As I reached my room, I dived into the bathroom and turned my shower on full, so it was scalding hot. As I stripped off, I thought I heard my room door open and close, but when I peeked out before stepping into the scalding water there was no one there. I locked the bathroom door and stood under the water, relishing in the heat, even though it raised red welts on my skin.
I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry and vanilla shampoo, letting the smell overwhelm my senses as I imagined being in a rainforest or under a waterfall. After another few minutes, the water began to cool and I rinsed the conditioner from my hair, feeling the smoothness as I did.
My body thrummed with heat and steam rose from my skin as I dried off and pulled on navy blue underwear, followed by navy ripped jeans and a black sheer top. My fingers separated my hair and I pulled it up into a French braid. As I twisted the braid around and pinned it up off my neck, I heard a sound in my room and my skin prickled in alarm.
I ignored the sound, assuming that someone had got lost on the way to the bathroom and focused on moisturizing my face. As I spread the cream around there was a loud knocking on my bathroom door which made me poke cream in my eye.
I screamed in pain as my eye started to burn and water. Suddenly the bathroom door splintered open to reveal Coop standing there, his eyes wide in fear and his nostrils flared as he looked around my tiny bathroom.
“Coop, what the hell?” I asked clutching my chest as one eye streamed with moisture.
“Bailey, what happened to your room?” he asked me, examining me, and I shrugged, not understanding what he was talking about. He moved back and I got a view of my room. My heart dropped to my feet as I examined the bed with ripped bedding, pillow feathers floated around everywhere and there were words scrawled on the walls.
BITCH, SLUT, BROTHERFUCKER
My eyes watered and my gaze shot to Coop in alarm.
“Coop?” I questioned him and his eyes spun back to my face. His eyes narrowed and towered over me in his anger.
“You seriously think I’d do that? Spray that shit on the walls?” My face fell as he spun on his heel and stormed out of my room, slamming the door closed and leaving me in my bathroom, with a broken door and a broken heart.
Slowly, I walked out into the room and spun in a circle as I surveyed the damage. My mirror had been smashed, stuffed bears ripped apart, including the one from Louis. My tears fell unchecked when I saw the bear and I crumpled to the floor. I couldn’t understand why someone would do that to me. What had I done to deserve someone destroying my room like this?
I couldn’t stay in my room for another second. As I started to push myself up to standing, my hand slipped and hit a slice of glass. The glass burned as it ripped into my palm. I squealed in pain and stood up, watching in detached fascination as blood ran down my fingers and dripped onto the carpet. I needed to wrap up my hand, but as I looked across the floor, I knew it’d be hard to get out of the room without slicing my feet open. There was glass everywhere and I wasn’t wearing shoes.
My shoes were by the door and I managed to reach them a few moments later, cradling my hand to my chest as I carefully made my way through the glass minefield around me. I picked each shoe up and shook it out, watching as a cascade of glass fell from each one onto the floor. My thoughts were focused on the fact that someone really wanted to hurt me. I opened the door and made my way along the hall. I could hear the steady thump of music and voices as I calmly walked to get the first aid box in the kitchen.
I was scared, freaked out, and nervous about staying in the house knowing the person who had trashed my room could still be inside, but before I could react to any of the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me, I needed to stop my hand from bleeding. I thought about what we’d learned in first aid at school and knew I needed to pinch the skin together and put pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding.
The kitchen was packed with people, but I moved around them keeping my eyes on the floor. A hand touched my arm and I glanced up into David’s kind face.
“Hey, what happened, Bailey?” I didn’t know how to describe what had happened to my room, so I decided to give him a partial truth.
“I slipped and sliced open my hand.”
He nodded at me and muttered as the others in the kitchen left us alone.
“Yeah, I can see that. You want some help with it?” My smile was small, but as I nodded at him, he smiled back at me. “Hold on, I just need to let Lish know. Give me two seconds.”
He turned and walked down the hall into the family room. I stood waiting for him to get back, but a sudden gust of wind made me turn around and I shot backward. Phil was standing at the open door with a murderous look in his eyes. “Do you like your room, Bailey?” His glare was malicious, but as voices sounded in the hall his eyes darted nervously to the door, and he stepped backward. “Be seeing you, Bails.”
My stomach dropped. He’d called me by Coop’s nickname for me and it unnerved me. My hands shook and I closed my eyes trying to compose my expression before anyone walked into the kitchen. David arrived first followed by Lish and Selene. Both girls took in my hand and my pale face and smiled at me.
“Hey, Bailey, how’s it going?” Lish asked and I smiled.
“Been better, honey.”
Both girls laughed and David glanced between us frowning in confusion. I turned and walked to the pantry grabbing the first aid kit. I took a second to catch my breath before I went back out. Lish and Selene had gone back to the party and David was sitting at the breakfast bar. He turned as I walked back into the room.
My hand was still bleeding, but it was slowing which was a bit of a relief. David pointed at the chair beside him and I slumped over to him, sliding into the seat and placing my palm on the table, face up. David picked up my hand and brought it closer to his face.
“Bailey,” he began when a sound behind us made us both turn around. There was no one there, but the kitchen door was swinging and through the door, I caught a glimpse of Coop’s retreating back.
He hadn’t seen my hand and had to have taken what had been happening the wrong way, though why his hurting bothered me, I wasn’t sure, especially with what had happened between us. Even so, my body thrummed with tension as David cleaned out the remaining glass from my hand and helped me to bandage it up.
“My dad’s a doctor and I’ve been doing this since I was old enough to stand.” He explained as I watched him in amazement. “If it swells or burns, you need to go to the ER.”
“Sure thing, thanks, David.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek before starting for the door. Jan was standing there watching us with an odd smile on her face.
“Everything okay, Jan?” I asked her as I passed her. She smiled wider and nodded at me but didn’t say a word.
All I wanted was to go to bed, but I couldn’t, so I decided to go sit in my car. The front door was locked, and the key wasn’t in the door. Everyone in the foyer watched me, and as I turned around, they all went back to their conversations. I knew I had blood all over me, so I decided to go use one of the bathrooms in the guest room that had been mine while I’d broken my leg. I tried the door and it was locked.
Moving along the hall, I tried the room that had been Coop’s, and when the door swung open, I breathed a sigh of relief. I tentatively stepped inside the room, before twisting the lock at my back. My eyes darted around the room. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in it, but the décor had changed. The room had been painted a rich brown, with cream splashes of color. The carpet was a rich cream and was so thick that I thought my feet would sink into it.