Page 141 of Under the Waves

And maybe, in another lifetime, he would’ve celebrated mybirthday with cupcakes instead of bruises. Maybe he could’ve found it within himself to heal first before bringing me into his broken world that was not capable of loving either of us back.

I sighed and began to scrub away all the dirt on the dishes, washing away all traces of the messes they used to be covered in. I washed. I dried. I stacked them away in the cupboards and moved on to the floors. I picked up that broom and mopped away the cobwebs and dust hidden between the cracks in the floorboards, all whilst my eyes strayed back to that door, letting my heart break just that little bit more.

43

Poppy Wells

Know it’s for the better. Know it’s for the better. Know it’s for the better.

My cheeks, raw and red from all the hits, burned as my tears streaked down them. With my back against the bathroom door and my knees hugged tightly to my chest, my entire body shook from the weight of all the tears pouring out from inside me.

“YOU GIVE THOSE PILLS BACK, YOUNG LADY!”

Know it’s for the better. Know it’s for the better. Know it’s for the better.

After Jasper had walked me back through the forest trail and down my street, I stepped inside my broken home to find my mother passed out on the couch. I didn’t mean for things to get so heated so quickly. I didn’t mean to take the pills. I didn’t…

“THEY ARE MINE. NOT YOURS, YOUUNGRATEFULBRAT!”

I just wanted her to be sober.

Just for a night.

“I AIN’T GONNA TELL YA AGAIN!”

Another sob wracked my frame.

And another.

And another.

Hiccup after hiccup after hiccup.

Air refused to enter my lungs.

I was starving for it.

The tears just kept coming.

I couldn’t stop them.

Useless child.

“You want me to beat this door down, huh? That what you want, Poppy?”

A second later, I heard the swing of a baseball bat.

The entire door shook, the pulse ricocheting down my spine with such force that my body collapsed forwards onto the floor. My burning cheeks kissed the cool tiles, just as my curls stuck to my face. Pushing them out of the way, I scrambled onto my knees and tucked myself away in the corner of the room. I folded my body, making myself as small as I possibly could.

She swung again, that time creating a hole the size of my first in the wood.

My hands instinctively covered my eyes, and I flinched, turning away from the door.

“YOU GIVE ‘EM BACK RIGHT NOW BEFORE I BEAT YA WITH THIS BAT, YOU HEAR ME?”

With shaky hands and chattering teeth, I reached deep into the pocket of my hoodie, pulled out her bottle of pills, and launched them through the gap in the door.

“That’s my good girl.”