Status: New !
Kristie, Are You Doing Okay?
2.
Mrs. Foreman was the complete opposite of Brody. She had to be the kindest lady I have ever met, or maybe that was just a public appearance like Brody. Her hair was the same golden blonde as Brody’s and she had the same blue eyes but hers looked kinder to me. She was smaller than Brody or his dad, reaching probably 5’5 and weighing one hundred twenty pounds at most. Once she saw me she smiled her perfect smile.
“What were you two kids up to?” she asked while putting away the pasta.
Brody looked at me as if I was going to tell her our secret. I had learned not to even mention anything about it. One day he thought I had told his mom about him and it led to a full on argument and a brutal beating.
“Studying for the trigonometry quiz,” I lied.
“Keeping our boy in line?” she joked.
I did a polite laugh and looked at the clock, 3:30. Time to pick Gable up from school.
“Of course, I gotta go pick my brother up from school,” I told her.
“How is he? I feel like you two haven’t had dinner here in forever!” she exaggerated, we ate at their house last weekend.
“He’s fine,” I smiled.
Brody followed me outside to my car and paused at the window, “I meant what I said upstairs. I don’t want to do this anymore, I’m going to quit.”
Again I nodded, “I have to go.”
He grabbed my wrist, not forcefully like he usually did; more like lovingly. I tilted my head up to look at him.
His blue eyes were watching me intently, “I do what I do because I love you.”
I desperately wanted to leave, “Okay, love you too.”
Brody let go of my wrist and I started the car to go and get Gable. When Gable saw me pull up he instantly smiled. He jumped into the car and gave me a kiss on the cheek. If it wasn’t for him my whole life wouldn’t have meaning. Gable was the only guy in my life who actually loved me and didn’t find the constant need to hurt me.
“How was school?” I asked while trying to pull out of the parking lot.
“Boring,” he mumbled, “Aaron Samuels dared me to kick the new girl.”
I brought the car to a stop causing a few cars to honk behind me, “Don’t you ever, ever, kick a girl. Or anyone for that matter, you hear me?”
Gable nodded and tears welled up in his eyes, “I said I was sorry to her though!”
“Sorry doesn’t always cut it you know,” I continued while driving home.
I was half talking to him and half thinking about Brody and I. Gable ran through the doors and up to his room.
“Shh!” I screamed up after him.
My dad was sound asleep on the couch and waking him up would only anger him. I was cleaning up the beer bottles that were surrounding him when my cell phone rang.
“Hello?” I whispered.
“Hey girl,” Charlie answered, “Wanna go watch the boys’ field hockey practice?”
I turned toward the clock, I had to get Gable ready for school and make dinner.
“I don’t know Char…”
“Aw come on Kristie, have some fun!” When I didn’t laugh she continued, “Only for a couple of hours,” she begged, “I wanna show you this super cute new student named Aiden.”
Before giving me a chance to protest Charlie said, “I’ll pick you up in five!”
It wasn’t even three minutes later when I heard her car pulling into my driveway. She opened the door like she owned the house, something she always did. Charlie and I brought the remaining beer bottles to the kitchen then walked up to my room. She was dressed in her typical eye grabbing outfit – tight skinny jeans that had pockets that could only fit a tooth pick and maybe a stick of gum but made her look fantastic, paired with a tight tank top that showed off her natural tan that people pay hundreds of dollars to have. She collapsed onto my bed and smiled at me. Her wavy dark brown hair was pulled off to the side in a French braid. Charlie batted her light brown eyes at me and stuck her lip out.
“Is my bestest friend ever gonna make her bestest friend ever happy by accompanying her to the game?” she used her squeaky baby voice that she only used when she really wanted something.
I rolled my eyes, “I told you, I have to get Gable ready for school tomorrow!”
Charlie sat up straight, “He can come too!”
“Okay, fine.”
At the game there were hundreds of other girls dressed at their best to cheer on the new boy Aiden as well. From my seat I could see that he was in fact, cute. Okay, more like hot. He had dark brown hair cut into the perfect All-American boy haircut. A nice tan from practicing field hockey outdoors, nice, lean legs. He had that boy next door appeal to him that I thought was adorable. Charlie caught me staring at him and laughed.
“Told you he was hot!”
His coach called him off the field and he jogged towards the bench. For a moment he looked up at the stands and I don’t know if I was imagining it but I swore our eyes locked. I broke eye contact and looked down at my hands.
