I - Save Me

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

God, this is torturous. The same routine day in and day out. I needed something extraordinary to happen, some excitement, anything!

My name is Deirdra Lockhart, and I'm drowning. Drowning in the nothingness that is my life. I've lived in the same small town my whole life. I was born here, and I'm convinced I will die here too. My parents were even born and raised here, they went to all of the same schools, were best friends until high school when something in them decided they should give dating a shot, and there they were 28 years later. They got married as soon as they turned eighteen, and boy were my grandparents pissed. My dad's parents? Not so much. My mother's parents wanted her to go to college and follow in the family legal footsteps and become a lawyer, something my mother had no interest in.

When my parents married, they bought a piece of land and built a spacious three bedroom house a five-minute walk away from downtown Thomasville, and have lived here ever since. I have to hand it to them though, our house is beautiful. My mother, Elaine, made sure our house stayed up to date. We always had the latest appliances, our grass was the greenest, and by looking at the outside of this house you would ever guess that it was almost thirty years old.

But enough about that, back to my uneventful, extremely boring life.

I turned eighteen two weeks ago, and I had grand plans to go out and explore the country. I had been working part-time at one of the boutiques downtown since my freshman year and had saved up enough cash to travel for at least a year. I wanted to visit all forty-eight of the contiguous United States, then go to Alaska and Hawaii. So that's exactly what I was going to do.

Today is Saturday, July 18th, the day my journey across the US starts. My bags are all packed and the butterflies in my stomach are going haywire! "Deirdra, come downstairs for breakfast honey." My mother shouted up the stairs. Taking one final look at my bedroom, I grabbed my bags and headed downstairs, today was going to be a great day.

Once I reached the table, there was a full spread. Toast, eggs, cinnamon buns, avocado to go on the toast, bacon, pancakes, waffles... If you could think of breakfast food, it was there. "Mom, why did you make so much food? There is no way the three of us are going to eat all of this!" With a laugh and a shake of her head, she turned to face me and my heart clenched at the sight. Her eyes were rimmed red and her face was puffy and splotchy; she had been crying.

"Mom, please don't cry. I will FaceTime you every night and I will come back to visit often, I promise. This year is going to fly by and I will be home before you know it!" I said the words, but I was not convinced. I hoped I would find the perfect town and maybe even the perfect man during my travels and decide to settle down there. I absolutely did not want to spend one more day in this town, or I would go crazy. And I knew she knew it too.

My father suddenly popped up behind me, effectively scaring me, and gave me a huge hug from behind. "You know, your mom and I are really going to miss you, bug. But we will find something fun to do ourselves. You going on this trip brought to my attention that vacationing to Florida once a year really is not enough adventure." I turned around to face him, a questioning look on my face and a mischievous glint in his eye. "What are you talking about, Mikael?" My mom asked from behind me.

He let go of me and walked over to my mother, holding something behind his back. I was just as confused as my mom is, so obviously, this is the first we were both hearing of this. "I'm talking about this, baby!" My dad said excitedly, as he handed her the paper from behind his back. It must have been quite the surprise because my mother let out an ear piercing shriek and wrapped my dad up in a bone crushing hug. "Well, is anyone going to tell me what the great news is?" I heard the dreaded voice of my ex-boyfriend say from the doorway. "Taylor. What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as calm and polite as possible.

I would be lying if I said this trip didn't have anything to do with him and our break-up. Taylor and I had been together all through high school, until graduation night. We went to a graduation party together at his friend Trevor's house, and that was where everything went to shit, to put it nicely. Seeing his face brought back so many memories I wished to forget and brought back all of the pain I was still trying to rid from my mind and heart. Taylor broke my heart. In fact, he may as well have ripped it out of my chest and stomped on it.

*flashback*

I stood in front of the mirror scrutinizing my appearance, my best friend, Elena, came over to help me get ready for tonight. It's not like Trevor's party was anything fancy, but tonight was supposed to be the night for Taylor and I. Today marked our four year anniversary and I decided I was finally ready to have sex. Now don't get me wrong, we had done other things over the years, but not this. I had never felt ready before now. But now that we were graduated and both 18, it felt like it was finally the right time.

Elena came out of the bathroom and gave me her best wolf whistle when she saw what I was wearing. "Daaaaammmmnnnn, girl! You look hot! There is no way Taylor is going to make it to the end of the night with how you look in that dress!" Elena was dramatic, but she always managed to make me feel good about myself. She was absolutely stunning, long blonde hair that fell in natural ringlet curls all the way down her back, the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen, and perfectly tanned skin year round. She was the popular one, always inviting me to the most prestigious parties and always trying to convince me to hang out with her clique of the schools most popular girls. I never wanted anything to do with that though, I would much rather spend the night in with my boyfriend, watching a good movie or reading my favorite books while he slept. That was good for me, as I wasn't one for large crowds and my peers getting drunk off of cheap alcohol.

"Yeah, okay Elena, thank you though. Now, come work some of your magic on me and my untamable hair!" I was excited, to say the least. She always looks flawless, and I was hoping tonight she could make the same happen for me. She walked over and directed me to the stool of my vanity and got to work.

