Opposites Attract

It was five o clock on Friday night. I had been cooped up in my room since coming home from school earlier today. My father was on one of his angry drunk rampages. It was always better to stay out of his way when he was in one of these moods. Unfortunately, I had learned my lesson the hard way from past experiences.

I clutched tightly onto the pillow between my hands, wincing as I heard a loud shattering noise coming from the hallway, followed by a slur of colorful curse words. My mind kept replaying the scene of when I got home from school.

I cautiously unlocked the door to my apartment, peering my head around the corner in quiet curiosity at the silent house. Usually my dad had the television blaring some type of sporting event twenty four seven, so it was very unusual for the apartment to be this quiet. This was usually not a good sign. This meant my father had either disappeared temporarily for god knows how long again, or I had done something to royally piss him off.

As quietly as I could, I slipped in past the doorway, pushing the door shut gently behind me as I made my way inside. Using the ends of my feet, I tentatively removed the old pink flip flops off of my feet. If I was quiet enough, he wouldn’t even know I was home. If luck was on my side, dad would just be passed out on the couch, sleeping away the day.

There was a sudden creak of protest against the floorboards, signaling someone was indeed in the living room moving around.

My face paled instantly at the innocent sound. I felt as if I was going to hurl what minimal lunch I ate back up again.

Dad was home.

His heavy footsteps could be heard stomping closer and closer to where I was in the doorway. I was stuck, glued to my spot. There was no way I could try to outrun him and make a break for it to my room. He may be drunk or high all of the time, but he was still faster than me thanks to his freakishly long legs.

There was also no way for me to get to the bathroom in time. Every room that I could try to escape too was past the living room.

“Abigail,” my father called out in a sickeningly sweet voice. His tone was calm. “Is that you?”

I swallowed a large lump down my throat, my forehead beginning to break 0ut in a sweat. Maybe if I ignored him completely he would end up just letting me be.

A head of red hair, similar to my own, popped around the corner. This man before me had my same exact eyes and nose. The same freckles were splayed on display in the same spots as my own. His stature was almost identical to my own, except I had more womanly curves. In fact, I was often told that I got all of my looks from the stranger peering down upon me, flames ignited in his bloodshot eyes, well except for my height. Though I wasn’t super short, I measured at 5’7 thanks to my mother’s genes. How I ended up getting most of my traits from my father, I will never know.

His lips turned up into a small smirk as he saw me almost cowering against the doorway in fear. “Hello my dear,” he murmured softly before making his way completely around the corner. “Did you have a good day at school?”

I stared at him cautiously, my eyes wide, as I slowly nodded my head in response to his question. I didn’t trust my voice enough to speak right now. If I showed him any sign of fear, that would only anger him even more. In my father’s own words, no child should ever fear their own parent,

His cheshire smirk stayed in place as I answered him, before he slowly started taking steps towards me. “That’s good to hear sweetheart. Do you care to hear about how your daddy’s day was?”

I once again nodded slowly. With each step he continued to take towards me I took one more step back. Eventually I felt the rough texture of the wood brushing up against the exposed skin of my back. Tears were beginning to build in my eyes. Why couldn’t this stupid door just swallow me whole right now?

My dad was eventually set in stone right in front of where I was huddled up. He quickly placed each of his hands on either side of me, causing me to jump out of fear. Now I really had no way to escape.

“Where’d you put it Abigail?” he spat out harshly, his eyes blazing with a fury I had never seen before. “It was here this morning in the kitchen before I fell asleep and now it’s missing!”

Alarm bells went off in my head as my legs began to shake underneath my weight. My chin wobbled pathetically as I fought back the urge to break out and cry. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about daddy. I didn’t touch anything I swear!” I squeaked out quietly.

My dad’s face contorted even more at my words, his breathing becoming more and more ragged as he tried to contain the anger building within himself.

He savagely pounded his hands against the door behind me, unhappy with the answer I gave him. The impact of his fists made the whole door shake, causing me to let out a quiet gasp of surprise at the impact. He had never gotten this angry before with me. Usually at this point he called me a few names and walked away from me.

“I know you saw the baggie!” he exclaimed wildly, his hands ferociously grabbing onto my shoulders as he began shaking me. “Be honest! Did you decide to snort it yourself?”

Tears were brimming over my eyes as his fingernails dug themselves into my skin. There would definitely be some sort of marks left behind from this.

“I don’t know!” I sobbed out, not being able to hold it back any longer. “I don’t know dad! Just please stop! Please! You’re hurting me!” I exclaimed out hysterically, hoping that maybe somehow I would be able to get through to him.

