Seven
Eli
I didn’t know how long I had been walking alone because I wasn’t keeping track of time.
I was not afraid like I was the last time I walked alone at night.
The difference was that the last time I had been walking from school, and one thing about the small town that I lived in was that there weren’t too many sidewalks.
So, when I would walk home from school I had to walk in the grass.
It was pitch black out because of the lack of streetlights.
When walking from my house, however, there were sidewalks and streetlights. I felt a lot safer than I did walking from my school. I was not worried about someone jumping out of the bushes and getting me.
Unfortunately, my eye hurt like hell, and I was still trembling.
Bella was grounded, so she didn't have her phone on her. I called and texted Ricky multiple times, but he did not answer. I called Kailey once, but she didn’t pick up either. Kailey and Ricky were probably doing something together. They were my only three options for help, so I had just myself.
My idiot brother wasted every bottle I owned. So much money and valuable liquor gone because of him and his temper tantrum. Now I had nothing to drown the pain with. I was stuck dealing with my agony the normal way—the painful way.
I hummed a tune to myself in an attempt to calm down even just a bit. That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped around, startled, but I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding when I realized who it was.
"Out alone at night again?" Javier asked me with a wiggle of his eyebrows, but the playfulness fell off his face once he got a good look at me. “ Jesus , your eye."
Javier was the last person I wanted to see right then. I sighed as I turned on my feet and began walking again. I was embarrassed enough as it is, I didn’t need his presence adding to that. However, I was stopped when he grabbed my arm.
"Are you okay?" he asked, genuine concern laced in his voice.
His lips parted slightly and his eyes went wide. That was when I realized just how worried he actually was. I knew he could see the black eye accompanied by the drained look on my face, yet I still replied, "Of course."
He reached to touch my arm, but I backed up. Javier blinked a couple of times and then muttered, "This isn’t the way to your house."
I nodded. "I’m aware."
I could see the pity all over his face, and it was the absolute last thing that I wanted.
I did not need anyone pitying me for any reason.
When people felt bad for me, it made me feel worse.
It made me feel like there was something seriously wrong because people only feel bad for you when there is something wrong in your life.
Something that shouldn’t have happened did happen, so people felt the need to give their condolences.
I wanted to forget about the bad, not relive it by hearing empty apologies.
Javier tapped his foot against the ground continuously. "Come home with me?"
I was surprised by his offer. It was unexpected, especially considering I never directly made known that I had nowhere to go. Driving me to my house in the middle of the night was one thing but letting me stay at his home was a whole different ballpark.
"I'm fine.”
"You clearly aren’t."
“It’s none of your concern.”
“I’m making it my concern.”
"I don't need help from the perfect Javier Cortez," I said bitterly. I hadn’t meant for it to come out so snippy, I was just pissed. As rude as I constantly was to Javier, why did he have to be so kind to me?
Javier pressed his lips together and they formed into a straight, thin line. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I won’t leave you out here with nowhere to go."
“How do you know that I don’t have anywhere to go?”
“Because the look in your eyes says otherwise,” he stated. “And you would have already said so.”
I fidgeted with my fingers subconsciously and dragged my foot on the ground, awkward and uncomfortable. He was right, and he knew it.
"Come home with me." He was not asking anymore.
So, I gave in.
The ride to his house did not take long.
I got to ride on his motorcycle again, so that was something good that came out of the traumatic night.
Though, as much as I enjoyed the adrenaline high that came with riding it, there was still the nervousness that came with it.
Motorcycles were not the safest choice of vehicle, after all.
Once we made it to his house, Javier immediately sat me down on his living room couch.
He rushed to pour me some fruit punch and gave me a blanket.
Fruit punch wasn’t my first choice of a drink, but I was not complaining.
It was so abnormally cold in his house that my teeth were chattering, and he noticed it.
He apologized and told me that his parents liked the house cold.
He was now sitting next to me and tending to the cut on my right arm.
When he wiped over it with an alcohol wipe, I flinched.
He gave me a sympathetic smile, gripping my arm tighter but wiping it a little more gently.
