average human’s Reviews > What Is Love > Status Update

She looked taken aback. “That’s not—I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need help!” I erupted, making her go wide-eyed, before I left without looking back.
Roe was waiting for me in the student parking lot. The pull and comfort I felt just seeing him there made me want to run to him. I wanted him to hold me, but I kept my pace at a regular walk. There were still students around and despite how disobedient I had been, part of me still felt the need to be careful. Like there was still hope that I could fix things before Mother returned. I didn’t know. I told myself I’d worry about it tomorrow. I just wanted to hang out with Roe and, later on, with Wyatt.
“What’s wrong?” Roe asked as I approached.
I stopped a few feet from him. “Take me somewhere.”
“Where would you like to go?”
“I don’t care as long as I’m with you,” I told him.
He lifted his hand like he was going to reach for me, but then paused, glanced around, and dropped it back at his side as he balled it into a fist. “Are you hungry?”
I didn’t bother lying. “Yes, I’m hungry.”

I followed Roe to Noble’s Pub. It was practically a ghost town compared to how it had been Saturday. There were still a handful of patrons eating, drinking, and playing pool. Reid was working behind the bar and Mac was waiting on the few occupied tables.
Roe suggested we sit at the bar. Reid noticed us. As he walked over, his gaze didn’t waver from me until he was standing in front of us on the other side of the bar.
He looked to Roe. “Is this a date?”
“Does it matter?” Roe asked.
The muscle in Reid’s jaw ticked before he reluctantly started to say, “Are you⁠—?”
A hand touched my shoulder. “Hey.” It was Mac. She was standing next to me, her eyes filled with concern. “How are you?”
I tensed up. “I’m fine.”
She leaned closer and, in a low voice, asked, “Are you sure?”
I nodded.
She didn’t look like she believed me, but she leaned away. “Do you need anything?”
I shook my head. “Roe and I were just about to order food.”
“Okay,” she said as she stared down at the floor, looking like something was really bothering her. “I’ve been worried about you all day.”
“Makayla?” Reid said, sounding concerned.
She snapped out of it and plastered a smile on her face. “Sorry. I’m good.” She looked at me. “Text me later, okay?”
I nodded. “I will.”
She walked away to go back to tending her tables. I faced forward and found Roe and Reid staring at me.
“Why is she worried about you?” Reid asked.
“Are you trying to determine whether I’m worth worrying about?” I asked, still feeling raw from yesterday’s disagreement. Instead of feeling hurt and drowning in self-pity, I was going to be angry. That seemed to be the theme for me today. “I grew up with money, so therefore I can’t possibly experience any form of hardship. So I don’t know why you even need to ask.” I glanced at Roe. “Please order me whatever you’re getting. I need to use the restroom.” I slid off the stool and headed toward the back of the pub where the restrooms were. For once, I actually needed to use it for its intended use instead of hiding.
When I was done and washing my hands, I stared at myself in the mirror. I didn’t feel great, and therefore, I didn’t feel like I looked great even though I did. My hair was down and straight today, making it seem extra long. My makeup was flawless. Prue hadn’t packed my good concealer. So I only had regular concealer and my hair to hide the bruises on my neck, but they were finally starting to fade. I glanced down at my uniform, made sure my above-the-knee socks were staying in place, and smoothed away the nonexistent wrinkles on my blazer.
Just as I stepped into the hall, I found Reid. He was leaning with his back against the wall as if he had been waiting for me. As soon as I came out, he pushed away from the wall and stepped in front of me.
“Listen, about yesterday…” he started, and sighed as he struggled to figure out what to say next. “You don’t know me.”
“And you don’t know me,” I said.
His whiskey eyes met mine as he smirked. “You’d be surprised what I know about you.”
I didn’t hide the confused frown that took over my face. “What do you mean by that?” My mind immediately went to bad things like punishments, scars, and what had happened with Clay.
He shook his head. “It’s not my place to say.”
“So you’ve been judging me this whole time based on something you know about me, but it’s something you can’t tell me because it’s not your place to say?” I said out loud, trying to make sense of it all. I was so tired of people hiding shit from me, especially when it involved me, and leaving me with nothing but questions. Today with Ms. Clark had not helped.
