"Allison, I am so so sorry. I never should have pushed you to do something you obviously didn't want to. I'm so sorry," Nellie said, comforting me as I cried ceaselessly in the bathroom.
I tried to stop crying but remembering the fact that Derris called me a bitch brought tears to my eyes again and I found the tears coming even more.
It didn't even bother me that much that he poured my yoghurt on me. What hurt me the most was his behavior. The way he looked at me and spoke to me. Like I was a piece of garbage.
It was so different from how he looked at me last week and that hurt me to the core.
All because I ruined his shirt...
"Allison, I'm sorry. Derris is such a douchebag," Nellie said obviously still trying to comfort me but as silly as I was, I was quick to jump to his defense.
"It wasn't his fault, Nellie. It was mine. I spilled the yoghurt on his shirt so he had every right to be mad," I murmured.
"Allison! You're not seriously blaming yourself, are you?" Nellie exclaimed.
"It was my fault, Nellie. Maybe if I was normal, I wouldn't have yelled and slipped…"
"Allison! Of course you're normal! You were just scared and nervous. And even if you poured yoghurt on his shirt, he had no right to do what he did."
"He did have a right, Nel. Just look, can we stop talking about it? I just want to forget that this nightmare even happened."
At that moment, a girl walked into the bathroom and on seeing me, burst into laughter as she took a picture of me and disappeared into one of the stalls.
I felt my eyes start to water again as I turned to Nellie and hugged her.
My life sucks!
***
"Allison, are you sure you don't want to sleep over?" Nellie asked as we stood by the stairs that led into my house.
I sighed and said, "You're worrying too much, Nellie. It's not like I'm a baby who can't take care of herself. I'll be fine."
Her expression told me she didn't believe me.
"But Allie, you're already in such a bad mood. I just don't want you to get hurt even more."
"I'll be fine, Nellie. You already do so much for me but I can't just run away from my problems. This is my house too. I at least have to stay here sometime."
"But Allison-"
"Nellie, I'll be fine. Don't worry. We'll sleep over tomorrow."
"Okay. Good night, bes."
We hugged each other 'good night' and I watched as she walked away and soon disappeared around the corner.
Steeling myself for whatever came next, I gingerly climbed up the short steps and slowly opened the door, making sure not to make a sound.
I waded through the dark towards the stairs that led to my room on the tip of my toes, being careful not to make a sound. Just when my hand gripped the banister, the room was suddenly illuminated and I found myself shrieking as I turned back to see my dad seated on the sofa, a bottle in hand.
How did I not notice he was there or even smell the booze? I guess I was so used to the smell now that it didn't even bother me again.
Back to my dad, he sat on the chair, staring at me through cloudy eyes that had once resonated love but were now filled with anger and resentment, saying nothing. He brought the bottle in his hand to his lips and took a large gulp.
"Where have you been?" he asked at last.
"At Nellie's," I whispered, scared out of my mind.
"Open your mouth when I talk to you, bitch!" he barked and I shook.
"I was at Nellie's," I answered in a shaky but audible voice.
"Up until this time? Are you lying to me, Allison? Are you?!" he barked.
"No, I'm not. I was at Nellie's place. She escorted me home."
He was silent as he stared at me with an unreadable look in his eyes. I didn't know what to think.
All of a sudden, he yelled "You little slut!"
He rose from the chair and in less than two seconds, he was in front of me, huffing angrily.
I was scared out of my mind as I didn't know what he was planning on doing but I knew he wouldn't hit me. He could hurt me with his words but he never hit me. The one time he did hit me, he had been so remorseful.
As I cried in pain, it was as though the drunken haze he was in cleared and he realized what he'd done. He was sober and remorseful for days and for a while, it was like the old days again but just as quickly as it started, it ended and things went back to the way they were but he never hit me again. It served to reassure me that my dad was still inside there somewhere.
"I came back from work, dog-tired, expecting to find food at home but I didn't meet you at home. Now you come sneaking in at nine o'clock like a damn burglar and you have the audacity to say you were at Nellie's. You know you were at your little boyfriend's house like the slut that you are, you stupid little bitch!"
My eyes watered and I choked back a sob as I stared down, his words echoing in my head.
"Now, get your little ass in the kitchen and get me some food before I lose it with you," he said and I was quick to hurry to the kitchen.
I cleaned my tears and hurriedly made dinner; spaghetti and meatballs. I was careful about each little detail as I wanted to avoid another round of insults and name-calling.
Once the meal was done, I dished his portion onto a plate, placed it on a tray and served him.
I could my heart rate increase as I watched take a spoonful of the meal.
"Please like it. Please like it," I chanted inwardly.
He savoured the food in his mouth, swallowed it before saying, "A bit too salty for my liking but it's edible."
I released a huge breath and muttered a prayer to God in thanks. While he ate, I stood beside him quietly waiting until he was done so I could clean the place up.
