"So we should totally go to that party."
I'm sitting with my best friend Chloe in the lunchroom at school, eating our lunch. Luckily I have enough savings to last me till Jordan is coming back for me, I have enough to buy clothes and the basics. The most amazing news came a few months ago, Jordan had appealed to the courts for custody of me! I danced around the room the night he called and told me, I was too happy for words! Finally I would be out of the abusive hell-hole called home and living with Jordan, who loved me despite how annoying I could be to him. A few years ago, Social Services went round to my house to inspect it- I was at school at the time. My dad was already drunk, and Social Services decided that the house was too dangerous to live in because of him, so they placed me in foster care the next day.
Trust me, the feeling of finally being free of a life of abuse is so amazing, it was like I was flying on a cloud! FINALLY I COULD LIVE A NORMAL LIFE! I'm staying in a foster home right now, but it isn't bad there, honest. The people are nice, and there isn't many kids around at the moment, so it's pretty quiet. My social worker asked me a bunch of questions about my dad and how he treated me, and helped me move my stuff into my room at the foster home. The Social Services had decided to hurry up the custody order- not only because Jordan was now a trained solicitor and that looked good to them, but because they knew how much we wanted to see each other again. Jordan had told them all about his abuse too, and the evidence of our dad's violence was so great that they didn't even suspect that we had ever been lying. Which, of course, we hadn't.
My dad would be gone from my life. Forever. He would most likely get locked up! The thought was so unimaginably wonderful to me, it felt like I was dreaming. I know all teenagers hate their dad's sometimes, but when you've had a life of abuse from them, the love fades completely. By the time I was six, the alcohol stench in his breath made me want to crawl into a hole and die.
So now the only problem I faced right now was the one that I face every day at school, not home: Brady.
Chloe- who was sitting across from me and checking out her nails- wouldn't stop talking about the party that was meant to be going on in three weeks time. I want to go a little bit, but the stress of the Social Workers were getting to me. They said I could go live with Jordan when the custody order came through- there was some sort of thing that if you were abused, you had to remain in foster care until someone takes full custody for you. I just want to see my big brother! I haven't seen him in four years, and I need to hug him again like I had used to when I was little.
But the main thing that was upsetting me today is that I had seen Brady go into the boys bathroom with another Slut on my way here. I don't think I would actually sleep with him if I got the chance to, he would probably have an STI by now. I know that's a weird thing to say, but somehow I keep thinking that maybe someday Brady will realize that Sluts just make you ill.
Every time I see him with one of the Sluts, my heart drops to the floor like a bag of cold sick. Yeah, awful comparison, I know!
"Urgh, are you still thinking about Brady?" Chloe asked, breaking through my thoughts.
"I saw him today. Going into the bathroom with another girl," I sighed, sipping my juice box.
"That's no different from any day," Chloe snorted, then when she saw my sad face, her expression softened a little. "You deserve better, Kayla. You deserve a guy that treats you right and thinks you're the most amazing person in the world. Brady is only interested in the Easy Women."
Chloe called the Sluts 'Easy Women'- I have no idea why, and I go for the more accurate name for them.
I sighed again.
"Maybe you'll find another guy at the party. You need to get over Brady."
"Hmmm,' I said, not entirely interested in getting a new guy.
Chloe can be totally clueless sometimes. And she could be rather bitchy- but she had been my best friend since Kindergarten, and that counted for something. My crush on Brady had stayed a secret with her since we were thirteen.
I probably sound like I'm not fun at all, but that's not the case. I can be me, which is random and funny, when I'm at school. But right now the image of Brady and one Slut going into the boys bathroom together kept popping into my head, dampening my mood.
"Trust me, it'll work," Chloe protested.
"I don't want to get over Brady."
That bit was true. Having a complicated crush made me feel normal. And I guess it is normal, every teenage girl had a complicated crush at least once in their life.
The bell rang at that moment, and I'm extremely grateful- I didn't want to talk about getting over Brady anymore. My next class was without Chloe- thankfully I wouldn't hear any more from her about Brady- and Brady himself was in my English class, which I was always excited about.
English was my favorite class, obviously because Brady was in it. The only bad thing about it was that his friends were there, jeering about the girls that Brady got off with, and they sit right in front of me too- so I hear everything. Yes, it does make me upset. I don't cry when I hear them though, I just try and block them out by getting my head down into my work.
