Chapter One
The first day of school is usually the hardest. For a girl, the biggest worries tend to be superficial. What to wear, how to style their hair, and which shoes will look best with their outfit. Maybe that’s why Kim always seems to feel like an outsider looking in. Her main concerns are if she’ll be tormented by the usual stares, hear the whispers as she walks by, and wondering if her junior year will be better or worse than the last.
With her alarm still going off, she sleepily walks over to her closet and begins searching through its contents. Coming across something, Kim begins to consider wearing the black pleated mini skirt her cousin, Chloe, said would look fantastic on her. She tosses it onto her unmade bed as a possibility while thinking how different it is from what she usually wears. When she sees her cousin’s purple halter top, though, her outfit starts coming together.
She sighs in defeat while pulling out Chloe’s high heel sandals.
It’s the simplest thing to slip into after that long night of turmoil, Kim thinks to herself, tears already beginning to form in her eyes.
She gazes at the mirror, her reflection not even registering through her unfocused eyes. Memories of her life, especially last night, flash though her mind, so vivid, with every image more powerful than the one before.
“No,” she whispers under her breath while shaking away her thoughts. “I’m fine. There’s nothing to think about,” Kim tells herself harshly.
She gets dressed and straightens up her room to make it look presentable. Opening her bedroom door, she tiptoes through the hallway to the bathroom, trying her best not to wake anyone up. Kim looks in the mirror, concealer in hand. She knows the black, blue, and purple bruise right underneath her left eye can’t be seen by anyone. She squeezes the bottle slightly until some make-up comes out onto the small sponge.
Kim gently applies some, flinching slightly with every nudge. After some time, it’s barely noticeable and she moves onto the mascara, eye shadow, blush, and any other products she was forced to use in the past. She then slinks down the stairs for breakfast.
As she heats the pan for pancakes and opens the fridge to get herself a drink, her mind begins to wander. Visions of a more idyllic past soar through her thoughts until one specific memory sticks in her head, forcing her to remember. It’s of a day similar to this morning, only jumping back a few years . . .
“Kimmy, can you get the plates out, please? The eggs are almost ready.”
Kim stretches out her arms and legs before placing her feet on the floor and getting up. Walking over to the cabinet, she has to stand on her tiptoes to reach them.
Her mother laughs as her daughter walks over. “You can just put them right here for me, dear.”
“You said I’d be able to reach soon,” she whines.
“All in due time.” She pats her head. “At least you can get them yourself now, right?”
The girl considers it. “Yeah, I guess, but still . . .”
An angelic smile graces the lips of her mother. “The eggs are done, Kim. Bring two plates over. Your brother’s too young to get them himself.”
She serves her daughter and the little girl grins, an eager look forming in her eye.
“Soon, dear, I’m going to teach you how to make these yourself.”
“But why do I need to learn if I have you?” she teases.
When the daughter looks over at her mother, expecting to see a smile, instead she notices all humor has left her face and is replaced by a serious look. Then her mother responds, “Just in case.”
It finally dawns on Kim that her mother knew what was coming. She knew she wouldn’t be making breakfast anymore, or even be up with them in the mornings. She knew. The words echo in her mind: Just in case.
Interrupting her thoughts, Preston quietly comes down the stairs, yawning every other step he takes. Kim uses all of her remaining strength to muster up a smile. She gets his breakfast together, pours some milk in a cup, and puts it on the table.
He looks out the window at the sound of a car pulling up the driveway.
“Chloe’s here,” he says as he rubs his eyes.
“And good morning to you, too. Your breakfast is on the table and your lunch is on the top shelf in the refrigerator,” Kim tells him as she starts walking towards the door.
“Okay.”
“Make sure you brush your teeth well, too. You don’t want to have cavities when you go to the dentist.” She grabs her back pack.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Mrs. Johnson will be here at her regular time. Be sure not to have her wait. You know how impatient she is. Oh, and put your dishes in the dishwasher when you’re done.”
“Alright.”
“Now come here.”
Kim pulls him to her and hugs him. She kisses his forehead, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he answers.
