Better Than Me

Summary- She was always alone, always picked on, always the freak. She had one friend and a brother to look after. She gets beaten when her bipolar disorder causes her to do something wrong. She always thought that everyone had a better life than her. But one new friend can change that.

A/N: Yeah, I know that this is like most of our other abuse stories, but this is a bit different.

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Chapter One – Why?

The hallways of Russet High School rang with laughter as the last bell let out. The weekend at last! Everyone hurried to catch up with their friends.

Everyone except for one girl.

The one girl who always stood away from the crowd, who never got invited to the partied, who got picked on everyday. She got in fights, because others wouldn’t leave her alone, and she was the only one that got her in trouble. She was labeled the freak, the outcast, by everyone. And yet, she didn’t mind.

No one knew much about her, except her name- Riley Jackson. Her hair was black, an inch or so past her shoulders with a single streak that was red, It was always in a small ponytail. Her red eyes always held emotion, although no one ever paid enough attention to notice. Her clothes didn’t follow everyone else’s, they were more unique. In class, she never raised her hand, but always got good grades and turned in her assignments on time.

She was ignored mostly, except by the girls that thought she wasn’t worth life. They did everything they could to get her upset, but nothing worked. Knocking her books out of her hand, tripping her, and even trying to hurt her. The hurting part, she was used to that. She was numb to all of the pain that they could possible inflict on her.

They shoved her against lockers, knocking her around. She fought back against them, physically, and she was the only one that got in trouble. She was the school outcast..

She only had one friend, and he stood by her side through every thing. And she thanked him for that, each and every time, but he says there’s no need to thank her, he’s do it, even if there was no reason to.

She wondered why she was always felt so alone. She was always alone. Even when I was with her brother, Bailey I was alone. She felt empty. Like she wanted to cry but wasn’t quite sure why…

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“Shut up, you stupid whore!” I cringed at the sound of glass shattering against the wall.

“Get away from me!” Curling up under my covers, I covered my ears and closed my eyes hoping to drown out the sounds of my dad and his latest girlfriend fighting again. Tomorrow I would be in school and not have to worry about this until I got home.

“Riley, I’m scared” Bailey said as he came into my room. I hugged him and covered his ears as he covered mine and we sat there, wincing, at the screams.

There was stomping and doors slammed. I knew we were alone now. My father would go to some woman’s house; he hadn’t covered up his affair very well. He had a new girlfriend almost every other day.

Taking the chance to go downstairs and eat dinner, I pulled a jar of jelly out of the fridge as Bailey grabbed the peanut butter from the pantry. Setting a slice of bread on a plate, we froze when the door slammed behind us.

“What are you doing?” the voice was harsh and slurred. I looked back at her father, his large and intimidating frame filling the door. I took Bailey’s hand and backed up towards the kitchen door, he was obviously very drunk. “My girlfriend fixed dinner and you never came down to eat. Do you not appreciate what we try to give you? Instead you come downstairs and eat a fucking sandwich!” He shoved the small table over and the jars broke across the floor.

Bailey flinched and his eyes widened as Robert advanced towards us. I pushed Bailey behind me. With a gasp of fright he turned and bolted for the stairs, I was close behind him. “Come back here!” he roared and ran. Being much larger and faster, he caught me half-way up the stairs. “You will never walk away from me again!” he emphasized his words by throwing me against the stairs. I cried out as the edges stabbed into her back.

Scrambling on all fours I tried to dodge his hands. His foot came at me connecting with my side. I went flying against my bedroom door. Crying, Bailey opened it and dragged me inside and locked the door We climbed onto my bed and curled up in the corner, crying out every time his fist connected with the weak wood.

The door came down with a crash and dad advanced on us. At first our screams echoed through the house as fist and palm connected with our faces and stomachs. My vision began to become blurry and soon the world was lost to me

-

“Riley, get down here, it’s time to leave!” her father’s voice was sharp, making me sit up. I turned and saw Bailey lying next to me. He lay crumpled on the floor, where dad had left him the night before. Blood matted his and streaked out from his nose. Wincing, he lifted his head and moaned in pain. I turned to help him up, but a stinging pain on my stomach caused me to gasp in pain.

I lifted my shirt to find a large black and purple bruise formed over my side. “Get down here!” Not wanting to anger our father we ran into the bathroom and quickly washed the blood off. Without a moments thought I began loading makeup onto Bailey’s and my face trying to cover the bruises as best I could.

“Why does he do this, Riley?” Bailey whispered.

“I don’t know” I replied. “I really don’t know, all I know is that it’s not fair for us to go through this, when he’s probably just mad about mom dying”

“Do you think about her?” Bailey asked, wincing as I brushed make up over a bruise on his eyes.

“All the time” I replied and closed the medicine cabinet. “We did have a brother, but there was a miscarriage”

“I was going to be an older brother?” Bailey asked, he bent his head and looked at the ground. “I don’t care, I have an older sister, who cares for me and that’s all I need.”

“Then why is our life hell?”