Insane Breeze: My Novel

Chapter 1

Every day was as unchanging as the last. Fights, objects being thrown, bruises appearing on her body and the constant feeling of loneliness she felt day after day from being an outsider. Every good thing that happened to her, it seemed as if it only lasted a second before it was replaced with dark recollections of her past and present. Memories and incidents that never left her, even if the emotions she encountered during them had faded with every bruise that left her body.

Did she deserve this kind of life? Being taken away from her mother, and forced to live with her father. A man who nonetheless cared more about what kind of liquor he would pick up on his way home from work, and how many cigarettes he had left; rather than his own daughter. It surprised her, how someone could have a child and not care about her, how she meant nothing to him. But each and every day when the screaming and fighting started, the realization would hit her like two train cars colliding on the tracks. But today was different. Today, Peyton would finally see, just how much she meant to the guy she called ‘Dad’.

Her day started off like it normally did. She woke up at 6:45 to get ready for school. She threw on a random shirt and pair of pants lying crumpled up on her floor and stumbled out to the bus stop. Peyton didn’t normally like school but she looked forward to it because she got to see the only person who truly knew her inside and out; her best and only friend, Sage Germain.

Peyton and Sage had been best friends ever since they were in 5th grade. She had just moved in with her father when she began attending Ridgewood Elementary. Not too thrilled to be in a new school, she kept to herself and sat in the corner with her favorite book and read. But Sage, being the curious little 10 year old boy he was, would constantly talk to her whether she talked back to him or not. She slowly became friends with him and it seems that they have been inseparable ever since then.

Peyton stepped off the school bus and into the tightest and warmest embrace, only to cringe at the pain in her arm. She looked up and saw sage with a worried expression in his caring green eyes.

“Im fine…honestly” Peyton reassured Sage. “Nothing too bad happened yesterday.”

“Then why did you cringe when I hugged you and what do you mean ‘TOO’ bad?”

“Sage, don’t worry. It’s only a few bruises. They’ll be gone within a week. At least yesterday he was having a good day.”

“Peyton, ONLY a few bruises? You can’t keep living like this. What happens if your father goes too far one day and you get hurt even more? You are my best friend; I couldn’t bear to lose you. I know we’ve talked about this, but you really should tell someone or worst comes to worst you need to get out of that house. My door is always open for you, Peyton. Please think about it?” Sage pleaded.

“Sage, Im sorry but I can’t. He is my dad, and the only member of my family that I have left. I just can’t do that to him. I care about him too much. I know he should sober up and treat me better but maybe he just doesn’t know how to. I don’t think its right for me to judge him, Sage. Its not like I’m the easiest person to live with. Maybe I drove him to do the things he does. I don’t know.”

“You don’t seriously believe that, do you? Peyton, I know you better than anyone and you are the kindest person I know. You are so strong and I know you can handle whatever situation you are put in but there is a point where you have to say ‘Enough is enough’. You care about your dad and you love him. But tell me one thing, Does he feel the same for you?” The school bell rings and Sage turns around and walks away, vanishing into the flood of students heading to class.

The day seemed to pass as slow as it possibly could. Class after class Peyton sat there; off in her own thoughts ignoring the drowning voices around her. The final bell rang and she grabbed her stuff and ran to catch the bus home. It was something as simple as riding the bus that calmed her down. She was able to reflect on everything from her life to her dreams and goals. It was in this instance that she made a promise to herself. If anything truly terrible did happen, like sage was worried about, then she would run away. Little did she know, that moment would come sooner than later.

The minute Peyton walked through her front door, a feeling of uneasiness quickly came over her, Just as it frequently did whenever she came home. She could smell the liquor in the air which caused her to gag but she pushed it aside and went to put her things in her room. She had a feeling that tonight wasn’t going to go so well. From the smell in the air, its easy to assume her father was highly wasted, and she really didn’t want to do anything to push him over the edge.

She went into the kitchen to get herself an after school snack where she saw her father sitting in his large reclining chair in the living room. She grabbed a banana and cup of juice and went into the living room; where she sat on the couch across the room from her dad. He was asleep in his chair with a bottle of rum in his hand.

She tried to hurry up and finish eating before he woke up because she had plans to head over to Sage’s house for his weekly family movie night. They invited her every week but she has somehow managed to only go to one of them. Nights like that made her realize just what exactly she was missing out on, a family, traditions and the overall feeling of knowing that someone will actually care about you no matter what.

