Hey guys, sorry I forgot to put an Author's Note in the first chapter. This is my first FanFic, and I'm pretty much grateful for any feedback at all. So please review! Also, I forgot to put a Disclaimer (like I said, it's my first time doing this and I'm still getting the hang of it) so here it is:
Disclaimer: Me No Own. Stephenie Meyer owns these characters, but I do own Miranda.
Chapter Two
Handcuffs
I'd arrest you if I had
handcuffs I'd
break in a town's worth of houses I'd drown all these crying babies It's hard to be the
better man I'd arrest you if I had handcuffs I'd drive my car off
of the bridge You could lay on your back and be beaten It's hard be the
better man
I'd arrest you if I had the time
I'd throw you down
in the back seat
As if you'd committed a terrible crime
And rob whole families blind
I'd
do it to you like you'd do it to me
If you knew you would get
away fine
If I knew that
their mothers wouldn't cry
I'd hold them down and I'd squeeze real
soft
And let a piece of myself die
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the
better man
I'd arrest you
if I had time
I'd wait for you outside the courtroom
And taunt
you when all your appeals were declined
If I knew that you weren't inside
Put the pedal
to the floor who could ask for a more
fantastic way to kill some
time
You could put
up your fists and fight
You could try and be way up
Way up way
up way up
Way up way up way up
Way up
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the
better man
When you're still lying
It's hard to be the better
man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better
man
When you're still lying
You're still lying
The next week, Miranda asks us to go around and tell everyone the reason we're here. Emmett starts, with a big grin on his face.
"Let's see…why am I heeeeere…well, I used to work out every day after school. But I never got the kind of muscles I'd been aiming for, no matter how long I was at the gym, or how much I was lifting. So I got into steroids."
"But they weren't doing enough either, so I got into the heavy duty roids, which happen to be illegal. Who knew? I sure as hell didn't. But then, when my parents found out and tried to get me off 'em, I kinda went off into what they call 'roid rage' and destroyed my dad's big screen TV and my mom's most expensive furniture. Next thing I knew, I was in here for my 'anger issues'. Load of crap, if you ask me."
After that splendid explanation, Miranda turns to Alice, who is practically falling out of her chair because she's waving her hand so much.
She obviously wants to go next, so without Miranda really telling her to, Alice just launches into her story, like it's the greatest thing we'll ever hear.
"Well, I made friends with these girls at my old school, because they loved to shop as much as me! So we would go shopping all the time! Then, we would go to parties and have lots of fun."
"But one night I was kinda bored, so one of my friends and I took some pills her boyfriend had given her. And they were so much fun! It turned out the pills were uppers, and I loved taking them!"
"Then, I was shopping one day with that same friend, and we didn't have any money because we spent it all on the pills, so we just decided to take some things."
"It was such a rush, so we kept on doing it, until a few days ago when some mean security guard caught us and tried to put me in jail! But my dad's a lawyer, so he got the judge to reduce my sentence. So now I only have to come here every week for a year! It's so awesome!"
That has to be funniest thing I've ever heard. After Emmett's deep voice talking about his anger issues, Alice's high soprano voice talking with enthusiasm about doing jail time is utterly hilarious. I have to seriously try not to laugh out loud.
The next person to go is Rosalie, and I'm kinda looking forward to her story. I can tell she's one of those people that keeps things to herself, and she seems so...just generally sad and angry. She starts slowly, gaining speed as she continues.
"I moved in with my dad when I was six because my parents got a divorce. It was really great until I was about thirteen. That's when men started giving me attention for my looks."
"One day, I came home from school and my dad just went off on me, calling me a whore for wanting attention from guys. He said I was worthless, and that's when he started hitting me."
"From then on, he hit me on and off whenever he got drunk or was especially bitter towards my mother. It wasn't too bad. I lived with that until two months ago. I was walking home from the store one night, and some guys came up behind me and dragged me into an alley."
At this point, I really, really want to leave the room. I look over at this girl, who is telling this horror story so calmly, like she's talking about the weather.
She continues after a slight pause, "And they beat me and raped me. Left me for dead. Some guy walking by afterwards found me and called 911. I've been in the hospital since then, recovering. I only got out a few days ago, when they decided I was well enough to come here."
