All the Little Lies (English Prep 1)

The last words he threw in my direction rang throughout my head when I squeezed my eyes shut. Then came the entire eclipse of that night from not too long ago.

I pulled my eyes open as I felt something beside me. The room was dark except for the moon shining through the lavender, sheer curtains to my left. It took my vision a few moments to adjust, but when they did, I saw Gabe leaning down above my head.

“Gabe? What are you doing?” I tried to sit up, but he didn’t move. He just continued to tower over me, his light hair hanging down below his eyes. “Are you drunk again? You’re in the wrong room.”

His voice was husky, low. “I’m not in the wrong room.” Slowly, he took a seat by my feet, and I hurriedly pulled them up out of his way.

“Then what are you doing in here?” I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s two in the morning.”

“Did you like the new clothes my mom brought home for you?”

I glanced at the shopping bag near the desk I did my schoolwork on. I shrugged. “I haven’t looked at them yet.”

Gabe ran his hand through his hair, the ends flipping up around his ears, casting shadows along his T-shirt. “You know, they always wanted a girl after they had me. But Mom couldn’t get pregnant anymore. Something with my birth did something to her, permanently destroying any chance to have another child.” He looked over at me, and something had shifted in his demeanor.

I considered Gabe a friend, a brother almost. He wasn’t, of course. He was my foster brother, and I’d only been placed with the Santiellos two months ago. But they were a nice family. They bought me things, made me dinner every night. Gabe drove me to school every day and yelled at his friends who made fun of my homely attire—which was probably why there was a bag of brand-new clothes sitting on my floor. But tonight, Gabe looked sinister. His voice was eerie. I had my antennae up.

There were a few times over the last couple of weeks that he’d asked me to go to a party with him “to hang out with the cool kids,” but I had declined every time. Popular kids weren’t my scene. And I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the roof over my head. After all, they fed me and clothed me. It was the least I could do to follow their rules.

Gabe inched closer to me, and I gulped. “Gabe, whatever you’re doing, stop.”

He halted, hovering a breath away. My vision was adjusted now, and the look in his eyes was nothing like I’d ever seen before.

“Do you like living here, Hayley?”

At this particular moment, I wasn’t so sure. But I answered him. “Yes.”

“Then you’ll be okay with me sneaking in here every so often, right?”

I bristled at the thought. “Um...” Courage found its way up my throat and out of my mouth. “I don’t know what type of foster sister you’re used to having, but I’m not like that. So, please go back to your room.”

He pounced on me as the words left my mouth. Fear clawed at me, but the anger inside of me shut it down quickly. Gabe wasn’t used to being told no—that much was obvious. He muttered things like, “a tease,” as he tried to get a hold of me, but Gabe also wasn’t used to a girl who had been through hell and back. This wasn’t my first foster home, and it surely wouldn’t be my last.

I rolled off the bed after giving him a swift knee to the groin. He moaned as I jerked up from the floor, ready to bolt out the door, but he caught my foot at the last second. His large hands wrapped around my waist as he pulled me up and pushed me against the wall.

“Let me go,” I rushed out, my hair falling out of my face.

His breath was hot on my skin as he quickly shifted his hands to my flailing arms. Should I scream? Would his parents even hear me on the third floor? Would they even believe me over him? Doubtful.

“Stop fighting this. I know you want it. Walking around the house in those short shorts every morning.” Gabe’s hands moved quickly as he gathered both of mine in his one. His other hand crept down along my body, curving over my breasts and down the front of my sleep shorts. I fought back the tears and told myself to keep fighting. He didn’t get to take something that wasn’t his. My body was not for the taking. Once his fingers dipped inside of me, his grasp loosened slightly, which was enough to wake up the fighter girl inside of me. I reared my head back and banged it off his so hard he tumbled backwards, cursing under his breath.

My heart was lodged in my throat, and I could taste the metallic zing of blood in my mouth, but I ran for the door and skipped almost the entire flight of steps before I reached the front door.

Gabe was quick on his feet, his large strides covering much more distance than my short ones. What can I do to make him stop? He was bigger than me. I couldn’t outrun him. His parents were upstairs asleep, and I wasn’t sure I could trust them to be on my side anyway.

I eyed the garage to my left. I hurriedly skidded over the pebble-lined driveway and jammed my fingers into the code lock. 2-3-0-1-2. The doors started to climb up, and I slid underneath, out of sight. It was dark and smelled of must and engine oil. But I knew where Gabe’s baseball bat was. It was tucked away in the corner until baseball season came around.

The wooden handle felt comforting underneath my skin, my palms savoring the strength the weapon gave me. I heard Gabe’s footsteps, pounding and heavy. I knew he saw me in the corner, lurking near his precious Mustang.

His body was outlined by the deep night sky, the stars and moon glowing behind him. The garage was lit up just enough so he could see me raise the bat.

“I always did like a chase. Stop running from me, Hayley. You keep your mouth shut, spread those pretty little legs, and you can stay living here. Maybe my parents will even adopt you.”

“You’re sick, Gabe.”

He crept toward me, blood trickling from his nose. Good. I made him bleed.

“You won’t get the chance to touch me again.” I raised the bat higher as his eyes widened. I drove it headfirst into the windshield of his Mustang, causing the alarm to blare, waking the entire neighborhood. Rage filled his body. He ran after me so fast I couldn’t keep myself from falling backward into the wall. Various sports balls fell upon our tangled bodies, our limbs getting tangled as he hit me and as I clawed him.