Knock. Knock. Knock.

I opened the door to find my drunk mother clumsily standing and holding onto the door frame for support. In her drunk state she had also forgotten that we had a doorbell and there was, in fact, no need to knock.

I sighed.

Standing in her shadows was a man that I did not know. So he is the one tonight. I carried out a sequence of emotions internally but held a stoic face on the outside. She roughly pushed me aside with an unnecessary force. I sighed yet again and shook my head slightly. She glared at me for some unknown reason while I made my way to the couch and commenced watching The Office. My mother and the mystery guy started kissing each other aggressively. It seemed like they had spurts of lust flowing in their blood.

"Linda, lets go in." The guy said pointing towards my mother's room. My mother giggled flirtatiously but not gracefully.

"As you say Cole." As if on cue, they started stripping whilst pushing each other to my mother's room.

At least that's done.  

As I listlessly watched the show, a silent tear ran down my cheek. I quickly wiped it off and took in some deep breaths to calm down myself. This is my life and I have to deal with it.

For the next three hours I concentrated on various things to escape the noise of their constant banging from the open door. 

***

Cole walked out of the room after the big bang. I wondered how he still had the stamina to walk after that. He walked straight towards... me?

He grabbed my chin roughly and brought it closer to his. 

"You know, you look quite delicious."

Alcohol. That was the only smell that radiated from his body. Maybe my mother had no taste after all. Or she could just fuck anything with a little of alcohol.

I shoved him aside. "Fuck yourself."

To be quite honest, I have had to deal with a multitude of people like Cole over the past few years.

My mother and my Dad parted their ways when I was in fourth grade. We were a quite a happy family even though we were in the crappiest of all neighborhoods. During those days I used to call my mother Mamma (something lame that you should know) because I did love her. But lately, she had only been a stranger to me. 

So, long story short, my Dad and Mamma signed their divorce because Dad caught her with another man. My mother had received physical custody for me because I wanted to stay with my Mamma. There was not a single day when I didn't regret that decision. During those days I did not know the actual reason for the divorce and I really believed that my mother loved me. Dad agreed to not let the word spread about the cheating, saving my mother's reputation and indirectly mine too. My mother received a fair alimony from the divorce. I received grants for myself too (though a little more than her) every month.

Dad and I could only meet up one day in a week that too for merely some hours.

My mother abhorred Dad deeply and detested that I had to meet him. So, Dad and I's meetings were quite confidential. I would literally have to sneak out of the house to meet Dad so that I won't have to hear any abuse from my mother after the rendezvous.

Yeah, so coming back to that cunt...

Cole growled and made an incredulous expression.

"Linda! Your daughter is disgusting!" 

Gee! Thanks stranger who was fucking my mother when he himself has a wife, that I can tell from the wedding band on his hand! I know I am disgusting, but what about you?

I thought but said nothing.

My mother called out from her bedroom. "I know", she whined.

She walked outside to show herself, she was dressed completely and held a scowl on her face. Any topic related to me always forced her to show that expression. 

They kissed again and Cole left. She then looked at me and growled. She yanked me up by my arm. I still held a stoic face. Like I said, I'm way too used to this shit. She was reeking with the smell of alcohol.

"Why can't you ever make yourself useful, you bitch!?"

I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. It was not because I was depressed from her remark. The tears were in fact the consequence of me holding my words in my mouth. The tears were my mark of frustration and she would never understand that.

"Wow! That is all you do, right? Cry? I just can't expect anything from you, can I? Stupid bitch." She spat on the couch and went in her room.

I sighed and sat down. Not ten seconds later I heard her scream. It was not the cautionary scream. It was just her aggressive reaction to God knows what. Maybe my existence. It's always my existence.

She stomped back again to the couch. Damn this woman! I need a break. She roughly picked me up from my forearm.

"Do you even understand how much of loss you are to me? That man was providing me so much! Yet you couldn't sleep with him when he asked you to? I have done so much for you and yet you keep on disappointing me at every possible instance! Why do you do that?" She yelled at me shaking me vigorously.

