Chapter Text
September, 2015
The soft sound of shoelaces tying together is what I forced myself to focus on as thuds echoed from downstairs in the kitchen. Slight tears pricked at the corners of my eyes while all of my thoughts were clouded with anger.
I could just slam his face down onto the hot stove. I really could.
I violently shook my head, knowing that it's fucked up. Knowing that it would be wrong of me.
My mom's boyfriend of three years has been on my shit list for a while now. He wasn't so bad at first, showing up with flowers on all of their dates, even giving me a small bag of candy a few times. It was nice, he was nice, until a year into their relationship he became an asshole. Always telling us what to do, telling my mother how to raise me. And I fucking hate when he does it. It worries me to leave her alone in this house sometimes, but I just can't bear to be stuck here as he slams cabinets closed and argues non stop. It's infuriating.
My slightly worn converse made tiny clacks against the wooden floors of the hallway leading out into the worst place to be, the fucking kitchen.
They knew I would be meeting up with some friends to study for our shitty psychology test in class this week. I would always get C's on them, no matter what and I wanted to make a change. Even if it was a small one.
"Where do you think you're going?" His voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me, and I flinched every time he would talk. I was halfway out of the kitchen and grumbled when I had to turn around to face the man. "I told you guys that I would be headed into town...to study with friends?" All I got in return was him narrowing his eyes. He turned to my mother as she had her hand placed on her hip, visibly annoyed with him. "Alex, she already asked permission and we gave it to her. Now, can you finally go back to cleaning the dishes?" He rolled his eyes at her, lips parted as if he was going to say something.
Ugh, what a fucking nightmare.
They went back to arguing, giving me the time to slip away before he'd get the chance to patronize me for literally anything.
But other than my home life, I guess everything isn't too shitty. I have good friends, I don't know why they keep me around sometimes, they're definitely better than I am. They also have better families than I do, and healthy relationships with their siblings. I don't see my older brother because he moved out with my dad after he left my mom. I used to see him a bit as he would visit when he was in high school because he still went to school here, but left the state when he went to college. He would call every two weeks. Though, I haven't heard anything from him in two years. It seems like he left me too.
I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
My mom has always seen my brother in me. We have always been told that we have the same smile, it was nice at first but now my mom resents that part of me and she just randomly lashes out. She does apologize for it later on though. So, I guess our relationship isn't that bad, but it could be better.
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"Heyyyy Y/n!" The sound of one of my friend's voices caught my attention since my eyes were darting around at the scenery that has been engraved in my brain ever since I was born. The hometown I grew up in isn't anything special, there's shops to go into and cafes you can stop in, but other than that it's quite boring. Nothing ever really happens here.
I looked up to see the blonde haired girl who waved me over to sit next to her in the booth. It was a little colder in the cafe today, but bearable. "Hey Sara." I waved back at her and sat down on the cold leather seat. Two other girls smiled at my presence joining theirs. "Finally you got here, Hazel was ranting about her rockstar crushes again." The girl mentioned rolled her green eyes as she leaned forwards in my direction, she was on the inside of the booth. "Okay, don't hate because you like what everyone else likes."
Hazel's style has always been a bit more punk rock ever since she was a kid. Her parents thrived in the 80's when glam rock was big and they transferred their taste in basically everything down to their kids. But she found herself as she explored more genres. The girl beside her, Lila, was more into hip hop and rap. It's not a bad thing, but it's not Hazel's. Lila was a skater and she dressed as so. The baggy pants speak volumes. "Sara, do you hear her right now?" Lila tried getting the blonde to defend her, but she raised her hands in surrender and laughed at them. "Hey now, I'm not like either of you, so I might get insulted too." She was more on the popular side while us three stuck around together in the "irrelevant" part of school. Sara had her own group of friends besides us, but we all know that she's more comfortable here. It’s quite bittersweet if you think about it.
A sigh escaped my lips as I unzipped the bag that was now in my lap, taking out the textbook needed and class notes. "Ugh, why do insane people have to be attractive?" Hazel said, making me look up at her with an eyebrow raised as the other two laughed in disbelief. The girl was staring at something on the TV behind Sara and I. "Hazel?! You can't just say something like that out loud!" Lila slapped the girl's arm before she rolled her eyes once again. "I know that it's terrible, but Jesus Christ." My curiosity got the better of me and so I turned around to look at the screen, nothing but the news reporter and text showed up. Arson and murder..? "God, this happened in the next town over, but apparently it happened a year or two ago. They're still looking for him." Sara groaned out as she clicked her pen, anxiety started to grow in her body.
"Hm, maybe your dreams of having a psycho boyfriend will come true Y/n." Lila took a jab at me, making my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Lila! Ugh, I can't believe you just said that! You know that half the shit I say are just jokes." The girl shrugged and laughed with a stupid, smug smile on her face. "I don't know, you seem pretty okay with a hypothetical murderer." Hazel butted in to the jokes. I just hid my head into my arms because of the stupidity. They'll always drive me crazy. Thankfully the place wasn't packed, or else someone would've heard their loud mouths blabbing all of our business out into the open. No one needs to know about my fucked up brain, okay? Or the fucked up jokes I make.
"No one is dating a criminal on the run!" Sara scolded the three of us before pulling out her notebook and class textbook from her bag to plop down onto the table. A small snicker escaped me as I looked back at Hazel who mocked her silently while having a smile on her face. "Thankfully, Sara is normal! Unlike you guys." Lila also pulled out her books, believing that her words had an impact but Hazel and l shrugged before finally getting our things ready.
Hmm, but what if the guy was hot? And it would have to depend on who he murdered——NO! Stop! Shut up!
I clenched my jaw as I decided to grab a pencil to fidget with so I could drown out my thoughts with this psychology study session. I honestly have always found the subject really interesting, but it makes me realize a bit too much about myself and so I end up zoning out...trying to ignore the things I don't like.
A small shiver ran down my spine, I know that it's cold in here, but not that cold. I started to feel a bit weird and uncomfortable. My pencil then subconsciously began moving from finger to finger as the feeling didn't leave. A small glance outside of the window let me know why.
A guy walked down the street, looking inside of the cafe. Even though he had orange goggles on, the guy still looked like he was staring directly at me as he slowly started to walk away. "Y/n?!" Sara shook my shoulder. I snapped out of whatever trance I was in and looked back at her, she had a concerned expression on her face. "Yeah?" A snappy response came from me knowing that she was about to lecture me. "Please stay on topic, I need you to pay attention." She nudged my shoulder while having an eyebrow raised.
"Okay, okay, fine." A sigh came out of my lips before readjusting the grip I had on my pencil and preparing myself to get this hour of studying done.
I wonder who that guy was...why was he wearing shades during cloudy weather?