Kyle came over to the Santaigo's the next day and helped Mallory move her things into her bedroom. "Can I find an underwear box somewhere around here?" he asked.
Mallory laughed. "No," she said. "I don't wear underwear."
He's eyebrows shot up and he looked at her.
"Ok, chill horndog," she said. "I've already unpacked my panties."
"Oh." Disappointment crossed his face and she reached into a cardboard box and pulled out a throw pillow and tossed it at his head.
He laughed and tossed it back at her. She was making up her bed and throwing pillows on it left and right. She had it made up and Kyle jumped across the bed. "Comfy," he said.
Mallory smiled and fell down next to him. "Yeah," she replied. "You know something?"
"What?" he asked.
"I depended on my room to protect me. I was always safe there...in my place."
"From what?"
"Everything."
"Your parents?"
Wave of Memories
"Stupid!" her father yelled at her looking at her report card. "Why can't you be like Brooke?"
"Bitch!" her mother screamed, sending a stinging slap across her face for getting suspended. "Why can't you be like Brooke?"
"BECAUSE I'M NOT BROOKE!" Mallory screamed, over and over from time to time.
"I should have had that damn abortion!" her mother yelled at her drunken and ready to pass out on the couch. "We never wanted you."
"We never wanted you." Their favorite phrase.
Back to Reality
"Mallory?" Kyle asked. "Mallory? Are you ok?"
Mallory opened her eyes and stared around at her room. She was crying and she sat up and clung onto Kyle and cried on him.
"It's ok," Kyle whispered. He brushed her hair with his hand. "It's ok. You're ok."
CHAPTER TITLE CREDIT: In My Place by Coldplay