Bettering The Bruises

That was probably the most intense football practice I’ve ever watched. The fact that he would just punch the crap out of Jake, just because he hit me, was surprising. I guess he’s just a true gentlemen at heart, even though he did make me lose my ride. Therefore, I’m walking the eight miles home. At least the weather was nice today. The sun was shining, and a nice breeze was flowing through Lima.

Plus, it’s the perfect time for me to think. Especially about everything that has just happened with Jake. He has hit me before, when he has been mad or something. But never in public, he likes to keep that to when we are alone. I don’t understand why he even did it. I mean, I was completely silent the whole time. Maybe it was because the Mohawk boy was standing up for me? I don’t care the reason, I would be talking to him about it soon. I’m going to try to get him to stop it, because I don’t think it’s fair to me.

I then heard a truck start to pull up next to the sidewalk, which instantly startled me. I’ve heard about these crazy rapists trying to get young girls in their cars. So, my first reaction was to run, and I did. The car only sped up, I should’ve known better than to outrun a damn car.

“Hey, slow down!” a familiar voice yelled.

Relief swept through me when I realized who it was, Mohawk boy. I really needed to find out his name, instead of always referring to him as “Mohawk boy”.

“Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn’t know it was you,” I shrugged.

“It’s all good,” he paused. “Why are you walking?”

“Well, I have to get home,” I stated.

“How far away is your house?” he asked.

“About seven miles from here,” I admitted.

“Then why the hell are you walking?” he scrunched his face up in confusion.

“Because I don’t have a ride. Jake was mine,” I trailed off.

“Well, get in, I’ll give you a ride,” he smiled.

“No, it’s honestly fine,” I started walking away.

“Please stop being difficult. Come on, just get in, I‘ll take you home,” he opened up the passenger door.

I sighed, “Fine.”

Next, I stepped into the car and slammed the door. I know it wasn’t the smartest idea to get into a guy’s car that I barely knew. But he did go to my school, and he just beat up a guy for me. I’d say I could trust him, somewhat at least.

“So, where do you live?” he questioned.

“By the mall, I’ll give you directions,” I replied. “By the way, what is your name?”

He smirked, “Puck.”

“Your mother named you Puck?” I gave him a strange look.

Puck chuckled, “My real name is Noah Puckerman. But, I hate the name Noah, everyone calls me Puck.”

“I think Noah is a nice name,” I argued.

“It just doesn’t fit me, you know? But thanks,” he said.

“I know how that goes,” I paused, because I then heard music. And not some hip-hop that I would expect him to be listening to, it was true music. Music I liked, but nothing too poppy. It was actually Train. “Are you listening to Train?”

He turned the volume down. “Yeah. I took my little sister to soccer practice last night. She likes some of their songs, and I frankly love their music. So, we listened to it.”

“Ah, I see. My sister wouldn‘t even know they existed without Hey, Soul Sister. But I like their other songs too,” I admitted.

He scoffed. “You have to get her musically cultured then.”

“Oh, don’t be such a guy,” I stuck out my tongue.

“Well, there is clear testosterone flowing through me, babe,” he chuckled. “Anyway, how old is your sister?”

“She just turned seven last month,” I smiled. I really did love my little sister, Emma, she was a sweetheart. She is kind of what kept my world going.

“My sister is seven too,” he smiled. “Who’s her teacher?”

“His name is Mr. Ramos, she claims to really love him,” I shrugged.

“That’s Jane’s teacher too. Small world,” he chuckled.

“That is weird,” I laughed, as I heard the song change. It changed to what happened to be For Me, It‘s You, which is one of their best songs.

“This is my favorite song, could you please turn it up?” I asked politely.

“With all you’ve been through today,” he paused. “I’ll turn it up.”

As the volume raised, I started singing along, and so did he. His voice was actually very nice, which surprised me. Puck did not come across as a good singer at all. He sang along perfectly with the CD. It was nice to just listen to him until we got closer to my house.

“Okay, turn here, and it’s the third house on the right,” I pointed down the street I lived on.

As the song ended, and we pulled in front of the house, I spoke, “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me today, Puck.”

“It’s totally fine. I’ve been looking for a chance to pound that guy anyway," he smiled, as I stepped out of the door. "See you tomorrow, Jenna.”

I slammed the door, “See you tomorrow.”

I watched as his truck quickly became a speck in the distance. I walked up the steps, and into the house. We didn’t have anything too grand, but it was a decent-sized house. I lived with my mother half the time, and my father the rest. It was hard, because they both had to work a lot of hours to keep up. Therefore, I had to take care of Emma almost full time, but it didn’t bother me.

“Jenna!” her voice yelled, as she got off the coach to hug me.

I hugged her back, “Hey honey, what are you watching?”

“Spongebob of course,” she giggled.

“Of course, silly,” I poked her nose. “So, what do you want for dinner?”

“Chicken nuggets?” she asked hopefully.

I giggled. “Sure thing, girl.”

After making dinner, I made sure she took a bath, then tucked her into bed at eight. That’s what the usual routine was, so I’ve gotten used to it. Even though I can get annoyed with the extra work, I’m glad I have her. Without Emma, I would just be a big blob of nothing, so I’m fine with taking care of her.

As soon as I walked into my room, I flopped on my bed. I was too tired to do much else, so I decided to delay things until the morning, and just sleep.