Tomboy
(POV: Third Person)
The vibrations of the alarm clock shook Elise from her sleep. As she stood, her nightmares from her unconscious state-of-mind brought her instant fear.
“Fuck.” She whispering while shaking her head as if it would rid her of the memories she despised.
At 9 am on a Saturday morning, Elise had already put herself into a mood. Everyone in her household knew to leave her be when she was upset, except her mother.
Elise left her room and entered the short hallway with her towel and bathrobe in hand. As she entered the bathroom and turned the water on, she heard a soft knock on the door. Cracking it open an inch she looked out only for her eyes to meet those of her mothers’.
“Hey, Elisey. Are you okay?” Her mother questioned in a soft voice as if her daughter were extremely fragile and could break with the slightest of disturbance or noise.
“I’m fine, mom,” Elise sighed, already frustrated by her mother, “I’m just taking a shower.”
Elise’s mother eyed her daughter, skeptically, and with a soft nod, she turned and walked back downstairs.
With a heavy eye roll, Elise shut the door and slumped down onto the closed toilet seat. Once the fifteen-year-old had removed the entirety of her clothing, she held out her arms and examined the skin.
Scars.
She wished her mother had never found out about her actions, her pain. But she couldn’t do much about it now. And with that realization, Elise peeled back the shower curtain and attempted to wash the unsettling memories off of her body and watch them disappear into the drain.
~ ~ ~
Elise was sitting at the island counter reading over her final report card for the year and munching on a handful of Cheerios when her father emerged from his office upstairs.
Reaching out to start the coffee maker Elise’s father greeted his daughter with, “Hey, kiddo.”
Already upset, Elise rose her head, giving a small smile, before returning back to her previous task. Her father received the message and after refilling his cup, he made his way back to his home office.
As soon as Elise heard the distant door close, she instantly felt a wave of guilt. She never meant to be a bitch or rude but sometimes she didn’t even have the energy to fake a smile or start a conversation.
Eighth grade was a shitshow for the teenager. Her parents had moved her to an all-girls private school that offered a great education for her last year in middle school. While they thought they were making the right decision at the time, they were horribly wrong. Elise had a group of friends, or at least she thought she did, that was constantly hot and cold with her throughout the school year. But that is a story for another time...
Elise stood and walked to the garage to collect her bike. As she left the house she yelled up to her parents that she was riding around the neighborhood.
Elise lived in a two-story black and white house with a driveway stretching 500ft. She loved her house and the place she called home. The teenager was what you would call a “tomboy.” Despite having an older sister, she always found herself hanging out with her older brother more often. Growing up, Elise would wrestle with her brother, catch frogs in her backyard pond, play in the mud, and explore the woods and she didn’t care what anyone thought about that.
That is until the new neighbors moved in...
