The Stars Are Fading Away

She's feeling worthless
Used again, but nothing's different

Amber's POV

It had been almost two months since that night. It was almost my birthday. Mason did call me, and forgave me. Of course.

I started myself on birth control. Wren never used a condom.

Things with Wren did not change. He kept hitting me, sometimes he didn't even give me a reason why. Those were the nights I spent with Mason.

Things with Mason had not changed either. For that I was thankful.

But I digress. In the present, I was standing outside Mason's house, frantically ringing the doorbell. No one was home. Of course they weren't home, it was 1:30. They all had class.

I looked under the doormat. There was a key there.

These boys were stupid, keeping keys under their dormat.

I opened the door and locked it behind me. I went over to the couch and saw a bag of bugles. I sat down and started eating them. Hopefully Mason would be home soon.

My side throbbed, but I didn't dare touch it. That would make it hurt worse.

I flipped on the TV, waiting for someone to come home. Halfway into That 70's Show, I heard the garage door opening. I anxiously looked to the door. Bryce walked in and stopped short.

"Amber!"

"Bryce!" I mocked him.

"Um… Not to sound rude, but why are you here? Mason has class…" As he talked he walked down the hall towards hid room to drop off his bag. When he came back he had a questioning look on his face.

"It's okay. You have a key under your doormat."

"We do?"

I laughed. "Yup. I let myself in."

Bryce chuckled. "You broke in."

"You say potato, I say potahto." I shrugged and turned my attention back to the TV.

"Sure, sure." Bryce sat down next to me and eyed the bugles. "I would check the sell by date on those if I were you."

"I did. They're edible."

Bryce took a handful. We watched the show and the show following that in silence. Bryce got up to go to the bathroom, and I heard the garage door open again. I looked towards the door to see who it was.

Derrick came in, with Mason following him. They were both laughing about something. Derrick grinned when he saw me.

"Hey, Amber!"

"Hi, Derrick." I smiled back.

"What's shaking?" Derrick asked as he sat down and stole some bugles.

"Mm. Nothing much." I gestured to the TV. "That 70's Show."

Mason sat down on the other side of me and reached over to take some bugles.

"You checked the sell by date on these, right?" he asked cautiously before taking a bite.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes." I brought my knees up to my chest, and Derrick got up.

"Well, I'm failing most of my classes, so I figure I should probably do some homework," he said, walking back to his room.

I turned to Mason. "Derrick? Studying?"

He chuckled. "He's a senior. Hid parents would kill him if he didn't graduate. And he actually doesn't get half-bad grades."

"Wow." We sat in silence for awhile before Mason spoke.

"So, what did he do now?"

I sighed. Mason knew me too well. "Let's go in your room," I said, getting up.

He followed me into his room.

"He didn't hit your face," Mason observed.

"No," I said.

"Where?"

I lifted up my shirt to show him. The mark was on the left side of my ribs.

Mason's mouth dropped open.

"That's… not a bruise."

My eyes filled up with tears, but I quickly wiped them away. I started pulling my shirt down again.

"No, wait." Mason came over and looked at it again.

"Amber, is this a cigarette burn?"

I nodded miserably.

"Those hurt like hell."

I nodded again.

Mason pulled my shirt down and put his arms around me, careful not to brush against the burn.

"It looks like he held it there for awhile.

"And twisted it."

I felt Mason's fists clench. He pulled away.

"Amber, please. You have to leave him. He's hit you, he's burned you, he's raped you. What's next?"

"I don't know." The tears started falling again.

Mason went over to the end table by the couch and took a pack of cigarettes from the drawer. He threw them out.

"Why do you have cigarettes? I thought you were trying to quit."

"It's freaking hard." Mason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This is motivation enough, though."

"Good." I sighed.

"Do you want to put ice on that?"

"Cold water is better."

"That's a pretty awkward place to put cold water."

I smiled a little

"I'll go get some ice." He left the room and returned with a bag of ice that he handed to me. He crossed the room and sat on his bed. I moved on the couch so I was lying down and could hold the ice better.

Mason got off the bed and knelt down beside my head.

I smiled a little. "It feels like I'm in the hospital about to die when you do that."

Mason laughed a little. "When's your birthday again?"

"The thirteenth. Four days." I smiled, but then my face fell. "Wren is going to be… away. I don't know, I forgot what his excuse was."

"Do you want to do something with us?"

"Us?"

"Me, Coby, Derrick, Bryce, and Bryce's girlfriend will probably be dragged along."

I smiled. "Sure."

Mason smiled too. "When exactly is he leaving?"

"My birthday is Saturday, he's leaving Friday night."

"I'll pick you up Saturday morning."

"Okay. What are we doing?"

"It's a surprise!"

I rolled my eyes. "You suck."

He laughed and got up. He moved my feet and sat down, then put my feet back on his lap.

"You love it."