CHAPTER ONE
Wendy ran home from school, she wanted to go to her room, shut the door and listen to music. That's what Wendy did when she was sad or angry. What made her sad was that the day was special. It was he day she met Jake, except two years earlier; it was also exactly a year since she had seen him last.
She got in the house; her parents were in the living room, talking about her, like usual. They stopped when they saw her, but she just walked by them to the stairs. She ran up the fancy carpet with her muddy skater shoes on and heard the yelling of her parents follow. She didn't care. She always got yelled at anyways, even if she was being good. She got blamed for everything ever since her grandmother died. Her parents liked to blame her for that at least once a week.
Wendy slammed her door, locked it, and turned up her Metallica CD really loud. After she took off her shoes, she went out on her balcony and felt the blast of the cool fall air on her face. She walked over to the railing and stepped over it. She stood in front of the railings, and leaned as far as she could. She loved the rush it gave her. Her grandmother used to say she got her sense of adventure.
"Why'd you leave me grandma?" she whispered, "You had to leave me with my parents like this, didn't you?"
Wendy got a chill up her spine and felt a stronger breeze. She climbed back over the railing and sat against the cold metal bars and put her hands on her curly red hair, which was very tangled at the moment.
The fourteen year old thought of her life. Her parents were rich; they went out every night and left Wendy alone in the house to suffer. All she wanted was to escape the so-called 'world' to somewhere free of all the problems that seemed to always happen to her.
What am I kidding? There's no world like that, she thought to herself, though she did wish there was.
After a while, her parents stopped knocking like crazy and left. She went back into her room and turned down the music to a decent volume. She then went onto the upper level of her room.
Wendy's room had two levels. One with everything, and the upper one, where there was a ladder to get up to it. It helped her calm down a lot of the times. It went up into a sunroof area where she could look at the clouds in the day, and the stars at night. She also played her guitar up there.
She grabbed her scrapbook and opened it. She had it since she was eight years old. There were important things from school, certificates, diary entries, poems and songs, guitar lyrics, pictures, drawings, flashbacks, etc.
On the cover were pictures of her at different ages. She thought of the scrapbook as her life story, but hadn't read it in a long time. She flipped to a page near the end. There was a picture of her and Jake. He disappeared on their one-year anniversary and nobody knew why or where. He used to help her. She didn't like to talk about her problems, but he always made her because he always knew when she was sad, and he wouldn't let her move until he had helped. She didn't know any other guy like him. He was perfect, and she always thought he was too good to be true, even if he said otherwise, like he always did.
Wendy heard a strange noise, she stopped what she was doing, but decided she was hearing things. She reached for her black electric guitar and turned on the amp. Playing her guitar was one of the ways she got her anger out. She went crazy with playing her guitar. She had started when she was eight, so that would make six years she had been playing.
When it began to get dark, Wendy realized her parents would be gone, It was 8:00, there party time. She walked out of her room and slid down the railing of the staircase like she had always done when her parents were out. She was about to go into the kitchen, when she heard the sound of her father clearing his voice.
She turned slowly and he was staring at her coldly, "Why's you do that?" he pointed at the stairs to the muddy she tracks.
"Bad day."
"Then you talk about it, not take it out on an expensive rug. Things cost money you know."
"Yah so what, you can just get a new one. Not like you're broke."
"Don't talk to me like that young lady. I give you shelter, I clothe and feed you, I give you everything and what do I get, attitude and talking back."
"You don't give me everything. There is one thing you have been avoiding since before I can remember, father, if I can even call you that."
"Oh enlighten me please."
"You know, money can buy everything except the thing you cannot give, the thing that you have none of."
"Don't say that child!"
Wendy's father struck the side of her face. She clutched it and glared at him, "Do you want to know what that thing is daddy? That thing that not even you can buy is love!"
The last thing Wendy saw before her eyes went blurry was her mom coming in from outside, with an angry look on her face. Clutching her face, Wendy ran up the stairs, trying to choke back the tears. Whether they were from the physical or emotional pain, or both, she didn't care. Both hurt her.
When she closed the door she forgot to lock it, and fell onto the floor, crying her eyes out, then she heard a knock on the door.
"Go away!"
Wendy's mom came in and stood in the doorway, "Why are you crying so much?"
"Don't come in here pretending you care, don't you dare."
"I heard your dad, I came to see if you were okay."
"You're no better than him."
"What do you mean?"
