The Atwood DITFT: Generation 2, Chapter 3
Author's Note: Yay, it's time for more Atwoods! :D I was hoping to have a lot more chapters than this out... this week has been my spring break! But I went skiing, and then I have babysat from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the past 3 days! Let's just say I'm more exhausted than I was before school got out xD Anyway, I think it's definitely time for another chapter! ... I don't know how much you'll like this one, though.
The Atwood DITFT: Generation 2, Chapter 3
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Dear Alice,
It was when I missed curfew the first time that the big argument broke out. It was a Friday night, and you and I had gone to a later movie showing than we usually allowed ourselves. I’m not blaming you, Al, because neither of us knew just how long that movie was going to go. Plus, since I didn’t want my parents to know about you and forbid me to see you like they’d done with Ramanda, I never let you drive me home, and that night was no exception. Walking takes longer than you’d think, and I was late. Not only was I late, but it wasn’t just my sisters waiting up for me… Dad was awake and sitting in the living room when I arrived.
“Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up.”
This was not good.
Apparently, my dad had decided to pick that night to have a “little chat” with me about reconsidering my decision not to help with the farm. He felt more than ever that I needed to pull my own weight in the house (despite the fact that I was earning damn good money at the spa, money that I spent on clothes and school supplies; a fact that he steadfastly ignored, I guess since I didn’t pay for my own food. Why buy food when you live on a farm?!)
Waiting up for me did not go over well with Dad. He was really pissed that I had missed my curfew, and even more pissed when I stuck by my decision regarding gardening.
He also realized that I could have missed curfew a ton of other times without his knowing, since he’d been relying on Rowan to keep me in line. Not stupidly, he didn’t trust me when I told him this was the first time it had happened… He even woke Row and Ral up and demanded to know if they’d lied to him. Thankfully, they truly hadn’t, so even in their befuddled, groggy state, they were able to stick up for me.
Still, I was grounded. I guess it was only fair, but at the time I was 15 and thought it was the end of the world. He let me go to work, which took convincing. I finally got him when I pointed out that it would be disrespectful of me to ignore my commitments to my boss, or something like that. Thank God for work, and you, or I don’t know what I would’ve done.
While I was grounded I had to help on the farm. It was awful, but I tried not to complain about it. My sisters knew how I felt, but they were stuck doing just the same thing as me, so what could really be done?
One nice thing about being grounded, though, was that I got an excuse to spend more time with the new kitten we had adopted. Ellie was so tiny and adorable!
But here’s where we get to the bad part… I don’t really want to talk about it right now, though.
* * *
Dear Alice,
Ugh, okay, here goes.
I was un-grounded a lot sooner than I told you, Allie. Dad finally saw a little reason and conceded that I was behaving a lot better. He agreed that as long as I continued to keep my curfew, I would be allowed out on weekends, and soon after that, weekdays as well. I guess he’s a big softie under his hard shell.
But I told you I was still grounded because, as you can probably guess now, well… I met a guy.
It wasn’t just any guy, either. It was Dominic, a cigarette smoking, punk rock playing garage band boy with blue hair, dark clothes, and kind of a nasty temper.
Looking back, I probably only picked him because he was the guy my dad would disapprove of most… but at the time I thought he was just the coolest guy in the entire school. He was a grade older than me, a senior, and as far as I was concerned he had it all figured out. He didn’t let anybody tell him what to do. Not parents, not friends, not even teachers. He ignored any advice people gave him, which, being the opposite of what I was experiencing at the time, seemed absolutely perfect to me.
For a little while I stopped caring about school because of him. That went away pretty fast though, when one of my favorite teachers pointed out I wouldn’t be able to make it big as a businesswoman if I let my grades slip. Dominic thought my dream was a really stupid one, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care what anyone thought of me anymore.
Or at least, that’s what I told myself. But actually, I cared a lot. I cared enough about Dom’s opinion to wear “edgy” clothes to impress him; but I cared enough about what my parents and siblings thought to dress “normally” at home and only change into my “edgy” clothes when I got to school.