That seemed to do the trick, because realization instantly crossed over his face. He quickly dropped his hands down to his sides as the flames finally distinguished in his fiery eyes.
I stood there, quickly wrapping my arms around where the hand prints were indebted into my skin. Tears were still silently flowing down my face as my father gave me a sad look.

“Abby, i-I’m so sorry,” he whispered out, his voice filled deep with anguish. I know he didn’t mean any of his actions, but the fact is he still did. He laid his hands on me when he promised me before he would never do such a thing. He promised he would never hurt me in that way, that he would beat up any guy if they laid a hand on me the way he had.

My father really had become a monster over the past few years. I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want realization to hit me this way, but I couldn’t resist the truth anymore.

Dad tried to reach out his hands towards me, the same look of anguish was still plastered onto his face. I couldn’t help but automatically flinch away from his touch, my eyes going wide in fear again.

His face showed devastation at my reaction to him, before it quickly changed into a hard look again.

“Go to your room Abigail. Our discussion is over,” he commanded, his voice sounding agitated.

There was no way he was going to tell me this command twice. Without making so much as any eye contact with him, I quickly ran past him and to where my room was located just past the living room. When I reached the safety of my bedroom I hastily turned around and shut my door, thanking the lord that there was a lock placed on it. After hearing the lock click into place, I slowly walked over to my bed and sat down on it, gripping my pillow tightly, and listened for any noise coming from outside the safety of my walls.

And that’s how I had stayed ever since.

I had thought about possibly calling Max. He had always told me to call him whenever I needed him around. I just didn’t really want to bug him on a Friday night. Plus, my father was outside in the living room still awake. How would I manage to sneak past him?

The tiny, seek, black cell phone sat inches away from me on my bed. It was almost as if the inanimate object was begging for me to use it. To break out of this place for a night. To actually call Max for once when I really needed him.

Biting harshly down onto my lip, I shakily reached out and grabbed the foreign object, bringing it slowly closer to my face so I could see the screen. It instantly lit up as I swiped to the side, showing the main menu. My finger found the button that had all my contacts underneath it and tapped lightly on it. Slowly I scrolled through my short list until I found Max’s name. I stared at the screen for a few more minutes before deciding it wouldn’t really hurt if I at least tried. At least then he couldn’t tell me I never called him when I needed him.

Deciding It was now or never, I tapped on Max’s name before bringing my phone up to my ear. Instantly I heard ringing come from the other end. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted Max to actually pick up or not. Part of me knew that if he saw the bruises forming on the sides of my arms that he’d be furious. The other part of me wanted him to know, to come and take me away for the night so I could forget about my shitty home life.

It was on the fourth ring now, and I was just about to give up when all of a sudden I heard a familiar voice answer the phone. Loud music could be heard playing in the background. Max was practically shouting into my ear just so I could hear him over all of the noise.

“Abigail?” he yelled questionably, making me wince and pull the phone back away from my ear slightly, not wanting to go deaf from a phone call. “What’s up?”

My eyes began to water as I spoke back into the phone. “Max,” I whispered pathetically, keeping my voice steady. “I need you. I need to get out of this apartment.”

Max went silent on the other line. I could hear him muttering to someone that was there with him. Another familiar voice could be heard talking back to Max before there was a slight shuffling sound. It went silent once again for a few seconds before an out of breath Max could be heard speaking again.

“Sorry sweetheart, I couldn’t hear you inside,” he muttered apologetically. “This party is fucking raging tonight. What were you saying before?”

I bit down hard on my lip as Max spoke. I felt guilty for pulling him away from a good party. Especially if he was there with all of his friends.

“Oh I was just calling to see if you wanted to hang out tonight,” I backtracked, trying to resist the urge to sniffle back my sobs. If I did that he would know I was lying. I wasn’t going to ruin his night. “But that’s okay. I’ll let you get going.”

“Cut the shit Abby,” he instantly shot back, surprising me. “You never call me on a Friday night. Now before you try and lie to me again, you can save it until I get to your place. Ronnie and I are like a block away, so be ready to go in five minutes.” I then heard the line go dead on his end.

My mouth was hung open in shock as I sat there with the phone still frozen to my ear. I wasn’t sure if I was more surprised by the fact by Max’s forcefulness, or by the fact that Ronnie Radke was with him to come and pick me up. Ronnie seemed like a nice guy, but I didn’t want him to know about my home life. He’d probably just laugh at my situation or make fun of me like half of the school already did.