Wendy stood up, "Oh, that's good mom, real good. You know what I mean."
"Sure I get angry sometimes, but I want the best for you. Why are you so upset?"
"You wouldn't know. You wouldn't even care, all you would do is arguing."
"Try me."
"Ok, fine, I hear you and dad talking about how much of a mistake I am. About how fun it is to make me cry, and how fun it is to see me suffer. You could never know how it feels to be me. You guys hate me, but I still remember when we were a bug happy family, when you guys loved me. I still love the people who are somewhere locked up inside of you."
"We don't enjo-"
"Don't even start mom, just go and party with dad like you do every night. Leave me alone in the house to slowly die of a broken heart, knowing my own parents don't love me."
"We love you."
Wendy took her hand off her injury, it was covered in blood, "Do you call this love?"
Her mom's mouth dropped.
"Yah mom, you came right after he hit me, now you can know how much I am loved. Just go mom, seriously, I don't even want to see you right now."
"It's nothing more than you deserved," her mom snarled, and she turned and walked out of the door, leaving it open.
Wendy shut the door and sat against it. She bit her lip. She couldn't take it anymore; she had to get away from them. She stood up and walked out on her balcony. She saw her parents drive away in their convertible, and what...laughing?
She went inside and went to her bathroom. She looked in he mirror. There was blood down the side of her face and mascara all over her cheeks. She filled the sink with water and dunked her face in, rubbing everything off. When she dried her face off, and looked in the mirror, she was amazed at how different she looked without makeup on.
She looked at where her father had hit her and it was already turning purple. When the phone rang, she jumped, and ran to her phone, completely forgetting about her meeting with Lisa. They were supposed to meet at the park to go to a party.
She took a breath and picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Where the heck are you child? I've been waiting for an hour."
"Sorry I was...delayed."
"You don't sound to hot, are you okay Hun?"
"Uhh...yah."
Nobody knew about Wendy's problems with her parents except Jake, "Oh yah, I believe you. You never talk to anyone anymore and you're different. Ever since..."
"How am I different?"
"You know how. I'm coming over to get you for the party, be ready, and you have to come."
Before Wendy could argue, Lisa hung up. She sighed, but decided she should go to get her mind off of things.
Wendy ran home from school, she wanted to go to her room, shut the door and listen to music. That's what Wendy did when she was sad or angry. What made her sad was that the day was special. It was he day she met Jake, except two years earlier; it was also exactly a year since she had seen him last.
She got in the house; her parents were in the living room, talking about her, like usual. They stopped when they saw her, but she just walked by them to the stairs. She ran up the fancy carpet with her muddy skater shoes on and heard the yelling of her parents follow. She didn't care. She always got yelled at anyways, even if she was being good. She got blamed for everything ever since her grandmother died. Her parents liked to blame her for that at least once a week.
Wendy slammed her door, locked it, and turned up her Metallica CD really loud. After she took off her shoes, she went out on her balcony and felt the blast of the cool fall air on her face. She walked over to the railing and stepped over it. She stood in front of the railings, and leaned as far as she could. She loved the rush it gave her. Her grandmother used to say she got her sense of adventure.
"Why'd you leave me grandma?" she whispered, "You had to leave me with my parents like this, didn't you?"
Wendy got a chill up her spine and felt a stronger breeze. She climbed back over the railing and sat against the cold metal bars and put her hands on her curly red hair, which was very tangled at the moment.
The fourteen year old thought of her life. Her parents were rich; they went out every night and left Wendy alone in the house to suffer. All she wanted was to escape the so-called 'world' to somewhere free of all the problems that seemed to always happen to her.
What am I kidding? There's no world like that, she thought to herself, though she did wish there was.
After a while, her parents stopped knocking like crazy and left. She went back into her room and turned down the music to a decent volume. She then went onto the upper level of her room.
Wendy's room had two levels. One with everything, and the upper one, where there was a ladder to get up to it. It helped her calm down a lot of the times. It went up into a sunroof area where she could look at the clouds in the day, and the stars at night. She also played her guitar up there.
She grabbed her scrapbook and opened it. She had it since she was eight years old. There were important things from school, certificates, diary entries, poems and songs, guitar lyrics, pictures, drawings, flashbacks, etc.
