If Only...

nance

TUMS
Author: me, nance

Summary: Just a story about a girl with a hard life but still tries her hardest to stay strong.

Based on: nothing, my characters... :eek: (it's not Gaia!) :lol:

Chapter 1:

The rain splattered over her head and lightly sprayed her body as she raced through the shadows of night. Her legs were pumping, almost too fast for her brain, in a rhythmic beat. Her body hurtled past house after house, which were only a blur in her vision. Every step she gained, she felt a tiny bit of relaxation run through her. Every house she whipped by, bit by bit, the problems faded away in back of her. She ran and ran until she was in her own zone. Where she only concentrated on getting by- getting by life and its daily horrors. Even though her breath was becoming rugged, she sucked in all the air her lungs could hold and then let it out. Let it all out. Let out all the felgercarb she had to deal with at school, at work, and most of all at home.

Sometimes she wished she knew what her mother was like. Other times, she could care less because of all the horrible things she had done. Her mother was a hard core drug addict. She started off with marijuana and then got into speed, cocaine and heroine. Heroine was what got her dead. But what had gotten her into it? Two months after having Atari, her mother died and from then on her father took care of her. More like abused her. He owned a strip club and was a screwed up drunk. If he was mad, he would take it out on Atari and do other things that would make people’s skin crawl. But things were different now. She was eighteen and she had experienced what most people went through in a lifetime. People always think that life is a balance of good and bad. Atari’s was just plain bad.



She slowed down a few notches and slowly jogged across the bridge right in the middle of the forest. This was the only place in town that Atari would consider beautiful. The small river under was glittering in the darkness and the mini waves lapped softly against each other. She stared at the sight and sighed- wishing she could stay here the whole night. Well she probably could since it’s not like her dad would notice.


Then suddenly, a form caught at the corner of her eye. It’s probably just an animal or something. She squinted and searched for it again only because of curiosity. She took a step closer but it didn’t help. It was too dark out. Yeah, it’s just an animal.

At that moment, the form moved.
 
:blink: eh? it moved? this is going to be bad isn't it? I love the beginning though. and cool name. Atari. (y)
--Mandy :angelic:
 
-----------

In a flash, the figure came speeding towards Atari.

Okay, so it’s not a wild animal. It’s a person. Wha,t does this guy want to rape me?

The guy was only 10 feet away from her now, and in one second he would run smack into her. Atari stood calmly and waited until the guy was almost nose-to-nose away. When the timing was perfect, as quick as lightening, she moved to the right just a little and kicked her leg out. Unfortunately, this guy was faster than she thought and saw the leg coming. He dived into a rolling fall and got up swiftly.

Now they were face to face.

“Give me your wallet, [EDIT].”

Atari knew it was stupid to talk during a fight. People get distracted and before you know it, a punch will come flying into your face. But she was more than pissed. She wanted to beat the pulp out of this guy. Plus, he looked like a hairy ape.

“You think I carry a wallet while running at midnight, you dimwit? Even if I had a wallet, the last thing I’d do is hand it over.”

At that comment, Hairy Ape threw a lousy punch towards her. Atari blocked it with her right arm and executed a left spinning elbow strike to the solar plexus then quickly threw a back-fist at his face and reverse punched him right in the nose.

“Unh,” Hairy Ape moaned and stumbled to his butt.

“Next time you think about stealing a wallet from a girl or for that matter, anybody, think again.”

Atari ran back across the bridge and into the forest path towards home. Urgh… home. Was there any place on this earth that she could go without a jerk around?


As she slid the key into the door know, she could already smell the stale smell of alcohol.

She slipped into her room as quietly as she could and flopped onto her old as the earth itself bed. She stared at the ceiling and thought about her life.

My whole entire life is hell. Nothing good ever comes to me… and if something half way decent does come, it goes away before I can enjoy it. I just want to get away from here. Live on my own and actually experience a life worth living. The only thing I have right now is the martial arts stuff I learned from my uncle.

Atari’s throat swelled when she thought of her Uncle David.

My uncle. He taught me everything about survival. I owe my life to him. And the strange thing is… he’s not even my blood. I just call him my uncle because he feels like family. David was my dad’s best friend. Key word: was. After my dad became a drunk, they split. However David was one of those rare people that actually care about others and taught me how to defend myself.

But just five months ago, he died.
In a fight with my dad.
My dad had a gun and David was against using guns, like most martial art fighters. My life sounds like it comes straight out of a freaking drama TV series. It’s so incredibly depressing.

When I get some money, I swear. I swear I’m getting out of this place and living on my own.
 
Great job, sis! (y) I happen to love the name Atari...never seen it before, and I like it.
My favorite part..."Atari blocked it with her right arm and executed a left spinning elbow strike to the solar plexus" :lol: a left spinning elbow strike? you know your terms nance! I like the story and I can definitely sense her anger from home during that run. It's almost like that commercial where that person is running and you can't hear anything except for their breathing...definitely what I was thinking of!