“-She’s dating Brody Foreman, why the hell is she even doing here?” I heard someone comment.
Charlie tore her eyes off of Aiden, “Excuse me, what’s your name?”
The girl’s face turned beat red, “H-Hannah.”
“Awesome,” Charlie smiled, “Well Hannah, I didn’t know it was a crime to hang out with your best friend at a field hockey game. So how about you go back to whatever rat hole you climbed out of and get a better dye job. Your roots are showing.”
With that Hannah touched her roots in embarrassment and grabbed her friend’s wrist and ran away crying. I slapped Charlie’s shoulder but she didn’t care, embarrassing people is what she did for fun. She giggled then brought her attention back to Aiden. I was getting more into the game when I felt a hand cover my eyes.
“Guess who?” Brody whispered into my ear.
I turned around to find him standing behind us sweaty from football practice. He took a seat next to me and held my hand.
“I thought you couldn’t hang out tonight?” he tilted his head as if it was a question.
Charlie interrupted before I got a chance to answer, “Oh boo, you can’t hang with your girlfriend for one day.”
I gave her a look silently begging her to stop.
“Charlie came over unexpectedly and begged me to come to the game with her,” I explained.
“She doesn’t seem to mind the view,” Charlie joked.
Brody brought his attention to the field like every other girl in the stands. I felt his grip on my hand tighten and his nail dug into my hand causing me to flinch.
“I’m sure she’s not really looking at these wimps when she has me,” Brody said.
“Should’ve seen her a few minutes ago,” Charlie challenged, “I don’t think she remembered that she had a boyfriend.”
By now his grip was beyond digging, more like cutting my skin.
“Wanna go get drinks with me?” Brody asked.
I knew what he really meant “wanna go pretend to go get drinks so I can beat the shit out of you?” I nodded slowly and followed him down the steps. Girls watched enviously as Brody held my hand but they had nothing to be envious about. We barely made it past the concession stand before Brody flipped me around and grabbed me by my neck.
“So is this what you do when we aren’t together?” he whispered hotly into my ear, “Slut around with new boys?”
“Charlie was just being Charlie, you know that I would never cheat on you!” I tried to defend myself.
“Why should I even believe you? Every other girl here is drooling over him, why wouldn’t you be?”
His grip tightened causing me to shed a few tears of pain. Brody didn’t give me a chance to try and defend myself again; instead he slapped me to the ground. I looked up at him and his eyes showed no remorse. I tried to stand up but he purposely stepped on my hand causing it to crack.
“Ow!” I whimpered.
He bent down to my level and said, “Did I say you could get up?”
I was sobbing by now, from being in pain and out of fear.
“Hey! Is everything okay?” a voice questioned.
We both turned our attention to Aiden who was jogging over to us. Brody gave me a warning look before putting on his perfect fake smile that he gives to everyone.
“Yeah, my girlfriend fell,” he lied.
I stood up, brushed the dirt off of me and wiped my eyes, “I’m very clumsy.”
Aiden’s eyes showed that he knew something more was going on but he didn’t say anything, “As long as everything is okay…”
Brody turned to face me, “I don’t see why anything wouldn’t be.”
As they both looked at me I felt the pressure. Should I say something or keep quiet like I always did?
“Everything is perfect.”
Aiden’s coach called the boys back into a huddle and he ran back, but not before looking back at us.
“Stay away from him,” Brody demanded.
I looked up at him, “I will.”
After they won the game everyone decided to go to the local teen café/bar in our town.
“I’ll meet you there, I wanna go home and shower,” Brody said before giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“I have to get Gable ready for bed, next time though.”
Gable fell asleep by third quarter and could barely hold his eyes open now. Brody nodded, gave Gable a pat then walked to his car. I was focused on getting Gable home that I barely noticed Aiden.
“Hey, I’m Aiden,” he introduced himself.
I nodded, “I know.”
He laughed nervously, “It seems like every girl here knows my name.”
Remember what Brody said, I reminded myself. I tried to continue walking towards Charlie’s car but Aiden stopped me. Out of reflex I flinched when he grabbed my wrist.
“I’m not gonna tell anyone what I saw,” he promised, “I just think you need to tell someone.”
I waited for a group of girls to pass by before speaking, “Look, I’m sure you’re really nice and a genuine guy but please stay out of my business okay?”
Aiden released his grip, “So you’re just gonna let him get away with whatever he wants? What, out of fear? I’m sure if you tell someone they’ll help you.”