On the cover were pictures of her at different ages. She thought of the scrapbook as her life story, but hadn't read it in a long time. She flipped to a page near the end. There was a picture of her and Jake. He disappeared on their one-year anniversary and nobody knew why or where. He used to help her. She didn't like to talk about her problems, but he always made her because he always knew when she was sad, and he wouldn't let her move until he had helped. She didn't know any other guy like him. He was perfect, and she always thought he was too good to be true, even if he said otherwise, like he always did.
Wendy heard a strange noise, she stopped what she was doing, but decided she was hearing things. She reached for her black electric guitar and turned on the amp. Playing her guitar was one of the ways she got her anger out. She went crazy with playing her guitar. She had started when she was eight, so that would make six years she had been playing.
When it began to get dark, Wendy realized her parents would be gone, It was 8:00, there party time. She walked out of her room and slid down the railing of the staircase like she had always done when her parents were out. She was about to go into the kitchen, when she heard the sound of her father clearing his voice.
She turned slowly and he was staring at her coldly, "Why's you do that?" he pointed at the stairs to the muddy she tracks.
"Bad day."
"Then you talk about it, not take it out on an expensive rug. Things cost money you know."
"Yah so what, you can just get a new one. Not like you're broke."
"Don't talk to me like that young lady. I give you shelter, I clothe and feed you, I give you everything and what do I get, attitude and talking back."
"You don't give me everything. There is one thing you have been avoiding since before I can remember, father, if I can even call you that."
"Oh enlighten me please."
"You know, money can buy everything except the thing you cannot give, the thing that you have none of."
"Don't say that child!"
Wendy's father struck the side of her face. She clutched it and glared at him, "Do you want to know what that thing is daddy? That thing that not even you can buy is love!"
The last thing Wendy saw before her eyes went blurry was her mom coming in from outside, with an angry look on her face. Clutching her face, Wendy ran up the stairs, trying to choke back the tears. Whether they were from the physical or emotional pain, or both, she didn't care. Both hurt her.
When she closed the door she forgot to lock it, and fell onto the floor, crying her eyes out, then she heard a knock on the door.
"Go away!"
Wendy's mom came in and stood in the doorway, "Why are you crying so much?"
"Don't come in here pretending you care, don't you dare."
"I heard your dad, I came to see if you were okay."
"You're no better than him."
"What do you mean?"
Wendy stood up, "Oh, that's good mom, real good. You know what I mean."
"Sure I get angry sometimes, but I want the best for you. Why are you so upset?"
"You wouldn't know. You wouldn't even care, all you would do is arguing."
"Try me."
"Ok, fine, I hear you and dad talking about how much of a mistake I am. About how fun it is to make me cry, and how fun it is to see me suffer. You could never know how it feels to be me. You guys hate me, but I still remember when we were a bug happy family, when you guys loved me. I still love the people who are somewhere locked up inside of you."
"We don't enjo-"
"Don't even start mom, just go and party with dad like you do every night. Leave me alone in the house to slowly die of a broken heart, knowing my own parents don't love me."
"We love you."
Wendy took her hand off her injury, it was covered in blood, "Do you call this love?"
Her mom's mouth dropped.
"Yah mom, you came right after he hit me, now you can know how much I am loved. Just go mom, seriously, I don't even want to see you right now."
"It's nothing more than you deserved," her mom snarled, and she turned and walked out of the door, leaving it open.
Wendy shut the door and sat against it. She bit her lip. She couldn't take it anymore; she had to get away from them. She stood up and walked out on her balcony. She saw her parents drive away in their convertible, and what...laughing?
She went inside and went to her bathroom. She looked in he mirror. There was blood down the side of her face and mascara all over her cheeks. She filled the sink with water and dunked her face in, rubbing everything off. When she dried her face off, and looked in the mirror, she was amazed at how different she looked without makeup on.
She looked at where her father had hit her and it was already turning purple. When the phone rang, she jumped, and ran to her phone, completely forgetting about her meeting with Lisa. They were supposed to meet at the park to go to a party.
She took a breath and picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Where the heck are you child? I've been waiting for an hour."
"Sorry I was...delayed."
"You don't sound to hot, are you okay Hun?"
"Uhh...yah."
Nobody knew about Wendy's problems with her parents except Jake, "Oh yah, I believe you. You never talk to anyone anymore and you're different. Ever since..."
"How am I different?"
"You know how. I'm coming over to get you for the party, be ready, and you have to come."
Before Wendy could argue, Lisa hung up. She sighed, but decided she should go to get her mind off of things.