Beneath Dead Vines

I grabbed my lunch and sat down at the round gray lunch table that had small blue chairs surrounding it. I ran my plastic fork through the big mound of green mush. In other words, it was sadly my lunch.

I heard a clatter on the table and looked up to see my friend Bryan sitting down across from me. He had the usual blonde skater hairstyle that had the tips of his hair curl up around his solid royal blue hat. He wore his normal style of clothing, which was a t-shirt with jeans.

“Do you even know what you’re eating?” he asked me with a smirk.

“Not a clue,” I muttered.

He chuckled at me then took a bite of his cheeseburger. As he pulled his lips away from it, mustard and ketchup dripped down onto his tray. I smirked then glanced back down at the mush. My stomach could not even handle the nasty smell, let alone taking a bite of it.

“Hey Eric, Shelby, Alice, we are over here!” I heard Bryan call out.

They all brought their food and gathered around the table, sitting in their custom seats. Alice sat between Eric and me while Shelby sat next to Bryan.

“Hey, what’s up, Man?” Eric gestured toward Bryan.

“Nothing much, Dude.” He replied.

“Uh…Ariel, what are you eating?” Shelby asked me.

Bryan started laughing then said, “She doesn’t know.”

I smirked, “Want a bite, Shelbs?”

“Even though that looks really delicious…I’ll have to pass,” she said with a disgusted look as she glanced down at it.

“Alice, what about you?”

“You gotta be shittin me. No way in hell am I eating that stuff.”

Bryan stood up then held his right arm high and tightened his muscles. “I’ll do it since I am the tough one here.”

I shrugged,” Go ahead.”

He reached across the table and grabbed a spoonful of the green mush then shoved it into his mouth. Instantly his face started losing color and his nose scrunched up in disgust. He spit it out at the floor and stuck his tongue out.

“What the hell?” he yelled.

We all burst out laughing at him. There was a moment of silence throughout the room and we all glanced at each other, feeling everyone’s eyes on us then they all started laughing along as they found out what had just happened.

“Jesus! That’s stuff isn’t edible!”

I reached for my milk carton, which was hard since my eyes were filled with tears from laughing so hard, and then tossed it to him. He caught it, chugged it with eagerness, and then crushed it. After he threw it for a long shot into the garbage, he sat back down and sighed in relief. Shelby was still giggling and the rest of us had a big smile on.

“So how was it, tough guy?” I asked.

“Shut up, Ariel.” He told me. I chuckled and nodded.

We all sat in silence staring down at the green mush. I could’ve sworn that it was breathing. Whoever made the concoction was probably an evil scientist disguised as a school cook.

“Hey guys, you know we should go on a trip or something.” Eric said, breaking the silence.

“Like a camping trip or what?” Bryan asked.

“Yeah, since school is almost over,” Eric replied.

I shrugged, “Sure why not?”

“I’m not a big camping person…” Shelby complained.

“Aw, come on you big chicken.” Alice said.

“I’m not a chicken!” She defended herself.

“Then let’s go!” Bryan shouted, loud enough for the room to give a short glance to us once again.

“What about you, Ariel? Are you in?” Alice asked me.

“Sounds like fun. I’m in if you guys are.” I said then looked at Shelby. “Are you coming?”

“I don’t like camping though.”

“Hey, if you get scared Bryan can protect you.” I said with a small laugh.

She and Bryan both blushed at that and looked down at the table, which made Eric and Alice both laugh. Bryan looked up then said, “Hey, shut up you two. Eric will do the same for you Alice.” Now it was Eric and Alice’s turn to blush and look away, which left me laughing alone.

“Hey, why don’t you bring a guy, Ariel?” Shelby asked.

I shook my head, “Nah, I’m ok.”

“It’s been two years, you know?” Eric asked softly.

“Yeah… I know.” I replied in a faint whisper.

My boyfriend Scott had gotten killed in a car accident two years back. After him and I got into a fight. The last thing I had said to him was to go away. I couldn’t forgive myself for what happened, so I kept myself closed.

“Ariel.” I saw a hand moving in front of my face.

“Hmm?”

“Find someone, ok?”

