“Never give up without a fight”
~♡~
I walked to my house with heavy legs. Each footstep felt as though I had a rock tied to me and I had to put my entire energy to do the job. When I reached my house, I walked past it to my neighbour’s.
I walked up to the door and knocked on it. After a few seconds, the door opened and Anna stood in front of me. She smiled up at me and I found it hard to respond with the same gesture.
Anna and I had become pretty close in these few months. I’ve always loved Anna when she was a baby. And she liked playing with me back then and now too. And I’m glad she isn’t like her brother.
“Anna, can you.. please call your brother?” I asked, holding onto the door frame.
“Yes!” She grinned and ran back inside to fetch his brother. After waiting for a few minutes, Brett appeared in front of me.
“What?” Brett’s voice rang in my ear. He was looking irritated when I faced him and his eyes were narrowed, almost questioning my presence.
“You told me you’d meet me after school.” I reminded and hid my injured hand behind my dress to conceal it from his vision.
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so?”
“You didn’t show up,” I said, accusingly.
“Yea... I forgot I guess.” He shrugged it off and looked around carelessly.
Suddenly I felt the growing anger in me. He didn’t have a clue about what happened to me and it could’ve been avoided if he was there.
But he didn’t. And I had to go through it again. Go through those horrible memories and get hurt all over again. I couldn’t control it. While he asked me why I was staring at him without responding, I pulled my hand and slapped him across his face.
“What the fuck!” He said when I slapped him again on the same cheek.
“You forgot?! That’s all you got to say?” I said and threw my hand across his face again but he caught my wrist just in time to avoid another blow.
“What the fuck are you-” he stopped when he felt the liquid in his palms.
Tears flowed out of my eyes as he gripped my hand tightly. His hand turned red as he clasped my bleeding wrist with his fingers.
He let go of my wrist in shock and stared at the blood in his hands.
“What.. what the hell happened?” He came closer to me and took my hands in his.
“What happened?” I repeated. “You happened. This happened because of you! Had I not waited for you... Had I not walked back home alone... maybe, this would not have happened!”
Endless tears ran out of my eyes as I stepped back. “You know what? Just forget it. Leave that damn project to me and never show me your face again. You don’t have to pretend that you don’t remember me because I know you do! From the very beginning! And now, I don’t care. I don’t care what happens to you. I’m done waiting for you. I’m done thinking for you and I’m done caring about you!”
I said those words in a hurry and walked back to my house in anger.
“Chloe, wait!” He said and pulled me by my free hand. “Get inside. You’re hurt.”
“Leave me, Bretton. You don’t have to pretend as you care.” I said and pulled my hand away from him. But he pulled me towards himself, nonetheless.
“You are going to get inside.” He declared and pulled me inside with him. “Don’t try to fight me. I’m not going to leave you.”
“You have no right to take care of me!”
“I have all the rights to do this. You said this happened because of me, right? Then let me fix this.”
“Anna, get me the first aid box from the drawer there.” He asked as he pulled me to sit on the sofa.
“Why is there blood, Chloe? Are you hurt?” Anna asked once she gave the box to Brett.
Brett opened the box and took some cotton to wipe the blood out of my hands. “Anna, go inside.”
“No, I want to-”
“Anna,” Brett warned as he put the burning liquid on my wrist. I closed my eyes at the burning sensation and let it pass away.
“Okay.” She said and went inside.
Brett wrapped the band-aid on my wrist and I pulled it from his grasp when he was done. I was about to get up when he pushed me back.
“Your leg.” He said.
“I can take care of it.”
“God, you’re crazy! Why do you have to be so tough!”
“I am tough? And you think you’re easy to deal with?” I said. “You have no clue what I’ve been through when I dealt with you for almost a year. So don’t you dare tell me that I’m being unreasonable or stubborn because you have made me behave like this!”
“Chloe.” He said. “I know I shouldn’t have done that. I know it was my mistake that I stood you up.”