She placed her banana peel in the garbage and her cup in the sink and went into her room. She grabbed her brush and combed through her dark curly brown hair. She then slipped on a cute miniskirt and a matching hoodie, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Right as she got to the door she heard her dad yell extremely loud.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Um.. Well I was invited to a friends house, for a movie night.” Peyton replied.

“Dressed like a slut? I don’t think so. You are NOT going anywhere.”

“May I ask why?”

“No you may not, you pathetic loser of a kid.” He got up and came towards her. Peyton cringed in fear of what would happen. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back inside the door. Peyton screamed in agony and stumbled to gain her balance as her father slammed the door. “No daughter of mine is going to leave this house dressed like a slut.”

“Then I’ll change before I go. They are expecting me and it would be rude of me to tell them I’m going and then not show up.”

“You are not going anywhere and who the hell cares about you. Im sure they won’t even notice if you don’t show up.” Her dad yelled loudly. He grabbed her tightly by the arm while yanking her further into the living room; all the while, Peyton was still struggling to get loose of his grasp.

“Please, Just let go of me. I’m sorry if I did anything to make you mad.” Peyton begged. Her dad gave her a nasty facial expression and let go of her but not before he pushed her rough enough for her to go flying into the television behind her and break it. Shards of glass stuck to the inside of her hands when she landed beneath the t.v remains; blood dripping onto the carpet below her. There was so much pain pulsing throughout her body, she found it hard to even try to stand up. Lightheaded with blood and glass all around her, she glanced up at her father and saw the flash of anger cross his eyes. It was only the beginning and she knew it.

“Now look what you have done, you worthless piece of crap. Get up! Stop lying there like a piece of trash.” Yelling obscenities, her father pulled her off the ground by her hair and once again pushed her. This time causing her head to bang as hard as possible into the front wall of the house. Barely able to keep her balance, Peyton wavered for a few seconds before toppling over and stumbling into her father’s left side. Seconds later her father smacked her right across the face and once again made it hard for her to maintain her rocky balance. She fell to the floor and sobbed.

“I’m s-s-sorry…”

“Just get up and go to your room. I can’t stand to look at your ugly face any longer.” Her dad hissed through gritted teeth, then grabbed his bottle of rum and trudged into the kitchen to get something to eat. Peyton did the best she could to get to her feet, but due to the excruciating pain, it was just too much for her. She clung onto the side of the couch to help brace herself as she slowly managed to pull herself up. Rushing to get out before any other problems were stirred up, Peyton limped out of the room.

Peyton headed directly to the bathroom instead of her bedroom. She wanted to check out the extent of her injuries. The whole situation brought her to tears when she thought about it, the cold-ness in his eyes, the fact that he could possibly hurt her like this and the undeniable pain throbbing throughout her entire body. Peyton checked her hands from where she landed among the remains of the TV, and they were cut up with little shards and clippings of glass in them. It made her nauseous seeing that much blood but she did the best she could to take what glass she could out of her hands and bandaged them up. She had a small cut on her right cheek so she put a small band aid on it then put a medium sized gauze cloth on the side of her forehead where it was gushing blood from the impact of her skull hitting the wall. When she finished cleaning herself up, she walked into her room, laid on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Peyton awakes hours later to a tapping noise coming from her window. She gets up and walks over expecting to see a stray cat messing around in the bushes below. Instead she finds Sage kneeling below her window sill. She quietly slides the window open enough for Sage to slip through. After he climbs through, he walks over to Peyton’s bedroom door and locks it. With a worried expression on his face, he begins whispering to her.

“Why didn’t you show up to movie night? My parents and I began worrying when you didn’t show. Its not like you.” That’s when Sage noticed her bandages… “What happened to you? Are you okay? I’m going to kill him.” Sage’s voice wavered for a moment. Peyton looked down at the floor before tears started streaming down her face.

“You were right. I don’t mean anything to him. He hurt me really bad, Sage; physically and emotionally and I just don’t know what to do.” Sage took a step toward her and wiped her tears.

“It’ll be okay, I promise. We need to get you out of here. He made it clear that you aren’t safe here. My parents will let you stay at our house for a few days while we figure out where you can go. Okay?” Sage asked.

