All They Know Is Misery

Once I had reached Fresno, after a good two hours or so, thanks to traffic, I made my way to my dad’s house. I got out of the car and shut the door, locking the car. I pulled my hood over my head and walked up to the three-story house, knocking on the door. The door opened shortly after, and my dad appeared, smiling brightly.

“Hey Charlotte,” he greeted me, pulling me into a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” I smiled. I love my dad dearly. He was kind and caring, the total opposite of my mother.

When he pulled away and took a good look at me he chuckled. “Chemistry lab today?” he asked.

I scoffed. “Don’t even get me started.”

He let me in and I pulled my hood down. I saw a woman sitting on the couch, and a girl my age. I stopped abruptly, causing my dad to run into me. I whirled around and looked at him. “Who are they?” I asked.

He spun me around to face them. “Charlotte, this is my fiancé, Christine Cummings and her daughter, Lori.”

I suppressed a laugh at the last name, nearly snorted in fact. But anger took over and I turned to my father, glaring at him. “You promised me!” I shouted.

He looked startled, but grabbed my hand to calm me down. “Charlotte, calm down, sweetie.”

I snatched my hand back and turned to look at the two father-stealing bitches. Lori smirked and flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder. Christine stood up, smiling sweetly. “Hello Charlotte,” she greeted, extending her hand out to me.

I hesitantly shook it and Lori stood up, and walked over. She popped her gum and had a smug look on her face. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“I know you probably don’t like us that much, but trust me, sweetie, I love your father to death. I’ll do him good, okay?” Christine spoke to me as if I were five-years-old.

I slightly smiled and my dad told us to all sit down and he would go get us some wine.

I sat on the couch across from Lori and Christine and Christine’s sweet smile turned to an evil one in the snap of a finger.

“Listen, brat, you are not to say a word to your father, okay?” she asked.

“And why would I agree to that?” I asked.

“Because if your father gets rid of us, he gets rid of you,” she sneered.

I took a deep breath. “Why are you with him?”

“Money, of course,” Lori supplied, just as my father walked back into the room with a tray of four wine glasses and a bottle of red wine.

He sat them down, smiling, and poured the wine and we each took a glass. I took a sip, the liquid burning my throat.

“So, Charlie, if I may, are you applying to any colleges?” Christine asked with that sweet tone of hers again.

“I’ve applied to a few, the most important ones I’ve applied to are Yale and Harvard, though,” I told her.

“Good,” she smirked, and I could just imagine money signs bouncing through her mind.

“What about you, Lori?” I asked.

“Only the finest,” she said, smiling in her glory, tossing me a small but thick paper. I caught it and looked at it.

My mouth hung agape. I looked up at her, and shook my head. “Princeton and Stanford?” I asked, shocked.

“Yep.”

“That’s my girl,” Christine smiled, patting Lori’s shoulder.

“I think you should also apply to a college nearby,” my dad suggested. “That way, if you don’t get accepted into Yale or Harvard, you can be close to home and still go to University.”

“I don’t want to go to USC, though,” I told him.

“And why not?” he asked.

“Because I don’t wanna stay in California.”

“Well I think you should just apply, in case.” He smiled and took a sip of his wine. “Anyway, how is Victoria?”

“Same old bitch,” I mumbled.

“Charlotte, have some class,” my dad snapped.

“Daniel, don’t tell me what to do,” I countered, standing up and setting the wine glass down. “Well it’s been great, meeting you two. I hope things work well. I must go, I apologize.”

My dad stood up and walked me to the door. “Bye sweetie,” he kissed my cheek and I was off. I got in my car and let the tears escape my eyes.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I had hung out with some bad people, and they’d taught me a lot of bad habits. One being smoking.

I hadn’t smoked in two years, but I had always kept a lighter and a box of Marlboro’s in the small compartment of my run-down truck. I popped it open and took the lighter and cigarettes out, shaking them first before taking one out and placing it between my lips. I slipped the cigarettes back in the compartment, lit the one in my mouth and put the lighter back, shutting the compartment.

I took a long-needed drag and started the car, a few tears escaping my eyes.

I pulled out of the driveway and took another drag, flicking the ashes out of the window.

Once I’d gotten back to Huntington and home, it was well around midnight—I’d made a few stops on the way home.

I snuck into the house after putting out my fifth cigarette of the night and smashing the bottle of Whiskey on the front porch. I walked in and lightly shut the door, hoping not to wake anyone up.

I turned around and held my mouth from screaming at the sight of my drunken mother. Her face looked bloody and she was a total mess. She reached across me and flicked the switch, the room lighting up.

I was right, her face was covered with blood, it looked like she’d been beat repeatedly for at least a good fifteen minutes.

I’d know, I’ve gotten worse.

“What happened?” I asked, dazed, and slightly buzzed.

She smacked me hard, and I held my cheek, as pain shot through it and my head. I looked up and she glared at me. “I was just trying to—”

She grabbed my wrists and spun around, throwing me into the wall. As my back collided with the wall I grunted in pain, knocking over the lamp, causing the lightbulb and the stand to shatter. I slowly but surely pulled myself up, knowing I’d have to endure more if I even dared to look her in the eyes again.

She waltzed over to me and kicked me in the side, causing me to fall to the ground in immense pain. I held my side tightly as she kicked me in the stomach. I rolled over on my back and let the tears escape my eyes.