“But there’s no point in apologising now. Everything is done and he.. he..” I cried as I looked down at my injured hand. It was hurting so bad. I always tried to control my pain but right then, the pain was a little too much for me to control. It is beyond my ability to bear it.
“Chloe, who did this?” He asked.
“I.. I don’t know.”
“Chloe. I know when you lie.” He said. “Tell me, who did this?”
“You do?” I snorted. “You don’t remember me, Bretton. How do you know that I’m lying?”
“Of course I remember you, Chloe.” He said. “How the hell do you think I’ll ever forget you?”
His words made me stop. “You remember me?”
“Yes.” He said. “I remember you.”
“Then why did you-”
“Let’s not talk about it.” He said. “Now, tell me who it was.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it, then fine. I don’t want to tell you anything either.” I said.
He sighed and gently placed his hand over my leg. He took the leg into his hand and treated it with utmost tenderness and gentleness. He carefully wiped the blood away and cleaned it. After he was done, he tied the band-aid to my leg.
“Chloe.” He said. “I’m sorry.”
I looked up at him in astonishment. I never thought he had it him to offer any apology to anyone. Especially me.
“I know it’s my fault.” He sighed. “None of this would’ve happened if I stayed with you. And the guy, whoever hurt you, wouldn’t have done this. I’m sorry.”
I looked at him and I could sense the sincerest feelings in him. He was looking deeply saddened and the guilt in him was evident in his face.
“I.. I have to go home,” I said and hurried to get up but yet again, I was pulled back.
“Christ, what’s the hurry?” He said. “You’re not going anywhere tonight. You’re staying here.”
“What?” I asked.
“Yes.” He bluntly replied.
“I am going I stay here?” I asked him in bewilderment.
“Yes.” He replied as casually like ever.
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. Plus Anna.”
“Whole night?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not going to stay here.”
“You have no choice.” He said. “I won’t leave you like this alone. That creepy guy might come back.”
“As if you care.” I snorted and stood up. “You don’t get to order me around alright? I can do whatever I want.”
“It’s either the easy way or the hard way.” He said.
Before I could say anything, he threw me over his shoulder.
~♡~
“Stop looking at me like that and eat,” Brett said and accumulated the food in his fork and took a bite of it.
I glared at him and remained unmoving.
He sighed. “If you don’t start eating, I’ll have to make arrangements as to how to make you eat.”
I scowled at him and harshly took the fork and ate. Anna giggled from beside me and I tried hard not to lunge at him for this. But sadly, I couldn’t because I was tied to the chair by his belt.
“I told your mom you’re staying with us,” he said, his mouth full of food. “And she doesn’t mind.”
“Did you tell her what happened?” I asked in apprehension. She can't know this. She’ll be worried about me and leave her work and come here. And I don’t want any of that to happen.
“No.” He said, much to my relief. I know she loves me way too much and is already worried that I got hit by Brett’s car. Telling her that I was hurt by Parker will only worsen things.
“What did you say then?” I asked him. If he didn’t tell her the reason, he might have told something that convinced her.
“I told her.. you were scared to be alone and asked if you could sleep here.” He said and the fork in my hand felt as I looked at him in astonishment.
“You did what?” I said. “You told her that I was scared
to be alone?”“Yes.” He nodded.
“I wonder how she even believed it,” I said. “I’m always alone and I was never scared before.”
“You’re always alone?” He asked, glancing up from his plate.
“Yea,” I said. “Mom does night shifts because she gets higher pay with that. So, I always sleep alone.”
“And you’re not scared of living alone? That an intruder might come up?” He said.
“Well, I never thought of it, to be honest. And, I’m kinda used to it so it never occurred to me that it is unsafe.” I said.
He shook his head in disapproval and went back to eating.
“You cannot do that when you hardly even know who I am.” I pointed out.
“I know you.” He said. “More than you can think.”
“Really?” I asked. “Then prove it.”
“I can.” He said. “Tell me what you want to know about yourself from me?”
“What's my full name?”
“Chloe Ava Morgan.”