“Sure. Anyplace is better than here.” Peyton replied sadly while stuffing as much of her stuff as she could take into her duffle bag. When the majority of her stuff was packed, Sage placed everything outside her window and carefully helped Peyton climb out. Following Peyton, Sage picked up her stuff and walked down the street with her to where he had parked his car. He opened her car door for her and then went around to the driver’s side and climbed in. As they began the ride to his house, sage spoke up.

“Are you okay? You seem really quiet ever since we left.”

“I’m okay, I guess. Just a little scared. That’s all.” Peyton admitted with a small whisper. “I don’t have a plan, Sage. I don’t know where im going, I don’t have any money, and what if he calls the police and reports me to them?”

“I know sweetheart. Um, I mean Peyton.” Sage mumbled. “Everything will turn out okay, I promise you. I will help you with anything you need. I won’t leave you alone. I also don’t think your dad will call the police. You have bruises and cuts all over your body from him, and I highly doubt he would want to get in trouble for abusing you. You deserve better.” Sage turned his head away from her but not before she saw a small blush spread across his cheeks. She tilted her head and tried to not smile. She had always thought there was a slight chance he might like her but she never thought she was good enough for him; so she left it alone. But she had to admit, she liked the effect it had on her when he called her sweetheart.

Their conversation had deadened after that, So they continued the ride to his house in complete silence. It seemed as if they arrived to his house hours later when in fact it had only been a matter of minutes. His mother greeted them with open arms and it made her feel better to have someone hug her like that.

Sage and his mother set up a temporary place for Peyton to sleep on the living room couch. She quickly brushed her teeth and laid down to rest while watching some reality show on television. Not long after that Sage walked into the room with 2 Ice cream sundaes and sat next to Peyton who wasnt looking her best. Her eyes were red from crying and she looked as if she had been hit by a bus. She smiled at him as he handed her the sundae and they sat there taking in the moment. Moments later, she placed her ice cream bowl on the coffee table in front of them and laid her head on his shoulder; unsure what he would say or do, she felt a nervousness overcome her. “Well, I’d better be going to bed. We have school tomorrow.” Sage said. As she moved her head, he got up and walked out of the room. Peyton instantly felt hurt. She thought to herself, ‘Had I misconstrued what I thought he felt? Or was I imagining it all? I’m such an idiot. Why would I ever think a guy as great as Sage would ever like me? With the way my life is, it’s a wonder he hasn’t walked out by now…” She sat there lost in her thoughts, wondering about Sage, her dad and even herself. For the first time since she went to live with her dad, she felt relieved, relief about everything. She was finally free.

Chapter 2

Peyton awoke the next morning feeling kind of anxious and scared to see Sage. After what went down the night before, she had no clue how Sage was going to act towards her. She quickly ran to grab some clothes, had changed, and was working on fixing her hair when Sage came down the stairs. She glanced in his direction and he smiled at her as he walked into the kitchen and reached for a bowl to pour himself some Lucky Stars. Peyton finished straightening her curly hair and rushed to finish her makeup. Before she knew it, Sage was yelling at her to hurry up. As they were walking to the bus stop, Peyton decided to break the ice. “Can you believe that this is the last week of school and that next year we will be high school seniors?” She exclaimed excitedly. “It’s amazing to imagine not soon after that we’ll be in College. Can you believe how fast it seems our life is flying? Sometimes I just wish it would slow down.”

“I know what you mean.” Sage replied. Not the response she was expecting, Peyton didn’t know exactly how to respond. Luckily just at that time, the bus pulled up, and they got on.

On the way to school, Peyton began thinking about Sage and his reaction towards her. She certainly didn’t like it. It felt as if he was being mean to her or he was mad about something. She sure didn’t think she had done anything to offend him. In fact, it was kind of the other way around. ‘I should be the mad one,’ she thought to herself, ‘He could have told me he didn’t like me as anything more than a friend, Instead he’s being rude…’ She began to sadden a little.

The school bus pulled up to the school and everyone got off. By the time Peyton stepped completely off the bus, Sage was nowhere in sight. Slowly getting upset, Peyton stomped off in the direction of her class. Only to accidentally bump into Ridgewood High royalty; senior class president, and Captain of the baseball team, Blake Silva. Blake was tall and muscular, with blonde hair and misty gray eyes, extremely popular and adored by all. Even Peyton had to admit he was really cute!

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you.” Peyton said and turned away to finish walking to class; but not before Blake reached out and grabbed her gently on the wrist.