But either way, Dominic and I definitely had a “thing.” And to keep anyone from finding out about it, I told you I was still grounded, told my parents I was studying extra-hard, and told my sisters I was with you. It was a flawless plan, obviously…
* * *
Dear Alice,
Me lying to you isn’t even the worst of what I have to write. I am sorry about that, though. I was a dumb teenager… I still am, actually.
Anyway. Things got going pretty fast with Dom, especially once junior year was over, Dominic had graduated, and we had the long, lazy summer days to ourselves. I still had to work, of course, but I asked my boss to keep me part-time despite my newfound free time, so I still had plenty of time to spend with Dominic.
We did a lot of different things: sneaking out late at night, bumming around at the junkyard where no one would see us, pranking the houses of our least-favorite classmates and teachers, going to “wild” parties (as wild as it can get in the Plains) and getting drunk. I wasn’t a huge drinker, but I also didn’t see any reason not to drink when it was kind of fun, made me “cool,” and most of all, was against my dad’s rules.
But mostly, Dominic and I just made out. A lot.
Pretty soon it was glaringly obvious that Dom wanted more than just kisses from me. I had mixed feelings about this, but eventually I came to the decision that despite my father’s faults, he was right about one thing: sex should wait until marriage.
Sometimes it was hard to push Dom away when he so obviously wanted it; but I always did. He was just going to have to learn to respect me.
One evening, we snuck out together to visit the most secluded spot we could think of-Adventure Landing, the old pier by the river. (Ironic, this is where my parents had their first date, and where they got married). Right away I could tell that Dom was drunk. He slurred his words and couldn’t quite walk straight. This didn’t usually bother me, as I’ve said, but that night it made me kind of uneasy.
We spent some time making out, like we always did, and then Dominic broke away. “I’ve got a great idea, babe. Want to try something we haven’t done yet?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, although of course I wasn’t really that stupid. I knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Oh, don’t pull that naïve thing on me. It won’t work. Come on, Reagan, we’ve been together six whole months. I can’t wait around for you forever.”
“What are you saying?” I’m sure I was glaring at him.
“You think I’m with you because I ‘like your personality’ or something? A guy has needs, Reagan, and you’re not doing a very good job satisfying them.”
“Have you been cheating on me?!”
“Not yet… But if this ‘purity’ stuff keeps up…”
“You asshole! Haven’t you learned anything about respect? How dare you treat me this way, as if I’m a sex object for you to command!” I’m proud of myself for that one, actually, although I paid for it.
Dominic pushed me backwards, staring with angry intensity. “You are under my command, you little bitch. You’re my girl, and what I say goes!”
“I won’t have sex with you, you blue-haired loser! So you can just forget that right now! In fact, if you’re so eager to get some, why don’t you go home to your mommy!”
I realized a second too late that I’d gone way too far. Dominic let out a wordless yell and shoved me to the ground. “You’ll pay for that, you little whore! No one talks about my mother that way!” He began ripping at my clothes. “You and me are a couple, and we’re gonna do what couples do! So you had better be prepared!”
And he unzipped his jeans.
* * *
Dear Alice,
Two hours later, I had hastily changed into my “family-appropriate” clothing; I stumbled through the back door of my house (I’d learned to avoid the front after the incident with my dad), crying uncontrollably. I don’t know what I was hoping for-that for once, my sisters wouldn’t be waiting for me-but I was disappointed.
“Where were you?” Raleigh demanded.
“Yeah,” Row chimed in, “It’s two o’clock in the morning, Ray. Where were you? I can’t cover for you all the time, dude.”
“Are… are you crying?” Raleigh, who had gotten up off her bed to accuse me further, asked. “Reagan! What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing,” I managed to choke out. “I’m going to bed.”
“Reagan-”
I pulled off my clothes without regard for anything else and quickly climbed the ladder to my bunk bed. “Leave me alone!”