I rose my brow. “What’s my age? Exact.”
“17 years, 7 months. Do you want the days?”
I shook my head. “My birthday?”
“17th Feb.”
“My favourite colour.”
“Black.”
“My favourite person.”
“Your mom.”
“My most memorable day?”
“The day when we went to the beach in nothing but our undies. You were mad because I wet your clothes. But you ended up loving it.”
My eyes almost flew out of my sockets. How did he know that it was my most memorable day? It wasn’t even a relevant question to ask but I did so that I could prove him wrong, but no. He did it. He told the correct answer.
“Okay, Bretton,” I asked. “I’ll ask you one last question. And I’ll agree that you know me well if you answer this.”
“Okay..” he said.
“Have I ever been in love?” I asked.
He looked at me and kept boring into my eyes when I said those words. I didn’t dare to break the eye contact because I wanted to know if he ever felt the love I had toward him. Did he ever think of the possibility that I liked him?
I didn’t seem to understand what was going on around me. I was completely indulged and sank into his beautiful green eyes. He looked beautiful. Everything about him is so perfect. He’s just perfect. Perfect for me.
He blinked a few times before he leaned closer. And when he spoke, his voice was low.
“Yes.”
I sank back into my chair.
“A single moment of misunderstanding is so poisonous, that it makes us forget the hundred loveable moments spent together within a minute.”~♡~BrettI don’t know what I was thinking when I brought her into my house. Yes, she was hurt but that gave me no reason to ask, or rather, force her to stay with us. Especially since I led her to believe that I don't care about her at all.I somehow felt like she didn’t deserve that pain. When I saw her wrist bleeding, and she was barely able to walk, I was wracked with guilt. This could have been avoided if I were there.Honestly, after what happened with Sapphire, I hated Chloe. She was the one person I loathed. She disgusted me.When we were kids, we used to be the best of friends. I remember every childhood memory I made with her. But since I moved away from Boston, I was angry. Angry at everything. The new place I’ve been dragged to, the new friends I met and everything else. Boston was a great place. Moreover, I had a best friend. I had Ch
"It grieves me to think there are people misunderstanding my heart on an issue.”~♡~I didn’t know what was wrong with him. He seemed completely fine when I talked to him last night. I was happy that things were going fine between us but he threw me out of his house in the morning.I didn’t know if he even felt the need to help me when I fell. I thought he’d try to be a little more gentle and caring. I don’t know why he’s being like so mean again.I decided to not go to school because I was going tired of all that was going on in my life. Moreover, I may have to face Parker, which I don’t want to do.“You’re not going to school, sweetie?” My mom asked me when she saw me sitting in our backyard.“No. I’m tired mom,” I said her.She came to me and sat beside me. “You want to talk about it, Chloe?”I looked up at her and smiled. “How did you know I need to share it?”“I’m your mother, sweetie.” She said and smiled back.I chuckled and took her hand. “I’ve been having a bad time these day
"I love you, for all that you are, all that you've been, and all that you're yet to be."~♡~Brett"Dyslexia?" I huffed out in shock."Yes." She replied, unsure of whether the choice she made was wise or not. "She is a dyslexic child.""How long has it been?" I said."I found out about 2 years ago. But she did, just a few months ago." She said. "I knew she had difficulty in grasping things but it's not like she isn't intelligent. She's a brilliant student. But I failed to understand why her talent is never shown in her grades. That's when I got to know that she has dyslexia.""How.. have you been able to do something about it?" I asked."I don't know how to." She said, helplessness written all over her face. "I've been told that Chloe's condition isn't really that bad and she can correct it with professional help.""That's why she wasn't able to write properly?" I asked."Yes." she continued. "She does have any clarity about the alphabets. She needs special training for that, Brett. A