“Enjoy your first day,” she calls enthusiastically as she walks out the door.
As soon as Kim turns around, her entire demeanor changes. Her joyful disguise melts away to reveal a pitiful look showing misery and devastation. She hears the sound of her heels on the pavement until she stops to open the car door. All her cousin can do is stare.
Chloe waits patiently as Caroline gets settled.
“You wanna talk about it?” she asks.
Caroline just looks out the window with a bitter expression on her face and a single tear trickling down her rosy cheek.
“Keeping it bottled up won’t help.”
Kim whips her head around to face her cousin. “Then what do you want me to say?” she snaps, her voicing rising with every word. “That my drunk mother slapped me so hard across the face it left a bruise? That it took me ten minutes to cover it up before you couldn’t actually tell it was there? That I have to put on a huge charade for Preston just so he doesn’t think I’m giving up as much as I am?”
There’s a short pause with only Caroline’s heavy breathing before Chloe says, “If it helped, then yes.”
The rest of the ride is driven in an awkward silence. Chloe occasionally glances at a sulking Caroline who stubbornly continues to look out the window.
Once they pull into a parking spot at school, Kim quickly pulls down the mirror and tries her best to hide her emotions.
“Hey, I’m sorry to hear about last night,” Chloe attempts.
Kim looks at her, sees the sympathetic look in her eyes, and gives in.
“Thanks,” is all she can say.
“C’mon, you can tell me all about it while we walk to the benches in front of the school. We still have at least five minutes until the bell rings.”
She nods and they get out of the car.
They’re side by side and have taken a few steps when Kim can’t hold it in any longer. “My mom hit me because I was folding clothes,” she sighs.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, she came out of her bedroom after having passed out for four hours. I was folding clothes in the living room on the coffee table, when all of a sudden she starts yelling at me about it not being the right way, that I was folding them all wrong. I kept folding, assuming she’d go away like usual, but she pounded her fist on the table and started shouting louder. All it took was for me to begin to open my mouth and she slammed the side of my face with her knuckles,” she finishes, looking exhausted by the effort.
“Hun, I’m sorry to hear that. Here, sit down.” She motions to one of the wooden benches by the main entrance.
As they sit, Kim mainly leans her head on her cousin’s shoulder with Chloe’s arm around her. There’s not much conversation between the students until an unfamiliar, fiery-haired boy races into the parking lot driving a red mustang. As he pulls into a spot up front, his tires screech loudly as he suddenly steps on the brake. Many students cover their ears in clear annoyance, yet Kim can’t help but be intrigued by his obnoxious arrival. He steps out of the car, and when he notices people staring he smirks, arrogance reigning from him like heat from the sun.
He cups his hands around his mouth. “By order of the man himself, this spot is now declared Tyler Dalton’s. I repeat, this is now Tyler Dalton’s parking spot.”
“Who does this guy think he is?” Chloe asks her as she rolls her eyes.
“I don’t know,” she sighs.
Kim’s eyes don’t leave Tyler as he walks to the school, and she notices several girls wave at him. It’s then she feels a slight pang in her stomach and feels her jaw clench slightly.
“What’s up?” Chloe questions.
Kim snaps out of it. “Uh, nothing, uh, he’s just really annoying me. Who does he think he is with his fancy car and crazy hair that he can just run the place, you know?”
Soon enough, the bell rings and both girls push open the doors to walk into the school. They walk for a bit together, then hug goodbye when they have to go their separate ways. After stopping at her locker and arriving in homeroom, Kim grabs a seat in the back, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. At the end of the five minutes spent getting the predictable papers, Kim sees her schedule mixed in the pile. She pulls it out and sees:
DRAWING PD 1 MRS. HARRIS RM 110
Drawing? Could this be a sign of a good year? Kim thinks to herself. She leans her cheek on the palm of her hand and winces, forgetting the bruise on her face. No, never mind. Optimism’s for people who haven’t had to face reality. What was I thinking?
I loved the idea, i loved the characters. But the guy was a little over the top ,i think xD