It had been a hard day. That girl, (Little slut she thought)had been all over Ty again today. Not that Kay and Ty were going out. In fact, it was questionable whether he knew she existed. Typical 'high school geeky girl loves popular football-playing boy' scenario.
It's like something out of a frickin movie. Kay thought.
Oh God how she hated her school right now. And top of Ty being swooned over by the head cheerleader Kay had gotten an eighty-five on her math test. She had dreaded coming home and having to show her mother - and rightfully so.
Despite being a drunkard, her mother was a perfectionist when it came to grades.
The otherwise slovenly woman demanded to see all Kay's grades she had received that day. Anything below a ninety percent, even a homework grade, meant a quick beating and no dinner. And anything below a ninety-five on a test meant a severe beating, no dinner, and the silent treatment for a few days. But that was had stopped caring whether her mother refused to speak with her.
Actually, she preferred it when her mother was in a drunken stupor so she could read in peace.
The presentation of the math test results had been a catastrophe. Praying that her mother was passed out Kay had crept into the apartment, shutting the door almost silently behind her.
Almost.
Within seconds the sluggard human that was technically her mother came out of the kitchen and demanded in her fat-affected frog voice to see Kay's daily grades. Kay had almost decided just to not show her the test.
The more she considered it the better idea it became. But that bum of a woman had decided to go through her binders herself. In a short time she came across the math test.
Her tirade was finally put to rest when a neighbor came to the door screeching something about the merits of being quiet. Hypocrite. Mother had turned her beady little pig eyes onto Kay and started her assault.
When it was finally over, Kay was on her side balled into a corner, blood dripping steadily from her nose and mouth. Her eye was swollen and her fist was clenched over what would soon be a collection of shoe print bruises.
The girls would laugh at her again tomorrow, of that she was certain.
"Now go to your room and study you worthless, good-for-nothing, ungrateful bitch." Mother had hissed. Kay had obeyed. She hated obeying. But she did all the same.
For a blessed eight hours she had been left in her room to "study." She had done all her homework at school. Now she could just read and think about what she would do if Ty asked her out. She mused that she might want to think about what she would do if she had friends first.
After lying still for a few moments after this thought, Kay pulled herself off of her bed and went to stand in front of the mirror. What she saw was what she saw yesterday, what she saw everyday, except for some new bruises.
A five foot five wiry girl with untamable curls of deep brown framing her face stared back at Kay with hardened sepia-colored eyes. Almost no chest, Kay noted sourly. She didn't think she was ugly. There were people far more ulgy than her in her classes at school. No, the word for her was 'plain'.
Her dark, tattered clothes were plain, her ponytail that protruded from the back of her head everyday was plain, her thin body was plain. But there was no mistaking the muscle on her.
I may be a scrawny wimp, but I'm strong thanks to dear old mom. She thought bitterly with a bit of defiance thrown in for good measure. It was true; the muscles were due to her mother. 75 push-ups a day combined with all the ab workouts mother dearest could drudge up from the Internet kept her in decent shape. It was the lack of meals that kept her thin though.
Inspecting her angular, dull appearance in the hazed mirror, Kay decided that she hated it. She hated the way she dressed and the way her hair practically lived in a ponytail. Angrily she yanked the hair tie out of her wavy masses and let them fall around her shoulders. After studying the effect for a second Kay decided that she rather liked it and spun on her heel to find a brush.
After brushing her hair, she swung open her closet door and inspected that too. Most of the closet consisted of dark, drab clothing that helped her disappear into the masses at school. But there were a few colorful, reasonably fashionable items that persisted on staying alive in the lackluster hole in the wall that was her closet.
She pulled these out. After a moment of deliberation, Kay nominated a pair of unused jeans that had been hiding in the back corner and a plain red t-shirt that looked like it would complement both her body and hair.
Just to throw in a bit of comfort into the new look, Kay added her trusty black converse. Maybe add in some makeup and she was all set. Wryly she mused whether people would ask her if she was new at school. She almost hoped so.
A few minutes later Kay was out of her sweat pants and baggy t-shirt and into the newly put-together out fit. Once again she yanked a brush through her hair in an attempt to make it straighter. And once again it didn't work.
Oh well, can't have everything. Kay thought. She stood in front of the foggy mirror, pleased with herself. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders and created more of an artistic look. And on further reflection, it really wasn't that puffy. It was more along the lines of pleasantly wavy. It was some time around here that she noticed it.
Kay immediately froze. A spider crept across the wall behind the mirror. She stayed perfectly still, and a small moan escaped her lips.
The horror that was the spider dropped to the floor and scuttled its way towards Kay. Fighting back tears she took a deep breath to calm herself. She took one step back at a time, slowly. Ever…so…slowly. Still the spider advanced. It was a silent war between them, the smaller animal being in the surprising role of aggressor.
Desperate to make small monstrosity vanish, Kay summoned up every once of courage in her body and took a step forward quickly, wanting to get the job done. And it was done soon enough.
Kay collapsed onto her bed without a further look to the squished spider on her floor. What a day.
Sluts, beatings, and spiders! Oh my! Kay thought and then immediately laughed shakily at the ridiculousness of it. Hey, at least I'm safe except for the spiders. For a few precious moments she was lethargic, not wanting to ever move from her bed.
But that didn't last, no peace in her life ever did.
The old lady started squawking from the living room, something about the door. Groaning, Kay rolled off her bed and scooted her way past the squished spider. In the living room, the hag was lying all of five feet away from the door on the couch.
"Hurry up bitch. Someone's at the door."
She raised an eyebrow, disgusted with her mother's extreme laziness, but, as always, obeyed. Kay yanked the door open.
A colossal man in a black leather jacket loomed at her from the doorframe. "Kay Chapman?" he snarled. "…Yes?"
Bad vibes rolled off this guy like water rolls off a rain jacket. Subconsciencously, Kay took a step back. The man took a step forward. And another.
The fat cow on the couch watched this happen like it was another one of her daytime soap operas. The moment Leather Jacket lifted started lifting his arm Kay spun around and started running. Where to wasn't important right now. Anywhere that was away from the giant chasing after her was fine, just so long as he wasn't anywhere near her.
The floor shook behind her as Kay made a mad dash for her room.
By the time she was parallel to her bed, Kay felt a paw land on the top of her head. He tore back on her hair, yanking her to him.
"OWWWCH. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
He growled in response, taking hold of her flailing arms, trying to stop her struggling.
"MAMA! MAMA I'M BEING KIDNAPPED! HELP!" Mother had appeared at the door, still watching with that look of fascination. Her own daughter, being kidnapped. Now wasn't that a thrill!
When she realized that her mother wasn't going to help her Kay stopped struggling and let the man yank her out of the window. The last thing she saw of her room was her mother turning back to go sit on the couch now that the entertainment was over.
That hurt far more than the wrenching on her hair.
Alright! First chapter has been fixed! Please review, it would be a great help. So much thanks to Vayluh Arwen! --Archaic