“Here’s to new beginnings.”ChloeI didn’t know if I was supposed to stay mad at mom or not. I never thought that she would tell everything to Brett and explain to him about my daily battles. I had convinced myself that my life is no less than a battlefield and I need to fight it myself. It’s not just for now, but I believe that you shouldn’t be hoping for someone else’s support all the time. You need to be well equipped, physically and mentally. We need to realise that nothing is constant in this transforming life. And we’re the only ones that can go through what life offers to us.And I’m not completely satisfied with the idea to blame my mother. If anything, she’s been an amazing mother. I couldn’t be happier to receive such an amazing human being like my mother. She has no one to share her grievances with. My dad is dead and she hasn’t been looking for any other man to marry. I asked her to focus on her marriage but she always swayed the advice by saying that she can never give me
“All you need is someone who joins in on your weirdness.”~I saw Brett as he set my study up. He laid out a few books in front of me and asked me to pick the ones I liked to study now. And then, being the nerd I am, I picked history. He sighed as a sign of discomfort flashed across his face as he wasn’t as good in history as I was. I smiled at his reaction and sat erect.“Okay, so... read this paragraph. Aloud.” He said, giving me the open book, with his index finger pointing a paragraph.“Why?” I frowned.“Just do it.” He insisted and nudged me by my arm with his. I shrugged and started reading.And obviously, it wasn’t great. I was struggling for words in between and had halted for a lot of time to read certain lines. But he patiently listened to me and watched me. When I was done, he spoke.“You did well.” He smiled. “I guess you’re just confused with certain words. Apart from that, it’s perfect.”I smiled sadly and stared down. I knew it was a bad decision. No matter how hard I t
Brett(on)’s POV.Seriously, this girl gotta be crazy from what it looks like. She risked not just going out at this time of the hour but also taking Anna with her. I don’t know why she would even think of taking Anna with her, seeing neither of them would act sensibly if they are in trouble.I sighed and checked my wallet again if some money appears miraculously but no. That is not going to happen. Bless my mind for emptying the rest of the money in my drawer into that dratted wallet. And now I don’t have a single penny with me.I cursed and clutched my hair between my fingers. I took my phone out and called her. But it kept drifting away to voice mail. I threw the phone into one of my pockets and got out of the house.I got into my car and hit the gas. Since Anna was upset about the pizza, I’m sure Chloe has taken her to one of the places that have great pizza. And the only place near to our house is Domino’s.I smiled at the thought. Girls can’t outshine guys. At least, they can’t o
“What is it with the band-aid?” Sapphire asked once we settled down with our trays on the table.Sapphire had invited me to sit with her folks, Nina, Brett and Sean. Nina was the girl who was rumoured to have dated Brett. I was pretty jealous when I heard of it but was relieved when I got to know that they were merely rumours. Which held no truth.“Ah, long story,” Brett said.“Ah, long day.” She played along, to which she earned a roll of eyes from him.“I went to a party, last night,” Brett said.“Like every other night,” Sean said, sipping his drink.Brett ignored him and continued. “So I met this girl-”“-Who kicked me in the groin,” Sean said and Nina and I burst out laughing.Sapphire and Brett glared and Sean while he was completely oblivious to it. “Stop interrupting.”Sean just shrugged his shoulder.“Ignore him,” Sapphire said. “He has a mental problem that he’s dealing with.”I wonder how a person like Sean could have so much patience to deal with Sapphire. He is the kind o
I never spoke anything while he carried me to his car. He opened the door of his car and put me on the passengers seat. After securing me with the seat belt, he closed the door and walked around the car and got inside.All the while he drove, I dared not speak. I hadn’t uttered a word and he never asked anything more. He increased his speed and slammed on the brakes occasionally when he saw a bump or speed breaker. I was apprehensive of his next move and let my hands move to his and clasp it tightly. He noticed my gesture and slowed the speed.I never took my hand off of him and he never tried to get rid of it. He let me hold onto him.Brett brought me to his house and put me on his bed. I clung onto him and clutched his shirt tightly. He tried to remove my hands from the grasp but I only tightened it furthermore.He sighed and wiped the tears off of my face. He pulled away and removed his shoes. He slipped his feet under the covers and joined me inside the bed. I finally let go of hi