“No, I haven’t been judging you⁠—”
“You’ve been a super judgmental asshole from the first moment we met,” I pointed out.
“I came to apologize.”
“Well, you suck at it,” I blurted and felt a little bit guilty after.
He didn’t respond to that. He just stared, as unreadable as he always was.
“She’s cute, isn’t she?” a voice asked.
I looked past Reid to see Roe standing behind him, arms folded over his chest.
Reid turned around to face him. “Why are you asking me if I think your girlfriend is cute?”
“Because I know you,” Roe said, making it clear that he had heard our entire interaction.
They had a stare-off without either of them saying anything, until Reid broke it. He walked away, mumbling, “I need to get back to work.”
Roe stayed where he was, and I felt compelled to close the distance between us. He watched me come to him until I was within reach. His hand came up to cup my face and he leaned down to kiss me. I thought it would just be a peck, but the moment his lips touched me, I wasn’t all right with that. I pushed up on my toes to kiss him back. He seemed to get the hint that I wanted more, and his other hand went to the small of my back as he deepened the kiss. I moved my hands up until my fingers snaked into his hair on the back of his head. I fisted it and pulled a little. He let out a throaty groan before walking me backward until I was pressed up against the wall.
The impact hadn’t been hard, but I couldn’t hold back from wincing when the bruises around my ribs barked in pain.
Roe pulled back just a little to say, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I wish we weren’t in public.”
“Same,” a voice said.
Roe and I both turned our heads to the right. Near the entrance to the hall stood a man from the picture hanging on the wall with the guitars I’d seen in Roe’s house. He and Roe looked so much alike. They had the same stormy blue eyes, same black hair, but this man’s had a little gray in it and was cut shorter. He was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and well-worn light blue jeans. His skin was tanner than Roe’s, as if he had spent long hours on his motorcycle in the sun. He was just as heavily tattooed as Roe, if not more so.
Roe sighed and stepped away from me. “Dad, this is Lottie. Lottie, this is my dad, Noble.”
I pushed off the wall and walked toward him, offering him my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Walker.”
He took my hand with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Lottie.” As he stared at me, his smile dropped. “Have we met before?”
I tried not to blush as I remembered yesterday.
“You walked in on us yesterday morning, remember?” Roe said as he came to stand next to me.
His dad shook his head. “Not that.” He couldn’t take his eyes off me. “You look so familiar. I swear we’ve met before.”
“I don’t remember ever meeting you, Mr. Walker,” I said.
“Call me Noble, please,” he insisted.
Roe put his hand on the small of my back. “We ordered food. So we should get back.”
Noble nodded and stepped aside so we could walk by. We were only a few feet away when he asked, “What’s your last name, Lottie?”
Roe and I paused to glance back at him. “Kendry,” I answered.
His eyes widened as he looked from me to his son and back to me.
“Dad, you okay?” Roe asked.
Noble quickly turned and began walking away. “Yeah, ignore me. I—I just remembered I gotta make a call.”
Roe and I stared at each other, confused, before Roe closed his eyes and shook his head. “Let’s go eat.”

80%

After things were put away, Roe returned to the table. Reid messed around on his phone across from us while we finished up our homework. Roe was done a lot faster than me and most of his classes were AP. I’d known he was smart, but now, I was curious how smart.
“What colleges are you hoping to get accepted to?” I asked him.
“Stanford or MIT,” he answered. “What about you?”
I closed my laptop, finally finished. “I have to go to Brown.”
“Have to?” Reid said, inviting himself into our conversation. “Is there a school you want to go to?”
“All Kendrys go to Brown.”
“You’re...” Reid started to say, but stopped himself. He cleared his throat. “If you weren’t a Kendry, where would you go?”
I stared down at my laptop, feeling vulnerable. I had the answer. It was just hard to voice it. “There’s an art school in California I applied to, but I can’t go even if I’m accepted.”
I could hear the confusion in Reid’s voice when he asked, “If you’re so sure of that, then why did you bother applying?”
