mine. I waited for the inevitable. Then his gaze swung to his plate of food on the kitchen counter.

He walked to his plate of food and picked it up. He made a stop at the fridge to get a beer and then he threw me a glare before he disappeared out of the kitchen. I immediately grabbed my plate of food and went straight to my room. I ate my food quickly until my stomach was full. It was not often that I ate three meals in one day. Most days I was lucky to get one.

I switched off my bedroom light and lay down on my mattress. I couldn't help but think about Chris. I had never met anyone like him before. I couldn't allow us to be friends. However, if my situation were different, he was the type of person I would want to be friends with. In the short time I had known him, he had shown me more kindness than anyone else in recent memory ever had.