A Battle for Love

Walking down the hall to exit the school, I didn't see the boy for the rest of the day. I climbed on the bus and waited for my stop.

My house was beige with a brown door. The hangover that covered the front was shadowing the porch. I sighed as I walked up the steps. I heard the loud music and the smell of food before I reached for the knob. I knew what was coming...

"Where have you been?!" my dad yelled in my face as I entered the door.

"I was in school, dad," I replied quietly. He stood with his nose scrunched up into a knot. Dad was always finding something to argue about when he and mom fought. Dad couldn't handle mom, and that's what frustrated him. Mom had her own thing. She wore the pants in the relationship and in the house. That's why the music was turned up so loudly; so you couldn't hear their screams.

Mom entered the kitchen with a cigarette in her hand.

"What's with all the yelling?"

Dad turned around and gave mom the look of death. He punched the wooden table and stormed out the screen door. Mom took a puff and shouted, "You still have to come back! You need me Joe!" She laughed at herself and her husband. I could tell she was coming off a high. That's one person you don't want to be with when she's like that.

Mom stared at me with narrowed eyes and her messy black hair ruffled up so much, you couldn't even see the red highlights. She slid closer to me. My heartbeat quickened. She place her hand on my neck and shoved me to the ground. I caught myself with my hands before my nose hit the floor. She bent down and jerked my head up by my hair.

"Bring him back," she spat. Then forced my head back down. I stayed there until she left. I knew better than to try to show anything more than weakness in confrontation with my mom. She staggered upstairs to her room and slammed the door. I arose off the ground rubbing the back of my neck. After I cut off the food and music, I went upstairs also and into my room to start on my homework.

***

Today is Thursday. I woke up to my alarm clock blaring. I had took a shower the night before so I went straight to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, combed my hair until all the knots were out and it lied smoothly over my shoulders, and covered up any bruises from my mom.

Dad did come back that night. He was wasted. Mom went to work around 11:30pm. She worked at the local strip club down the street. I'm glad no one knew her. I slipped into a pair of black jeans and a pink shirt. Grabbing the matching black half jacket, I slung on my book bag and waited for the bus.

"Hey, Kendra!" Melissa Spanks called to me right when I entered the doors. I looked over and waved. She beckoned for me to come over. I'm not a big fan of the crowd she hung out with. Melissa was beautiful though. She had the same black hair as me but hers was naturally curly and it bounced as she walked. Melissa had a nice hour glass figure and dark blue eyes that were outlined with mascara. She was a nice friend I'll admit though.

I walked over, flashing smiles at the other four girls that stood by her. They were not nearly as pretty. They smiled simultaneously.

"Yeah," I asked.

"I heard you played one on one with the hot new kid, huh?" Melissa said with a teasing smile. I made a laugh out to myself.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I did."

Melissa nodded her head thoughtfully. "Well, you know, I think he has a thing for you."

I laughed out loud then. "Are you serious?" But I knew she could be right.

She put a smile on her face and nodded her head in a direction past me. The girls started chuckling and I turned to see what they were talking about. The guy was across the hall leaning on the lockers with 3 other guys who were chatting about something. He was talking too, but often, he would look over at me. When our eyes met. he smiled and lifted his chin. I turned back quickly.

"Told you, Ken," Melissa said laughing.

"Well if he liked me he would come talk to me," I told her.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Well, we'd better go before the bell rings. Bye guys!" Melissa called after her friends who waved back. She wrapped her arm around my neck. "Where'd you get that shirt?" she asked me as we walked down the hallway.

"At the mall in Francine's," I answered. "Why?"

"Because," she said turning the corner. "I was thinking about adding it to my wardrobe." We both laughed. Melissa was a huge fan of pink.

"I'm gonna need to buy new ones. These are getting pretty old. Mom won't let me out of the house long enough."

"That... witch." Melissa spat.

Melissa knew the whole story to my life. We had that kind of friendship bond that no one could break and that was part of the reason why her little posse had such a problem with me. The other part was that they felt that I was prettier than them. My eyes were the lightest of browns with a rim of blue around them that you could barely see unless you actually looked. I had full pink lips and, from Melissa's point of view,'curves that could kill'. Maybe these things were true but it was me who was jealous of them. They're the ones who had the good life; the ones who could have a boyfriend without having to hide them from their parents; the ones who could have a normal life without worrying whether they're going to live or die the next day.

Melissa squeezed my shoulder knowing what I was thinking. First period was a blur. I waved bye to Melissa and left to second. The guy was in my next class. We had to pair up in partners and read a chapter and take notes. Great.