Never Again

Erica fell to the ground with a thump. This wasn’t the way he used to be. He had never hit her before. Now all she could do was take it. She loved him, and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him. She lived for him, and he told her that he lived for her too. She knew that if she stayed down and didn’t try to get up he would get bored and stop. He only hit her when she made him mad. It’s so hard not to make him mad. She thought to herself as she watched her boyfriend walk away from her into the night. This very spot was where he asked her to go on their first date. He was her first true love. Erica would do anything for him, but he never seemed to care. Occasionally he might hug her, or caress her cheek. Sometimes she even got a kiss, but those were rare and far between. She knew she couldn’t leave him. He meant everything to her. Just the thought of losing him made her sick to her stomach.

Erica got up slowly, cradling her cheek where he had smacked her. There was going to be a bruise, she could feel it forming. What am I going to tell my friends? Erica sighed gently as she thought of different excuses she could use. Falling down and banging it on something, running into a door, a car accident. All of them seemed pretty legitimate so she decided to pick one at random when the time came. Erica wasn’t overly clumsy, but everyone is a little off every once and a while. She walked briskly to her house. Her mother was passed out drunk on the couch, so it wasn’t a problem getting in without being heard. Her mother was always drunk. Apparently it had gotten worse after her dad left, but she couldn’t remember a time when she saw her mother without a beer in her hand. Erica never could remember her dad, so she couldn’t say anything about his character other than the fact that he would leave a two year old to live in an apartment with a drunk.

Erica made as much noise as she cared to make, hoping that her mother would wake up and find her out past curfew. All she wanted was to be recognized. Her mom didn’t care at all about her, so she pretty much made it on her own. She had always been one of the more secluded ones at her school. Everyone thought of her as weird and tried to stay away. She had a few best friends though, and they helped her through anything. She stomped to her room, being as loud as possible before stopping and listening for sounds of stirring from her mother. She heard nothing but the steady snore she had become used to. Feeling disappointed, she slammed her door and jumped on her bed. Within seconds she was asleep.