Page 75 of Ruthless Blade

The night continued on like that and it was fun. I let go of everything that was bothering me and focused on being around my friends, because we wouldn’t have that much longer together. Soon, everything would change.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lexi

My childhood bedroom still had the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.

I noticed them the first night home, lying flat on my back because my ribs wouldn't let me lay any other way. I stared up at the faded green constellations Jake and I had stuck up there when I was eleven and obsessed with astronauts. Half of them had lost their glow years ago. They were plastic scabs now, clinging to paint that needed a fresh coat.

I’d been here for four days, and I was beyond ready to go back. To be able to breathe, because while I loved her, she was suffocating me. She hovered over me like I was physically unable to do anything. I was hurt, not fucking broken.

The bruising on my ribs had gone from an angry purple-black to a sickly yellow-green, the kind of color that looked worse because it was a reminder of everything I went through.

I had nightmares every night, some ended with a rescuer, and some ended badly. It was constant, and painful to relieve those moments over and over again, much like the accident. My eye had mostly healed, a faint shadow left under it. The cuts on my arm were scabbed over, thin pink lines that would probably scar, all things I never asked for.

I want them gone.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror every morning taking inventory as if I was checking a car for damage after a wreck.

Mom knocked on my door around eight, "Are you up?"

"Yeah," I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

She opened the door, and the smell of bacon entered the room. “Breakfast is ready. How are you feeling?”

I stood up, a slight hiss coming from my mouth. “Okay.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Are you lying to me?”

"No," yes, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

She almost smiled. Almost.

We went downstairs, and my eyes widened, stomach grumbling. There were eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit. Yummy. Before I was in the hospital, I hadn’t had her food in years. Mom was one of the best cooks I’d ever been around, and losing the ability to have her home cooked meals truly sucked.

I sat down at the kitchen table and wondered if Mom ever found out that Jake had carved his initials into the wood at the age of nine as a prank. He swore me to secrecy that day and I still hadn’t told a soul....

I came downstairs, and noticed Jake laying under the table. I went over there and bent over, trying to see.

My forehead creased, “What are you doing?”

He jumped, and a laugh escaped my lips. “I scared you! Take that!”

He looked over and glared. “Shut up, you’re so immature.” I rolled my eyes, yeah I’m the one that’s immature when he and Kayden were trying to scare me all the time.

Stupid boys.

“What exactly are you doing?” I layed down next to him, and noticed he had a knife in his hands.

“Have you lost your mind? Mom is going to kill you!” I was able to see that he was carving his name into the table.

“Shhh, if you snitch you’re going to get it. I’m pranking Mom.”

“Why on earth are you doing that? You know pranking Mom is a very sticky situation, one I want no part of.”

He scoffed, “Well, you’re involved now. If you tell her, you’re dead meat.”

Yeah, no thanks. I rolled over, not wanting to be caught in his madness. “Good luck with that,” I left the room and went outside to swing. As we got older it seemed he was more and more involved in doing stupid stuff to make Mom mad. And when she was mad, it was best to stay clear.