Breathless

8. Hurt

My back and right arm were bruised. They were turning blue. I cried myself to sleep. I got up at about 2 the next afternoon. My whole body was aching. I couldn’t let anyone know so I put makeup on my bruises. I stepped out of my room hoping Dad had already gone for work.

He wasn’t there. YES! I went to the fridge to get a bottle of water. There was a note on the fridge saying “YOU ARE GROUNDED. NO GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WEEK. YOU KNOW WHAT I WILL DO IF YOU DISOBEY ME. – DAD” Urgh! What was his problem? I had my date with Neil today! How was I supposed to not go! I missed him too much, I had to meet him. But dad would kill me if I went. I called Neil and it went straight to voicemail, I left a message saying “Hey baby, I’m so sorry, I have to cancel today… My Dad.. umm I have to go out for dinner with my parents.” I hung up and wiped my tears.

I didn’t have lunch, just sat back with my guitar and sang Skyscraper. I was trying to get the high notes right. It was hard. Demi’s voice was perfection at its best. I kept my guitar aside and plugged in my Ipod. I listened to Demi’s Album called “UNBROKEN”, Justin's "MY WORLD" and then went over to other artists. I literally didn’t do anything the whole day. Just sang, listened to my playlist and ran on the treadmill for a while. My body was still aching, especially my back.

My phone started ringing. It was Neil. My eyes lit up! I picked it up immediately and said "HI BABY!!" excitedly. “Hey Riles, I got your message! If you can’t come, at least I can drop in at your place! I’m coming right now! Cant stay away from you for this long baby.” He hung up. I was so excited. I was finally getting to see my baby!! I changed into something nice and made my hair. I looked like I hadn’t slept in days so I quickly went and washed my face. HE WAS COMING! YAY!

The doorbell rang and I ran downstairs! I opened the door and said “HI BA… oh it’s you, dad” “Who else is coming?” dad said sternly. “Neil” “Fine” he said in a rather loud tone. The next doorbell had to be Neil. I opened it and there he stood, with a basket in one hand and a bouquet in the other. He put the basket down and gave the bouquet to me. He hugged me tight and said “It feels so good to hold you again.” I was delighted. You could see it on my face. I was smiling so much. I pulled away from his hug and kissed him. He tasted like strawberries. It was so nice to see him. We went up to my room. He stared at my bed. “No Neil, don’t get your hopes up” I said after giggling a bit. “Awww baby, fine.” He frowned and jumped onto the bed. “Can you make me a cup of coffee baby? I haven’t slept last night.” He said. “Alright baby sure.” I pecked his lips and ran down to make him a cup of coffee. I turned on the coffee maker and got a cup out when I heard my dad scream. “What are you doing here? Get Out!” I ran up to see what the chaos was all about. My dad was holding Neil by his collar. “Dad gosh, what is wrong with you? Leave him right now!” I pulled my dad away. “Riley, I’m so sorry, I’ll meet you later babe. Bye.” Neil said and left without even giving me a kiss or a hug. He looked terrified. Who wouldn’t have been?

“Dad, you can hit me whenever you want, alright? Stop scaring away my friends too! Gosh why were you holding him like that? I yelled. “Because he was in my room! What did he want in there? Be careful Riley! You’re so stupid, he might just steal important documents from me for his dad’s company!” he said. “Stop it dad, not everyone is like you, okay? Gosh!” I ran down and shut the coffee maker. I went back up and closed my room door.