I shook my head and was relieved to hear the bell ring. I got up and grabbed my bag before quickly heading off to my last class. It was government, so I would just space out through it and that’s exactly what I did.

I was the last to walk out of class as usual because I was never in a hurry. I walked down the hall toward the back of the school. After I pushed through the large blue doors, I slowly trudged to the football field. It was shorter to cut through it and take the back roads to my house.

There was a group of boys out playing football with each other having a great time. They would yell out hike and one kid missed every ball thrown to him. I laughed at myself every time one of them tripped before they could catch the pass thrown to them. The group would give them a hard time then continue the game.

I decided it would be better if I left now, before they saw me watching and thought something like most boys did. So, I began walking past them and that’s when I heard a “Heads”.

As you may know, when you hear heads, you are supposed to look up and that’s what I did. Little did I know that one of the football players was heading right at me.

I pushed out my arms, ready to catch the ball, until someone tackled me to the ground. The ball thudded to the floor by my head and rolled off to the side. The guy on me wasn’t fat because I could breathe with him on me, but I still let out a thankful breath when he got off me.

He stood over me and held out a hand with a smile. He had straight dark brown hair that grew a little past his ears and his bangs were brushed to one side, barely covering his light blue eye. He wore a navy shirt that was tight against his skin and gave away his toned muscles. He also had a pair of black jeans that hung loosely around his waist with a belt that wasn’t tightened to help hold them up.

I grabbed his hand and he easily pulled me back up to my feet. I glanced down at my blue jeans and saw the new grass stains. I bent down slightly and wiped off the remaining blades of grass that refused to fall off by themselves. That’s when I noticed how much taller he was compared to me. He stood above me at least three or four inches taller.

“Sorry about that.” He said with a nervous laugh.

I shook my head and smiled. “It’s ok. I’m used to getting tackled.”

He caught my sarcasm then decided to change the subject. “My name is Chris.”

I smirked then picked up the football and handed it to him. “Your friends are waiting.”

“They can wait till I get your name.” he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes with a smirk then said, “Ariel.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ariel.”

“Ditto.”

He threw the football back to his friend’s then turned toward me. “Well…since school is over it seems you are walking home so do you want a ride?”

I shook my head, “Thanks for the offer, but I prefer walking.”

He picked up my backpack then threw it around his shoulder. “Then can I walk you home?”

I smiled then gently pulled my backpack from his grasp. “How about a rain check?”

He smiled back slowly, making sure not to show the disappointment he felt then said, “See you around.”

I nodded then turned around and began walking home. It would’ve been a lot faster for me to drive, but since the car accident, I only rode in them when needed. No one else knew about my slight phobia because to me it was a dumb thing to be afraid of.
When I got home, I was greeted by my mother. She stood in front of me with her big goofy smile. I was the same height as my mom and had her blue eyes, but instead of having blonde hair like her, I had brown. Many people thought we looked alike, but I didn’t see it.

“How was your day?” she asked while grabbing my backpack from my back and setting it down by the door.

“Besides being tackled out of the way of a football…Pretty boring.”

She let out a small laugh, “You were tackled? By who?”

“Some guy named Chris.” I replied with a shrug.

“Was he hot?” My mom asked with a grin.

“Really, Mom,” I asked with a laugh.

“Alright, alright. I have to work late tonight so…there is left over Chinese in the fridge.” She told me with a sad smile.

“Alright, Mom. Have fun at work.” I said.

She nodded then kissed my forehead and walked out the door. I watched her pull out of the drive-way then locked the door and headed into the living room.

My dad left when I was little so I never really had much of a memory for him. Since he decided to have nothing to do with us, my mom had to work more hours than usual so we had money. I spent most nights alone doing homework and watching TV.

Just as I was about to turn on the TV, the doorbell rang. I sighed in irritation then walked to the door and opened it. Alice stood in the doorway with her black hair in a ponytail and tears streaming out of her brown eyes. She had a tissue in one of her hands and used the other to wipe the tears off her freckled cheeks.

“What’s wrong, Alice? Come in.” I said quickly while pulling her into my house.

“He’s drunk again…” she muttered.

