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Home / YA/TEEN / Blunt Pain / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Blunt Pain: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

59 Chapters

Part 1

MeritThe small town of Esperton had the best and worst of both worlds. It was small enough to feel safe, had quaint little boutique stores uptown, and was big enough to avoid the slums of downtown, where the trailer park was. The area was neatly divided by the railway, giving new meaning to the phrase, “from the wrong side of the tracks.” Merit had spent the last week of her summer holidays getting acquainted with her new surroundings, having moved to the quieter, safer town after her parents’ divorce. Her father, Maximilian, was busy chasing his newest secretary, an almost identical replica of her mother, albeit much younger. Her mother, Tiffany, on the other hand, hadn’t mourned her divorce for long, and the move to Esperton was so she could remarry.Merit had learned early that endings in her family were rarely mourned. They were replaced, upgraded, polished over like scratches on expensive furniture.Senior year was right around the corner, but Merit only focused on one thing, a

Part 2

AxlBy the time lunch period rolled around, he was ready to go home. School was boring, but attendance was important here. You could even be the valedictorian, but if your attendance was spotty, you were in trouble. Axl sighed as he headed to the parking lot. They never ate in the cafeteria. It was overpriced, and the portions were ridiculously small for the price.The hallways pressed in on him as he walked, packed with noise and perfume and polished smiles, all of it grating against his nerves even as people parted for him, making a path for him as they whispered rumors and lies.“Hey,” North said. He was Axl’s best friend, had been since they’d been nine, when the same oversized kid who had tried to bully him tried to take North’s lunch money as well. It was an instant reaction, and the kick Axl landed to the little asshole’s jaw had made North his sidekick.“Come on, I’m starving. Tell Aspen to move her ass,” Axl said.“She’s bringing a friend,” North said, and grinned at the look

Part 3

AxlHis last class of the day was music. It was the only class that made him feel free. He existed in school for this class every single day. The room was empty when he arrived, just like it always was. Dust floated lazily through the narrow beam of light cutting across the piano, and the familiar quiet wrapped around him like a second skin.His teacher, Mrs. Harlow, had pulled him out a week into his junior year, dragged him to this same room, and switched the lights on.“Can you play any instruments?” she asked him.“The piano and guitar.”“Sit and play something,” she said, indicating to the piano.“Classical or contemporary?” he asked her.She smirked and handed him a sheet of music. He sat down on the stool and took a deep breath. The notes of Beethoven’s concerto filled the air, and he closed his eyes. He played the music by heart, his soul contracting painfully. It was the one good thing his mother did for him, teaching him how to play.Every note tightened something in his che

Part 4

NorthAfter school, Axl sped out of the parking lot as North leaned against his car. He was waiting for Aspen before he’d take the long way home. He always dreaded going home. Their mansion was tucked away from the street, the last house on the block, and by far the biggest as well. The gates stood like silent sentries at the end of the long, winding drive, separating their world from everyone else’s with iron and money and carefully trimmed hedges.“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Aspen said, and wrapped her arms around him.“I’d hardly call two minutes as being late,” he said.“My dad has a meeting with your dad next weekend. Do you think you’ll see him?”North shook his head. “Your dad will probably fly up to meet with him. You know he can’t be bothered to come to Esperton.”“I’m sorry,” she said softly.“Don’t be. I’m so used to not seeing him, and I might not even recognize him when I do.”The words came out lighter than they felt, practiced into something that almost passed for indiffere

Part 5

AspenHer twin sisters, Storm and Rain, aged ten, were currently dancing in her room, pop music blaring in the background. Storm was using her hairbrush as a microphone, belting out the lyrics, making Aspen laugh. Rain had a scarf wrapped around her neck, pretending to walk down a runway like a model. Their laughter bounced off the walls, bright and careless, filling the small space with the kind of joy Aspen rarely allowed herself to feel out loud.She loved her sisters with everything in her, but some days, she wished she had more freedom to explore her own hobbies, meet up with her own friends, or have some time alone. It was nearly time to get the twins ready for dinner, but she let them live out their fantasy a little longer. Watching them felt like holding on to something soft before the night hardened around her again.“Okay, you were both fantastic! Now it’s time to get cleaned up for dinner,” she said, in a stern voice.“Aww, just five more minutes, Aspen,” Rain begged.“Sorr

