by Elisa Riley
Chloe smiled, her fingers typing back all too quickly before she locked her phone and set it back into the comfort of her back pocket.
My name's Chloe.
Chapter 16
Chloe sat seated to the wooden chair, trying to concentrate on her work as her hand moved swiftly wrote across the composition note book, ink filling up the first two lines on the paper. On her third line, she got interrupted, feeling Ethan's foot nudge her own from underneath the table. Ethan was just trying to be cute, playing footsie with her while they both worked silently on their school work. Chloe looked up to him, watching his eye drop into a wink at her which made her look back down to her paper with a small smile. Lately for the past three weeks, Chloe and Ethan have been stuck together like glue. Ever since they met, He's helped mend her broken heart back together in which she was grateful for. Although he didn't know what the cause was in the first place, Ethan never asked because he didn't want to upset Chloe. All she could to was explain to him that she was hurt by some people and couldn't handle the severe bullying at school. So he suggested Homeschooling, in which he also did since his mother was a certified teacher. And she did. Even with the school year coming to an end, with prom in a few days and graduation just around the corner, she transferred out of her school and stayed at Ethan's house during school hours, she couldn't handle going to a regular school with people who only brought her down and made her cry. "Just finish up this chapter and you could head home, alright?" Ethan's mother addressed Chloe and she nodded, trying to finish up her paper, even though she had just started. As much as she loves spending time with Ethan, She needed to get home and pack a bag for the weekend. Robert had just came back from his family vacation and he insisted through a text message that Chloe was to stay with him for the weekend at a hotel, since his wife was taking their son to go see her parents. With Chloe not going to school and being on good terms with Robert again, she felt as the whole video incident hadn't existed. Too bad it did. Chloe finished up the chapter's questions as she handed the paper over to Ethan's mother and waited for her approval saying that she was allowed to leave. As she waited for approval, she looked over at Ethan, seeing his paper completely blank, only sporting his name in the corner of the blank page. "Can I ask you something?" Ethan spoke up, noticing Chloe staring at his paper. Her eyes diverted up to his as she nodded. Something was bugging Ethan. He wanted to know so badly why she joined him in home schooling instead of going to an actual school. He already knew that it must've been something very terrible considering that it was her senior year and graduation was coming up, why leave when it's almost done?
"Shoot."
"What made you want to be home schooled?" He asked and Chloe blinked a couple of times, trying to process his words and come up with an answer that wouldn't freak out both Ethan and his mother. She couldn't just say that a sex tape of her and her headmaster got leaked to the entire school, she didn't want to ruin her chances with Ethan and especially didn't want his mother thinking that she was bad news. "I..I.." Chloe gulped under the pressure, seeing all the attention on her as she swallowed the lump in her throat, her mouth becoming dry by the second.
"You can tell us, we don't judge." Ethan shrugged, trying to show her that it was no big deal and that she shouldn't worry about anyone thinking bad about her. She believed Ethan's word and took a long breath before explaining to them that slept with the principal. She looked down at her thighs, not baring to face the judgment that would surely come her way. But it didn't "If you're wondering why I'm home schooled it is because I slept with my teacher at my old school." He said and Chloe's eyes widened at the fact as she stares at Ethan like he has grown two heads.
"You did?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah, But whatever, we all make mistakes right?" He gave her a smile and Chloe could only nod. She wondered why Ethan's mother hadn't made a fuss about any of this sort, like finding out about Chloe sleeping with her principal or that Ethan had slept with his teacher, but she wouldn't dare to ask and humiliate herself. Instead, Chloe bid a goodbye and told Ethan that she would see him next week Monday. It was weird finding out about how alike her situation with school was to Ethan's. She wanted to know more about what happened to him, and she intended on asking him a bunch of questions for the next time they would meet up. As Chloe headed back to her house, she had to come up with a lie and say that she was staying with a friend for the weekend, but Abbie knowing fully well that Chloe hadn't had much friends would make her lie more difficult to believe. When she got home, she packed bag of clothes for two nights, making sure to pack one of her nicest dresses and a decent set of lingerie. Robert had explained to her that he wasn't getting along with his wife at the moment and needed a break from all the stress and Chloe just wanted to make him feel better. She planned on playing wife for the weekend and doing whatever it took to please Robert, she just wanted to give him back all the love he deserved. "And where do you think you're going?" Abbie put a hand on her hip as she watched Chloe stuff clothes into a duffel bag. Chloe could only roll her eyes, practicing her lie mentally before repeating it aloud to Abbie.
"I'm hanging out with Ethan this weekend, We're going to look at some colleges together."
Technically Chloe wasn't lying. She did discuss with Ethan that they would soon plan a road trip together to visit some colleges that they might be interested in.
"You guys are really serious then, huh? wanting to go to the same college and spend after high school years together is a big deal." Abbie offered Chloe a smile. She was happy that Ethan had took a step into Chloe's life and made her what appeared more happier and less attitude filled.
