Hurt and Abused

Chapter 13

Celine

         The next morning I woke with a major headache. I could tell the guys were here because they were making a lot of noise. I stood with my blanket wrapped around me and walked out to see them.

    “If it isn’t our ‘party animal’ Celine.” Eight said. I looked over at Cage and he was smiling at me.

    “Morning sunshine, nice hair.” I covered my ears.

    “Stop yelling!” They laughed which made me groan.

    “We aren’t yelling, sweetheart.” I glared at Dustin, who said it. He knew how I felt about being called sweetheart. Cage stood walked over and ruffled my hair before leaving. I walked over and sat in his spot.

    “That’s his way of saying goodbye?” They nodded.

    “Why doesn’t Cage talk?” They all looked at each other and  smiled.

    “Because, when he does talk, nobody understands what he’s saying.” I gave them a confused look but they shook it off.

    Arsen came out of his room and I looked over at him and smiled. He simply grunted and slammed the front door. I nearly fell out of my seat. I put my head down on the table.

    “Why are hangovers so horrible?” Dustin laughed and slid a cup of coffee my way.

    “Because, little girls like you shouldn’t drink.” I glared at him and stuck my  tongue out. He laughed and ruffled my hair like Cage and left. Crooks looked at his watch.

    “I should be going too.” He was about to ruffle my hair but I smacked his hand. He pouted and kept walking but ran back and ruffled my hair.

    “Bye, Lil C!” He said before running out of the door. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Eight. He smirked.

    “Movie?” I smiled.

    “Oh yeah!” We walked over to the t.v. and he popped in a movie.

            *            *        *

    Eight left after we made it to our fourth movie. Shelly had called to scold me about going off on my own then quickly ditched me for Johnny, so I was there by myself. I looked at my arms. They were covered in old scars, and I’m sure my back looked way worse. My eye began throbbing and I stood to go get some medicine. I looked at the calendar, parent meetings were so close. Would my dad be coming? Would Mrs. Harp tell him about me missing so many assignments from her class? Do I have any other teachers to worry about? I thought about what would happen if he got me alone. I felt his hand across my cheek and slid to the ground. I could hear him yelling and screaming, feel him kicking me. I cried out and scooched further into the corner. I knew this would only make it worse, but I couldn’t help it.

I put my head between my knees, trying to keep calm and breathe through the pain. I imagined him pulling me up by my hair when I was ten, the glass bottle in his hand sliding across my skin. I cried out again thinking back to when I was fourteen and he punched me so hard, I was knocked unconscious.

I laid on the ground rocking back and forth. He couldn’t come to parent meeting. I don’t think I’d make it through the whole thing. I stood again and my hands were shaking. I looked down at them wishing they would stop just as a tear slid down my face. I reached up to wipe them away, but my hands were shaking so bad.

The door open and I looked up. Arsen was standing there, he headed towards his room, but stopped and looked at me. I turned away from him, but it was too late. He saw me.

“Celine?” I shook my head moving away from him. He came and turned me around. He saw my hands shaking and grabbed them, rubbing them together between his hands. I looked into his bright blue eyes and I noticed the tears stopped coming and my hands had stopped shaking. I rubbed my eye and he stood there watching me.

“You better now?” I nodded and looked down at my feet. He did it again, saw more of me than even Dustin had seen. What was it about him that made it hard to hide this side of me from him?  

        *        *        *

After making sure I was still okay, Arsen went in his room. I decided to go visit Shelly to see what she was up to.

When I knocked on the door, Shelly appeared, smiling like an idiot. I smiled as she let me in.

“Why are you so smiley?” She laughed.

“Whoa a laugh too?” That’s different.” I frowned and felt her forehead.

“You okay, lady? You sure are laughing and giggling a lot.” She rolled her eyes and pulled me onto her bed. She reached down into her shirt. I covered my eye.

“Whoa Shelly buns, I like you, but not like that.” She laughed and smacked my arm.

“Look, silly!” I looked down and she was showing me this necklace. I looked at it. It was a heart-shaped necklace that had a dove flying through it. My eyes widened.

“Johnny?!” She nodded excitedly. I laughed and she flung her arms around me. I laughed and hugged her back. She squeezed me tighter and laughed.

“I think I love him, C.” I smiled and said awww.

“I’m so happy for you!” I said. She jumped up and hugged me again. Laughing we sat there and talked for hours.  

        *            *            *

    When I got back to the dorm Arsen wasn’t around. I think he was mad at me, but I had no idea why. I laid on the couch and watched some t.v. until I fell asleep.