As punishment, Mother grounded me. And as to make sure I do not escape my prison cell bedroom, she had the window bolted shut and a lock on the door that only comes undone for meals. School ended for winter break so we could spend even more time with the joyous family on these merry holidays. What fun.

I hadn't seen Aleks for two whole weeks now, and I longed for his precense. His light yet, reassuring touch. The heat of his body being shared with mine, oh how much I missed him. I spent nearly all day just reliving all the times I shared with him. Then I started to remember before then. When he was an absolute dickhead of a friend. But hey, aren't all friends like that?

What changed him? Did he always like me or is he just pissing around? Fucking hell, I never get a real chance to talk to him. Whenever we are together hardly any words are exchanged. Just actions. That's how he liked it.

Since I'm being grounded until my bitter mother changes her mind, I'm back to webcaming with Sylvia. She hates how much I go on about Aleks to her, but I can't help it. He's all I want to talk about, all I think about. I can tell she's wary about our relationship. Always telling me how it's all probably just an act and I should still be careful around him. Ugh, couldn't she just be happy for me?

"I don't know, Dominik," Sylvia said, her voice travelling through my speakers. "He seems veeerry suspicious to me."

"Just let it go, I know him now. He's…different," I said staring her down through the webcam. She was reading something on her own screen.

"Different how? Elaborate, Dominik, if you will, or if you can."

"Well…Oh! He told me he loves me."

"Awww," she said sarcastically, making a face and putting her hand to her chest. "But how did he say it."

"He didn't exactly say it directly to me, he told his dad, but I was sitting right there," I say defensively.

"Did you say it first?"

"No, I didn't get the chance."

"That's because he knows you do. But he knows you don't fully trust him. So he throws you, an innocent puppy, a bone to gnaw on so he can gain your full trust."

"And why shouldn't I give him my full trust," I ask.

"Hey I'm just saying, I smell a rat."

The next day I had enough of staring at my blank bedroom walls 24/7, and decided to sneak out. The other day Father came in my room to tell me he took off the lock but Mother doesn't know. Hm, maybe Father is a lot different than I thought he was. Come to think about it, he never scolded or even yelled at me about anything I did. It was always Mother's job to do that. And if Father was around, he would just silently nod and tell me to 'do what your mother says'. Maybe he's not that bad after all. It's just Cruella De Vil who runs this ship all by herself.

Around midnight, when my parents supposedly fall asleep, I tiptoed out the door and onward to Alek's house. I'm pretty sure his father is cool with us since he didn't seem too offended by our relationship.

Once out the door I was hit with the blast of frozen air. I zipped up my hoodie, pulled up my hood, and shoved my fists in my pockets. Walking down the sidewalk, I made extra thought to step on each and every crack.

I reached Alek's street and started jogging up towards his house. I saw his truck parked in the driveway and noticed movement inside. I decided to surprise him by sneaking up to the window. I ducked behind the fence and crept towards the truck. It took me a few seconds to realize there was someone actually sitting on top of someone else, facing each other, in the passenger seat. Only the long blonde hair was visible in the window. I stayed crouched behind the fence to get a longer look. Fuck, I looked like some creep watching people make-out in cars, but I had to make sure it wasn't my Aleks in their being straddled by some girl. Their heads bobbed back and forth, deepening their kiss.

A few minutes later exited, of all people, Veronica! She hoped out the side door and was followed by the one and only, Aleksander.

I wanted to run right up to Aleks and punch him so hard in his temple it'd make his skull shatter. I felt my heart drop and hit my stomach on the way down. I got that pounding feeling in my head as if I were being weighed down and about to plummet through the ground and down to the earth's core. How could he? How fucking could he, that…that, there isn't even a word to describe this dickhead. But I couldn't stand up. I stayed locked in that crouched position, hiding behind the fence.

Veronica and Aleks ran into the house, obviously to finish what they started in the truck. I wanted to curl up, right there on the sidewalk like a rolly polly. I didn't want to face the world, hear anything, see anything. Because I couldn't stop seeing their smiling faces as they hoped out the truck. Veronica looked like she was giggling, like the preppy school girl she is. And Aleks. He looked so pleased. So excited to be with her. This would have all hurt less if it was with some bloke I didn't even know. But of course, it had to be a friend. I mean, we were never close friends, but we still had that weird parents-are-friends connection. Okay now I'm just finding reasons to be even angrier.

I stood up, dusted my jeans off, and kicked that stupid fence with all my might. It barely made a scratch on the thing. I got even angrier, feeling red rush to my head. I wanted to harm something. Cause damage. Make something hurt the way I was.

I marched down the street, kicking over every trashcan on the way. It wasn't enough. I rummaged through one of the bins, looking for something that's easy to break. In the third bin I found a collection of half empty liquor bottles. I grabbed one and smashed it against the road with all the strength I could muster. The glass scattered across the road, maybe someone will get a flat tire. Bottle after bottle, occasionally taking a swig out of one. Their remains gave shine to the road.

After about the sixth bottle my arm started to feel weak. As if all the energy drained out of it. I felt my anger boil to a simmer. My legs felt limp.

I started walking again, not paying attention to where I was going at all. Tonight, my legs had a mind of their own.

I started to get less and less angrier. The feeling started to leave my head and started to fill my chest. I walked at a snails pace up the grass patch and rang the doorbell. A light pink outline answered the door and pang!