Broken

"Maria get your a*s down here right now you little brat!" My bastard father calls. I quickly jump out of my bed in the attic and rush down the stairs already knowing what is to come after school. I definitely do not want to get a beating on a Monday morning before school. Oh right, sorry! My name is Maria Sanchez and I've been getting abused since I was 12 years old, after my mother passed away in a tragic car accident. Before my mom died, our family was like every other, not perfect but happy with our lives. After my mom died, everything changed and my dad started to drink. I can still remember the first time that he ever hit me and my first official beating for not doing the dishes. For the past 5 years, I have been working as a waitress at a diner in our hometown called Sweet Home, which has a decent paycheck from the business we get. The money I get, I try to hide from my father to put in a bank account for college. Most of the money that I get ends up going to my dad's alcoholic needs. Currently I have $150,000 in my bank account from my paycheck and my other side jobs like babysitting. Unfortunately, I am in my senior year at Portsman High School, where I also get bullied for other people's pleasure. "Where's my breakfast at?!" He demands questioningly. "You were supposed to make it an hour ago!" "Yes, sorry sir. I woke up late today." I reply quietly. "So that's your excuse for being late! You were sleeping in instead of making my breakfast. I can't have breakfast because you haven't made it yet!" he spits out resentfully. I speedily get to making him breakfast before he gets even more angry with me. I decide to make eggs, sausage, and toast since that is all we have left in our fridge and cupboards. When I bring it to him and he sees what I made him his eyes are flames of rage. He stands up furiously and throws his chair across the room. "What is this?! This looks like something that came out of the garbage. I want real food not this trash." Before he can yell or throw anything else at me I grab my things for school and run out the door. The second the door shuts I hear glass shattering against the door, startling me and making me run as far from the house as I can so he can't catch me. As soon as I arrive at the school I go straight to my locker and grab my books and other supplies that I will need for my classes. As I am closing my locker all the items I was holding in my hands were smacked out of my hands and I was shoved into the edge of my locker. I fall to the floor and feel someone lift my head where I am then met with a hand that leaves a hand print on my right cheek. As soon as this happens I know that it is Bianca Levista, also known as the queen bee and principal's daughter. "Look who it is girls!" she says calmly, "It's little Miss. Goody-Two-Shoes." She's been bullying me since I was 13 years old, which was about a year after my mom died and my dad started abusing me. As I get lost in my thoughts they are broken by a deep, husky voice. "Let her be Bianca or you're gonna regret it later." As soon as the words hit my ears, my head whips up giving myself whiplash. Who I see surprises me because it is a very well known person in our school and town. It is Alex Cole, the wonderful town's bad boy. "What are you going to do about Alex?" Bianca challenges. "Simple, I'll tell your dad what you actually do on the weekends and when you are not at home supposedly studying with friends.... Because we all know you are not studying. Right?" Alex bites back. "You wouldn't dare!" Bianca screams angrily. "Oh, but maybe I would. So I would recommend you don't challenge or underestimate my abilities." Alex snaps with an icy glare. "I mean, we all know your dad does not really trust you very much right now... so we all know who he would believe." "Fine! Let's go girls!" Bianca screeches to her pose making me jump in my place. As they walk away Alex makes his way towards me slowly inching closer. "Hey Sunshine, what is your name?" Alex asks me softly. "Maria" I say in a mere whisper. I stare at my shoes avoiding all eye contact with Alex in fear of what is to come if I look into his eyes. "Hey, look at me. I'm not gonna hurt you like Bianca did, I promise." He says while giving me the cub scout salute, making me flinch back in fear. When I look up I see the most pulchritudinous forest green eyes that I have ever seen before. I see worry and concern in his eyes, as well as a few other emotions but they are gone as soon as they come, covered by his oh so famous, glare. Sooner than I want, Alex begins speaking, "How about we get ice for that bruise before it gets any worse?" I simply nod my head and we make our way to the nurse's office. When we arrive at our destination, I expect Alex to leave, but instead he sits in the chair by the nurse's desk. Mrs. Lepolt sees me and quickly rushes over asking what happened while grabbing me ice. "Now, dear tell me what happened this time!" Mrs. Lepolt exclaims. "It was Bianca again, so nothing new Karin." I advise her. Mrs. Lepolt knows my home situation, and she promised she wouldn't tell anyone because she knows it will only get worse. After she looks over me one more time, she gives me a sad look and gives me a pass to go to class. As I am leaving, I realize, Alex is still following me. "Don't you have a class to go to?" I question. "As a matter of fact I am because we've had the same class all trimester." He deadpans. When he says this I look down feeling stupid, as my face turns into a cherry tomato. When we arrive at cooking class, we give our passes to our teacher Mr. Blue. "Now that everyone is here, we are going to be changing our seats, so