Halfway through his meal, he turned to me and said, "Where's your food?"
"I haven't served it yet."
"Well what are you waiting? Get in the kitchen, get your food and bring it in here!"
"Okay sir," I answered, trying not to show my surprise.
I did as he said and for the first time in a long time, I found myself eating dinner with my dad. Most times, I just stood quietly beside him like a maid while he ate. He said he found it disrespectful for us to be eating at the same time. But certain times, he made exceptions, just like now.
We ate dinner in silence and finished up at about the same time. I cleared the table of the dishes and took them to the kitchen to be washed.
Maybe due to my happiness at what just happened or due to some cruel work of date, while washing the dishes, one of them slipped from my hand and fell to the floor, breaking as it did.
"What is going on? What's all that racket?" I heard my dad ask from the living room as I heard his large footsteps across the floor heading towards the kitchen.
Before I could react, he was in the kitchen, his huge figure looming over me. His eyes darted to the broken dish on the floor and back to me. I felt like vaporizing into nothing at that point.
"What did you do?" he asked slowly.
"I-I'm s-sorry. I was washing and the p-plate slipped..."
"Shut up!" he yelled.
I gulped and did as he said.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Is it so hard for you to do anything right? Is it? Why do you have to be such a clumsy bitch? Uh, Allison? Why? Your boyfriend must be either blind or as stupid as you are to have you as his girlfriend!
If you don't get rid of that mess on the floor, you'll have only yourself to blame. Stupid piece of shit!"
I watched him go with tears in my eyes. Struggling to hold back my sobs, I got a broom and a dustpan and swept up the pieces of the broken dish. With shaky hands and a shattered heart, I did the rest of the dishes before slipping noiselessly up the stairs to my room.
Without bothering to turn on the light or change out of my clothes, I flopped down on the bed and buried my head into my pillow and cried like never before.
"Why me? Why do bad things always have to happen to me? Am I cursed or what?" I asked myself as my mind went back to a time when things were different.
Once upon a time, things weren't like this. Once upon a time, I had a father who loved me, a mom who cherished and siblings who adored me and I them.
My siblings, Gabriel and Gabrielle, who happened to be twins, were just about the cutest duo in the world and I loved them. When they came, it was as though nothing could ever go wrong again in our family.
I guess that's why when they died, with them went all the joy and love they'd brought with them.
Brie and Gabe died in a car crash on their way home from a birthday party when a drunk driver ran into the car they were in.
After that, everything just felt apart. My once cheerful mom, Joy gradually became a recluse shutting everyone out including my dad and I. Everything only grew worse after she disappeared.
My dad and I haven't heard from her since then.
As for my dad, James, well, there's only so much a man can take. He wasn't done mourning Brie and Gabe yet when my mom disappeared and I guess that was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
He started drinking and became hateful and spiteful to everyone including me. I think he kinda blames me for my mom leaving. She probably couldn't handle seeing a carbon copy of the two children she'd lost, since I and the twins looked so alike, so she left.
My dad and I used to be so close but things changed.
I wish they never did. I wish Brie and Gabe never went to that stupid party in the first place. I wish Mom never left so Dad would never have taken to the bottle in the first place. I wish I could be perfect. I wish I was prettier. I wish... I wish for a lot of things but wishes aren't horses or even beggars would want a ride.
Curling into a ball, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep...
The next day started out like any other day. I woke up early, got ready for school, made breakfast for my dad who didn't apologise for what happened yesternight (then again, no surprise there), I met up with Nellie and we walked to school together. Everything was going great but all that went awry once we got to school. As I walked down the hallway with Nellie by my side, I could feel everyone's eyes on me. The reason behind that was quite obvious. It'd only been a day since the incident with Derris so as expected, everyone was pointing at me and murmuring. Not used to that kind of attention, I drew closer to Nellie who, understanding my predicament, patted my hand reassuringly. I let out a sigh of relief as we went into the homeroom which was mostly empty, except for a few people reading. We walked to our seats which happened to be beside each other and sat. "So Allie, how are you doing?" Nellie asked while we waited. "I don't know what
After getting over my excitement about meeting a celebrity who didn't hate my guts, I snuck into the girls locker room and after taking a super long shower and managing to get as much glitter, cheese and chocolate off me as possible, I changed into my gym clothes and met up with Nellie at her locker. "Oh my gosh, Allison, I was so worried about you. I heard what happened in class. I'm so sorry," she pulled me into a tight hug. "It's okay, Nel. I'm fine," I shrugged when she pulled away. "No it's not. Derris is such a prick. Can you believe he uploaded the video online?" "Really? He did?" I pouted, feeling a part of my heart shatter into pieces. Nellie nodded and brought out her phone. She tapped a few things and soon I found myself looking at a video of chocolate, cheese and glitter being poured on me. Worse enough, the video was trending. Sighing sadly, I handed Nellie's phone back to her and whimpered. "Why is this happening, Nellie? I didn't mean t