I let tears fall from my eyes for the already mentioned reason, again. I had so much to say on the tip of my tongue, but that's where my words died.

She saw me crying and she growled. She slapped me with the back of her hand with such force that I fell onto the couch. She had a ring on her hand. So when she slapped me, the ring scrapped my cheek. It was bleeding. But let me tell you something. I. Am. Used. To. This.

She spat yet again, this time on my face. She took her jacket with her and went away to some place before calling me a piece of shit.

I sighed. That's it. That's pretty much my life.

***

I went up to my room to clean up the mess my mother had made on my face. That's when my phone started ringing. My phone was a Blackberry. Yes, I know that the phone was beyond outdated but I didn't have the money to buy an Android or Apple phone. Besides, having a modern phone was secondary. I needed to save money to get out of that shit hole. I had to save money for my education, for a house away from my mother and for so many other reasons. Dada was already providing me with a substantial sum every month for solely myself. I didn't want to be too much of a burden on him.

I looked at the caller ID which said Adrian. I sat on my bed that made a loud creaking noise. I ran my hand through my hair and picked up the call.

"Hi!" I started, faking normalcy.

"Yeah, hi Ash. Come down in five minutes. I am waiting."

"What? Why?"

"I am not telling you why!" His voice resonated annoyance. Great! "You better get out of your house in ten minutes or I am dragging your ass."

"Adrian, I am not going anywhere." I got up from my bed which creaked loudly, again. I examined the cut on my cheek. It was still bleeding.

"What the fuck? Ash if you don't get out of your house, I am not going to talk to you!"

"Then don't talk to me!"

"Fine!" With that he slammed his phone shut.

I went into the bathroom and started washing blood out of the gash. Right when I was applying some antiseptic, my phone started ringing again. It was, in fact, Adrian.

"Ashley Agnes Stevens!" Adrian screamed, "If I don't see your-"

"Oh my God, Adrian! Can you give me a minute to get ready?" I retorted.

"Yeah, sure." I could hear the smile in his voice. 

Adrian and I had been friends ever since we were in sixth grade. Adrian was very conservative when it came to making friends. His parents shifted towns pretty soon and that is why his friends couldn't last. But ever since his parents had shifted to Night Lamp Street, they never went anywhere else. We have been each other's rock from that day on. He became a footballer in our school's crappy football team (which he surprisingly agrees). He got good grades. He lived a happy life.

But the catch about living in that neighborhood is that everybody has similar parents. Though his parents are not as abusive as my mother but I had noticed swollen cheeks and some bruises sometimes. He loved his parents, especially his father. His Dad was someone he looked up to. It didn't matter to him that sometimes his parents would become a bit harsh because they would always make up to him.

Once, I had accidentally slipped information about my mother. From that day I had made a rule that he won't meet my mother for his own good. For the exact same reason, I didn't see his parents too. So, I had not seen his Mom and Dad and neither had he seen my mother.

I stuck a small band aid on my cheek, tied my mahogany hair and swung a jacket around my shoulder to save myself from the bleak cold. I ran downstairs, opened the door and found him standing near a lamppost, a little far from my house. I jogged towards him. 

In the faint yellow light, much of his silhouette was consumed by his shadow. He had his guitar case over his shoulder. I didn't know how long had he been roaming with that instrument on his back playing and singing on the streets. His hazel brown eyes gleamed in the dim light even though much of his blond hair were covering his eyes. 

"What is it?" I asked in a bored tone.

He raised his eyebrow. Then cleared his throat trying to be formal. "Let me ask you, what date is it?"

I ransacked the different corridors of my brain trying to search an answer to his question to realize that I had no answer. I shrugged.

"Good!" 

Adrian pulled me with him to... somewhere. 

"Adrian, where are we going?"

"Surprise!" He replied with a child-like enthusiasm. I sighed but smiled. Even if everything went down, I knew that my best friend would always be there for me.