“It’s really no problem, I don’t mind having a pretty girl run into me. Can I ask you something?” Blake responded.

“Sure…Anything.”

“You’re in AP Bio with Ms. Feinman, right? Well, I heard that you have one of the best grades in her class; and my grade in that class is running on a low C. With all my extracurricular activities, I’ve fallen behind. I was wondering if it’d be possible for you to tutor me. I know its last minute, but finals are coming up any day now and I’m really stressing.” Blake pleaded.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Just name the time and place.” Peyton answered as a small smile spread across her face.

“My house, tomorrow night at 5pm. Thanks so much for your help! Your awesome!” Seconds later, he walked away.

‘What in the world just happened?’ She thought to herself. ‘The cutest most popular boy in school actually talked to me and wants me to tutor him! Omigosh!’ She couldn’t contain her excitement. Moments later, the bell rang as she sprinted to class.

Hours later, Peyton is sitting in Algebra 2 when all of a sudden someone passes her a note. She isn’t sure who wrote it but she had a feeling it was either Sage or Blake; who both sit 2 rows behind her. She opened the note and read,

Peyton,
I can’t stop thinking about your beautiful smile and your gorgeous green eyes.
Sincerely,
Someone

The note made her smile. But she was stumped as to which one of them wrote it. She turned around for a few seconds to look at them, hoping to receive some sort of hint. But they were both staring intently at what was being written on the whiteboard in the front of the room. She folded it back up and placed it into her purse below her desk and was thinking about both guys when all of a sudden the bell rang. Peyton placed her binder into her bag and stood up, once again realizing Sage had disappeared. She walked out of class and was heading to the bus ramp when Blake ran to catch up with her.

“Hey Beautiful.”

“Oh… Hey blake.” Peyton replied stunned and shocked. She now knew who had sent her the note.

“Looking forward to our Study date tomorrow.” Blake winked at her as he smiled and ran to get on his bus.

Overwhelmed, Peyton climbed onto her bus and sat down next to Sage. That’s when she finally came back to reality and remembered how Sage had been acting lately.

“Sage, you’ve been acting really weird lately. Did I do something to make you mad at me?”

“No Pey. You didn’t.”

“Then what’s up with you?” She asked with a small hint of worry in her voice.

“I really don’t want to talk about it. Can we just drop it already and move on?” Sage replied.

“I guess so.”

The awkward-ness hung in the air until they got off the bus. Walking next to one another with their hands inches from brushing, they walked in silence. Peyton slowed and began kicking a rock down the street with the tip top of her black converse. Sage walked a little ahead and occasionally glanced behind him. When Peyton realized how far behind Sage she was, she jogged to catch up with him.

Minutes later, they walked thru his front door; only for Peyton to come face to face with her nightmare. Her dad was sitting on the couch across from Sage’s mother. She had thought she was free of him, but now she realized she was wrong.

“Hey Darling,” He spoke to her. “Get your stuff, we are going home now.”

“Peyton is not going anywhere.” Sage said, and made sure to stand in between Peyton and her father to block him from being able to reach her.”

“I agree with my son,” Spoke up Sage’s mom, Karen. “The best thing for Peyton is to be in a non-abusive home and to finish out high school and go on to college. With the things that has happened to Peyton while she was in your care, she is not safe with you. We can’t let her leave.”

“She is MY daughter,” He shouted. “And until she is 18, I have complete control over her.”

“That’s fine, but if you try to leave with her, not only will you be sorry but we will hire a lawyer and have your parental rights revoked. Im sure that would be easy seeing as she has proof all over her body at what a terrible guardian you are.” Karen retaliated.

“Fine, You want her that badly then keep her. Its not like she brought anything into my life.”

“Well that’s a shame isn’t it?” Karen said sadly. “She has brought such happiness and joy to my family, and we will always be here for her. It’s terrible that her own father couldn’t see what a blessing she is. I’d prefer it if you would leave my house.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Peyton’s father vociferated as he stomped out angrily, kicking over a plant on the front porch as he went. That would be the last time Peyton Scott ever saw her father again.

‘Oh thank goodness.’ Karen said as soon as he had finally pulled out of the drive way. She turned to Peyton, who was trying to conceal the fact that she was crying. “What’s wrong sweetie?”

“Nothing…”

“Well something seems wrong, are you okay?” Karen asked.

“Did you really mean it; when you said that I brought you all happiness and that you’d always be here for me?”

