In The Dark

Ashlyn’s POV *Monday - back at school*
Kayla went to the hospital. Apparently her fall actually was pretty bad and she broke her ankle. I went in to talk to her yesterday and see how she was doing. She also had surgery to sew the bones back together or something. I don’t really like gory stuff so I wasn’t really listening when she explained it to me. Cass, Brooke and Connor have also been in to see her as well as a surprise visitor, one Mr. Niall Horan. That’s right folks. They are in loooovvvveee. I know, I am weird.
But seriously, I never expected someone from Harry’s group of friends to have a heart although the one most likely to would be Niall, possibly Liam and maybe Perrie. Everyone knows that Harry doesn’t have a heart or a brain. He just has a dick. As for Louis and Zayn, I don’t know.
I woke up to the sound of ‘Stronger’ by Kelly Clarkson blaring from my phone. Brooke set it up to do that when my alarm goes off. It is my absolute favourite song of all time and it really helped me get through my depression stage and overcome some fears and stuff.
I hoped into the shower, grabbing some clothes on the way. I got dressed, caring little about how my hair looked and walked out of my room. I figured my brother was asleep in his room so I tip-toed as quietly as possible when I went past, afraid he may wake and get angry. Once I was safely past his room and down the stairs I could breathe again.
I walked into the kitchen to find my mother packing plates, cups, bowls, utensils, appliances, you name it, into several boxes scattered across the floor.
“Mom? What are you doing?” I asked carefully, sitting down on one of the bar stools and praying to God that she isn’t going to move out and leave me here with my monster of a brother. Imagine what he would do to me with mom out of the picture. I shudder when I think about it.
“We are leaving” she started. I relaxed when she said ‘we’. “I can’t deal with your brother anymore. It’s not fair to you or me and I certainly am not going to stay around and wait for the abuse to become more physical. We’re going to Adelaide”. My smile instantly faded.
“But, what about Cass? And Connor, Brooke, Kayla? I can’t just leave them” I told her honestly.
“Look, here it is. I’m leaving. I’m moving to Adelaide to get away from my son. You can come with me and start a new life, or you can stay here and wait for your brother to find out that I left in which case he will be very angry and verbal will possibly turn to physical. The choice is yours”
“Okay, I wanna come with you. But your right, he will be angry when he comes downstairs and sees you packing. He won’t let us leave”
“That’s the beauty of it. He isn’t here. He is staying at a friend’s house for the week. When he comes back, we will be gone so start packing. Flights are booked and a house has been bought in Adelaide. I have been preparing for this for months”
“WE LEAVE AT THE END OF THE WEEK? DON’T YOU THINK A LITTLE NOTICE WOULD’VE BEEN NICE?” I yelled at her. How can I pack my whole room and say goodbye to my friends in a week?
“I would’ve told you sooner but knowing you, you would try and get a head start on packing and your brother would see. I’m sorry” Mom gave me a hug and I felt, um, warm and comfortable. Then another thought popped into my head.
“Mom? Who’s house is Blake staying at?” I asked, knowing that Blake only has five friends.
“Harry Styles. Do you remember him dear?” she asked like it was nothing. Did I forget to mention that Harry and his gang are a year above us. My brother would have been two years above but he got held back so he is in the same classes as Harry and all them. Brooke and I have Honours English Lit with Louis though.
We were put in an advanced English class for the year above us because we are really good at English and Louis so happened to be in that class. Really there is no getting away from those boys, we are always connected to them somehow. Whether our brother is friends with them or we have a class together or we live near them or they eavesdrop on our sleepover, they are just always around.
“Yeah. I know him” panic quickly rushed over me. So Brooke is alone surrounded by three violent and dangerous men. Terry (her uncle), Harry and Blake. I don’t like that but what can I do? Her uncle never lets people sleep over.
*at school*
I arrived at school and saw my friends laughing and having a good time in our spot and it made my heart ache. Knowing that I will have to move away from them, and to Adelaide, it’s so far (we live in Sydney). Cass noticed me and motioned for me to come over to her and Brooke (Kayla was going to be at school tomorrow but as for now is still in hospital) I shook my head and walked off.
I know that was mean and they don’t deserve it but I figured that if I ignore them all week then leaving wouldn’t be so hard. And that’s exactly what I did. At recess I sat alone, I dashed into the nearest bathroom whenever I saw them in the hallways and I kept my head down when I needed to walk past them. It was now after lunch and time for my last class, Maths. Fuck. I have this class with Liam and Connor. I walked in late so I could avoid Connor if he tried to talk to me before class. I walked in and saw that the teacher still wasn’t there. Fuck. On top of that Connor saw me. Again, fuck. He was sitting next to an empty seat on his left and Liam was on the other side of the empty seat.
They both saw me, smiled and waved before patting the empty seat that was between them. I knew if I sat there it would be Ashlyn tug of war so instead I went and sat in a seat in the back. Both of them were near the front and both of them looked back at me. Liam looked confused, like it was such a shock that a girl actually didn’t want to throw herself at him and be near him, while Connor looked disappointed, like it was my duty to sit next to him and I had to do it. Both of them need to mind their own fucking business and take the hint.
After class I was at my locker, packing my things and preparing for the run home from school. Basically we all live near each other and usually walk home together.
“Ashlyn? We need to talk!” Oh fuck.

Notes

Here is another chapter as promised. Hope you like it.