Yeah, in case you couldn't tell, I'm not really into the whole Valentines Day thing, but I am still going to post a story about it, sooo yeah. :P Just because I feel inspired ;) :)
Also, just a thing, all of you need to watch an Invisible Sign because it's sad and awesome, and beautiful, and cute and it made me cry, and yeah. So you guys need to watch it. It's on Netflix, I think. <3
Okay lastly, sorry for the swearing in advance :P
Alrighty. Here's the story <3 Thanks for reading :)
"Never Cry Alone"
Monday:
Ella was on her way back from work to her single-floor apartment, just thinking about what she was going to do for the Valentines Banquet on friday when a boy gripped her hand as she passed the edge of the building.. She jumped, startled. Then relaxed as she placed its owner. Alec.
“Hey, Ella.”
“Hi…” she whispered.
“I was wondering...um...are you going anywhere...right now?”
A nervous laugh made its way up from her throat. “No, I’m just wandering aimlessly.” Sarcasm twisted my face, and he responded in kind.
“So...are you hungry?”
“No.” her stomach rumbled. Traitor. Alec glanced down at her protesting abdomen.
“Wanna grab a burger or something? I think Alonzo’s is still open..”
Her heart thudded in her chest. She had never been asked out before. Lauren said that it was because Ella intimidated everyone with her fierce beauty, but no one actually believed that. Well...maybe Lauren did, but she didn’t count. She was prone to exaggerate-everyone knew it. In fact, in sixth grade, Mr. Hutcherson was having his students perform a science experiment with Bunsen Burners. Lauren smelled the smoke, and pulled the fire alarm. She got suspended, but she genuinely thought there had been a fire.
Ella’s mind wrenched back to the present, realizing she was standing there with a dumb smirk on her face.
Did this count as a date?
“Um…” Answer, answer, answer! her mind screamed at her. She glanced at her watch. 8:30PM. Crap! “I...can’t. My mom-she asked me to skype her, and I have about ten minutes to get everything set up...sorry. Maybe another time…”
Alec did that adorable half-smile thing that he did. “No problem, Ella. We’ll figure something out.”
So it was a date.
Ella hurried across the street, waving as she went, to set up for her skype call.
She needed to call Lauren right now.
+
Tuesday:
Again crossing the street, Ella jumped when a voice said her name.
“Hey, Ella!” Alec. “Funny how we keep bumping into each other here. How about that burger?”
Dangit! She winced, groaning. “I...can’t...my dad is in town tonight. I promised him...I’d hang out with him tonight, sorry…”
“It’s okay, Ella. But I am getting that date.”
And he was gone.
Ella hurried back home, fumbling for her keys at the door. She splashed a lock of dark hair out of her face. Her dad would be here by now. He always had a key to her apartment. It was part of their deal when she told him she wanted to move out. She tried the door when this thought came to her head.
Unlocked. Her dad was here.
Ella thought back to her conversation with Alec on the sidewalk. She made a mental note to get rid of any plans she had had tomorrow in case he asked again.
A small smile brightened her face when she walked into her living room and found her dad asleep on the couch. She tucked a wool blanket around him and went to her room.
Time for some sleep. She’d talk to her dad tomorrow.
+
Wednesday: Around breakfast.
Dad had left a note this morning telling Ella to meet him at The Barn (an amazing breakfast spot) at 7:30AM. Still rubbing sleep from her green eyes, Ella stumbled out of bed and made for the bathroom to do her hair.
A beer bottle was on the counter, and with a sigh, Ella swept it into the trash.
Oh yeah, that was another thing-Ella’s parents had split two years ago, and her father had never recovered.
In other words, he was a hopeless drunk.
==
When she got to The Barn, Ella’s father was waiting for her, two mugs of coffee on the table, one half empty, the other filled to the brim. She smiled when she saw him.
A hundred thoughts ran through her head, when he saw her.
Drunk.
Shouldn’t be in public.
Get out.
Get him out.
Ella marched up to her father, tossed a few bills onto the table and lifted her father gently from his chair.
“Come on, dad. We’re gonna go home.”
“No, jusht lemme finish my coffee...” he slurred.
“You’re drunk, dad.” she whispered to him, “You can’t be in public.”
He rocked as she supported him, and she thanked the hostess-Red on the way out.
“You need a cab, hunny?” Red hollered to her.
“No thanks, Red. I think walking will be okay.” As they walked, Ella’s father mumbled miscellaneous things, finally yelling that his ex-wife was a whore. Blushing furiously, Ella dragged him back to her apartment where he fell unceremoniously onto the sofa.
