She shrugged. "So I'm not disgusting? Besides, I thought I'd go food shopping today. It'd be nice to get out for a bit."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Tired of me already, huh?"
Brandi sighed, rinsing her hair. "You know that's not true. You won't even be here. I don't want to sit around all day staring at the wall. And we need food anyway."
"Mm hmm," he mumbled, looking her up and down. "Did you gain weight?"
She gasped. "No! Why, do I look like I did?"
He studied her stomach. "I don't know. Maybe. You definitely didn't lose any."
Brandi's face burned with shame. She knew she had lost weight over the past few weeks because her pants were hanging off of her. How could she look fatter when she was getting thinner?
"It's not that big of a deal," Zack said, rolling his eyes at her reaction. "Don’t take it so personally. Just hurry up so I can get in there when you're done."
Brandi finished and stepped out, drying off and putting on her bathrobe. "Done!" She yelled to Zack. She brushed her teeth and her hair and Zack still hadn't come in the bathroom. "Zack?" She called, leaving the bathroom. He was naked on the bed, grinning at her. Her heart dropped to the floor.
"Come here," he said to her. She reluctantly sat on the edge of the bed. "I thought you had to shower," she said softly.
"After," he said, grabbing her and pulling her back. "First I'm gonna fuck you."
Brandi looked away. "I'm not really in the mood."
The smile fell from Zack's face. "Well why the fuck not?"
She shrugged. Because you just called me fat, she wanted to scream. Because it hurts. Because you say mean things to me. "I'm just not," she said.
Zack's jaw clenched in anger. "Really, Brandi? We have to go through this again?"
"I thought you didn't care about sex," Brandi whispered.
"Stop fucking whispering, Brandi. God, you're so fucking weak. I don't know why I put up with you."
Brandi's eyes filled with tears and she shot up. "Then don't!" She screamed. "I'll leave."
She grabbed her suitcase and started throwing clothes in it.
Zack laughed. "And go where? Your mother doesn't want you back. Your father sure as hell doesn't want you. Kayla hates you. Nobody wants you, Brandi."
Brandi froze. He was right. She had nowhere else to go. "Fine," she said, sitting down on the bed. "Then you can go. Get out."
"No. I'm not going anywhere."
"Get out!" She screamed. "I hate you!"
Zack grabbed her arms and pulled her up. "Shut the fuck up. You might be paying for this room with your daddy's pity money, but my name is on the room. You're seventeen. You can't stay here without me. I'm not going anywhere, Brandi, and neither are you."
Brandi put her head down and sobbed. Zack pushed her away and she fell back on the bed.
"You know, I'm really trying to make this work," Zack snapped. "I don't ask for much. I wanted to make love you, and you threaten to leave me? Are you on your period or something?"
Brandi didn't answer.
"I'm taking a shower. Maybe when I get out, you'll be ready to talk to me like an adult."
Brandi wiped her eyes as Zack got in the shower. He was right. She had no one. Nobody wanted her. Except for Zack. For some reason, he still loved her. And he didn't want her to leave him. And what did he ask of her, really? To clean the room while he went to work and for sex every once in awhile. She laid back on the bed, exhausted from crying.
When Zack finally got out of the shower, she sat up. "I'm sorry," she said. "I overreacted."
He shrugged. "I love you, Brandi. But I can't deal with these crazy mood swings of yours."
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I love you too. I don't want you to go."
Zack sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I forgive you," he said softly. Brandi sighed in relief. "Thank you. We can have sex if you want to."
Zack glanced at her. "Are you saying that because you want to, or because you think you have to?"
"I want to," she quickly said. "I want you, Zack."
He smiled at her. "I love you, baby." He laid her down and pulled a condom out of the night table drawer. Brandi laid back while Zack put on the condom and slid into her. "Fuck, baby, you feel so good," he groaned, pounding into her. He pulled out. "Get on your knees." Brandi turned around as Zack positioned her legs and bent her over, slamming into her from behind. "Ahh!" She cried out in pain. Zack mistook it for pleasure and went even faster. "You like that, you little slut?"