Knowing however that Max wouldn’t bluff about showing up, I instantly sprang into action. I grabbed a duffle bag from my closet and instantly began filling it up with necessities that would last me a few days. I threw in various shorts, my wallet, pants, shirts, along with some clean underwear to change into. My eyes shot over to my dresser and I rushed over there, throwing in my stick of deodorant and some makeup that would get me by for the time being.

Not knowing how much time I had left, I cautiously put my head up against the door, listening for any sign of movement from outside.

Thankfully, the apartment was silent, signaling my father had either left or he had passed out on the couch.

Quietly I unlocked my door and slowly pushed it open, making sure it didn’t make a sound in case my father were home. When I had it pushed open far enough where I could get through, I dashed quickly to the bathroom. My eyes roamed around the grungy counter, before I spotted my purple toothbrush lying by my toothpaste. I grabbed both and tossed it in carelessly before turning to the shower and doing the same with my shampoo, body wash, and razor.

Once I had somehow managed to stuff everything I could possibly need into the bag, I hastily zipped it back up, before carefully opening the bathroom door. Tip-toeing my way to the living room, I saw my father passed out on the sofa. His face was so relaxed in his sleep. He looked so innocent and young. He looked like how I remembered he was when my mom was still alive.

Even though I shouldn’t have, I walked into the kitchen, searching for a pad of paper and a pen. Both were by their usual spots on the side counter by the fridge. I quickly scribbled him a note, telling him not to worry, that I would be staying with a friend for a few days and that if he needed anything to give me a call. Hurriedly, I ripped the paper from the pad, laying it gingerly on the counter. After gathering my bag once again, I took one last look at the messy apartment, my gaze sadly going back to my father. I hated doing this to him, but he needed to learn that his behavior was unacceptable. That he wasn’t the only one still mourning my mother’s death.

I quickly shook the depressing thoughts away as I gently closed the apartment door, locking it with the single key I kept on me at all times.

I felt my phone beginning to vibrate in the pocket of my denim shorts. Knowing that Max and Ronnie were most likely here, I swiftly began to head down the stairs. Fortunately for me, I only lived on the third floor of the building, so I never had to go up and down to many flights.

Skipping steps two at a time, I finally made it to the entry way of the building. My eyes searched out the large window, seeing two figures dressed in all black standing outside, smoking a cigarette. One boy had a phone pressed tightly up to his ear and a relieved smile made its way on my face when I realized it was Max.

I couldn’t believe he had actually left a party to come and get me.

Hs eyes were looking around the area, worriedly, and he took a hasty puff of his cigarette, holding the smoke in a few seconds before exhaling it out of his mouth. He still had his phone up to his ear before his eyes finally met my own in the building, a look of relief instantly washing over his face.

Without thinking twice I bolted out of the apartment, and to where Max was standing, not caring if Ronnie saw me acting like an idiot or not. Once Max saw my figure darting towards him, he automatically opened up his arms to me, allowing my small body to crash into his own lanky form.

“It’s nice to see you too Abs,” he chuckled out quietly as he wrapped his wiry, but strong arms around my torso, returning my hug.

My body relaxed into his once I was in Max’s hold. Instantly the scent of alcohol mixed with cheap cologne and tobacco filled my nose, making my body unwind. Max was my safe haven, my escape from the world.

Ronnie cleared his throat loudly, making me jump in reaction to the sudden noise. I hesitantly pulled away from Max’s grip around me, before turning to look at where Ronnie was standing.

He looked good tonight. He was wearing his usual dark skinny jeans along with a black band shirt. His outfit was complete with a leather jacket, making him claim that bad boy aura. The long and dark straight locks that covered his head was styled to perfection, having that I just rolled out of bed look. Even his eyes were smudged all around the edges with black eyeliner, making his hard chocolate eyes pop out even more.

His gaze remained on my bare arms, making my eyes go wide in realization. I had meant to grab a sweatshirt to cover the evidence up before I left, knowing the darkening bruises would cause more trouble than they were worth.

“What the hell happened to your arms?” he exclaimed loudly, his voice deep with built up anger.

My eyes widened as Ronnie shot me a fuming look, waiting expectedly for an answer.

Max looked between Ronnie and I seemingly confused, before he too looked down at my pale skin. There was no way you could deny the hand shaped marks that wrapped around my thin, porcelain colored arm. Instantly his face contorted into one of pure rage, matching Ronnie’s own anger.