So I walked along through the corridors to go to my English class, and I spotted Brady going in the room at the same time. One of the Sluts was hanging off of him- as usual. I recognized her as the one that went into the the bathroom with him today. She looked as if she was enjoying herself- but I had to hold back a hurt laugh. She thought she was special to Brady because they had had quick sex in the stinky boys bathroom. Ha, I thought- there will be another one tomorrow just like you. Nobody was special to Brady. Nobody ever could be special to Brady.
Definitely not me.
They both walked into the classroom together- well, he walked into the class and she just sort of followed like an obedient dog. I could see Brady's smile from here. He loved having girls following him.
I enter the class after them, trying not to look hurt. It felt horrible, watching him with girls. And I knew that however much I wished it, I would never be good enough for him to actually notice me.
At the back of the classroom was my empty seat, and to the right of it- my friend Rachel.
I beamed at her and she beamed back as I walked forward to take my seat. Nobody else was like Rachel, she was one in a million. My horrible mood had faded a lot, seeing Rachel somehow always made me feel better. She wasn't like Chloe, and she wasn't too interested in boys at the moment either. We've been friends for a long time now, and although we hang out, Chloe just doesn't like her at all. I have no idea why- I think it's cause they have different interests. Our favorite song to listen to together was 'Hello Brooklyn' by All Time Low, we always danced to it at totally awkward moments. Chloe never did anything like that- she was always so conscious about what people thought of her. Rachel wasn't like that, and neither was I. I had gotten so used to being myself at school that I couldn't stand not being me.
Rachel also knew about Brady. How could she not when she sees me trying my all-time best to ignore him when he talks about how much sex he had that day? Yeah, not exactly possible that she can't know.
"Hey, Rachie," That's my nickname for her, no-one else calls her that.
"Hey, Kay." Oh yeah, she calls me Kay, as well. I've always thought that was weird, because it sounded like she was saying 'okay'. Hmmm...
As soon as I sit down, my good mood is shattered when I hear what Brady is talking about. Seriously, boys these days know so much about talking about girls to each other it was shocking. Well, he wasn't talking about girls, he was talking about what he had just done with the latest sex buddy- which was disgusting, and heartbreaking.
Rachel heard it too, and patted my hand comfortingly. I manage to give her a small smile. I would want to move seats if it weren't for Rachel, she was like my rock when it came to Brady.
The teacher came into the room at that exact moment, and I was thankful to have something else to divert my attention to. Mrs Goodfellow was old and kind-looking- and I guess she is okay, as long as you don't disrespect her. Hehe, it makes her sound like a gang leader! I try my absolute hardest in all of my classes, and she knows that- so yeah, my English teacher's nice to me, then mean to everyone else, which everyone gets miffed at.
Myself and Rachel are basically the only people in this class that try hard. So we're not very well noticed nor liked by anyone. As if we cared- but it does make me a bit sad sometimes that nobody likes us.
Oh well- it's their loss.
Mrs Goodfellow started the class on reading parts of Macbeth- and, unlucky for me, nobody else was reading apart from Rachel and myself, which meant lots of talking.
Brady talking.
And guess what his main topic is?
"She was up for anything, man. Her-" his voice said. The rest of the sentence was rather graphic- so bad I literally could never relay it to anyone.
My fist clenched a little harder around my pen. Rachel noticed, and smiled at me- a little sadly. I know she doesn't like me fancying him, but in the meantime she was willing to stand my me.
"Block him out, Kay," she handed me one of the earphones from her Ipod. I smiled sadly at her, then place the earphone into my ear. Brady's voice is blocked out a little now, and my mind was distracted anyway due to Rachel's rather ridiculous dance moves. She started waving her hands back and forth- which looked strange enough even if it was a slow song. But this was a rock song! It looked absolutely hilarious!
I giggled, more happy than I've been in a while. And guess what happened? Brady turned round and saw us. The word he said next shattered my world- forcing me to recover quickly.
"Freaks," then he turned round again. His gaze was cruel, he didn't care about our feelings at all. His friends laughed along with him, darting annoying glances along to us.
I froze for a second and unknown to the boys, I gripped the sides of the table. To be honest, I'm more angry than upset. I decided that, for the moment, I don't care what he thinks. I want to dance crazy with my crazy friend, and screw him- I'm gonna do it! I cranked the sound up on Rachel's Ipod, then started giggling and dancing with her again.