Things Have Changed For Me

“Amanda, get your butt down here now,” My father yelled.

“What!” I yelled back as I walked down the stairs.

“Why did you break up with him?”

“Because I don’t love him, he was a freak’n jerk to me, you made me go out with him when I can make my own decision, I’m freak’n nineteen, lay off will ya.” Oops, bad mistake to say that.

“You’re not going to make it in life if you sit there and think about love Amanda; you’re just going to end up like your mother.”

“The only reason she’s dead is because of you, because she wanted to divorce you, because you’re a drunk man who likes to beat women up for pleasure,” I snapped at him. Great bad move again.

My father came over and slapped my face and pushed me into the wall

”You ever say crap like that about me or to me you will be banned from everything.”

“You can’t control me; I’m old enough to live on my own, without you.” I went up to my room and locked the door before my father could get up the stairs and try beating me.

He is always getting drunk, complaining that we don’t have money. The only reason we have the apartment is because the owner is his friend.

I grabbed a bag, stuffed some clothes in it, and grabbed my wallet and key to my window. I put my laptop in between my mattress, my father doesn’t know I have one and it’s going to stay that way. I opened my window and locked it behind me. I gradually climbed down the stairs that are outside my window. Every time my father beats me, I would go to my friend Ryan’s house. We used to live close to each other until he moved out, now he lives ten minutes away. Yeah, I know, that’s not far, but compared to the one and a half minute walks I use to have to make, it’s far. But the only way its ten minutes away is if you use a car, and fifteen if you take a bus, and to walk it, well that takes twenty minutes. I don’t like walking far, but I really don’t feel like waiting for a bus.

When I walked up to his door, I remembered that today was Wednesday, June 18, exactly 7 years since Ryan and I became friends. I knocked on the door and waited patiently for him to open the door.

“Amanda, Happy seventh anniversary,” he said excitedly, until he saw the tears in my eyes, “oh, Mads, I’m sorry, come on in and tell me about it.”

I walked in and sat down on the couch, Ryan did the same. Except he brought two cokes with him.

“Okay, do you want anything to eat?”

“No, not right now, maybe later.”

I told Ryan everything, he knew the only reason my dad cared about me, which was very little, was because he could use me for money, that’s why he got mad when I broke up with the guy he made me go out with. His name was Thomas, his father is a lawyer and has tons of money, Thomas is also going to be a lawyer, so my father wanted us to get married just so he would have a lot of money.

“I’m really sorry, Mads”

“It’s okay, I’ve decided that I’m moving out, and going to find an apartment.”

“You can move in with me, this place is to big for one person.”

“Thanks, Ry,” I said as I gave him a hug.
When Ryan and I came back from shopping, it was seven thirty, holy crap we went shopping for five hours. Ryan bought me a whole bunch of stuff for my room, he got me blankets, pillows, clothes, shampoo, towels soap, a desk, nightstands, hangers, a bed and mattress, and a cell phone.

“Ry, you know you didn’t need to buy me all this stuff.”

“I know, but hey I’m a celebrity, I make more money than you do, so therefore, I can spend however much money I want on you.”

“Whatever Ryan.”

“Besides, he didn’t buy all that stuff by himself,” I heard someone say.

I looked up, and Brendon was leaning against the wall.

“Bren!” I shouted as I ran over to him and gave him a bear hug.

“Wow, Mads, I didn’t think you could miss me so much,” He said in shock.

“Of course I can miss you a lot.”

“Why are you staying here, you should move in with me,” He said, with a hurt look on his face.

“No, she should move in with me,” Spencer said, coming out of the kitchen and giving me a hug.

“Hey, Spency,” I said while he bear hugged me.

“Guys, aren’t you going to help,” Ryan called from the hallway.

“You don’t have to put the stuff up today, I can sleep on the couch”

“I’m not, we are trying to get all of Brent’s stuff out so we can give it to him, and you’re sleeping in my bed.”

“Aw man, she can’t sleep with us in the living room.” Brendon complained.

“No,” Ryan firmly replied.

“Ryan, its fine.”

“No, it’s our anniversary, traditions, remember.”

“Okay, okay,” I said, “guess you’re out of luck guys.”

Ryan and I went to get ice cream while the guys finished getting Brent’s stuff out. Like we promised we bought Brendon a quart of strawberry ice cream and Spencer a quart of Neapolitan, cause if we didn’t, the guys would have been all over us about it. We ate ice cream while we watched the corpse bride and the nightmare before Christmas, because its tradition, after the movies were over, Ryan and I drifted off to sleep.

THE NEXT MORNING

“Hey Ry- oh sorry dude,” some guy said as he walked in, but started backing out of the room. “Obvisiouly someone got some action last night.”
Confusion. Yes, I was confused. I looked at Ryan, his shirt was off and my arm was around his waist. Okay, now I get why he said that.

Ryan laughed. “Jon, you got it wrong man, she’s my best friend, well my best girl friend.”

“Oh,” the guy, evidently his name was Jon, said as he checked me out.

I looked down and noticed I wore my bra and underwear for pj’s. Perv. I looked back up at him and glared; he blushed and left the hallway.

“That’s the guy that replaced Brent”

“I would rather have Brent then him, at least Brent didn’t check me out.”

Ryan laughed. “Come on lets go see what’s for breakfast.”

I followed Ryan out of his room not even thinking about what I was wearing.

“Hey, Mads,” Spencer said then looked up and laughed, “that’s why,” he mumbled as he left the kitchen.

“Morning, Mads,” Brendon as he gave me a hug.

It’s nothing new for the guys to see me in my bra and underwear, so I forgot all about it till Jon walked in and started blushing.

“I’m going to get changed,” I said as I left the kitchen.

