A Touch O f Rain Ch.2 REWRITE

Chapter 2

As I entered my front door my uplifted mood seemed to evaporate. In the living room my "mother" was sitting on the floor with her head bent over the coffee table. She was sniffing crack. She was surrounded by empty vodka bottles telling me she was far past drunk in addition to being high. Little Grace was sitting next to her coloring.
"What are you looking at?" She slurred looking up from the drugs.
"Nothing." I murmured, I was used to this routine.
"Are you disrespecting me? I bet you didn’t talk that way with your mommy." She spit at me. I tried not to let it show how deep a simple reminder of my mother cut me.
"I’ll teach you not to speak to me that way!" she yelled, advancing on me.
I braced myself. She slapped me hard across the face, then grabbed my hair and yanked me to the ground and began kicking me from all across my body. At this point my face was covered in blood and now leaking on the ground.
"Now look what you did you brat! You stained the carpet!" she screamed and continued to thoroughly beat me.
After about five more minutes she seemed to lose the energy to kick and punch me as hard, so I took advantage of her weakened state and painfully got to my feet and grabbed Grace’s hand. Then as fast as my injured body would allow ran up the stairs.
"Yeah you better run you pathetic waste!" she yelled as loud as she possibly could while I slammed the door shut.
I took Grace to her room then dragged myself into the bathroom and examined my damage in the mirror. It was a pretty gruesome sight. The blood that was pouring from my face had spilled all the way down my shirt and had matted up in my hair making it look like medusa’s hair.
I wet a towel under the sink and gently started cleaning the blood off my face. I tapped up all the open lesions on my face but couldn’t do much about the dark purple and black bruises. But my cover-up usually hid those pretty well anyways. I took a clean shirt out of my dresser and replaced it with my blood stained one. Then I took a hair band and put my hair up in a ponytail that hid all the matted up blood pretty well.
Well there was nothing to do now except wait for Michal to come home and serve my second beating for the evening. Luckily I knew even though Grace still got a beating it wasn’t as hard as mine. It aggravated me to see her fragile, tiny body being hit by those monsters and there was nothing I could do about it.
I sat down at my desk and began the easy process of completing my homework.
About two hours later I heard the front door open and loudly slam shut.
"There you are, because of that little brat the new carpet is completely destroyed." I heard Jennifer say, clearly still under the influence of both alcohol and drugs.
"SUMMER!" Boomed Michal. I cringed at his cruel mannered voice.
I sighed. Well better get this over with. Besides, if I make him find me the beating is even worse. I climbed down the attic stairs, still sore from the earlier beating. When I walked in the kitchen Michal was standing there practically visibly fuming. Jennifer stood next to him kind of wobbly. Not nearly as perfect and well polished as when I met her eleven years ago.
"So I saw the brand new carpet completely ruined when I came in today. I don’t understand why you would do that. Do you Summer?"
No point in arguing.
He suddenly came forward and punched me in the stomach causing me to double over. I fell to the ground with him towering over me.
"Answer me when I talk to you!" He screamed in my face. I could smell the bitter bite of alcohol in his breath.
He kicked me in the face causing blood to spew out of my nose and creating new cuts and scratches to the old ones. Jennifer came over and joined in on this beating, as if she didn’t get enough last time.
When they were finished they sauntered off, probably to get drunk again, and left me bleeding and broken on the floor. This time getting up was a little harder, but I managed to make my way up the two flights of stairs. I cleaned myself up for the second time that evening.
I crawled between the comforting cold sheets, and cried myself to sleep thinking about my mother.
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I woke up the next day with an odd sense of peace, but then as I stretched and felt the soreness of last night’s beatings I was cruelly reminded of the sad reality of my life.
I went down the stairs as quickly and quietly as I could. I went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, they flew out the door before they woke up.
I made my way into the hustle of a new morning of school. Trying to stay out of everyone’s way, getting pushed around quite a bit, plus a lot of rude remarks. So it surprised me a little when someone was calling my name.
I turned around and saw a sight that made my stomach feel like there were millions of butterflies swarming around. There stood a tall Abercrombie model with slightly wet disheveled blonde hair and a lopsided smile that made the butterflies go into overdrive.
"Hey Summer." He said with a warm smile.
"Hey Nick. I knew I was going to see you around, but I didn’t think it was going to happen this quick." I replied with an equally warm smile.
"Hah, yeah really." Man, he had the hottest laugh.
"So, what’s your schedule?"
"Hm, let’s see,
1st period- English- Mr. Howards
2nd period- Advanced Geometry- Mrs. Whithare
3rd period-Biology-Ms. Leland
4th period-Art-Mrs. Pinckney
5th period-Lunch
6th period-Gym-Mr. Lampenilli
7th period-History-Ms. Green"
"Advanced geometry?"
"Excuse me for using my brain unlike most of these people." He said teasingly.
"Hah, I’m with you there." Finally I won’t be the only braniac in school.
"Hey, we have third period together." I said almost too excitedly.
"Cool." He said, then the bell rang.
"Well, I guess I’ll see you then."
"See ya."
I spent the first two periods daydreaming of him becoming my prince as we sneak off together to get married. I don’t know which sounded better, Nick as my husband, or getting away from Michal and Michelle.
Finally the painful wait for third period was over. I quickly gathered my things and zoomed towards the biology room. As I made it to the door I skidded to a stop. Nick was sitting in the stool next to mine surrounded by a bunch if girls (figures).
I walked over to my table, scooted the stool out and sat down. Thankfully Ms. Lealand came into the room and ordered everyone to there seats. I tried not to stare at him and his perfection but, I couldn’t help it. He looked over and gave me a tiny smile. I blushed a deep red at being caught staring and quickly looked down.
"So were going to begin our unit about sexual intercourse." Began Ms. Leland. I suddenly wasn’t the only one blushing.
"Hah, just kidding. I think you guys know the basics to that pretty well. But, let me ask you this, what attracts you to the opposite sex?"
"There body."
"There lips."
"The way there dressed." Yelled out a couple of brave students.
"Okay, well the truth is it’s all based on your personal preference. So beginning today you’re going to research sex appeal, thus the reason for your partnering." Everyone was paired boy – girl, and I just happened to be paired with Nick.
"Due next week is the first part of your project. You’re going to interview your partner on what they find attractive and they you." From then on I kind of stopped paying attention, besides nothing else was really important anyways.
About an hour later the bell rang. All the students rushed out in a frenzy.
"So partner, when do you want to work on this?" Nick was asking me.
"Um, anytime’s cool with me." I tried to answer just as coolly.
"Well, I’m looking forward to it." He said with a wink, then left the room.
Biology just got a little more interesting.