Chapter 36 ELARA’S POV/A NEW BEGINNING
FROM THIS CHAPTER WOULD SERVE AS PART 2 MY LOVES :SOPHIE'S AND FRED CONNER FRATERNAL TWIN BOYS STORY
Running
It seems like it's all I do.
The sound of the soles of my shoes slamming onto the wet pavement, the burning sting in my legs with every push forward, the odd stares from the people around me.
It was all normal for me.
I hear their laughs, their sick laughs as they run ahead of me, throwing around my backpack like it was a toy.
"Come and get it Dawn!" He yells, excitement laces his rough voice from all the cigarettes he smokes.
That was Roger smith. He's been smoking since he was six years old and found enjoyment in my pain. Along with his other minions, Jacob Landors, Sarah Conklin , and Nathan creed they had only one goal.
To make my life a living hell.
I could feel my heart drumming through my chest.
I don't know how long I've been running for, but I couldn't let them have my backpack, the one thing I treasured most.
It was the last piece of my father I had left with me, the last item he gifted me before he died. I was only 9, and didn't understand the idea he would never come back.
Until my mother. She'd been so sad, I don't think I've ever seen anyone as heartbroken as her, mainly because she would cope with drugs. Drugs we couldn't afford to be getting.
And when she overdosed, all that debt came onto me.
I feel the pain in my throat, the one right before I can't stop controlling my tears. My hair was wet from the rain, my clothes soaked, and my voice nearly gone as I screamed and begged for them to give it back.
They wouldn't.
This was only the beginning after all.
They turn into an alleyway, laughing like a pack of hyenas and I, like the idiot I am, follow them in.
I was trying to catch up with my breath, my wet hair sticking to my face and the rain only getting heavier by now.
They look at me, hold the backpack out for my reach, and watch me in hilarity as I move closer, thinking I could just grab it and run.
"Go on, don't be so scared." Nathan utters, moving the backpack closer to my reach.
I look at them standing around me in a circle now as I feel my hand on the old backpack that had been with me since elementary.
I try taking it, but Roger has a strong grip on it, a wicked smirk on his face as he looks at his friends.
"Don't you want the backpack? Take. It."
He shouts in my face, and I stumble back at his voice, feeling my throat closing and my heart racing when I realize what was about to come.
I couldn't feel anything as I got pushed into a dirty puddle, their voices only turning into mumbles.
It sounded like hell.
I get kicked in the ribs, the legs, the head, everywhere.
A scream of pain I've only gotten used to by now rumbles through my body when they blow one last kick to my stomach before victoriously running away.
I was out, until I felt like I was choking. My body on instinct slowly moves up as I try choking out the water from the puddle.
My body was on alert, telling me not to move from the pain but I had no choice.
Slowly, I crawled to my backpack that had been thrown into another puddle.
I picked it up, watching as the dirty water drips off from the sides, and i cried.
I cried as I put on the backpack, like nothing happened, I cried as I wiped the dirt and mud off of my face, I cried all the way to the place I'd been working for 3 years now.
And just before walking in I wiped away my tears, put a smile on my face and open the door.
The place always smelled of grease and sweat, covered up by Ms. Tilsky's obsession of incense.
She never liked me, no one ever did really, so coming in late would not help her dislike towards me.
I recognize her aging face, big glasses, bright makeup, and hair pulled into a swirl of blonde locks as she rushes around, getting the work of two people done.
The work I was supposed to be doing.
If it weren't for Roger taking my backpack at school this would've never happened, but here I was, trying to speak to Ms.Tilsky who wouldn't acknowledge my presence.
"Ms. Tilsky, sorry I'm late I had to stay after school a bit for a test." I say as she moves to the back of the small restaurant.
She sits down on a chair, heaving a heavy breath as she wipes the sweat off of her forehead from the rush.
" You're fired." She spits, and I feel my world freeze at those words.
"N..no Ms. Tilsky you don't understand! I need this job please don't do this to m-" I don't finish when she aggressively points her finger to the door, her forehead wrinkles coming together in anger.
"Please." I beg once more, but she ignores me and walks off to another customer.
I feel the hot tears coming down again, and shamefully walk out of the restaurant with my soaked clothes pulling me down, and my head towards the ground.
Its okay, I could just find a new job, and then I'd save and save and save and when all the debts paid off Andrew wouldn't bother me anymore and I'd graduate high school and live a normal life.
All my hopes wither away when I get a dreadful text on my old phone, that had nearly been broken.
'I'm giving you 3 weeks, if I don't have the money by then I'm going to fuck that sweet little body of yours and pull you apart limb by limb”.
He'd found me after her death, and told me he'd give me a couple weeks until I had to find a job and pay off the rest of the debt,$25,000.
Now I had no job, and he'd find out. He always finds out everything.
If I didn't find a job now, my life would be over, before I could even start it.
Through the agonizing pain my legs eventually take me to the place I called home. It was a one bedroom apartment, that looked more like it was falling apart than anything.
The ceilings would drip with water when it rained, the floors cracked, the walls dirty and the bed nearly broken.
I took off my wet clothes, pushing them into my small laundry basket before getting in the shower.
The hot water lasts 4 minutes and 32 seconds, so as soon as the water is on I get in and try to finish as quick as i can.
My skin burns as the hot water seeps into my cuts, but I ignore it, like I do with most things.
My body aches as I get dressed into my only pajamas, my head pounding and my legs still in pain from all the running earlier.
It was quiet, empty, and lonely as I walk out of the bathroom. The room was dark, and the only sound I could hear was the couple upstairs arguing once again and the sound of the heavy rain outside.
I grabbed a bowl of dry cereal, and eat it slowly as I scroll through my phone, looking for job openings.