Page 4 of Stealing His Cupcake
When the spinning finally stops, I look around and realize I’m alone. He left. Again. Left when I was hurt and…bleeding? I touch my temple, my fingers coming back wet and sticky. Dull throbbing fills my head and my face feels misshapen, the skin drawn tight over the swollen parts. I try standing up but my limbs refuse to cooperate.
That’s not good, is it?
I have no one to ask. I’m alone. Completely alone. That thought pierces deeper than the throbbing in my head. I can’t be alone. I don’t want to be alone.
There’s only one person who has never abandoned me, no matter how mean I’ve been to her. Kayla. I shouldn’t bother her. She has a new job, a new life far away from here, but I don’t have anyone else. I don’t want to call Craig. I’m sure he’ll apologize later but he hit me. It’ll take more than an apology for that.
My phone is on the couch. As I cautiously crawl toward it, my stupid mind replays all the nasty things Craig said to me. “He didn’t mean it,” I tell myself. “He didn’t.” But what if he did? What if Kayla was right?
The phone rings so long I squint at the screen to check the time. 2 a.m. No wonder Kayla isn’t picking up. Damn, I’ll wake her up and she’ll get mad at me and then she’ll leave too and I won’t have anyone at all.
I’m just about to hang up when Kayla’s voice comes through the receiver. “Amy, what’s wrong?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, swallowing around the lump in my throat, but a choked sound still breaks out. What’s wrong? “Everything. I—He—” I can’t bring myself to say it. If I say it out loud, it will make what happened real and I don’t want it to be real.
“Amy?” Kayla sounds panicked. I have to tell her something.
“He hit me,” I whisper.
“What?!” Kayla’s scream makes me wince as the throbbing in my head grows more incessant. “That fucking asshole!”
“He didn’t mean it, Kay. I’m sure he—”
“No,” Kayla interrupts me in her best authoritative social worker tone. “No. Listen, Ames, listen! You need to call the police.”
The police? “But that would get Craig in trouble.”
“I know it gets Craig in trouble. That’s the whole point!”
I know Kayla never liked Craig but involving the police? That feels too extreme. It was only a couple of slaps. I’m sure he didn’t mean to slam me into that coffee table. That was an accident. I can’t get him in trouble with the police for that. “I can’t call the police. I’m sure he won’t do it again. We just need to talk and—”
“No, Amy. He hit you once. He’s going to do it again.”
“It was just a slap. It wasn’t his fault that I hit my head.”
Kayla gasps. “Your head? God, Ames, you need to go to a hospital. No, seriously. Head wounds are no joke. Look…” She pauses for a moment, then continues with more determination. “I’m coming over.”
“From Bluebell Springs? It’s too far to drive. Seriously, Kayla, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“No, it’s not too far,” Kayla replies with determination. I’ve known her long enough to recognize that arguments are pointless when she sounds like this. “I’ll be at your place in a few hours but right now, you have to call the police. Do you understand me? Amy, please.”
“I-I can’t. I can’t call the police. Craig’s coach already hates him and if Craig gets into trouble with the police, then he’ll bench him and then…” Craig would be angry with me, and he’d be right. “He didn’t mean it. I love him, Kayla. I can’t do this to him.”
“I know, Amy.” Kayla’s voice is soothing now. “I know you love him. I know he told you he loves you, but this is not love. Listen, everything will be alright. I promise. I’ll be there in like…five hours. Call the police, please. They’ll take you to the hospital. Do not stay alone, Amy, do you understand? Tell the police you’re afraid he might come back and—”
“But I want him to come back!” I shout even though it makes the pounding headache worse. “I want him here. He’ll apologize and everything will be alright.”
“NO!” I startle at Kayla’s shout. She never yells at me, no matter how frustrated with me she is. “Of course he will apologize,” Kayla continues in a slightly calmer tone. “But he will do it again, Amy. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but he will do it. Trust me, please. Please, Amy.”
I don’t want to acknowledge her words but the pain ricocheting through my skull makes them real. What if Craig does this again? Even if he loves me, this is not okay, is it?
“I’m coming,” Kayla promises before hanging up.
Kayla is coming. We might be the same age, but Kayla has always been like a big sister to me. She’ll fix this. I don’t know how, but she’s the smart one. The beautiful one. The one with a college degree and a successful career. If I didn’t love her, I would have hated how perfect she is compared to me, but I can’t because she’s also the sweetest person under the sun.
If I was being petty, I could say that the only area I beat Kayla in was being in a happy relationship when her boyfriend had cheated on her, but even that’s not true anymore. What Craig and I have is anything but a happy relationship. Even before tonight, it wasn’t easy. I once lost a job when Craig got irrationally jealous of my coworker and locked me in my bedroom. It took me two days to convince him to let me out again. I thought it was because he loved me so much, but even if it was, was it okay?
Crying only makes my headache worse but I can’t stop. Nothing makes sense anymore. All I know is that I’m alone. All alone. And it hurts more than my banged up head.
