reticent

59

• AMALIA •

Half an hour rolls around, and I feel a bit better. I sit with Xander, Mason and Rocco but I don't talk, only listen to their conversation.

     But then I get up. I don't say anything as I walk out, then up to my bedroom where my phone is, having the sudden, overwhelming need to see my boyfriend—if that's even what he is anymore.

     I text him.

     ME: Hey.

     He replies within a few moments.

     ARCHER: Hi. Are you okay?

     ME: I'm sick.

     ME: Will you come over?

Three dots appear, then go. Then they appear again, and a message pops up.

ARCHER: Of course.

•

A small slip of light enters my bedroom, and I look up to see Archer there. He smiles at me, but then closes the door, covering us in darkness once again.

     "Hey." He whispers. "You okay?"

     "No." I grumble. I feel the bed dip, and a moment later his arm is wrapped around my waist and he's kissing my cheek. "Don't kiss me," I mutter, "you'll get sick, too."

     "I don't care." He mumbles, gently taking my chin in the dark and pressing his lips against mine in a long kiss. He pulls away, and I feel myself blush as he holds me to him.

"I brought you snacks." He whispers.

"You don't have to do that."

"Oh, shit." He mutters. "Your dad told me to keep the door open." He says. He goes to stand up, but I pull him back, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest.

"Ignore him. He's annoying." I mumble.

"No he's not, I like your dad."

I smile. "Yeah?"

He nods. "He's better than mine. My dad.." He lets out a sigh.

"What?" I question gently.

He lets out a small laugh, even though his next words are anything but funny, "slapped me around a bit too much, you know?"

I sit up, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"What? Your dad never hit you?"

My eyes widen. "Of course not!" Pieces of my heart begin to chip away as I whisper: "your dad abused you?"

"It wasn't as serious as that." He says, "just a few times, when I pissed him off."

"Archer." I say quietly. "That's abuse."

It's the type of abuse that made me go silent for two years. That made me afraid to talk.

He shakes his head. "It wasn't that bad."

I say his name again, sadness lining my voice. "I was mute for two years because I thought what started off as a slap when I got on my step dads nerves wouldn't turn into full blown abuse." I rush out, afraid to say the words because I don't think I've ever talked about it, not with my dad. "So don't say your dad hitting you is no big deal, because it is." I clench my fists at my sides. "You didn't deserve to get hit, no matter what he's put in your head. No kid does. Especially not you."