“You’re dad?” he questioned in an eerily, calm voice, his tone not matching his facial expression at all.

My face immediately heated up in embarrassment as I quickly looked between the two of them. This wasn’t how I wanted Max to find out, nonetheless Ronnie. I wanted to talk too Max on my own time, when we were far away from where we lived. My chin began shake uneasily as water began to build up in my eyes. “I don’t know what happened,” I murmured In a jittery voice, my eyes darting down to study my shoes as if they were the most interesting objects on the planet. “I come home from school and he’s just waiting for me, and I knew something was wrong. It was quiet, so quiet,” I muttered in distress as I once again relieved the memory. The water finally broke past my eyes and I began to sniffle as I continued talking. “And, and he started spitting out some nonsense about me snorting his cocaine and then before I know it his hands are on me, they’re shaking me and he doesn’t snap out of it until I say something to him.”

Both boys were quiet as I told them the story. Hesitantly, I brought my watery eyes to look up at the two boys standing before me. They were both tense in their spots. Ronnie’s hand was clenched tightly into a fist, looking ready to go and beat the shit out of somebody. Max’s green orbs were alit with flames as I shakily finished my story. “And then he told me to go too my room for the rest of the night, which is when I called you.”

It remained silent as I finished. The tension was so thick in the air, you probably couldn’t even cut through it with a knife.

“Please don’t do anything tonight about it,” I pleaded when neither of them said anything. “I just want to forget about it all.”

Max’s eyes softened slightly. “Give me your key Abigail,” he demanded in a soft, dangerous tone.

Fear went through me at Max’s request and I carefully took a step back. “Max, no, he, he didn’t mean too!”

Max squinted his eyes into a glare and took a step towards me, his tall stature towering over my own, shorter one. “I’m just going to have a talk with him, now hand over your key Abby,” he demanded once again. He held out his hand expectedly as he waited for me to listen to him.

I attempted to take another step back away from him only to run into what felt like a hard wall. I speedily whipped my head to the side to see that I had backed up into Ronnie’s chest. Heat instantly covered my face at the contact my body made with his own. Before I could step away from him his strong arms gently grabbed me and held me against him. Confused as to what he was doing, I began to try and struggle out of his iron grip. “Let me go!” I pleaded as I began to squirm in his arms.

Ronnie just ignored me and looked towards Max. He inclined his head to where I was stuck. Through my protesting Max hastily made his way over to where I was, sticking his hand in my right front pocket while quickly pulling out a gold key.

Tears began to instantly fall down my face as I realized what he was doing. “Don’t you dare Maxwell!” I exclaimed loudly as Ronnie’s grip remained the same. “Just let him be!”

Max sent me a sad look before shaking his head. “I’m sorry Abs, but I can’t let him get away with this. Not this time. He’s not going to hurt you again this way. I’ve seen him break you down too many times. This was crossing the line. What if he would’ve done something worse! And he will, next time unless I have something to say about it!”

At Max’s statement I stopped fighting against Ronnie. My legs were turning to jello as broken sobs began to escape from me. He was right. Max was right. It could’ve been a lot worse than it was. The worst part was that my father didn’t even know what he was doing, that he was hurting me, until I snapped him out of his fit of rage.

My legs felt as if they were giving out beneath me. Ronnie noticed this and carefully tugged me back up. “Whoa there,” he murmured quietly, carefully turning me around so I was crying into his chest. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, preventing me from sinking down to the ground. His scent was almost similar to Max’s, but for some reason smelled a thousand times better. The feeling of his leather jacket against my cheek was almost comforting in a strange way.

“Dude go,” Ronnie’s voice rumbled quietly over the sound of my cries. “I’ll stay here with her.”

I could sense Max being torn between going upstairs and leaving me alone with his friend. I wasn’t sure why Ronnie was even being so kind to me. I had just met him five days ago and now I was crying on him, surely getting snot everywhere on his dark shirt.

Finally Max spoke out. “Don’t you dare leave her alone out here Radke,” he threatened before I heard the door to the building open, letting me know Max had gone inside.

I pushed my face deeper into Ronnie’s chest, not caring if I was embarrassing myself anymore. He had probably put the pieces together from Max’s exclamation. If he didn’t really want me by him he could have pushed me away, or worse, left me standing out here alone.

“Don’t worry Abby,” he murmured gently into my ear, his lips brushing up against it as he pulled me closer to him. “I got you.”

And that’s when I knew I was going to end up falling for Ronnie Radke.