***  

The somewhere turned out to be a bakery. I was surprised that the bakery was still open at eleven forty-five in the night. But then again, Night Lamp Street never really slept through the night.

Adrian bought two pastries from his day's earning. I insisted on not using his money but he only waved if off by saying that today was special.

He gave them to me to be eaten later. We strolled around the street, till we turned around to go to the public garden. 

"So, Ashley Agnes Stevens-"

"What did I say about calling me by my full name?"

"That I can use it to tease you. And, do not interrupt me! What was I saying? Yes-"

I started making all the crazy noises that I had learnt since my childhood. Adrian glared at me. I carried on my activity for a few seconds, then stopped.

"So, I was saying-" He was cut off by the ringing of my phone. 

I squinted at the caller ID. It was my Dad. 

"Hey Dada!"

"Happy birthday, darling!" 

"Oh?"I looked at the time in my broken Disney watch. It was twelve. My eyes widened in realization. "Oh!" I looked up at Adrian and smiled, a thankful one. He smiled back and shook his head.

"I never can wish you your birthday first, can I?" Adrian whispered. I shrugged and concentrated on the conversation I was having with my father.

"So, you forgot your birthday again?"

"Yeah." I replied in a bashful whisper.

He sighed, representing his playful anger. "So, what do you want for your 15th birthday?"

I smiled and leaned back on the bench, relaxing a bit. "I really don't need anything. I have it all." In all honesty, there were a lot of things that I wanted. I wanted a house far away from that town. I wanted a balanced life. But I thought, it was t much to ask considering that he was already doing a lot for me.

I looked at Adrian and we fist-bumped. I guess it was just a best friend thing that we knew precisely what the other was thinking.

Dad exhaled and I could imagine that he had a small smile on his face.

"I know we are only supposed to meet on Fridays, but is there a chance I could see my little girl tomorrow?"

I thought about the proposition and tried to make accurate calculations regarding my mother's schedule. "We could meet after 7:30 in the evening?"

"Perfect! Then, um, we could have dinner?"

"Yeah!"

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow. Go get some rest- wait. Adrian might be with you, right?"

I hummed in response and he started laughing.

"So, I did it first?"

"Yes." I replied with a small chuckle. Adrian got a hint about what the conversation was and scowled which only made chuckle grow louder.

"I'll let him speak now."

"Alright. Bye, Dad." With that, the short conversation ended. I faced Adrian and tried to stifle my laugh. "Do you have something to say?"

"Shut up!" His scowl grew deeper.

"Come on." I said giving him a sideways hug. "Complete your speech."

Adrian sighed. "I just wanted to say that I am really grateful that it is you who's my best friend and not anyone else. Maybe you're a year younger to me. But I have and will never relate to anyone as much as I do to you. It is really a good feeling to have someone with whom you can can about any damn thing in the world. And for that, thank you Ash."

I smiled and gave him a proper hug.

"I'm not good with this sappy stuff, so we better have our pastries now."

I laughed but nodded.

We ate our pastries in silence, occasionally making a small conversation about the flavor or cracking some lame joke that only we could laugh at. But all in all we were looking at the distant stars and since we didn't know their names (they were not a part of the constellation), we gave them the worst possible name that we could think of and entertained ourselves.

Soon, we walked off to my hellhole where I gave Adrian a hug and went forward to open the door. I gave him a thumbs up, indicating that my mother was not there. He smiled contently and left for his house.

I changed into something comfortable and slipped into my bed, which squeaked loudly. I looked up at my cracked ceiling and smiled in hope that the next day would be better that what it was that day.

Right when I closed my eyes, I received a call from Adrian Doesn't-Know-The-Time Colt.

"What is it?" I snapped

"I just wanted to ask if your mom is at you home yet." He inquired relatively calm.

"No, she isn't."

He sighed with satisfaction. "I just really don't want her to ruin your birthday."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Don't worry Adrian, I am used to it."