The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

Chapter Six

Aspen

My eyes burst open as an agonizing wheeze escaped my throat while chilling cold sweats broke out across my body. Alex forced me out of the painful memory-filled dreams when he jumped on top of my stomach as if it was a trampoline.

He wore a sadistic smirk that made me blanch. When his body raised into the air, his floppy hair rose with it only to fall back down every time he landed on me, his heels cruelly digging into my left side just below my rib cage. My body seized, my torso involuntarily contracting toward my legs.

In my panic and confusion, I grabbed hold of one of Alex's legs and threw him to the ground. With a loud grunt, the back of his head collided with my desk.

I gasped, heaving for air, unable to catch my breath as I clutched my stomach and brought my legs to my chest, curling into a small, tight ball.

"Did you just touch me?" The seething voice had me averting my eyes, looking down and nowhere else.

Alex removed himself from the ground. With one knee on the floor and his other foot firmly planted, he used his hands to push off his propped leg. The floorboard under the carpet creaked with his angry strides. The second he had both feet on the ground, Alex lunged toward me, wrapping his hands around my neck and forcing my head back onto my pillow. "Who the fuck gave a disgusting piece of shit like you permission to put your hands on me?!"

My hands scraped at his hold, desperate to find release. I kicked and squirmed under Alex's vicelike grip. I tried to wedge my fingers between the skin of my neck and the flesh of his fingers, but he pressed so hard that all I was able to attain were numerous bloody scratches to my neck.

Blood rushed to my face and a tingling sensation spread through my fingertips. I thrust my hands into Alex's face to try and push him away, shoving at his cheeks and forcing his chin to rise into the air and his upper body to straighten.

There was a slight ease in strength from the two hands around my jugular. I wanted to breathe in all the oxygen my room contained, but the burning in my airway forced me to cough instead.

Realizing that his hold had loosened, Alex cocked his right arm back and brought it down onto my face.

He didn't stop until there was a loud cracking sound followed by a string of curse words. "You broke my hand!"

My hands ghosted lightly over the tender skin of my throat before I leaned to the side, coughing small bits of red liquid onto my blankets. My mouth tasted like iron and something dripped down the corner of my painfully split lips. My jaw hung open and the gooey substance of blood mixed with saliva dribbled out of my mouth and onto my sheets.

He clenched his jaw and turned his harsh glare to me, cradling his bruised, blood-covered knuckles. Alex's nostrils flared and his eyes were on fire—like he wanted me dead, and at some point, he might be willing to get the job done himself.

"All I wanted was to be a nice big brother and wake you up since you missed school. But I guess this is what I get for trying to help a fag," Alex snarled, slamming the door shut on his way out, the vibrations rattling through the walls.

I collapsed onto my bed. So it didn't work, huh?

My shaky breaths slowly became more controlled. My entire body trembled, which wasn't surprising. I was probably as pale as a sheet of paper, the color most likely completely drained from my lips. Sweat soaked through my clothes, creating a damp spot on the comforter beneath me.

I looked up at the strange texture of the white ceiling. Something about it drew me in—it was almost hypnotizing. I'd left my curtains open, not bothering to close them last night—scratch that, this morning. It looked to be around sunset by the tint of orange from the light filling my room.