“Whydju do that?”
“Why what? Why did I walk home, or why did I drag your drunk-butt out of a public area? Dad, you’re drunk! When is this going to stop?! You can’t do this forever!”
“I can be as drunk as I wanna be dammit, and you don’t talk to your father like that, Ells. Don’t talk to me like that.”
“I can talk to you however I want. You have been less than a father to me the last two years, and I am tired of it! Do you hear me?! This has to stop! God, dad! I have tried and tried to help you through this! I put you up, I buy whatever you need, and you still won’t even try to stop this! You’re in love with your addiction! That’s why mom divorced you in the first place!”
The millisecond the last eight words left her tongue, she regretted them. But she didn’t try to take them back. It was true.
She just left-running to her bedroom, leaving her drunkard dad laying on the couch. Why even bother. He was probably going to go and drink more because of it anyway. He would never change.
When he knocked on her door, she ignored him. She always opened the door, but not this time. This time he was on his own.
He kept knocking.
“Dammit, El! Let me in! I am your father, and you will let me in!”
Ella slammed open the door, and started to tell him to “get the hell out of her house” but his fingers were around her throat before she could say a word.
“You think you can speak to your father like that?! To me?! Huh?! Speak, you little bitch! I dare you!” He lifted her off the floor and that was when her breath started to leave. She couldn’t breath!
Little sparkles of light flitted in front of her eyes. When he realized he was killing her, her body dropped to the floor. She started to crawl away, but he wasn’t done.
“Get back here!” he tore her arms toward her back, and she screamed at the pain that erupted from her shoulders. He backhanded her across the face, sending her flying back a little. Tears prickled her eyes.
He still wasn’t done.
Blow after blow-his fist connected with her skin so many times she lost count.
When someone knocked on her door, she could hardly hear it, everything hurt so much.
Maybe it was one of the neighbors! Maybe Mr. Moris had heard her crying!
“You stay right there. Don’t make a sound or I will make you wish I had killed you. There are worse things than death.”
The knocks grew more frantic, and her father left his post to go answer the door. She heard him take a deep breath before opening the door, but it was too late. It slammed open, meeting his forehead. Someone came rushing in.
A familiar face was standing above her, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. She couldn’t see him clear enough.
His lips were moving....
But…
Ella saw the boy whip around and connect his fist with her father’s jaw. Her father fell backwards-unable to keep his stability with all the alcohol in his system.
Her hearing was coming back. Almost…
“Ella, we have to...come...he’s going to...back...come...I’ll help you.”
Alec.
He swung her arm over his shoulder, and then, seeing that she couldn’t walk, slid his arm under her knees, buckling them, and lifted her up.
He carried her outside to a waiting car, and slipped her into the back seat.
+
Wednesday: 12:00 Midnight
When Ella woke, she was in a bed that was surrounded by four square metal walls. Water was running somewhere, and there was a glass of water next to the bed. A note stood next to it.
“Taking a shower.
Be out soon.
Water is for you. :)
~A”
She smiled a little and took a sip of the water. Then another. Then she downed it.
When Alec emerged from what she assumed was the bathroom, he was pulling a T-shirt over his head. He grinned when he saw that she was awake. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay...I guess.”
“Yeah. That wasn’t exactly how I imagined our first date going. I kind of thought it would be like me taking you out to dinner, and then walking you home...I’d kiss you goodnight...we’d make plans for another date...etcetera.”
“See that’s where your plans went wrong.” she said, sitting up a little more. “I don’t kiss on first dates. It’s rule number 1.”
He came and sat on the edge of the bed. “Oh yeah?”
She nodded. Alec pushed a strand of hair out of her face. That one lock of hair that always managed to get in the way of everything.
“What about second dates? Cus...I’m free tomorrow, and-”
Work. Work! Ella sat up suddenly, sending blood to her head, and a headache pounding in her temples.“I have to get to work! I am going to be so late! What time is it?! What day is it?”
He laughed gently and pushed her back down into a sitting position. “Don’t worry. I already called Jamie and told her that you wouldn’t be able to make it the rest of this week. She agreed that you had been working too much, and asked me to let you know not to let you come in to work the rest of this week either.”
She smiled and ran a hand through her tangled hair. Maybe she didn’t have to go to that party alone.
Thanks so much for reading it!!! I hope you all liked reading as much as I loved writing!!!
Have an amazing Valentines Day, and a great weekend!!!!
Blessings <3
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