Charlie honked her car and I signaled her to wait a moment.
“Just mind your own business okay? It’ll benefit both of us.”
With that I walked away towards Charlie’s car.
“What were you two kids up to?” she asked while putting away the pasta.
Brody looked at me as if I was going to tell her our secret. I had learned not to even mention anything about it. One day he thought I had told his mom about him and it led to a full on argument and a brutal beating.
“Studying for the trigonometry quiz,” I lied.
“Keeping our boy in line?” she joked.
I did a polite laugh and looked at the clock, 3:30. Time to pick Gable up from school.
“Of course, I gotta go pick my brother up from school,” I told her.
“How is he? I feel like you two haven’t had dinner here in forever!” she exaggerated, we ate at their house last weekend.
“He’s fine,” I smiled.
Brody followed me outside to my car and paused at the window, “I meant what I said upstairs. I don’t want to do this anymore, I’m going to quit.”
Again I nodded, “I have to go.”
He grabbed my wrist, not forcefully like he usually did; more like lovingly. I tilted my head up to look at him.
His blue eyes were watching me intently, “I do what I do because I love you.”
I desperately wanted to leave, “Okay, love you too.”
Brody let go of my wrist and I started the car to go and get Gable. When Gable saw me pull up he instantly smiled. He jumped into the car and gave me a kiss on the cheek. If it wasn’t for him my whole life wouldn’t have meaning. Gable was the only guy in my life who actually loved me and didn’t find the constant need to hurt me.
“How was school?” I asked while trying to pull out of the parking lot.
“Boring,” he mumbled, “Aaron Samuels dared me to kick the new girl.”
I brought the car to a stop causing a few cars to honk behind me, “Don’t you ever, ever, kick a girl. Or anyone for that matter, you hear me?”
Gable nodded and tears welled up in his eyes, “I said I was sorry to her though!”
“Sorry doesn’t always cut it you know,” I continued while driving home.
I was half talking to him and half thinking about Brody and I. Gable ran through the doors and up to his room.
“Shh!” I screamed up after him.
My dad was sound asleep on the couch and waking him up would only anger him. I was cleaning up the beer bottles that were surrounding him when my cell phone rang.
“Hello?” I whispered.
“Hey girl,” Charlie answered, “Wanna go watch the boys’ field hockey practice?”
I turned toward the clock, I had to get Gable ready for school and make dinner.
“I don’t know Char…”
“Aw come on Kristie, have some fun!” When I didn’t laugh she continued, “Only for a couple of hours,” she begged, “I wanna show you this super cute new student named Aiden.”
Before giving me a chance to protest Charlie said, “I’ll pick you up in five!”
It wasn’t even three minutes later when I heard her car pulling into my driveway. She opened the door like she owned the house, something she always did. Charlie and I brought the remaining beer bottles to the kitchen then walked up to my room. She was dressed in her typical eye grabbing outfit – tight skinny jeans that had pockets that could only fit a tooth pick and maybe a stick of gum but made her look fantastic, paired with a tight tank top that showed off her natural tan that people pay hundreds of dollars to have. She collapsed onto my bed and smiled at me. Her wavy dark brown hair was pulled off to the side in a French braid. Charlie batted her light brown eyes at me and stuck her lip out.
“Is my bestest friend ever gonna make her bestest friend ever happy by accompanying her to the game?” she used her squeaky baby voice that she only used when she really wanted something.
I rolled my eyes, “I told you, I have to get Gable ready for school tomorrow!”
Charlie sat up straight, “He can come too!”
“Okay, fine.”
At the game there were hundreds of other girls dressed at their best to cheer on the new boy Aiden as well. From my seat I could see that he was in fact, cute. Okay, more like hot. He had dark brown hair cut into the perfect All-American boy haircut. A nice tan from practicing field hockey outdoors, nice, lean legs. He had that boy next door appeal to him that I thought was adorable. Charlie caught me staring at him and laughed.
“Told you he was hot!”
His coach called him off the field and he jogged towards the bench. For a moment he looked up at the stands and I don’t know if I was imagining it but I swore our eyes locked. I broke eye contact and looked down at my hands.
“-She’s dating Brody Foreman, why the hell is she even doing here?” I heard someone comment.
Charlie tore her eyes off of Aiden, “Excuse me, what’s your name?”
The girl’s face turned beat red, “H-Hannah.”