Everyone is slack-jawed and wide-eyed, except for Edward, who I don't even think was listening. Emmett looks like he's ready to kill someone.
Alice is bawling, and Jasper is trying to calm her down a bit. I just sit there silently, studying everyone's reactions and trying not to stare at Rosalie. Even Miranda looks a bit shocked.
After that, Miranda decides to give us a coffee and doughnut break to collect ourselves. The coffee sucks. It's literally the worst coffee I've ever tasted, and the doughnuts are stale. But I need a distraction or else I will be staring at Rosalie, and that is the last thing I want to do.
So I drink the shitty coffee, eat the stale doughnuts, and try to forget what I just heard. I wonder if Rosalie tries to forget. Or pretends it happened to someone else. After about fifteen minutes, Miranda decides it's time to continue the discussion.
We all sit back down in our respective chairs and Miranda picks Jasper to go next. He slumps down even more in his seat and rubs his bloodshot eyes, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here.
"Okay…so I used to have problems sleeping. So I started taking sleeping pills. Then I would be tired the whole next day, and never want to go out and party with my friends. So I drank more to wake myself up so I could have a good time."
"But then the next night I'd feel too crappy and hungover to go to sleep. So I'd take more sleeping pills. One night I decided I didn't care about being alive anymore, so I took a bunch of pills and drank a bunch of Vodka. End of story."
Well, that's pretty simple and direct. The way discussing your own attempted suicide should be. Miranda then looks to me and gestures for me to go. I take a deep breath, pull my arms around my torso, and begin in a lifeless voice. Here we go.
"Um…well…my boyfriend Jacob and I have a really good relationship. We've been together for as long as I can remember, because our dad's are best friends. It just seemed natural for us to end up together."
"About a year ago, Jake got really mad at me for…..actually, I don't even remember what it was. But he got pissed, and hit me. He apologized and said it would never happen again. But he lied, and it did."
"He would hit me if another guy talked to me, if I talked back to him, if another guy looked at me, if I didn't spend enough time with him, if I was even a minute late to meet him…pretty much everything I did was wrong."
"I'm pretty clumsy, so no one ever questioned the bruises. And I wore long sleeves and pants, and we live in Forks, so it's not like it was weird for me to never show any skin."
"I kinda stopped eating, because I…well, I don't really know why. I just did. Yesterday, Jake got mad at me after school and hit me in his car. But this time, he was so mad he didn't even try to hit me in places no one would see."
"As you can probably tell, he beat the shit out of me. My dad saw the bruises and busted lip, and he said he was forcing me to come here. He says I'm depressed and anorexic. I say he's a dick."
Miranda gives me a dirty look, I guess for my language. Emmett gets a kick out of my ending, and applauds. I just give a weak smile, rolling my eyes, and turn to Edward.
He stretches his feet out in front of him and glances at me, grumbling "pathetic" under his breath. I just shrug, because I know I sound pathetic. But he's an asshole. Anyways, he starts his story with one more glance at me.
"Wow. What a riveting story that was." Miranda shoots him a warning glance, and everyone else in the group glares at him. He just shrugs and continues in a bored voice.
"For the record, this is ridiculous. I don't see how talking about this shit is gonna fix it. But whatever. I started smoking pot with my friends when I was a freshman. Then I got bored with that and moved on to coke."
"I never really got bored with coke, but I decided to try heroin anyways. So now I'm addicted to both. My parents found some coke in my car, and threatened to call the cops. So I left."
"I walked around until it was dark, and then I decided that I needed to get away for a while. The only way to do that was go back to my house to pick up my car and risk my parents calling the cops, or to steal a car."
"So I stole this really awesome black Aston Martin Vanquish and drove to LA. Then the cops found me and I went to jail for a few months. My parents' lawyer got me out before my sentence was supposed to be up."
"They moved me here at the beginning of summer to get me away from my friends, who were 'bad influences'. And I've been forced against my will to come here every week. I'd rather stay in jail."
Miranda, and everyone else in the group for that matter, looks at him like he's crazy. I just feel kinda sorry for him. He called me pathetic, but at least we all have reasons for our bad behavior.
He's just a douche-bag.
Playlist: Brand New-Handcuffs, Armor for Sleep-The Truth About Heaven, Cartel-Wasted, Brand New-Sic Transit Gloria
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