He then pulled a band-aid out of the first aid kit that he had next to him. He put it over the cut.
I was still sniffling, but at least I wasn’t crying anymore.
He hadn't asked me any more questions since we had been at his house. We were just sitting in silence, and I was thankful for it because I didn’t know how to respond to any of the questions he may have started asking.
Not only did I not know how to, I also did not want to.
A girl whom I assumed to be his little sister stared at me with wide eyes. I assumed it was because of the state of my face, which I still hadn't looked at yet. She seemed to be the only one besides Javier and I in the house.
After a long while of silence, Javier decided to question me. He made a ‘tch’ sound before shifting awkwardly on the couch. He looked conflicted on whether or not to speak to me. Nevertheless, he did.
"Why were you out alone at ten o'clock at night?" he asked softly.
"Why were you out alone at ten o'clock at night?" I deflected.
"Fair enough."
And silence again.
Javier leaned closer to me, his eyes focused on my hurt one. He reached and gently touched it, causing me to wince. I could see the pity all over his face. I hated it.
"Who did this to you?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
I shrugged which caused him to sigh. He appeared genuinely upset by my lack of an answer. But why? We had hated each other for years, why would I open up to him of all people? Besides, it was only a cut and a black eye. It wasn’t like I had been beaten senseless.
Without another word, he stood up and went toward the kitchen. I watched him whisper-yell at the girl who was still peeking over the counter. He and the girl argued back and forth, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. She then whined before storming off, and Javier went into the kitchen.
When he came back, he had a zip lock bag filled with ice in one hand and a towel in the other. He sat down and wrapped the towel around the zip lock bag, and then gently placed it against my eye.
"Was it some kid that goes to our school?" Javier asked after another minute of silence.
Well technically, yeah. It was. Not only did the kid go to our school, but he also lived in my house. Not just that, but he was related to me. Such crazy coincidences.
I sniffled. "Why do you care?"
"Why wouldn't I care?" his eyes narrowed.
"We don't even like each other," I stated.
"I like you just fine."
"No, you just like that you're better than me at everything," I said with bitterness. "Congrats on winning class president for the fourth damn time in a row, by the way."
I hated how I immediately went to bring up the election. It was a bit pathetic of me, I knew that much. Javier was being nice, yet all I could think about was my defeat. I couldn't help it, and I hated myself for it.
Javier sighed. "Let's not talk about this now."
"Why not? Since when do you pass up the opportunity to brag in my face?"
And that's when I heard the front door creak open, and who came through was who I assumed to be his parents. They were both dressed up nicely. His mother had a beautiful long dress with sparkly gold heels, and his father had on a tuxedo with a red tie. Wherever they had come from, it was expensive.
They both were startled to find a stranger sitting on their couch with an ice pack on his eye.
" Mijo , who's this?" his mom asked with a gasp.
Javier’s father dropped the keys on the counter next to him while his mom rushed over to us in a panic. I probably looked like a train wreck in his parents’ eyes. My hair was a mess, I had an ice pack on my face, and I am pretty sure that I was still shaking.
"This is Elias," Javier said, scooting over so that his mother could take a seat next to me.
I forced a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"You as well,” his father grunted from across the room. He leaned against the wall, making no move to come close to the rest of us.
"Elias Richardson?" His mother eyed me.
When I gave a sharp nod, her lips curled into a smile. She opened her arms wide and wrapped them around me. "It's so nice to finally meet you!"
Finally?
I froze in her arms, confused on how to act because adults didn’t normally come up to me and hug me like she did.
I reached my arm around and awkwardly patted her on the back twice and she responded by squeezing tighter.
When she eventually pulled away from the hug, she took a long and hard look at me.
She gently took the ice pack from my eye and when she got a good look at it, her head jerked back, and she let out a gasp.
She then mumbled something in Spanish that I didn’t understand at all.
I had a 93 in Spanish class and that was only because I memorized enough for the tests.
After the tests I forgot everything. So, it was safe to say that I did not know Spanish.