“Stand up, you little sissy,” she spat.

When I made no motion of standing up, she kicked my other side again, and I stood up as quickly as I could, but it wasn’t quick enough for her. She backhanded me, her rings leaving cuts across my cheeks. I shrieked and held my cheek as the three gashes bled.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

She grabbed my neck and rammed me into the wall, strangling me. “I didn’t give you permission to speak to me,” she snapped.

I was having trouble breathing when there was a small whimper from behind us. “Mommy, stop, don’t hurt her,” Riley whined, tears rolling down her cheeks.

My mom released me and I fell to the ground, gasping for air. That was the first time Riley had ever seen us fight, and she looked terrified.

I was on my hands and knees, heaving, as my small dinner slithered up my throat. I let it all out of my mouth, my stomach gurgling in response.

I reached up and felt my lip. There was heat under it and it was bleeding. I looked up towards where Riley was standing. My mom was out of sight and Riley was staring at me. She ran over to me and kneeled down in front of me. “Sissy, are you okay?” she asked.

I looked into her eyes and nodded, bringing my finger up to my lips, signaling that she had to keep this a secret. She nodded and held her hand out to me. I took her hand and stood up. I slowly limped up to Riley’s room, tucking her in her bed before going to the bathroom and washing my mouth out.

I applied more makeup to where the cuts had been, blending them with the slowly fading purple on my skin and Johnny grabbed my hand, taking the small brush from it. “If you’re trying to give yourself a fake tan with blush, you’ve achieved it,” he said and put my stuff away in his book bag so I couldn’t get it.

I sighed, rolling my eyes and turned the car off, putting the keys in my pocket.

“Can we go now?” he asked.

I nodded. I had restrained myself from talking all morning, that way people wouldn’t ask why my voice was so hoarse, and I wouldn’t have to answer nerve-wracking questions.

We got out of the car and I shut it, making my way towards the school. The second day of school and it already felt like it had been a month. I left Johnny to talk to Bee about something that I couldn’t remember and went to my locker, where once again, Jimmy was standing. I grunted and approached him with a straight face.

I looked up at him and he looked down, smiling. “Hey teletubbie.”

I sighed, looking down at my feet. “Something wrong?” he asked.

I looked up, my eyes widened. He’d never been the slightest bit concerned for my well-being, whether he was being sarcastic or not. I nodded and he moved, allowing me to access my locker.

“Look McKnight, I’m sorry about Chemistry yesterday, I honestly didn’t mean to turn you purple. But I will admit, you do look pretty funny.”

I turned around and leveled a glare with him. He held his hands up in surrender and I turned back to finish putting my things away.

Emily tiptoed up behind Jimmy and tackled him to the ground. I rolled my eyes and wondered why he was even going out with her in the first place, but then it occurred to me, he was James Sullivan. Of course he was going to date the school slut.

They eventually got up after being yelled at by a teacher for public display of affection taken way too far. I was disgusted, to say the least. Who has, practically sex with clothes on, in the middle of the school hallway with everyone watching?

And I’m pretty sure Brian got turned on, the damned pervert.

I walked into Chemistry, shaking my head. “Are you okay, Charlotte?”

I turned around to look at Mr. Hanson. I nodded and took my seat, opening my notebook and starting on the notes that were displayed on the board.

Jimmy walked in and sat next to me, grinning like a madman. Probably got a quick hand job from Emily.

An unfamiliar guy walked in, and I must admit, he was hot as hell.

Mr. Hanson smiled and welcomed him in. “Class, we have a new student. This is Damon Blackburn.”

Damon waved and my heart nearly melted.

“Oh, seems like there are no available lab partners. Hm . . . Would anyone be willing to have Damon in their group?” Mr. Hanson asked.

I quickly raised my hand, smiling.

Jimmy looked at me as if I were crazy. “No.”

“Why not?” I mouthed.

“Because I don’t want another partner.”

“Don’t give a shit,” I mumbled, my voice suddenly getting its strength back.

I cleared my throat and Mr. Hanson directed Damon over to our table.

“You’re purple,” Damon stated as he approached us.

“Yeah, no thanks to dumb ass sitting here,” I muttered, pointing at Jimmy.

“Hey!” he shouted, “I have ears, you know!”

“And . . .?” I asked, shaking my head.

Damon grabbed a chair and sat next to me. “You two dating?” he asked.

“What? No!” both of us answered at the same time.

Damon chuckled. I smiled and cleared my throat again as it burned. Damn my mother, damn her to hell.

Soon thoughts of my mother flooded into my mind and a tear rolled down my cheek.

“You crying?” Damon asked.

I looked up at him. “Nah, my eye’s just watering,” I told him, wiping the tear.

“I hate when that happens,” he laughed.

“Same.”

I smiled and stared into his deep emerald eyes. They were gorgeous, even more than Zacky’s, at least in my opinion. Because every other girl in the school seemed to go bananas over Zacky’s eyes.

I couldn’t focus the rest of the period, and I had only a few notes as the bell rang. I cursed and grabbed my stuff, Jimmy laughing at me. He had more notes than I did. “How the hell is that possible?” I asked.

“Because someone actually pays attention in class. And it’s not the purple-people-eater,” he laughed hard, walking out of the classroom.

Damon rolled his eyes, chuckling. “See you later.”

I smiled and waved, then sighed in absolute contentment.