A Change in the Wind

Chapter Four

This is what she used to look like. She dyed her hair a lot. This is the most recent pic. (Her second emo look)  Warning: some cussing in this chapter.

I wake up in the morning and check the time on my phone. 6:30 A.M. I sit up in bed and look at what I'm wearing. I'm wearing a unfamiliar black hoodie that smells like a guy. I breathe in and sigh. All of the memories from yesterday flood into my mind. It's Trey's hoodie. That really hot guy.

I throw on skinny jeans that I designed. They have splatter paint all over them. I pull on a grey cami and my "new" sweatshirt. I finish the look with leather combat boots .

I walk into the bathroom and run my brush through my hair. I look at my reflection and see black hair that has loose waves. My hair cascades over my shoulders and down to the middle of my back. I wear no makeup at all. I grab my bag and head out.

Finally I reach the park. I sit my stuff down and breathe in the fresh air. I dread going to the Red Carpet. I sense I will be judged due to the fact I'm not rich, famous, or a slut. But screw them. I don't need to be accepted by them.

I'm all alone except for this guy reading a book on a bench. There is a building a few yards away next to the bench. I put earbuds in to drain out my worries. My iPod is filled with lots of rock music. I have a big variety of music other than that, but today I choose rock. I start to relax as rock music fills my ears.

A while ago my mom found out that we were going to the Red Carpet. At that time my hair was cut in an edgy emo hairstyle. I always wore black eye makeup. As soon as she found out we were going to the Red Carpet, she threw all of my dark makeup away and and deleted my rock music. She completely emptied my closet of anything she considered "emo". She took me to the hairdresser and forced me to get it cut so I could grow it out. Now my hair is grown out. Since then I've bought dark makeup and rock music. But I'm not allowed to wear it. So now I pretty much wear whatever my mom approves.

I've never been quite fond of my mom. She's a you-know-what. If you know what I mean. My dad walked out of my life as soon as I was born. Pretty awesome, right? *Note sarcasm.*

My brother is the only one close to me. We are really close even though he's 20 and I'm 16. He didn't even question me when I started to dress alternative. He taught me how to fight and pretty much everything important. He's also very protective. But now he's moved out and living with his girlfriend, and I'm stuck with mom.

I notice the guy on the bench glaring at me. I pull out my earbuds and pause my music. "You got a problem with me?" I ask. "Yeah, your music is stupid and your jeans look like someone threw up on them. And by the way, you should really put some makeup on. You're fucking ugly." I feel my fists clench as anger builds inside of me. "Excuse me?" I start. I stand right in front of him. "Just because YOU don't like my style doesn't give you the right to be an asshole! I could care less what you think about me," I yell. The guy raises his eyebrows as if he's not used to being challenged by girls. "You're such a whore! I bet you can't even throw a punch," he challenges.

"Oh really! How's this?" I slam him into the wall behind him and punch his jaw. I throw another at his nose. It starts to bleed. "Feisty one, aren't ya?" he groans. "Maybe this will make up for it," he says wrapping his arms around my waist. He tackles me and I'm on the ground. He leans forward to kiss me and I kick him between his legs. He falls to the ground next to me. I roll over on top of him and repeatedly punch him. He finally gets knocked out.

I continue to punch him until I feel strong arms wrap around my waist. I flip around and slug the guy in the arm. I struggle in his arms. After awhile I calm down. It's only then that I realize I'm crying. "Hey, hey it's okay, calm down. It's just me." It's my brother. Alex. I take a deep breath and feel my body relax.

He puts an arm around me and guides me away from the guy. We sit down in a different part of the park.

"What are you doing here?" I question. "I came to see how my lil' sis is doing," he responds.

"What happened back there?" He asks. "He was being a jerk," I say. "He was insulting me. Besides, he dared me to throw a good punch at him." "That doesn't mean to beat him up," he replies. "He tried to kiss me and touch me after I punched him!" I say defensively. "HE WHAT?" Alex yells. "He's a perv!" He says.

His fists clench so hard that his knuckles turn white. He gets up and starts to head over to the unconscious guy. "Oh no you don't!" I say grabbing his arm. The guy wakes up and groans. Alex yanks his arm away and storms over to the guy. He drags him up from the ground and shoves him against the wall, cornering him. "If you EVER lay a hand on my sister again, I swear you'll regret it," he threatens. He continues to threaten him for a few minutes. When Alex walks back over here, the guy looks genuinely afraid. I almost feel sorry for him. Almost. When my brother gets mad, it's pretty scary. And violent.

So? What do you think? Tell me your thoughts please!
~Ariel