I instantly knew she was talking about her dad. He was an alcoholic and normally beat Alice. Her mom was too stupid to leave his ass, but then again, she was never beaten. She knew what was going on. Unfortunately, she refused to admit it was really happening. Alice just wasn't safe at home.

“Did he…-“

She nodded then lifted her shirt up over her stomach. There was another fresh bruise over the previous one. It was as large as a softball and looked painful. It wasn't a handprint though. It was round which meant he hit her with an object.

I told her to sit down on the couch then left and walked into the kitchen. I maneuvered around the kitchen table and grabbed a zip block bag from the cabinet. Then I opened the freezer and filled the bag full of ice. I walked back into the living room and gave it to her with a sad smile.

She set it down on her stomach and let out a staggering breath from the icy cold touch. She nodded her thanks then closed her eyes.

“You can stay the night again if you want.” I said softly. “My mom won’t mind.”

“I’d really like to…one of these days he might finish me off…”

“You really need to tell someone, Ali.” I stated.

“I don’t want to hurt my mom. You know she loves him and I can’t take that away from her.”

“Ali, if you don’t tell someone then I’m going to have to kick his ass. You do know that right?”

“Air, don’t make me laugh. It really hurts.” She said with a silent chuckle.

I sighed, “Have you told Eric?”

She looked at me for a second then averted her eyes and shook her head. “He would kill him.”

“Maybe your dad needs an ass-kicking.”

“Please, Air? Can we drop this subject?”

I looked at her then nodded. I’d get him back for all the pain he put her through. It wasn’t right how he acted. She would make the smallest and simplest mistakes and hit her. One time he beat her so bad that she was in the hospital for a week with a broken arm, broken ribs and bruises everywhere. No one believed her because he was a cop and had the upper hand of the battle. In the end it was issued as an accidental fall down the stairs. So she refused to tell anyone else after she told me.

He was more drunk than sober and always hit her till she bruised and sometimes bled. It seemed like a sick game to him. Kind of like a spy game and if people found out about him beating her he would lose. He didn't want everyone knowing about any of it and he knew that if he kept it up, she would keep her mouth shut.

She would come over each time and stay at my house till she had to go home for clothes or something. When she came over each time her emotion over the subject seemed less caring. She was beginning to give up.

“Do you want some Chinese?” I offered. “There are left-over’s and I can warm it up.”

“What are you having?” she asked.

“There’s enough for the both of us, Ali. So do you want some?”

She smiled at me then nodded.

I got up and walked into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled out the left-over sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. I stuck them into the microwave and warmed them up. Once they were done, I pulled them out and evenly distributed it all onto two separate plates.

I grabbed a couple forks then walked out with our dinner. Alice was laying down on her back, so I set it on her stomach to avoid her moving around and hurting herself even more. We both began eating in silence and thought about the same thing. How much longer could she handle it?

The rest of the night I did my homework and she watched TV, dozing off every once in a while. We didn’t talk because we knew that somehow the conversation would end up being about her father. At about 10:30 P.M. Alice had fallen into a deep sleep and my mom walked through the door.

“Why’s Alice here?” she whispered, making sure not to wake her up.

“She came over to help me with homework.” I lied.

My mom mouthed an “O” then trudged into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

I walked into my room and grabbed the light blue blanket off my bed all the while with Alice’s dad’s image in my head. His round chubby face, greasy black hair that was beginning to fall off. His blood shot brown eyes and his yellow stained teeth that grew visible with his smirk. The smirk he had that said “I’m the boss and what I say goes”.

I had met him once, but it was only a glance. One glance that would burn in my mind till he had gotten what he deserved. I could feel the anger rising in my chest, so I quickly shook the thought out of my mind. I refused to punch a hole in the wall and give him the satisfaction of a broken hand.

I threw my blanket over my shoulder and walked back into the living room to cover Alice with it. She looked so peaceful for the time being. I decided to sleep on the floor beside the couch in case she woke up from a nightmare and needed me. It wasn’t unusual for her to have nightmares every time she slept. In fact, I expected her to have them.

After a few minutes of thinking, I was no longer able to keep my eyes open and sleep took over. When I woke up, my blanket was on me and Alice was nowhere in sight. She never stayed till morning, only until she knew her dad was passed out from drinking so much.