Kendall laughs. "You did not!"
Rufford grins. "I so did, it was terrible." He walks with her up to a little brick house. "This the place?"
She looks up and nods. "Yeah...Thank you again for walking with me. I really don't know why Derek wouldn't answer his phone." She sighs.
"You don't have to thank me, what more are friends for? I'll see you around, Kenny." He then walks away.
Kendall looks at the door and feels a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach. She takes a deep breath and pushes the door open. "Derek, I'm home."
Derek looks at her from his chair, bottle in hand. "Where were you? You know I don't like you leaving me here alone Friday nights."
"I told you." She shuts the door. "It was Sandra's birthday. I had to go, she's my friend. Remember? I even invited you to come."
"Why would I want to? I don't like them and you shouldn't either. They're stupid and they're just pretending to like you. You know I'm the only person who could ever love something as weird as you."
She lowers her gaze to the floor. "Perhaps...But I do think they really are my friends. I-I mean, they've always been there for me."
"Have they? Or have you just been there for them and you just assumed they'd do the same?" He smirks and takes a long swig from the bottle. He then drops it on the floor. "Whoops, be a lass and clean that up and bring me another."
"Okay..." She gets the broom and dustpan and silently cleans up the broken bottle. Part of her wonders if this really is what love feels like and if so, why anyone would ever want to be loved. She dumps the glass and fetches him a fresh bottle from the refrigerator. "Anything else? I'm really quite tired and would like to get some rest."
Derek looks at her and snorts. "You'll wait to go to bed until I say you can. I'm not done with you tonight. How'd you get home?"
"I tried calling you, but you never answered."
"How did you get home, Kendall?"
"Rufford walked me home."
"I thought I told you to ditch that freak." He growls.
"But Derek, he's my best friend..."
"No. He's a liar. I'm your only friend. I'm the only one who loves you. They're just causing you pain." He stands up and grabs a handful of her hair and pulls her against the wall. "You hear me? You're not going to talk to them anymore, got it? I'm your whole world."
Kendall's lip quivers, but she shakes her head. "N-no."
"WHAT WAS THAT?" He growls and bangs her head against the wall again.
"I-I said...I said no."
He narrows his eyes and smacks her hard enough that darkness dances into her vision. "Want to try that again, wretch?"
"I refuse." She bites her tongue as he slaps her again.
"You stupid little whore! You're sleeping with him on the side, aren't you?" He growls.
"NO!"
"You told me you were waiting til after marriage, but you been sleeping with the freak. That's not fair, I'm getting in on that action." He snarls and grabs her skirt.
"No!" Kendall squeals and knees him straight in the groin. He releases her, winded. She takes this moment and grabs a lamp. "I swear I have not nor would I ever cheat!"
"You little....witch! I'm going...I'm going to kill you for that! You bloody whore!" Derek growls, as he stands back up.
Kendall swings the lamp and smacks him straight in the head with the pole. He slumps to the ground. She looks at him and the pole with wide eyes and then she drops it. "Oh my God what have I done?" She gasps. "I-I killed him!"
Derek groans slightly, almost to her relief. Kendall rushes to their room and grabs anything of hers that she can quickly get to. She then walks past his unconscious form. "Don't you ever touch me again." Her voice shakes, but is stern. "We're done." She goes out the door and slams it behind herself. She walks away and doesn't look back. Her stomach is knotted in fear and guilt. She feels tempted to go back, after all...he was the only one who loved her, right?
Kendall shakes the thought from her head. It just couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.
She turns her thoughts to consider what she should do now. She could feel the bruise coming up on the side of her face, so that marked out any of her friends' places or her parents. She decides to try the little Bed and Breakfast a few blocks South. "Perhaps they'll accept a late payment..." She tells herself. "Derek wouldn't think to look for me there anyway. He'd expect me to go home or come back to him."
She walks up to the door and softly knocks, sitting down her box of random possessions and taking a deep breath. Maybe this was going to be the start of something new. With university starting in a few weeks, she would be rooming with Sandra anyway. Derek had tried to get her to turn down her scholarship before, was she ever thankful she had lied to him and had kept it. She used to feel guilty about it, but no more. Never again.
The door opens and a little old lady with blue-gray hair looks at her. "Oh dear! Miss, are you okay? Please come inside! What happened?"
Kendall looks thankfully at her. "I-I left my boyfriend..."
"Say no more, I understand. You poor thing! Let me take a look at that." She closes the door behind Kendall and gently lifts her chin towards the light. "Poor thing! I'll get you some ice. I'll have my daughter come get your things. You don't worry about a thing, love. You're with Mama Lena now." She smiles at her.
"Th-thank you, Ms. Lena...I-I can't pay you tonight though." She bites her bottom lip. "I left my wallet at my parents' house, but I can't go back there....Not yet."
Lena softly squeezes her shoulder. "That's quite alright, love. You can pay me whenever you're able. You've been through something crazy no girl should ever have to go through. Mabel will lead you to your room. I'll bring you up some tea and cookies with that ice, okay, love?"
A brunette walks into the room and smiles gently at Kendall. "This way, miss...?"
"Bell, Kendall Bell." Kendall nods.
Mabel nods and softly gets the box from her. "You can borrow some of my clothes for now if you need to, Ms. Bell. I think I should have some old stuff that'll fit you." She leads the way up the stairs and down a little hall to a small, but cozy room. She sits the box down carefully. "Is there anything you need?"
Kendall shakes her head. "I don't think so, but thank you." She smiles slightly, nervously.
Mabel smiles at her and leaves the room, softly shutting the door.
Kendall sits down on the bed and quietly digests what all has happened. "I'm not a doormat...I'm Kendall...And it's about time I am treated like a Kendall instead of a doormat." She murmurs. "Never again..."
259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDX52jRDkS
