6A/N: This is going to be a pretty harsh story. I'm not quite sure what will be in it, but I will be adding suicide, self-injury, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and a few other things. The language will be quite vulgar as well. If you are uncomfortable with these, don't read it. And I hope this isn't cliché. I'm trying to make it my own but I'm not sure how original it really is.
Raindrops
by SavannahX
Prologue
The raindrops are falling down, merging with the tears that are sliding down my face.
"How can I help you?" he asks as I stumble into his receptive arms.
"You can't," I tell him, choking on my sobs. I heave again and I can feel his grip around me tightens. His lips brush against my hair lightly.
"Noelle, why can't I help you?" he asks again.
"You just can't, okay? I'm a lost cause. No one can help me."
Chapter One: Fallen
"You dumb bitch, get the hell out!"
Of course, I listen. I'm constantly on alert, constantly hoping that we would have one day when I didn't get thrown out of my house.
It's about now that I realize I'm not wearing a coat in the frigid December air. I shiver and a teardrop falls down my face. Why does it have to be like this?
I walk for a few more minutes. My cheeks have now turned pink and my hands feel like they're going to fall off. I have no where to go, however. I mean, I have friends, but no one knows how extreme it is at my house. Even my best friend Lindsay has no clue. She knows we don't see eye to eye, but neither does her family.
I make my choice to walk another three blocks to the public library. I find myself there quite often. It is there that I can escape the harsh reality of my house. I walk in and embrace the warm air. The librarian, Betty, smiles at me as I walk in.
"Hello Noelle," she says with a smile. "How are you today?"
Betty is a very sweet lady. She's about forty and has her short brown hair spiked up. Her glasses are that of a typical librarian and she always has a smile on her face. She is as skinny as a rail despite the many cookies I see her consume.
"I'm great!" I tell her. A smile is plastered on my face. Oh if only anyone could ever guess what was really going on at my house.
"Where is your coat?" she asks me, concern evident on her face.
"Oh, I just thought it was nice enough to not wear one. Boy was I wrong!" I laugh. Maybe it's just me, but I wonder why no one can ever hear how fake the laugh really is.
"I see, well take care next time to bring it just in case. What will you be reading today?"
I ponder this for a moment. "I'm thinking Shakespeare will do me well today. Romeo and Juliet sounds wonderful."
"Well, you know where it is!" she says with a laugh. "I need to get back to my job, however, so you have a good afternoon, sweetie!"
"Thanks Betty," I tell her as I head for the stairs. I hop them two by two and head straight for the Shakespeare section. I pull out the think volume and head over to my alcove. I settle in my normal armchair and begin to read. I am enraptured by Romeo and Juliet's amazing story, one I've read countless times. Every time, the book pulls me in even more and tears run down my cheeks.
In the middle of the ending scene, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Of course, I know exactly who it is. I press the send button and answer with a timid, "Hello?"
"Where the fuck are you?" he asks me harshly.
"The library," I tell him.
"What the hell," he mutters. "Get your ass home. Remember we have company coming tonight."
I had forgotten that Ethan and his father were coming over tonight. "Okay," I tell him and I hang up the phone. Sadly, I shut the book that had made me forget for quite some time and place it back in it's proper spot.
When I arrive home, Alan grabs me by my shirt as I take off my shoes. "They will be here in ten minutes, you brat. Get yourself looking presentable."
Although we see Ethan about three times a year, Alan assumes that we need to look presentable for them. He usually hates whatever I wear, but I don't really care. Either way he'll end up hitting me so I might as well wear what I want. I tromp up the stairs two by two and look through my shabby closet. I pull out a blue turtleneck and a pair of skinny jeans. I sigh and begin to change into clothes I don't really want to wear.
The sight of my body always scares me. I'm a skinny girl and I'd even go to the extent that I am pretty. But if anyone ever saw my body, it'd all be ruined. Countless bruises cover my body. There are scars from incidents in the past and well as new scars I myself form daily. I brush my fingers up my arm and start to cry. Why do I feel the need to cut myself? It's because of Alan. As hard as I try not to, Alan causes me to.
I pull my body close and slowly put on the clothes and I hear the door downstairs open. I hear Alan's voice and I also hear the familiar voice of Evan, two old friends greeting each other. I'm sure Ethan is behind him, looking for me. When I was little, Ethan was my playmate. Alan and Evan are best friends. And unfortunately my mother married him when I was two.
I'd never known my father. He died before I was born. I know how hard it was on my mother. It toiled her and even though she remarried Alan, I know she was never happy with him. My mom loved Alan, I'm sure of it, but her true love would always be my father. She passed away when I was seven and Alan ended up adopting me. Now, nine years later, I still live with him.
I've thought about emancipation before, but I know it would just be a living hell while I was living with him. He'd make sure I knew that I'd made a mistake. I would just have to suffer through the hell until the day I turned eighteen.
As I ran a brush through my hair Alan yelled up the stairs. "Noelle, come on down!" Of course, when Evan was around, Alan was the nicest guy there ever could be. Around anyone, besides myself of course, Alan was a wonderful man. He was well respected in the community, a member of city council, a volunteer soccer coach, and he worked as supervisor in the YMCA. He was one of those men that constantly had someone vying to date him. I'm not going to deny that Alan was attractive. He really is, but his personality is not at all attractive.
After I feel satisfied, I run down the stairs. I immediately throw myself into Ethan's arms. "Hey you!" I tell him with a smile. "It's been awhile."
If Ethan lived here, I'd consider dating the boy. He had brown hair that curled in all the right places and these deep blue eyes. He had a killer smile and not to mention a very toned body. His face was purely flawless and he looked amazing in whatever he was wearing. Today he happened to be wearing a blue polo and black demin jeans. Most boys don't wear polos, but he did and he pulled them off quite well.
"It sure has," he tells me with a smile and squeezes me. He loosens his grip. "How's life going for you?"
"Great," I tell him. "What about yourself?"
"Ah, pretty good. I actually have some things to tell you."
Alan and Evan had gone off to do whatever it is they do and left Ethan and I to our usual routine. "What do you want to watch?" I asked him as I looked down to the movie cabinet. Alan was a big movie guy.
"How about some action movie?" he asked me and looked down at the cabinet. He ended up deciding on some Tom Cruise movie called Collateral. I'd never heard of it before, but it was pretty damn good.
Ethan didn't say much during the movie, as usual. Afterwards however, we got to talking.
"So what do you need to tell me?" I asked him as I cuddled up next to him. I was more comfortable with Ethan than anyone else in this world.
"Mom and Dad are splitting up. Lexy is staying with Mom. Dad and I are moving here. He uses the excuse that he needs to be close to his best friend." I could hear the pain in his voice the whole time.
"It's okay," I whispered and I hugged him tight. "I promise it'll all be okay."
"I know," he told me. "But I have to start over. I have to come to a new town. I'm going to be seven hundred miles from my friends and my mother. And how is Lex going to get through puberty without me scaring all her boyfriends shitless?" He cracked a smile at this and I laughed.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could help you, but I don't have any clue how I can," I told him apologetically.
"Just hug me," he muttered and I continued.
End
A/N: Well, there's chapter one. I believe I've introduced a lot of it without going in depth. Review please?