"We aren't dating.. I'm waiting till he asks me out, and then we can talk about being serious," Chloe mumbled. In a short period of time, Chloe had developed a crush on the penguin loving boy, but she didn't know exactly how Ethan felt about her, being that he treated her like more of a bro than a friend- girl, if that made any sense. He would talk about boobs and girls to Chloe, and although it bothered her, she would let him continue speaking because she didn't have the courage to tell him that the boobs and girl she wanted him to talk about was her. besides, if Ethan couldn't like her the way she wanted him too, she had Robert to fill that position. She was just fine and content with having Robert as her lover- if she could even call him that- secret lover, perhaps. I mean of course she would like Robert to bring her roses and make her feel special, but it didn't really matter to her, she was fine with the simple 'I love you's because that meant a whole lot more than flowers. Robert loves her and that's all that matters to her.
"Well, be safe and make sure to call me." Abbie spoke and Chloe nodded holding the bag by the straps as she left the room, forgetting her phone in the process. She left the house and started the engine of her Volkswagen, heading to Robert's house where she would park her van across the road and leave with Robert to the hotel.
Chapter 17
Chloe and Robert had just settled into their hotel room, Robert giving a tip to the bell hop who had brought their bags up.
Chloe wandered around the spacious room, her fingers ghosting along the walls as she made her way around the room and onto the plush king sized bed, laying herself down on the soft duvet.
She sprawled out on the soft bed, giving out a hum as she looked towards Robert, watching him check his watch.
Robert sighed with frustration, knowing that he'd have to give his wife a call back. Mackenzie had called him during his drive to the hotel, and knowing that he couldn't answer it in front of Chloe, he denied the call, getting himself into more trouble with his wife. Robert and his wife have been arguing over the fact that she felt suspicious that there was mother woman in his life. She could just sense that he was doing things he shouldn't have been doing, judging by the way he had been acting lately.
Robert took his mobile out, pressing in the digits to his wife's cell phone as he held the phone to his ear, heading towards the door of the hotel room.
"Where are yo
u going?" Chloe sat up slightly, watching him rub at his temples before giving out a long sigh.
"I just need to make a phone call. I made dinner reservations at seven, make sure you're ready before I come back." Robert curtly says.
Chloe nods, watching him leave the room with the slam of the door. Once she's see that it's only five thirty, she furrows her eyebrows. Is he really going to be talking that long on the phone?
Chloe can only sigh as she gets off of the bed and heads towards her Bag where she grabs out a dress and the set of lingerie that she was hoping would impress Robert tonight.
Chloe was quite excited that Robert had made dinner reservations for the two of them, he hasn't ever taken her out simply on a date so this would've been the first.
Chloe took a quick and soothing hot shower, making sure not to cut herself with the razor while shaving her legs. She hummed to the tune of a pop song while drying herself and getting ready.
After she was dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror, feeling a bit dull in the face. This was her first date with Robert so she wanted to make it special-look special.
Chloe wasn't much of a fan of makeup, but for the sake of tonight, she felt that she needed to cover her imperfections on her face to look beautiful. And so her eyes were hidden behind a thick layer of eye shadow and mascara, and her lips were coated with a vibrant red lipstick that she could never actually see herself wearing on a daily basis.
She looked at herself, tying her hair up into a bun and thought that she looked beautiful. Sure it was bit much, but she thought Robert would love it, so it didn't matter what others would think of her.
Chloe seen that Robert wasn't back yet, so she killed time by watching the television. It was at least ten minutes before seven and Robert had finally came back, a look of stress and anger on his face causing Chloe to become quiet and not sure of how she should act around him.
"Are you ready to go?" Chloe mumbled, hoping him being angry wouldn't ruin the nights plans.
Robert squinted his eyes, looking over Chloe's body as he walked over to her, his hands resting on the low of her cheeks as he squeezed at her jaw, making her whimper out. His thumbs ran over her lips, smearing her lipstick around before letting her go.
"You look like a goddamn whore with all that shit on your face." He whispered calmly to her. Chloe looked down at the floor, tears already pricking at her eyes as she watched Robert bring his fingers onto her white dress to wipe off the access make up on his hands.
Without another word, Robert walked away from her and began taking off his shoes along with the tie on his shirt as he sat down on the foot of the bed, undressing.
Chloe sniffled quietly, not wanting Robert to see her cry as she walked quickly to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, looking at her red lipstick smeared along her lips and cheeks as well as her mascara that was beginning to run.
Chloe angrily cried, Robert's voice playing in her head as she wiped her make up off. Not only had the night had been destroyed, but so was her confidence. Never again was she going to do this and humiliate herself, Robert was right, the makeup was too much.
Her makeup was ruined, her dress was lipstick stained and her heart was shattered. Her mind was a mess, all her emotions and feelings toying with her as this idea of Robert rang through her thoughts, killing her heart the more and more she thought about it.
She had changed out of her clothes and was rid from her make up as she made her way out of the bathroom, looking through her bag for sleeping clothes. She tried to look for her phone, wanting to call Ethan to come and get her out of this mess but she couldn't find it, knowing that she must have forgotten it back at home.
Chloe sighed, carefully getting into the other side of the large bed, her back facing Robert as she stared blankly at the wall, listening to the laughter coming from the television show that Robert had been watching. It was too rely to be already heading to sleep, but with the thick tension between them, there wasn't any other options for her.