“Because my drawing teacher kept insisting and for one moment, I gave in to hope that things could be different. Then reality set in. My family—both my mother and grandfather would cut me off financially. If that didn’t work, my mother would break every bone in my body to stop me from going.” I hadn’t any doubt she would start with my hands.
I had tried to make it seem like the bone-breaking was just an exaggeration, but Roe was staring at me with an intense look and Reid seemed put off.
I was about to ask them what was wrong when Wyatt walked in looking freshly showered. His dyed blond hair was still wet. “All right, Reid, you’re helping me.”
“I figured,” Reid grumbled and reluctantly stood from the table.
“Roe, stay the hell out of the kitchen. In fact, don’t even come near it,” Wyatt said as he got busy grabbing things from cabinets.
“I told you it was an accident,” Roe said.
“You dumped a whole container of salt into the chili,” Wyatt said.
Roe sighed exhaustedly. “I told you it needed salt.”
Wyatt spun to face him. “Not the whole container!”
“The lid fell off!” Roe shook his head. “You know what, fine. I will stay out of the kitchen.”
Wyatt’s shoulders sagged a little as if relieved, making me wonder if the excessive salt usage hadn’t been the first time Roe had messed up in the kitchen.
“Good. Take the joint thief to the living room,” Wyatt said, gesturing to me. “I’m sure it’s hurting her body more sitting in that hard chair.”
“Wyatt!” I blurted, trying to stop him from saying any more, at the same time Roe asked, “What?”
Reid, who had been standing just outside the kitchen waiting for Wyatt’s instruction, glanced at me.
Wyatt looked from me to Roe and back to me, realizing what he had done. “I thought…” His brow scrunched up. “Since you were here, I thought you told him. I’m sorry.”
Roe’s head turned to me. “What is he talking about?”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I exhaled heavily. I didn’t know what the fuck to say. Normally, I could come up with an explanation quick. Right now, I had nothing. Maybe it was because I knew Roe actually cared—knew he’d see through any lie I could tell.
When I didn’t answer right away, Roe said, “Wy?”
I opened my eyes to find Wyatt wearing a torn look. “I think I’ve betrayed her trust enough. Besides, I don’t know much.”
“Mac was acting out of it today,” Reid said, sounding a little angry. “She won’t tell me what’s wrong, but I know it has to do with whatever happened with you three yesterday. So somebody better start talking.”
Wyatt cursed. “It’s not Lottie’s fault. She doesn’t know about your and Mac’s past.”
Roe stood up. “What do you mean by that?” He looked down at me as if he’d come to some conclusion. “Someone’s been hurting you.”
I stood, putting my hands up. “Wait. I don’t understand what is going on. What is wrong with Mac? What is this about Reid and her past?”
“My dad used to beat the shit out of me, my sister, and my mother,” Reid snapped, his words sharp like they were meant to cut me for even making him voice them.
I just stood there, shocked, as they did.
“Until one day I tried to get help. He nearly killed me for it. My mother finally found some fucking courage and took me to the hospital. After that, there was no hiding what he was doing to us. I told every fucking person in scrubs and a police uniform what he’d done and had been doing. He’s now in prison.”
One word after another, cut after cut. I felt frozen there, unable to move as my secrets bled out. His past. My reality. My heart broke for him, Mac, and their mother. I wouldn’t wish the fear I felt every day on my worst enemy. At the same time, a tiny, ugly part of me was envious that they’d gotten away. They were free.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Reid and the rage pouring off of him. “What did he drink?” I shouldn’t have asked, but I felt like I had been granted an opportunity to not feel so alone.
“Why do you think he drank?” he questioned. “You don’t have to have a drinking problem to be an abusive piece of shit.”
I didn’t feel like I was in my body. I felt like an outsider watching myself answer, “Because it’s always worse when they drink.”
That time, my words cut him, if his stricken look was anything to go by. So many emotions and thoughts showed in his whiskey eyes. “Vodka. It doesn’t have much of a smell and it was easier to hide in the water bottle he carried everywhere.” His tone was so matter-of-fact.
I didn’t even blink when I said, “My mother drinks gin with lime.”
