I take off, running towards the ballroom where I can hear a round of applause coming from behind the closed doors.
“Chase. Wait,” my dad calls out. But I don’t slow down. My movements seem clumsy and uncoordinated, and I regret having so much to drink. I’m about to open the door when he collides with me, grabbing me by the collar. He shoves me against the wall, his face inches away from mine.
“You didn’t see a goddamn thing, you hear me? I could end you with a snap of my fingers. You think I won’t?” He’s so angry that a vein pops in his forehead, stretching the skin around it. His skin looks beet red, climbing up his neck and into his cheeks. I wish I was a stranger to his outbursts, but unfortunately with mom gone as often as she is, his Jekyll and Hyde routine is one I know all too well. He can flip from menacing villain to charming hero in less time it takes someone to tie their shoelaces.
I know better than to push back when he’s like this. The many beatings I endured throughout the years have taught me to keep my mouth shut and endure. Just a few more months and I’ll be off at school. Away from him and finally able to breathe.
“I didn’t see anything.” I mutter.
He slaps me hard on the shoulder and fixes my tie roughly, tying it far too tight that I struggle against the material. “That’s right,” he says, pushing his disheveled hair into place as if he wasn’t just fucking the help mere minutes ago.
We enter the ballroom just as my mom is taking the stage. She beams at us like an angel under the lights as the room politely claps.
As she thanks us and her coworkers, the server who was fucking my dad walks in, skirt askew and tray in hand. A girl with pink hair grabs her free arm, saying something to her in a hushed, but insistent way. The server is annoyed but walks out with her. My dad however, ever the ultimate player, doesn’t pay the disturbance any mind and watches his wife with a look of pure adoration. Only I know it’s utter bullshit.
The only thing keeping me from saying anything is the very real threat he holds over me. I know just how evil he can be, and when he looks at me, there’s nothing but hatred in those eyes I inherited from him.
14
MELODY
Liam is on his third drink while I’m politely sipping on my first. The bar is crowded with students and teachers alike, looking for an escape from the daily drivel. While I should be back in my dorm room studying, it’s nice to have a break and feel normal.
This first week has been brutal trying to adjust to life here. Everyone seems to have a clique they belong to, and I’ve never felt like such an outsider. My teachers have piled on the workload, and I’m scrambling to catch up. While I’ve always loved to sing, I’ve never had any formal training because we could never afford it. My brain feels like mush having crammed all these new terms into it. It’s like having to learn a new language and I’m failing miserably. Thank fuck for Rhonda giving up her free time to help me.
I nurse another sip from my drink. It’s a little sugary for my taste. The kind that guarantees a hangover in the morning if I chug it back. I don’t feel like fighting that off when I have so much to catch up on. Plus, Chase and I have plans to work on our project early.
God, thinking of Chase puts a damper on my mood, making me miss whatever Liam was talking about. Chase has been hot and cold since I met him. Messing with my mind and leaving me feeling confused. Especially last night after he pushed his fingers inside me. I could hardly sleep a wink after that knowing he was mere feet away from me. Every noise, every inhale of breath had me wondering if he was feeling just as tortured as I was, or if it was all just a game to him to get me to leave the school.
I turn my attention back to Liam, feeling guilty for zoning out. Though, he’s spent a lot of the time telling me all about himself and his accomplishments, and frankly, I’m bored as fuck. Still, I’m determined to see if all that flirting we’ve been doing can lead to something. He reaches across the table with a smile and grazes the back of my hand with his thumb. I offer him a smile and sip my sugary drink. Okay, now we’re talking.
My slinky black dress feels a little overdone in the casual atmosphere. Most people are wearing jeans and t-shirts, so I feel like I stick out. Liam doesn’t seem to mind though.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
I blush under his praise, feeling his eyes linger on my body. “No, you haven’t.”
“Well. You do.”
A beat passes between us, and I realize it’s the first time he’s stopped speaking since he picked me up. With all his peacocking, there’s still something that I’m curious about that’s been nagging at me since he dropped me off the first time we met.
“So, what’s the story with you and Milford?”
I can’t say I’m surprised that he’s asking this question, although, I’d expected it a lot earlier.
“Nothing really. My mom married his dad. I was sent here at their behest. That’s about it. What about you? You don’t seem to like him much.”
Liam scoffs. “You could say that. We used to be close at the beginning of Freshman year, but then all that nasty business with his mom happened and he became so dull.”
Ice sluices through my veins at his words. There’s nothing so off putting as casual cruelty being lobbed at someone who’s experiencing a personal tragedy. I feel my drink sour in my mouth, and I push it away.
“Dull?”
He rolls his eyes and I cross my arms over my chest.
“Obviously it was sad, her dying and all, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”
My mouth hangs open at his words.