Brandi didn't answer. She doubted he would have noticed her anyway. She hated being called names during sex. It was bad enough when he called her names normally, but during sex it made her feel worthless. "Fuck, baby, I'm gonna come." He pounded into her a few more times before groaning and collapsing on top of her. He pulled out and went to the bathroom while Brandi laid on the bed.
"I'm going to work," he announced. "I'll be back a little after six. Try to get this place cleaned up, ok?"
Brandi forced a smile and nodded as Zack left. She stood up on shaky legs and took another quick shower.
At 12:10, she had finished cleaning. It wasn't hard when the room was so small. She decided enough time had passed that it was safe for her to go to Eric's house. Even if Zack somehow figured out that she had left, she would tell him that she had gone food shopping. Which wasn't exactly a lie. She was planning on going shopping after she left Eric's. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door, happy to get out of the tiny room.
Brandi pulled in Eric's driveway, marveling at how nice his house was. He didn't act snobby or dress like a rich person, but he clearly had money. She rang his doorbell and a kind, slightly chubby looking woman opened the door with a big smile. "Hi! You must be Brandi. Eric is in the living room. Come on in. I'm Helen," she said warmly. Brandi smiled at Helen's upbeat demeanor. "Thank you," she said, stepping inside. "You have a lovely home."
Helen smiled even bigger at her. "Well aren't you sweet. And so pretty too. Eric!" She called. "Brandi's here!"
Eric came into the kitchen and Brandi grinned sheepishly at him. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized. Eric smiled back. "It's cool."
"Eric, you didn't tell me how pretty she was," Helen said. Eric rolled his eyes. "Mom, why would I tell you that? Brandi has a boyfriend."
"Oh," Helen shrugged. "Well, still. Do you want to see Eric's trophies?" She asked. Brandi raised her eyebrows. "Trophies? What trophies?"
Eric groaned. "Mom, she doesn't want to see my trophies. We have to work on our project."
"For karate," Helen said, ignoring Eric. "He's got a ton of them. Did you know he teaches a self defense class at the school every Tuesday?"
Brandi looked at Eric in surprise. "No, I didn't. I had no idea."
"He's so shy," Helen said, ruffling his hair. Eric rolled his eyes at Brandi. "Mom, we have to work. You can tell Brandi my life story later."
"Sure, hon. Let me know if you need anything."
Brandi smiled softly as Helen left. "I'm sorry," Eric apologized. "I don't have girls over very often. Apparently my mom is my wingman. Awesome."
Brandi giggled. "It's ok. It's nice. I wish my mom was more like yours."
"What's she like?" Eric asked, pulling out the pages he typed up.
"She's...She doesn't know I exist. Unless dinner isn't on the table. We got in a huge fight last week. That's why I moved in with Zack."
"So how's that going?"
"Fine," Brandi said, avoiding his eyes.
Eric cleared his throat. "You know, if you ever want to come to my self defense class, you're more than welcome."
Brandi's head shot up. "Why would you say that?" She followed Eric's gaze to her arms, which were covered in bruises from Zack grabbing her so much. "That's not what it looks like," she said, pulling her sleeves down. "I just..."
"You fell?" Eric interrupted.
Brandi shook her head. "I bruise easy."
"Brandi," Eric said softly. She glanced u
p at him.
"Why are you with him?"
Brandi squeezed her eyes shut. "You know what Eric? I really don't want to talk about this with you. Can we just get started?"
Eric sighed and they started going over his notes.
Zack pulled into Larry's Garage. He hadn't seen his dad since he had moved in with Brandi, but it wasn't uncommon for them to go days without talking. He strolled into the office, saying hi to Larry. "Hey, dad," he said. His dad turned around and grinned at him. Zack clenched his fists. That shit eating grin of his father's usually meant he was drunk. He couldn't be drunk at work though, right? Zack glanced at Larry, who clumsily dropped his tools. They were both drunk. Great.
"Hey, Zachary. How's Braaaandi?" He asked, drawing out the name.
"Fine," Zack muttered.
"Who's Brandi?" Larry called.
"Zack's girlfriend," his dad called back. "Sexy little thing. Hell of an ass."
Zack narrowed his eyes. "Don't fucking talk about her like that."