The bell rang signalling the end of class. Everyone poured out of the classroom, murmuring to themselves. I however, sat still on my seat wondering what I'd done to deserve this. I looked up at Derris who was still seated with Caleb and Jeremy. Nellie was already making her way towards Caleb, obviously to talk about the project but I couldn't bring myself to do it, for fear of being embarrassed again. What if he hit me? No, he couldn't do that... right? He did seem pretty pissed that we were partners so who knows? What if I tripped again and...? "Hey," a deep voice resonated beside me. I was so startled that I jumped off my seat in fright. Looking up, I felt myself flush when I realized it'd just been Max. "Oh! It's just you," I mumbled, rising from the floor. "Yeah," he said, moving a nearby seat and placing it in front of my desk. "Sorry if I scared you." "Oh, don't apologise. I was kinda zoned out so it's not your fault." "Hmm
I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, my eyes widened in fear. It was quite obvious that I was cursed. Why else would so many bad things be happening to me in a day? And judging by the look on Derris' face, my fate was obviously sealed. I chanced a glance at him and immediately looked away for fear of what I saw. The seconds seemed to drag by as I awaited my fate in Derris' hands. And just like that, he was standing in front of me, an unreadable expression on his face. On impulse, I sank to my knees and clasped my hands in front of him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll pay for it, I swear," I begged, my voice quivering as I spoke. "And just how do you plan to do that? That's a frigging two thousand dollar vase and last I heard, you were attending Ridgeway on scholarship so how exactly do you plan to get two thousand dollars?" His words were curt and sharp. I bowed my head and admitted, "I don't know." I waited f
"Oh Allison!" came the all-too familiar call, a couple of metres away from me. Holding back a frustrated groan, I slid off the stool I was seated on and sluggishly walked over to the poolside where Derris and Elaine, the girl who'd sat with Derris in Chemistry were relaxing on lounge chairs. "You called, Miss?" I said through gritted teeth. "Yeah. I would like a refill of my drink," she held up an empty cup which I was sure I just filled a minute ago. "Why?" I asked in an overly sweet voice. This was getting ridiculous as were her requests. "What do you mean 'why'? I want a refill of my drink and last I checked, you were here to help, weren't you?" "Yes, to help him. Not you!" I retorted, losing the politeness. "Besides, I just filled that for you. Do you have a tank in your stomach or something?" She gasped and turned to Derris. "Derris! Your maid's being mean!" Derris who hadn't been paying attention t
I was not ready to see Derris again the next day after what transpired the day before but it wasn't really up to me. It was up to him which meant that I was already at his parking spot, thirty minutes before his arrival because that was what he wanted. A part of me desperately wanted to hate Derris for what he did, like really hate him but it was literally impossible for me. I'd been in love with him since I was a little girl and a part of me still hoped that things would change and he would love me for me. I know it sounded stupid but what could I do? By the time Derris arrived in his flashy Ferrari, I was downright exhausted but I tried not to let it show as I greeted Derris a good morning and took his backpack from him. "Why's your voice so hoar... Oh!" he nodded on remembering. A part of me hoped to get an apology or something but it was not to be. "Serves you right, anyway," he shrugged, shouldering past me and heading into the school
Was it possible to love a jerk? Someone who was so mean and inconsiderate you sometimes found it hard to believe you actually loved them? If you ask me, I'd say yes. I should know too. I'm in love with the biggest jerk I know. Worse still, he doesn't love me back. After my meeting with Aria and my conversation with Nellie afterwards, I had no idea what to do concerning Derris. A part of me wanted to agree with Nellie and get rid of my feelings for him but another much larger part of me could only think of Derris defending me against Aria Charles, his own ex and a celebrity like him. And when I thought of that single act, I felt it more than made up for his earlier treatment of me. Anyway, by the next day, I was excitedly waiting for Derris at his parking spot, eager to see him again. When he hadn't arrived by the time he usually did, I became worried and thought of calling him. There had been no reported accidents so where was he? I had just made
Derris turned out to be a lot more creative than I would have ever thought because five minutes later, I was on my knees, preparing to scrub the floor with...wait for it...a toothbrush! Derris had this authoritative air hanging over him as he stood over me, a smirk forming on his lips. I glanced at the toothbrush in my hand, then at the bucket of foamy water beside me and up at him. "What exactly am I doing?" I asked, still a bit unsure. "Isn't it clear? I want you to scrub this whole lobby clean using only the toothbrush," he grinned devilishly, a clear sign that he was going to enjoy making me suffer. Once again, I glanced at the pristine floor and looked back at him confused. "What exactly do you want me to clean here? The floors are as clean as physically possible." On hearing my words, Derris frowned and furrowed his brows in thought. He left soon after which I took to mean he'd given up on punishing me but I rec