“Awesome,” Charlie smiled, “Well Hannah, I didn’t know it was a crime to hang out with your best friend at a field hockey game. So how about you go back to whatever rat hole you climbed out of and get a better dye job. Your roots are showing.”
With that Hannah touched her roots in embarrassment and grabbed her friend’s wrist and ran away crying. I slapped Charlie’s shoulder but she didn’t care, embarrassing people is what she did for fun. She giggled then brought her attention back to Aiden. I was getting more into the game when I felt a hand cover my eyes.
“Guess who?” Brody whispered into my ear.
I turned around to find him standing behind us sweaty from football practice. He took a seat next to me and held my hand.
“I thought you couldn’t hang out tonight?” he tilted his head as if it was a question.
Charlie interrupted before I got a chance to answer, “Oh boo, you can’t hang with your girlfriend for one day.”
I gave her a look silently begging her to stop.
“Charlie came over unexpectedly and begged me to come to the game with her,” I explained.
“She doesn’t seem to mind the view,” Charlie joked.
Brody brought his attention to the field like every other girl in the stands. I felt his grip on my hand tighten and his nail dug into my hand causing me to flinch.
“I’m sure she’s not really looking at these wimps when she has me,” Brody said.
“Should’ve seen her a few minutes ago,” Charlie challenged, “I don’t think she remembered that she had a boyfriend.”
By now his grip was beyond digging, more like cutting my skin.
“Wanna go get drinks with me?” Brody asked.
I knew what he really meant “wanna go pretend to go get drinks so I can beat the shit out of you?” I nodded slowly and followed him down the steps. Girls watched enviously as Brody held my hand but they had nothing to be envious about. We barely made it past the concession stand before Brody flipped me around and grabbed me by my neck.
“So is this what you do when we aren’t together?” he whispered hotly into my ear, “Slut around with new boys?”
“Charlie was just being Charlie, you know that I would never cheat on you!” I tried to defend myself.
“Why should I even believe you? Every other girl here is drooling over him, why wouldn’t you be?”
His grip tightened causing me to shed a few tears of pain. Brody didn’t give me a chance to try and defend myself again; instead he slapped me to the ground. I looked up at him and his eyes showed no remorse. I tried to stand up but he purposely stepped on my hand causing it to crack.
“Ow!” I whimpered.
He bent down to my level and said, “Did I say you could get up?”
I was sobbing by now, from being in pain and out of fear.
“Hey! Is everything okay?” a voice questioned.
We both turned our attention to Aiden who was jogging over to us. Brody gave me a warning look before putting on his perfect fake smile that he gives to everyone.
“Yeah, my girlfriend fell,” he lied.
I stood up, brushed the dirt off of me and wiped my eyes, “I’m very clumsy.”
Aiden’s eyes showed that he knew something more was going on but he didn’t say anything, “As long as everything is okay…”
Brody turned to face me, “I don’t see why anything wouldn’t be.”
As they both looked at me I felt the pressure. Should I say something or keep quiet like I always did?
“Everything is perfect.”
Aiden’s coach called the boys back into a huddle and he ran back, but not before looking back at us.
“Stay away from him,” Brody demanded.
I looked up at him, “I will.”
After they won the game everyone decided to go to the local teen café/bar in our town.
“I’ll meet you there, I wanna go home and shower,” Brody said before giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“I have to get Gable ready for bed, next time though.”
Gable fell asleep by third quarter and could barely hold his eyes open now. Brody nodded, gave Gable a pat then walked to his car. I was focused on getting Gable home that I barely noticed Aiden.
“Hey, I’m Aiden,” he introduced himself.
I nodded, “I know.”
He laughed nervously, “It seems like every girl here knows my name.”
Remember what Brody said, I reminded myself. I tried to continue walking towards Charlie’s car but Aiden stopped me. Out of reflex I flinched when he grabbed my wrist.
“I’m not gonna tell anyone what I saw,” he promised, “I just think you need to tell someone.”
I waited for a group of girls to pass by before speaking, “Look, I’m sure you’re really nice and a genuine guy but please stay out of my business okay?”
Aiden released his grip, “So you’re just gonna let him get away with whatever he wants? What, out of fear? I’m sure if you tell someone they’ll help you.”
Charlie honked her car and I signaled her to wait a moment.
“Just mind your own business okay? It’ll benefit both of us.”
With that I walked away towards Charlie’s car.