Destructive: Chapter One
♥
Sitting in the dreary green waiting room, I can't help but
remember when everything was perfect. He was my first real friend
in middle school, and he was so special from the moment I saw him.
As I walked into the unfamiliar seventh grade classroom, he smiled
at me from where he was standing in the back. He had reddish hair,
which he wore in a casual mess. His features were long and thin,
and his eyes were a shocking clear blue. I'd seen this boy
before, and I couldn't remember when. But he remembered me. As
I approached him, he left all his friends and walked towards me.
The first thing I noticed was how thin he was. He looked almost...
brittle. As he hesitantly lifted his folded hands into a wave, he
said, "Hey, didn't I see you at the Alcoholics Anonymous
meeting a couple months ago?" His voice was raspy, and even a
bit unpleasant. Regardless, a flood of memories came rushing back.
He was the boy I'd seen sitting alone by the lake... the boy
with no parent by his side. I felt bad for him. Most of the kids
like me at the barbecue had alcoholic parents who had brought them
along, but he was alone. "Yes! I remember you. You're...
you’re Taylor, right?" He smiled. "Yeah, that's
me..." He looked embarrassed, so I just stood there and smiled
awkwardly. It took me a moment before I realized he was staring at
the pink swipe of skin on my forehead. Embarrassed, I shook my hair
out to cover the scar. When I looked back up at him, his baby blue
eyes were wide with concern. I was about to quickly introduce
myself, when the teacher stood up and called the class to order. I
shot him a quick empathetic glance before I made my way to an empty
seat in the front of the room. The wrinkly old woman standing at
the blackboard introduced herself as Mrs. Meyer. She had delicate
hands that fluttered about as she searched her desk for the
attendance sheet. Most of the children had their eyes locked on
Taylor. Whispering to their friends, I saw girls giggling and
making flirty faces at him. I wanted to roll my eyes at them, or at
least say something, but Taylor didn't even seem to notice
them... He was writing fiercely in his notebook, although class had
only just begun. I thought about what he could be writing, but then
I decided I might be better off not knowing.
The rest of the day just dragged on. But I thought of Taylor on the
bus ride home that day... I remembered the concern in his eyes when
he noticed my scar. Maybe, just maybe, after five long years... I
wasn't alone anymore. I decided I wouldn't get my hopes up
though; when most people actually care enough to hear my story and
help me out, they end up getting hurt too. I didn't want him to
go through that. I rolled up my sleeves, and looked at my wrists in
the light. Twisting them back and forth, the jagged scars gleamed
in the dull light filtering in through the tinted windows.
Suddenly, I felt pairs of eyes fixed on me. Self-consciously, I
yanked the fabric of my coat over my arms and looked away from the
grueling stares. One by one, I relaxed the muscles in my forehead.
Then I closed my eyes until my stop arrived, wondering what I would
be coming home to today. Finally, after fifteen long minutes of
pondering, the bus wheezed to a halt at the end of my winding,
cracking driveway. "Bah-bye, honey!" The jovial bus
driver called as I stepped through the rusty doors. "Bye Ms.
Crane," I sighed as I set my feet onto the pavement. As I
approached the off-white house in the distance, I could see my
older sister Anna in the rocking chair on the porch. Her hand was
cupped over her forehead as if she had a migraine. I wouldn't
be surprised if she did. "Good luck with mum," Anna
smirked as I made my way up the stairs. "She's in a bad
mood... But I guess she'll take it out on you, since she thinks
I'm at Dan's house right now." Anna was a mess today.
Her wispy blonde hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, her
face more sallow than usual. I glared at her. She tapped the ash
out of her cigarette and tossed it to my feet. "Bring that
inside for me, love," She cackled, and then rose out of the
rocking chair, got in the car, and swerved out of the driveway.
Reluctantly, I picked up the cigarette butt and tossed it in the
trash can as I entered the crumbling kitchen. As soon as I entered
the dining room, I caught a strong odor of alcohol. My mother was
lying across the fainting sofa, a bottle of wine in her hands.
Looking around, I noticed the wine cabinet was already half empty,
though Anna restocked it last week. Seven glass bottles surrounded
the floor around the antique table, and a single glass of wine sat
untouched on top of the china cabinet. "...Mom?" I gasped
hesitantly. Her bloodshot eyes whipped open, frantically searching
the room for the source of the noise that disturbed her sleep.
"Momma, I'm right here." I said as I slowly walked
toward her. I sat down on the couch next to her, and took her hand
in mine. "Are you alright?" She gave an exasperated sigh,
nudged me with her leg, and screeched, "It's bloody hot in
here! Turn on the damn air conditioning!" So I turned on the
damn air conditioning, did my homework, made dinner I knew nobody
would eat, and retreated to the bathroom... I stayed there for the
rest of the night, and fell asleep on the cold, wet linoleum
tile.
Destructive: Chapter One ♥ Sitting in the dreary green
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Dec 22, 2010 11:16pm