we have new cooking partners." Mr. Blue, who we often refer to as Mr. Blah, explains. "Now these will be your new seat partners pick a lab table to sit at." Mr. Blue continues, "Joe and Lahey, Paul and Sam, Liam and Sarah, Alex and Maria, Mia and Layton....." Wait, did he just say.... Alex and me! No, this can't happen, Alex is already suspicious about me anyways. All of a sudden, someone grabs my bruised shoulder and I flinch on instinct in both fear and pain. When I look up I see Alex with a confused expression so I look down to avoid eye contact with me. I shake my head towards him trying to tell him that it's nothing, and before he can say anything the teacher begins to talk about our new project. The project involves us going to each other's houses to do trial runs on multiple different kinds of cakes to compare the data. When Mr. Blue finishes, he tells us to begin discussing ideas with our partners about the cake and how we are going to be meeting up. "Can we go to your house to work?" Alex asks while turning to me. "NO!" I yell, as soon as he asks, refusing to let him have a run-in with her drunken father. I soon realize the class has gone quiet, so when I look up, I see all eyes are on me. I quickly try to avoid everyone's gaze, and eventually they get back to work. When I turn to Alex, he is looking at me completely confused. I quickly add "Because ...because um my dad ...is sick and ...I don't want you to get sick?" I say which ends up sounding like a question. "Okayyy," Alex answers while dragging on his answer, "Well then we can do it at my house." "Sounds great to me!" I exclaim with fake enthusiasm, "We can leave right after school and head right over to your house." "Sure, sounds good." Alex answers. "Would you be okay with stopping by my house so I can pick up a few things?" I ask knowing that this alone is going to be risky. "Yeah sure. I don't really care." Alex says while looking around the room annoyed. ✿ Finally, when lunch rolls around, I am headed to the cafeteria when I am hit with a sense of deja vu, with an additional slapping sound that rings through the empty hallways. It was also on the opposite cheek of what had originally been done this morning. Knowing that it's Bianca, I look around and see nobody in the once cramped hallway. "Stay away from Alex! You have literally no chance with him! I mean honestly sweetie, look at you; then look at me." She says in a shrill voice, sounding like a baboon screaming if i may add. My eyes start to well up, and I wonder why she has to be so degrading. Honestly, I don't know where she came up with the idea of me liking Alex, and I am definitely not offended because she looks like a plastic barbie doll. I nod, while praying that she won't say or do anything else. Obviously my prayers weren't answered because she slaps the same cheek again, but this time harder. Finally, she walks away with her little pose of bitches. Instead of going to the nurse's office, I go straight to the cafeteria where I see my favorite lunch lady. "How are you doin' today Maria?" ask Marcie. "It could be better, but I will push through." I answer solemnly. Once I have my food, I head out to my favorite tree. It's the biggest oak tree on campus and I feel like nothing can touch me when I am under it. I pull out the book I am currently reading that I have read over and over again. The book is in a series called Beautiful Creatures By: Kim Garcia. ✿ After the school day finally ends with no more problems, I am exhausted. I was not ready for such an eventful day with my dad, Bianca, and Alex. As I am walking, I feel a car pulling up behind me and I begin to feel nervous. When the car comes to a complete stop, I turn my head a little to see a man getting out of the car. When I see his face, I realize that it's Alex and I forgot about our project. My mind goes into overdrive thinking that he is going to hurt me or yell at me. "Did you forget about the project?" Alex asks emotionlessly. "Yes, I'm sorry I didn't mean to I swear! I was just really exhausted from today, and... and it just completely slipped my mind after school." I try to explain as tears begin to well up. "Whatever, just hurry up and get in the car so we can start working on it." Alex says, irritated. I can't imagine what it would be like if someone found out about my father because I know the news will spread like wildfire and my dad will get out of jail free of charge, for false accusations. I know that my dad will get out of jail with no charges because my old neighbor found out about the a***e and my dad was taken into police custody to be spoken to. My neighbor didn't know that my dad has connections with the police, so he got out of police custody easily. That week I could barely get out of bed let alone walk, but I had to push through and suffer and less I wanted a beating that was far worse. "Maria! Are you getting in the car or not?" Alex says knocking me out of my thoughts. "Yes." I say in a light voice. As soon as I get in the car I think about all the years I have suffered, and how in a few months I will be free from the place that is now my hell. I am hoping to get into Harvard because it has always been my dream school when I learned that is where my mother went to high school. Let's just hope that everything goes as planned for the next two months. All of a sudden I saw a hand waving in front of my face; in instinct I jumped back and covered my face. All I can think is two more months. I hope you all like the story I will be updating the story as much as I can. I have been working on this story for 4 years. Please vote and also leave comments and tell me how the chapters are!