Young Life

After School

We all walk out of school and towards our cars. Everyone's got pretty nice ones. At least, compared to mine. I think Mark sees my car because his jaw drops.

"You still have Bessie?!" We both break down laughing, tears springing to our eyes. After a minute or two, we both calm down and look at the others. They all look confused.

"Care to explain?" Thomas asks.

"Mark and my parents pooled their money together to buy this car for my, what, 14th birthday?" I ask.

"15th," He corrects. I nod.

"Wait, your boyfriend, at the time, and your parents bought you a car for your birthday?" Mat asks. I nod and smile as I sling my arm around his shoulders.

"He's the best friend you could have." Then I turn to Jack. "And the best boyfriend." I wink at him and Mark blushes. Tyler pulls out his phone and looks up.

"Hey, guys, we should probably go." We all look around and only see a couple cars left in the parking lot. We nod and give each other hugs and they give me their numbers. We then all get in our cars and drive off.

><><Time Skip><><

I pull into my driveway and see everyone getting out of their cars in the driveways of the houses around me.

"Huh." Silence, then we all start laughing. We all walk into our houses and when I close the door, I go and sit on the couch, throwing my bag on the floor by my feet. I notice there's a piece of paper on the kitchen counter, but I'm too lazy to care. I groan as I lean back against the couch. This is the first time I've been alone all day, and It's the first time I realize how much pain I'm really in. I lift up my shirt and see a huge black and purple bruise covering up half of my stomach. I also notice a little of the skin in the center of the bruise is broken. I just take off my shirt and move so I'm fully laying on the couch.

"I'm just gonna lay here for a bit," I mutter to myself. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

><><Time Skip><><

I wake up to the sound of knocking. I groan and slightly whimper as I sit up. I stand up and walk to the door, every step making me wince. I open the door and see Mark standing there. He was wearing a black shirt, a red and black flannel, and jeans. He was also wearing his glasses.

"Ouch, that looks painful." I knit my eyebrows together in confusion, then I realize what he's talking about. I look down and see the bruise taking up most of the top half of my stomach and my side. I sigh.

"What're you doing here?" I manage to say through the pain.

"Well, I forgot how badly you were beat up this morning, so I wanted to check up on you. Where are your parents?" I walk to the note I saw and read it. My parents wrote it saying they were going on a business trip.

"Ummm, in Florida until Saturday." Mark sighs.

"And It's Monday. Well, I would let you stay with me, but there's no room. Jack's living with us, but I'm sure one of the other guys wouldn't mind taking you in for the week. But for now, I'm gonna help you with your bruise. Lay down on the couch." I slowly make my way to the living room and lay down on the couch. My eyes start to droop, and soon I fall back asleep.