When I came back everyone had pancakes on their plate except me and Ryan.

“Hey, guys, nice to see you saved me some.”

“Oh trust me on this, Mads, you’ll be happy to see what Ryan has for breakfast for you two,” Brendon said grumpily.

“What is it?”

“Chocolate poptarts and vanilla ice cream.”

“Yummy,” I went over to Ryan, “thank you for giving me such a delicious breakfast.”

“You’re welcome, Mads.”

Brendon glared at us.

“If I give you a surprise will you stop glaring at us,” I asked Brendon.

“Depends.”

I went in Ryan’s room and took out the applesauce from his dresser and brought it out and put it in front of Brendon.

“Yay! Applesauce pancakes. Where did you find the applesauce?”

“In Ryan’s dresser.”

“Uh, Mads! Now I need to hide the rest,” Ryan complained as he ran out of the kitchen.

These boys and their applesauce. Tisk, tisk.

Ryan came back ten minutes later.

“Okay, there hidden.”

“Yeah, probably in my suitcase,” I said joking.

“Agh, Mads!.”

Ryan took off out of the room again.

“Way to go, Mads,” Spencer said, high-fiving me.

“Wonderful, I could use you to my advantage,” Brendon said happily.

“Mads, you can sit by me, I don’t bite, at least not hard,” Jon smiled.

“What did you call me?”

“Mads…”

“Don’t you ever call me that again, only my best friends are allowed to call me that, and you sir are defiantly not, especially since you were checking me out you little pervert,” I yelled.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”

“It’s Amanda,” Brendon answered for me.

“Okay, well, I’m sorry, Amanda, I’m sorry that I find you highly attractive.”

“Of course you would say that, you saw me in my bra and underwear.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered; I would have still found you attractive.”

“Whatever.”

“Yeah, I know I’m right,” he said, getting up from the table and starting to walk out of the kitchen.

“Where do you think you are going, you are not finished with your food, and I am not finished—“

He turned around and grabbed me, his lips crashed against mine. I let him kiss me, matter-of-fact, I kissed him back. Wait, what am I doing. I pushed him away, lost for words.

“Finally you shut up,” he said as he left.

Ryan came in, questioning me about what happened. I didn’t answer him. The guys just stared at me, so Ryan finally left to find Jon and ask him what happened.

Two minutes later I was walking to my father’s apartment. I climbed in through my window and picked up two suitcases and started putting stuff that I wanted to keep. I heard someone behind me and freaked out; when I turned around I noticed it was just the guys.

“Guys, you scared me, I thought it was my dad.”

“Sorry,” they all said at the same time.

“It’s okay.”

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Guys, you gotta get out.”

“No.”

I saw someone at my window, Jon was standing outside.

“Someone tell him to get in and close the window, I said while I put the suitcases in my closet and made my bed.

I told Jon to sit with Spencer and pretend to be doing something on the laptop. Before I could tell Ryan and Brendon what to do my father banged on my door.

“Amanda, open the door right now.”

I didn’t move.

“Amanda, open the door, you worthless—“

Brendon unlocked and opened the door.

“Why are you in my daughter’s room,” My father angrily yelled, “Amanda! You lock your door, ignore me, then when I go to bed, you sneak guys in the house.”

“Not to mention she snuck out and spent the night at Ryan’s house,” Jon said.

I turned around and glared at Jon. It wasn’t really his fault for what came next; he didn’t know what my dad was capable of doing to me.

My father threw me against the wall, Jon’s eyes widened in horror. My father slapped my face, I felt him knee me in the back of my leg, causing me to fall. I was waiting for the next blow, but I didn’t come. I looked up and Spencer and Brendon had him pinned against the wall opposite of me, Ryan was on his cell, talking fast, I looked over at Jon, while tears fell down my face, he still looked horror-struck. He finally snapped out of it and ran over to me, taking me into his arms, hugging me, while giving me kisses on the forehead.

“Its okay, let the tears rain down out of your deep blue eyes,” he whispered.

I looked into his chocolate brown eyes and cried even more, not because of my father, but because I found someone who could love me no matter what. Yeah, Bren, Ry, and Spence love me no matter what, but only as a sister and best friend, Jon and I can be so much more. I looked at Ryan, still talking on the phone, Brendon and Spencer, holding my father back still, while he is struggling under their grip, then I looked back at Jon. I stared into his eyes, getting lost in his eyes. I then switched my gaze to his lips, he noticed and started leaning in. Suddenly the front door burst opened and three officers came into the room.

The officers questioned us, each one by themselves, except me, they said it was okay for someone to come with me. Jon came.

“How long has this been going on?” A officer asked me.

“A long time,” I replied.

The officer was about to ask me another question, but two other officers came by with my father handcuffed. He looked at me with pleading eyes. My eyes started watering up, so I looked down at my hands. I know that he treated me badly, but he’s my father. If it wasn’t for the drinks, drugs, and money situation he might have treated me differently and this wouldn’t be happening, so I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him.

“Ma’am, why didn’t you call police, he could have gone out and hurt other people.”

Jon was furious when the officer asked me that question. “You are worried about other people, obliviously she was scared, can’t you see that,” he yelled.

“Sir, will you please stop yelling and sit on the couch,” he turned back to me, awaiting his answer from me.

“I was scared.” With that he stopped questioning me and left.

I sat down on the couch, tears rained down my face. Jon wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him till my head was on his chest and I was sitting on his lap.

“Amanda, I’m so, so, so, very sorry.”

“Don’t be, you didn’t know.”

Minutes passed by and neither of us said anything.

“Jon?”

“Yeah?”

“Call me Mads.”

I could feel a smile form on his face, while I slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.