After what felt like hours had gone by, she finally told me she was done. I looked in the mirror and all I could say was, "wow." I really need her to teach me how to do these things. My skills are limited to straightening my natural curls and light eye shadow. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. But she made me feel like an absolute 10. My waist length brown and high lighted blonde hair fell in loose curls down my back, and an "effortlessly natural smokey eye" as she called in looked fantastic. The bright red lipstick she painted on my lips accentuated their natural pout and made them look that much plumper. "You know what Elena? Taylor definitely will not be able to keep his hands off. Thank you!" I whipped around to give her a hug when she quickly restrained me and held me at arm's length. "Yeah, none of that. No smudging my masterpiece! But, you're welcome." She said proudly.

After that we were off, heading in the direction of Trevor's house. As soon as she turned down the street you could hear the thumping of the bass coming from the party he was throwing. His parents were out of town and gave him full permission to throw a graduation party while they were gone.

As we pulled up to the long driveway that leads to Trevor's house, the music was almost deafening, there is no way his neighbors won't be calling the cops tonight at this rate.

Elena and I sauntered up the steps to the front door when it flew open and two girls ran outside. One straight to a bush, where she emptied the contents of her stomach and her friend held back her hair. "Well, looks like someone has already had too much to drink, huh Mary?" Elena snarkily said. "Fuck you, Elena." The girl in the bush, Mary, replied. How sweet.

Several hours later I was properly drunk and sitting on the couch with some friends from our class when I decided to get up to go find Elena. "Hey," I said aloud, effectively slurring my words. "Has anyone seen Elena or Taylor? I haven't seen either of them in a while." I went to stand and immediately fell back down. These damn heels, definitely not a good idea to wear these right now unless I want a broken ankle. I swiftly removed the too-tall stilettos and got up again, successfully.

"Uh, I saw Elena go upstairs a little while ago. She said she didn't feel good and was going to go lay down for a while." A guy in a beanie said, but I couldn't remember his name. I waved my thanks and started the trek up the millions of stairs there seemed to be to get to Trevor's room.

I should add that Elena and Trevor have also been dating since freshman year, but they secretly got engaged about two weeks ago and have yet to tell anyone but Taylor and me, their closest friends. So I knew I would probably find her passed out in his bed, trying to sleep off the nauseousness from the alcohol.

Four doors that turned out to be bathrooms and his parent's room later, I finally found her, exactly where I knew she would be. She was out cold but I managed to get her to wake up and drink the water she must have brought upstairs with her. "Taylor really had some fun with you girl, I didn't know my best friend was a screamer." She slurred out.

I felt my heart start hammering in my chest. "Elena, what are you talking about? I have barely seen Taylor all night." Her mouth formed a worried O shape and she pointed towards the bathroom in Trevor's bedroom. "Taylor came in here a little while ago with a girl I thought looked like you, so I told him to go eat his heart out, but you're telling me that wasn't you?" Worry started to lace her voice as she told me what she thought had happened. As soon as she was finished telling me, we heard something in the bathroom, something that sounded like a moan.

Red filled my vision as I was immediately sober as I stood up off of the bed and started to walk toward the bathroom. Elena grabbed my hand and tried to stop me, but I shrugged it off and kept going. To my surprise, the door was unlocked. I twisted the handle and flung the door open.

"Taylor?" I croaked out. My breath was stuck in my lungs, tears stinging my eyes at what I was witnessing in front of me. He had Brittany Smart, the girl with no morals bent over the bathroom counter. As soon as I said his name he looked up at me like a deer in headlights.

"Babe, please I-" I didn't want to hear what he had to say, so I turned my back and started to walk away. "Deirdra, wait! It's not what-" That was it, I went from hurt to enraged in a millisecond. "What! It's not what it looks like? Is that what you were going to say, Taylor? Because what it looks like is you fucking the school whore over your best friend's counter. Really nice, Taylor. We're done."

*end flashback*

"I came to see you, babe." He was wearing his signature smirk that usually made me go weak in the knees, but not this time. "Last time I checked, asshole, I'm not your babe and you have no reason to be here. So do me a favor and just leave." I know it's rude but I could go without ever seeing his face again. For two months after that, I cried. He called, came over, begged for forgiveness and tried to plead his "I was drunk it meant nothing" case, but I didn't care. You don't cheat on someone you love. And boy was I glad it happened before I gave him my virginity.

Just then my dad stepped in front of me with a look of anger on his face. "She's right, Taylor. You need to go." I, of course, told my parents everything. I was completely open with them, there was nothing about me they didn't know. To say my father loathed his very existence was the understatement of the century. With a defeated nod, he turned around and left, but not before having the lost word.

"I'm going to win you back, Deirdra, I promise you that. I still love you with all of my heart, and I know one day you'll forgive me." He said sadly. If I wasn't so angry, I may have just believed him. But that day, forgiveness, won't be coming anytime soon.

We sat at the table and ate our breakfast in relative silence. My dad kept trying to make small talk but I didn't want it. Now more than ever, I couldn't wait to leave. I just hope that one day the pain of my heart breaking over and over again every time I see his stupidly handsome face, will be gone, and all I will feel is nothing. He doesn't deserve any more of my tears and any more of my sorrows.

It was almost ten o'clock now. We ate, I helped them clean up then packed up my car and I was ready to start my journey. Ready to watch this town fade away in my rear view mirror and get on my way to new places.

I couldn't wait to see what lay ahead of me... If only I knew what was in store.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net