His dad laughed. "What's wrong? She isn't giving it up? That's ok. Send her my way. I'll take a stab at her."
Zack pulled his fist back and punched his dad in the face as hard as he could. He fell back, grabbing his face. "What the fuck, Zack!" He roared.
"Fuck you," Zack spit out. "I quit."
Zack stormed out of the office and drove away. He didn't need this job. Brandi got enough money from her father to support both of them. He pulled into the motel parking lot and noticed that Brandi's car was gone. She must be food shopping. Zack went inside, happy that she had finally gotten off her lazy ass and cleaned up a bit. He laid down on the bed, thinking about Brandi's ass when he was fucking her doggy style. His dad was right about one thing. She did have one hell of an ass. He started to get hard, but ignored his erection. Brandi could take care of it when she got home. Maybe he could spend the afternoon teaching her how to give a decent blow job. It was about time she put her mouth to use for something other than whining and crying. He turned on the tv and laid back, waiting for her.
An hour later, she still wasn't home. She should have been done by now. How long did food shopping for two people take? He remembered the fight they had about her going to Eric's house. "She better not have," he muttered. He didn't think she had. She couldn't be that stupid to disobey and disrespect him like that. Still, he had to be sure. He looked up Eric's address on his phone and punched it into his GPS.
"Let's take a break," Eric said, standing up and stretching. Brandi looked at her phone. It was 1:30. They still had awhile before Zack got home. She stood up. "Can you show me your trophies?"
Eric looked surprised. "Really? You want to see them?"
"Of course," Brandi said. Eric smiled at her and led her up the stairs and into his bedroom. An entire wall was filled with trophies and ribbons. Brandi gasped. "Eric, this is amazing. Why didn't I know about this?"
He shrugged. "Nobody knows, really. It's not something I tell a lot of people. I don't want to brag."
Brandi looked up at him. He was the complete opposite of Zack. If Zack had something he was good at and had won trophies for, everyone would know about it. She had never noticed how cute he was. He had unique light brown eyes and shaggy brown hair. The pictures with his trophies showed a muscular body that he had never shown. More than that, he was a nice guy. "Eric," she whispered. He looked down at her. She smiled softly at him and his eyes widened a little. "I..."
Her phone buzzed and interrupted her. She shook her thoughts away. What the hell was wrong with her? She was with Zack. She looked at her phone and gasped.
Where are you?
What was he doing home? She hastily texted back. Food shopping. Almost done.
"Hey, I gotta go," she told Eric. "I'm sorry." Her phone buzzed again and she looked at it, the color draining from her face.
Liar.
"Oh God," she whispered.
"What's wrong?" Eric asked, concerned. Brandi looked at him, terrified. "He knows I'm here."
Eric shrugged. "So? He knows we're just working on a project, right?"
Brandi shook her head. "No," she whispered. "Oh, no. He's gonna kill me. I gotta go. Tell your mom thanks," she said, running down the stairs and out the door.
Eric watched her leave, alarmed.
"He's gonna kill me."
After seeing the bruises on her arms and how she clearly looked like she wasn't eating, Eric was worried for Brandi. Who knew what else Zack was capable of? Eric ran down the stairs. "Mom?" He called. "What, hon?" She called back.
"What motels are in Westlake?"
She came into the kitchen, surprised. "Motels? Why?"
"Is a long story. But I think Brandi might be in trouble. She's staying at a motel with her boyfriend."
She frowned. "Well, there's the Sheraton, which is kind of expensive. There's a Motel 6 on Main Street. That's probably where they are. Be careful, honey."
"I will," he said, grabbing his car keys and running out the door.
Brandi pulled into the motel parking lot, her heart sinking when she saw Zack's car. What was he doing home? She took a deep breath and let it out. She didn't know how, but Zack had found out that she was at Eric's house. She got out of her car. Surely Zack would realize that she needed to get good grades to make a better life for them. She couldn't help that she got paired with Eric.
She opened the door to Zack standing at the edge of the bed, glaring angrily at her.
"You disgusting whore."
Brandi shook her head. "Zack, come on. Just let me explain."
"Explain what?" He shouted. "How you purposely disrespected me and went and fucked Eric behind my back?"