Part 6

MeritShe either sat next to, or in front of, Axl in every single class. It was infuriating, just like he was, but she also couldn’t help being intrigued by him. Everybody gave him a wide berth, everyone except North and Aspen. Merit knew when to be invisible and just listen, and from doing just that, she discovered North was, literally, the very top of their social elite food chain. Status here moved like an invisible currency, traded in glances, seating arrangements, and who was allowed to walk beside whom without being questioned.Aspen was somewhere in the middle wealth class, lower on the rung than her new stepfamily, but she was still right at the top because of her association with North. Axl wasn’t anywhere on the rung; he didn’t feature at all. It was odd, to say the least, because their kind usually stuck together.He existed just outside the carefully drawn lines, close enough to disrupt them without ever belonging to them. Axl had quite the reputation as the local bad boy,

Part 7

AxlHe spent an hour at the gym, not wanting to overexert himself the day before a fight. He stopped at the grocery store on his way home, cracking his neck from side to side as he stood in line to pay for Peyton’s milk and the week’s groceries.The familiar burn in his muscles grounded him, a reminder that tomorrow would demand focus, not anger. Axl didn’t lose. He couldn’t afford to. The violence from his youth had turned to dedication and a quiet resolve to succeed. Now he fought for money, and his fists did the talking only in the ring.On this side of the train tracks, he didn’t feel judged. Nobody cared that he was raising a six-month-old. He wondered, briefly, if Merit had heard the rumors. She’d stopped trying to talk to him on Wednesday, and that’s when he knew for certain she had. It was a good thing, too. She was high maintenance. Axl liked Aspen because she wasn’t a typical girl. Distance was safer than disappointment.He parked his car in the parking spot next to his trai

Part 8

AxlThe weather was changing, but the day promised to be nice. Axl loaded Peyton and his grandmother in the car and headed to the outskirts of Esperton. It was their weekly ritual, and his friends knew that Saturdays were reserved for his grandmother.The drive felt slower out here, the air lighter, as if the town loosened its grip the farther they moved away from it. He could breathe easier, fill his lungs with air and clear his head. He needed the exhilaration of the fight, the pain it would bring. He needed to bleed before something inside him broke permanently.He parked his car in the parking lot, unfolded Peyton’s stroller, and grabbed the picnic basket Fiona, his grandmother, had packed. After securing Peyton in the stroller, they headed to one of the picnic sites, and Axl spread the blanket on the patch of grass near the oak tree. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering warm flecks across the blanket and Peyton’s curious hands.It was one of his favorite things to do

Part 9

NorthAxl left at midnight, and Merit followed soon after that. He could see that she was dying to ask a million questions about Peyton, their singing, and who Axl really was. He kept a stoic mask in place at school, but with North and Aspen, he could be himself.The quiet that followed felt heavier than the noise that had filled the house only minutes earlier. North sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for Aspen to finish in the bathroom. Listening to the water being shut off, he pulled himself out of his sudden slump.“What’s bothering you?” Aspen asked as she dried her hair with a towel and sat down next to him.“It’s Mom’s birthday on Tuesday. He just informed me via text that he won’t make it,” North said, the disgust in his voice evident.“Why doesn’t she just leave him?”North got to his feet and pulled the comforter down. They climbed into bed, and Aspen snuggled closer to him. He wasn’t sure how to answer that question, so he handed Aspen the remote for the televi

Part 10

AspenFrancine made omelets, and they sat at the kitchen counter to eat. The woman was a saint. Aspen liked her more than she liked her own mother, but she couldn’t help it. She was warm, honest, and loving. She treated Aspen like part of the family. Everyone did, even North’s mother.The quiet clink of cutlery against plates and the soft hum of the kitchen felt like borrowed peace, something Aspen stored away for the moments she needed to remember what normal could feel like.Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out just as North’s phone rang, and his face fell. That only told her it was his father. He stepped outside to take the call and closed the sliding door behind him. She checked her messages and smiled.Merit: When Jackson told me about Axl’s baby, I thought he was being a douche, like always. So is the baby really his?Aspen: Her name is Peyton.The bubbles appeared and Aspen glanced through the glass doors and looked at North. He had a scowl on his face.Merit

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