Violet Adrenaline [Watty Awards 2013]

Chapter 3: Friendship, Bikinis and Scars

“So my father came home last night,” I told Ivy and Declan, we were sitting in the tray of Declan’s Ute, a blanket wrapped around the three of us. We had driven up to Emerald Hill for ice cream to celebrate Declan joining our “friendship group”, it was obviously Ivy’s idea. In the day time Emerald Hill was full of picnickers and children playing around but tonight Ivy, Declan and I were the only people out here.

“Was that what all the screaming was?” Declan asked, worry consumed his face.

“Yeah, mom was really going at him for leaving us again,” I replied, diverting my face from their burning gaze.

“You’re dad’s a total ass, I don’t understand why she doesn’t get a divorce,” Ivy complained, she ruffled her eyebrows in annoyance.

“Yeah well I’m making sure that she is now, that dirty bastard hit her.” Both Ivy and Declan gasped, total shock washing over both of their faces.

“Has your father always been like that?” A breeze swept over the car and I pulled the blanket closer to me.

“He started acting strange around two years, he would go away for business for months at a time and then when he eventually came home he would boss my mother around, treat her like she was his servant and sometimes I would hear her crying in the bathroom after they had sex, and he wouldn’t even try to hide the fact that they were having sex to me, in fact he sometimes forced her to do it in plain sight of me. She told me that he didn’t rape her, that he wanted it the whole time but I know deep down she didn’t…” I trailed off, Declan’s hand found mine underneath the blanket and he gave my hand a squeeze as he squeezed it tightly, I expected him to draw his hand back but he kept his hand there while I continued. “I had never seen him hit her before though, and he’s never hit me. I think he does it to my mother because he knows that she won’t fight back, but I would. I wish my mother had the same amount of courage as I do and then maybe she would have broken it off months ago.”

“How come you never told me any of this was happening?” Ivy asked with a face full of worry.

“Back then I didn’t want to worry you about nothing, but now I’ve realised it’s definitely not nothing,” I admitted, Declan ran has thumb across my hand and I felt butterflies grow in my stomach, it was like I was being drawn to Declan all the time but I didn’t know why, I’d only known him for three days. “Can we please talk about something else now, something fun?”

“Nick’s throwing a pool part on Friday night,” Ivy stated excitedly.

“And you want to go?” I raised my eyebrow at her, but she just giggles in response.

“Of course I want to go, we’re dating,” she replied.

“But are you’s dating or are you’s boyfriend and girlfriend?” I asked her.

“We’ve gone out on a couple of dates, and he promised me that he hasn’t dated any other girls since we first started going at it, I think he’s going to ask me to be his girlfriend at the party which is why I need my wing girl and I guess Declan can just tag along,” she replied, her face was lit up in the brightest smile I had ever seen.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt Ivy,” I complained.

“I’m not going to get hurt Hazel, I swear he has changed,” she assured me. I didn’t believe her though I knew Nick, he wasn’t the relationship type, he was just going to bring her up just to tear her down.

“Okay then,” I said, “Do you want to go bikini shopping for the pool party Ivy, after school on Thursday?”

“Hey what about me, maybe I want to go bikini shopping too?” Declan mockingly complained, ruffling his eyebrows in fake hurtfulness.