Brandi's mouth dropped open. "I didn't..."
"Liar," he snarled. "Get your fat ass over here."
Brandi took a step back. Zack lunged for her and grabbed her by the hair. Brandi screamed.
"You stupid bitch!" He screamed. "How could you do this to me?" He dragged her to the bed and threw her down. "Fucking whore. Did you let him fuck you?"
Brandi shook her head furiously. "I swear, Zack. He didn't touch me. We were just..."
"SHUT UP!" He screamed, slapping her hard. She gasped and he pulled down her pants. "You're mine, Brandi. Not his. Not anyone else's. Mine."
"I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry," she sobbed.
"You're not sorry," he spat, shoving himself inside her. "Lying cunt."
"Stop," she cried, pushing at him. He grabbed her hair back and punched her in the face. "No," she moaned, blood gushing from her nose. "I'm sorry."
He slapped her. "Shut your slut mouth."
"Zack, please."
"SHUT UP!" He screamed, punching her again. "JUST. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" He kept punching her until she shut up. He raped her as hard as he could. Maybe now she would realize that he was the one in control. He finished, grunting. "Bitch," he muttered, pulling out. "You gonna disobey me again?"
Brandi didn't answer. Zack looked at her.
Oh shit.
"Brandi? Baby?" He asked, shaking her arm. "Brandi!" He yelled. "Wake the fuck up!"
She didn't move.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
"Brandi, you stupid bitch," he muttered. "BRANDI!" She laid there, not moving. Zack put his hands in his hair. "Jesus Christ. Brandi, please. Wake up, baby."
He slapped her lightly and she didn't respond. He looked at the bloody mess that was Brandi and gasped.
I killed her. I fucking killed her.
Holy shit. He had to get out of here. He grabbed his keys and bolted out the door.
"I told you, I can't tell you who stays here and who doesn't."
Eric sighed in frustration. "Yeah, I get it. But my friend is in trouble. Her boyfriend is going to hurt her. Badly."
The receptionist rolled her eyes. "Look honey, I can't tell you how many jealous boyfriends and husbands come in asking if their girlfriends or wives are here. It's a safety issue. I can't tell you. I'm sorry."
Eric turned to lea
ve. He would knock on every door if he had to. He froze when he saw Zack run from a single room and jump in his car, peeling away. "Oh, no," he muttered. "Call an ambulance!" He yelled, running to the room that Zack had came from. "Bran..." the words froze on his lips when he saw her on the bed. She was naked from the waist down and covered in blood. Her face was almost unrecognizable. He rushed to the bed. "Brandi! Wake up, sweetie." He checked her pulse and felt a weak beat. He sighed in relief. "Brandi, it's ok," he said softly, hoping she could hear him. "You're gonna be ok."
"Holy shit!" the receptionist exclaimed. "Oh my god. Is she dead?"
Eric shook his head. "Did you call an ambulance?"
She nodded, her eyes wide. "That girl...that boy did that to her? The one with the dark eyes?"
"Yep," Eric said grimly.
"He seemed so...nice. I can't believe it."
Eric covered Brandi with the blanket. He heard a siren in the distance. "Go outside and wave them in," he instructed. "Tell them she's alive, but in bad shape." He turned back to Brandi. "It's ok, Brandi. I'm here. I'm gonna call Kayla and your mom, ok?"
The paramedics rolled the stretcher into the room. Eric found Brandi's phone and put it in his pocket. "I'm riding with her," Eric said firmly. The EMT shrugged. "Just don't get in the way."
He wheeled Brandi in the back of the ambulance and Eric sat in back with her, trying not to look at her face.
"You know who did this to her?" The paramedic asked, checking Brandi's vital signs.
"Yeah. Her boyfriend. Zack Masterson. I saw him leave the motel. Is she going to be ok?"
"Hard to say. Her pulse is strong. But she may have cerebral damage. There's no way of knowing until she wakes up."
Eric nodded, scrolling through Brandi's phone. He found Kayla's name and pressed the call button.
"What do you want?" She said flatly.
"Kayla? It's Eric."
She paused. "Eric...Kellen? What's going on?"
"I need you to meet me at the hospital. I'll explain when you get here, ok?"
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