Robert looked over at Chloe's still body, a long sigh falling from his lips as he pulled her in close to his body, kissing her shoulder softly.
"I'm sorry about earlier, you know that I'm stressed about a lot of things and I just- I needed to blow off some steam." Robert apologized, although it made Chloe feel worse because she wasn't there to be Robert's punching bag, she was there because she wanted to feel loved by someone- Loved by him and she was beginning to realize that he didn't really love her like she thought he did.
Chloe turned around, facing Robert as she looked at him with glossy eyes and a broken facade. She ran the pads of her thumbs over his cheeks, their breathing equally quiet with the silenced room.
"How much do you love me?" She whispered, her voice hoarse and scratchy with each word as she began to realize what this relationship really was.
"More than you'll ever know." Robert kissed her mouth, pulling away to reveal a sad smile upon Chloe's face.
"I'm so stressed, help me get rid of the stress, baby?" He asked.
And as Robert led Chloe's hand down to his straining length in his boxers, she let out a soft sigh. His inconsideration showed her that she was only there for his pleasure, not because he truly loved her like he said he did. And what was Chloe going to do about it? She was already broken and tore apart, there wasn't much more to it. She was going to do nothing about it, absolutely nothing.
Chapter 18
Chloe stuffed her hands in her pockets, getting out of her Volkswagen as she as she walked up to the porch of her house.
She had just came back from the long weekend at the hotel with Robert. Her weekend was filled with screaming, fighting, and sex. And the whole thing was eating her alive. She could wince just thinking about it all.
Bruises portrayed themselves along her skin, some being from Robert fucking and gripping her too hard, and others ghosting along the sides of her face because Robert simply needed to take his anger out on someone or something or someone.
She stood on the porch, her hand reaching for the door knob until the door had already opened by Abbie who stood on the inside, her eyes burning with this certain look in them that Couldn't be described.
"How was your weekend with Ethan?" Abbie spoke, staring Chloe down intently.
"Very uneventful. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go-"
"So you were with Ethan?" Abbie cut her off, blocking her from coming into the house. Chloe stared at her with confusion.
"Yeah, I just said I was, didn't I?" Chloe grumbled under her breath. She just wanted to go inside and take a hot bath and go to sleep in her own loathing misery, and now Abbie was making her feel even worse.
"Really, well that's interesting because Ethan called this weekend and asked if you wanted to hang out." Chloe's eyes got wide from hearing Abbie's voice. She was so focused on spending the weekend with Robert that she hadn't thought her lie through good enough.
"Why did you lie to me about being with Ethan this weekend?" Abbie pouted like a clueless woman. Too bad clueless didn't fit her system at all.
Once Ethan had phoned Chloe's mobile, Abbie heard the ringing coming from Chloe's room and answered it, putting down the basket of laundry to pick the cell phone.
When she saw that Ethan was calling, she thought that he must've been trying to help Chloe find her misplaced phone, so when she answered, she was confused that he was calling to hang out with rosemary when clearly he was supposed to be with her already on the weekend.
Once Abbie figured that Chloe had lied about being with Ethan, she dismissed Ethan's call and began searching through Chloe's phone. She looked through her calls, looking through her photos and looked through her text messages.
She did find a certain message conversation from Daniel particularly interesting- horrifying if anything. She found the video of Mr. Payne, Chloe, and Robert-her therapist.
She seen through the video, her face paling as she felt bile rising up her throat. She couldn't believe what she h
ad saw. She knew that Chloe had gotten into trouble by making a video with a boy, but what she didn't know was that it was with her headmaster and her therapist whom was supposed to be helping her.
And with that, Abbie had called Laura up and told her about the video, resulting in Laura pursuing the perfect time to fire Robert and catch him in the act. Laura was going to wait until Tuesday came around the corner, so that both Chloe and Robert were there to understand what was happening. "Fine, I lied about being with Ethan, so what," Chloe shrugged although her nerves were eating her because she simply couldn't make up another lie was that was believable enough for the sake of Abbie. "So where were you then?" Abbie asked, allowing rosemary to finally come into the house. She wanted Chloe to admit about being with Robert, to be honest and tell her all the truth because Abbie knew for a fact that it was hurting Chloe on the inside to be sleeping with her therapist who was supposed to be mending her mind back together not screwing her over. "I was with Daniel, happy now?" It hurt to say that she had been with Daniel whom she terribly missed as well as hated with all her guts. Just hearing his name come out of her mouth gave her some bitter thoughts and a whole lot of heart break deep in that porcelain skin of hers. Chloe could roll her eyes at the thought of being interrogated by Abbie, it was pointless to even ask all these questions when she wasn't going to get anything out of it, so might as well not ask at all. "Look, If you're going to keep pretending that you care where I was or who I was with, I'm leaving. I'll be at Ethan's house where I know I won't get my ears talked off by you." Chloe mumbled, turning on her heels to leave. "Now, wait a minute, young lady," Abbie pointed her finger at Chloe, afraid that she was going to meet up with Robert.