A tear falling down my cheek startled me out of the state Reid’s words had sucked me into. My stomach sank as I realized what I had just done—what I had just implied. I gasped as I brought a shaky hand up to my mouth.
I could feel them staring at me, but I couldn’t face them. Eyes glued to the ground, I started walking. Heading for the front door, I made it past Reid and into the living room.
“Wait!” Wyatt yelled before something dropped in the kitchen.
“Lottie!” Roe yelled at the same time. Before I could make it to the door, he stepped in front of me. “Please wait.”
I shook my head. My chest was hurting so bad. Fear and regret were squeezing my lungs and stabbing my heart. I began rubbing my breastbone, thinking that would help ease the pain. “I have to go. I can’t be here.”
“You don’t need to go anywhere, Lottie,” Roe said as he tried to reach for me.
I took a step back and began rubbing harder. “I need to go home.”
“No!” both Wyatt and Roe said at the same time.
“I can’t be here,” I said again with tears filling my eyes.
Roe put up his hands. “Yes, you can.”
I shook my head. “No, I can’t, Roe. Please let me leave.”
I tried to step around him, but he put his arm out. “Normally, I’d give you your space, but if you walk out that door, I will follow you. I will not let you go back to your house alone.” I had never heard his voice so firm and authoritative.
“It’s empty,” I said. “My mother left for Milan last week and won’t be back for two more weeks.”
“Then who hurt you yesterday?” Wyatt asked, sounding as if he was right behind me.
This was getting out of hand.
“Where is she hurt?” Roe questioned with a hint of disbelief. “I didn’t…” He trailed off as he thought it over, probably remembering all the times I had winced today.
From the heavy sigh Wyatt let out, I knew he was going to answer him. “She has bruises all over. There’s a really bad one on her side where her ribs are.”
Roe went a little pale before he got very angry. Every inch of him went still except for his hands, which fisted. “Was it Brandon?”
Freaking out, I didn’t immediately deny it.
He ran his hands down his face. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
The fear of him doing such a thing gave me the courage to say, “It was Clay.” My voice came out cracked and just above a whisper.
Roe looked at me, scowling. “What?”
I knew his rage wasn’t directed at me, but it was still hard to see it. “It wasn’t Brandon. It was Clay,” I said a little louder.
Wyatt came to stand next to Roe. “Who is that?”
“My mother’s boyfriend,” I answered numbly. I couldn’t run—I couldn’t handle what was happening. So I was shutting down. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“I think you all should table this for now,” Reid said, shocking the hell out of me. He was the last person I would’ve expected to suggest that.
Roe didn’t look like he wanted to.
The floor creaked and Reid appeared next to me. “Why don’t we go for a walk, Roe.”
Roe was about to protest, but Reid spoke before he could. “She’ll be fine here with Wyatt.”
Hearing his name, Wyatt perked up and inched toward me. “Have you ever cooked before?”
I shook my head.
“Then you can sit on the counter and watch, because apparently I suck at teaching,” Wyatt said with a fake grumble.
“He acts like Gordon Ramsay if you cut one thing wrong,” Reid said.
“If you don’t cut the veggies the same size, they don’t cook evenly,” Wyatt argued.
I knew the two of them were trying to lighten the mood. To see even Reid trying made me feel like this was all a bad dream.
Reid put his hand on Roe’s shoulder. “Let’s get some air.”
Roe was clearly still reluctant, but the two of them left through the front door.
“Would you feel better sitting in a chair?” Wyatt asked. “I can bring one into the kitchen if you want.”
“I’m fine standing,” I said.
“You sure?”
I nodded. “I just need to use the bathroom first.”
“All right,” he said, and watched me head down the hall that led to the bathroom and bedrooms.
I flipped on the light and shut the bathroom door without going into it. Right next to it was Roe’s room. I dashed into there, leaving the lights off. I knew my phone and keys were on his desk. I was able to find them in the dark right away. Before going back into the hall, I listened. The sound of the fridge opening and closing told me Wyatt was back in the kitchen. As quietly as I could, I snuck down the hall, back into the living room, and out the front door.
When I didn’t see Roe and Reid right outside, I knew they had actually gone on a walk. I got into my car and didn’t waste any time driving away.