“Oh…Yes, I meant every single word.” She said sweetly as she placed her hand on Peyton’s. “You are an amazing girl and we are better people for knowing you.” Those words only caused Peyton to cry even heavier. Karen pulled her in to a big hug and held her as she cried and cried. It took her a little while but eventually her crying simmered to an abrupt stop. Trying to lighten the mood of the sulkiness that hung over the room, Sage suggested that they all went out for Ice Cream. Not really in the mood, Peyton kindly declined and insisted on staying in for the night and just relaxing. Her day had been extremely stressful and she couldn’t take anything else being thrown in her direction. She waited until everyone else went to bed, and then she began writing in her journal. It was something one of her Psychiatrists insisted she do and it kind of just stayed with her over the years.

April 5th, 2011
Today was a magical day but it was also terrifying. It started off amazing when Blake Silva asked me to be his study partner and then it got even better when he passed me a note telling me how he couldn’t stop thinking about my eyes and smile. How sweet, huh? 
But then when me and Sage got back to his place, my dad was waiting for me. He wanted to take me home. Miss Karen and Sage came to my rescue and finally got him to leave. I’m thankful they care so much about me. I’ve dreamt about this for as long as I can remember. It seems like everything is slowly falling into place.
I can’t wait for my ‘Study Date’ with Blake tomorrow. Well, I guess I better get to sleep. I’ll write about it later.
Xoxo Pey.

Later on the following day, Peyton began getting ready for her kind of date with Blake. She didn’t want to dress like her same old boring self; she wanted him to think she was beautiful and stunning. She straightened her naturally curly hair and dressed in her new skinny jeans, topped off with a long flow-y pink top and heels. She slipped on her silver locket that belonged to her mom and placed some silver dangly earrings in her ears. Her makeup looked perfect, not too much and not too little. She stood up to examine herself in the mirror and was super pleased. She actually looked girly, unlike her usual attire; she was hoping that Blake liked it. She walked in the living room to get her purse, where Karen, Sage and his little sister were playing monopoly.

“Oh my goodness Sweetie, you look amazing! What’s the special occasion?” Karen asked.

“I have a Study date with a guy from school.” Peyton replied excitedly.

“Ah, who’s the guy? Anyone I know?” Sage spoke up.

“Um…Well,” She said reluctantly. “It’s kind of Blake Silva.”

“Ah, Yeah I know the Silva’s. His mother goes to the same salon that I do. Im sure you’ll have fun. What time will you be home?” Karen replied with a smile.

“No later than 10 O’clock, probably; maybe even before then because all we’re doing is studying.”

“Okay, see you then Hun. Remember, have fun and be safe. Use your cell in case of an emergency.” Karen reminded her being as motherly as she was to Sage.

“Ok. I promise. See you guys later!” She said as she walked out the door. Peyton then hopped onto her bike and drove it a few miles, where she pulled into Blake’s driveway. She got off the bike and went up to the doorbell. She waited a few seconds, giving her a moment to relax, and then she pushed the button. Blake opened the door and was instantly speechless.

“Peyton, you look absolutely breathtaking.”

“T-thank you.” She stuttered in nervous-ness.

“Come on in. My parents are on vacation in Milan and my sister is at cheerleading practice, looks like we have the house to ourselves. Let’s get cracking those books, shall we?”

Hours went by, while Peyton did the best she could to get Blake to understand the work. It seemed as if he was paying more attention to her than he was to what he was supposed to be learning. She loved the attention but she had to admit it was irritating her by having to repeat herself 20 times in a row. It was getting late and she had to get home by the time she told Karen.

“As much as I hate to say this Blake, I better be getting back home. Its getting late and I don’t want them to worry.”

“Okay, I guess.” Blake replied, saddened slightly. He walked her out the door and right before she was about to pull away on her bike, he placed his hand below her chin and brought his lips to hers. When they pulled away from each other, she didn’t know what to say exactly; so she stood their smiling awkwardly until she rode off.

Peyton pedaled as fast as she could, to make sure that she would get home on time. She noticed a car coming up the road that she was riding on and moved over giving the car enough room to pass her by. But it didn’t. It sped up and seemed as if it was coming right at her. Peyton pedaled faster and faster but she couldn’t out-ride the car, it swerved and hit her; causing her to go toppling into the ditch nearby. The car never stopped, it just kept going.

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My Novel