The only thing I found was a little confusion between Atari's POV and the actual story. Not necessarily the italics, b/c I get that, but basically the "story's" POV. Ok...I don't think that made any sense, maybe it'll make more sense to even me later..:lol: Great job!
 
oo I love it nance! Its sooooooooooooo Spectaculor! Intriguing! Epert and Roeper give it two thumbs up!

Sweety your doing very good! Please pm me when you have more :D
 
great job. I loved it. so good. Poor Atari. So is something good gonna happen to her soon?
--Mandy :angelic:
 
btvaughn said:
I like the story and I can definitely sense her anger from home during that run. It's almost like that commercial where that person is running and you can't hear anything except for their breathing...definitely what I was thinking of!
first of all, Nance! good job! i really like her name! but even though its not gaia and kind of seems like gaia! ^_^ but there are differences..........and i think there will be more differences....right?! ;) :D

and like Miss Bridget thats what i envisioned for the first part! i really liked how you described that first paragraph! (y)
 
Sunfire_77 said:
oo I love it nance! Its sooooooooooooo Spectaculor! Intriguing! Epert and Roeper give it two thumbs up!

Sweety your doing very good! Please pm me when you have more :D
(y) (y) woohoo!

love it. I can feel the anger.... :lol:
 
Sorry this chapter is a little long ^_^ but ATARI FINDS HOPE. :eek:

Early morning, Atari was already out of the house already. It was part of her daily routine:

1. Wake up at 6:00 am and do the necessary: comb hair, brush teeth, and dress.
2. Rummage through the fridge and find nothing but Hot Pockets and reluctantly eat one.
3. Sneak out of the house for a five-mile run.
4. At 7:30 am go back to the house and take a shower.
5. Walk about one mile to school.

Throughout all that, Atari’s dad is dead asleep. Her dad probably didn’t even know what grade she was in and that was because he probably didn’t know how old she was. But who cared about what her dad knew? Whenever she thought of him, she wanted to puke or dream about beating him up.

But that was the thing. She never did hurt her dad. It was the one thing that Atari wanted to do, but no matter what, couldn’t. She held her anger back and controlled it when it came to her father. The truth was… Atari was scared of him. Scared of his face, his words, his actions and it was because he killed David. The fact that her father killed the one person that ever mattered to Atari, made her fear. And the fear was so powerful that she avoided her father at all costs. She knew she could probably hurt him, but she didn’t want to take the chance. The chance that David took.

Atari guessed the fear rooted from dying. As much as she didn’t want to admit, she was afraid of dying and not because of the pain. Atari went through that. She wanted so badly to experience a life that was pure freedom and happiness before death.

--

This morning Atari loathed the idea to go to school. (As always) Things rarely changed in her miserable life) She wasn’t dumb or anything. In fact, she was smarter than most people because learning was a privilege to her. But facing the people at school was different. She hated the stupid things that happened at school. The drug dealing… the threatening… the guys that thought that it was okay to take advantage of girls and use them. Sometimes it was the other way around… the girls that took advantage of the guys with their money and also give away their virginity mindlessly.

People in this world just keep getting dumber.

As she reached Caldwell High, she was confused. There was no outside. Usually the entrance was swarming with students. She checked her watch.

Great, I’m almost fifteen minutes late.

Atari swept into her French -AP class and plunked into her usual seat in the back.


“Mademoiselle Chevalier, vous avez quinze minutes de retard pour le cours,” the teacher said sternly.
(Miss Chevalier, you are fifteen minutes late for class.)

“Oui, je sais. Je suis désolée,” muttered Atari
(Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.)

“Vous nous faites perdre notre temps et s'il vous arrive d'être encore en retard, vous me décevrez énormément. Monsieur Albom va devoir vous expliquer les activités du cours d'aujourd'hui.”
(You’re wasting our time here and if you are late again, I’ll be extremely disappointed in you. Monsieur Albom will have to explain today’s class activities to you.)

Atari gave an imperceptible nod.

She disliked Joseph Albom… well, ‘Joe’ Albom. He was that word… “popular”… and “hot.” She guessed it wasn’t fair that she hated him since he never actually communicated with her but the way he acted- cocky- made her lip curl back. She didn’t understand why he was so admired.

It was definitely the looks. He had it- sandy blond hair, pale green eyes with thick eyelashes, and perfect skin. Well looks weren’t everything and she sure as hell wasn’t going to fall for them.

Joe turned around and mumbled something like “We’retakingapopquiz” and turned back around.



The quiz was absurdly easy. Atari was the first person who finished and looked around the room. Everyone else was barely half way done. She sighed and decided to check over her work. She looked up again. No one was done yet.

Well this is what happens when you have absolutely no social life and nothing better to do than study and run.

Fifteen minutes later and Atari was almost asleep. The class was done.

Well, finally.

They all passed in the papers and were dismissed.



“Hey Atari!”

Atari whipped around and stared straight into the eyes of Joe.

You have got to be kidding me.

She instantly rolled her eyes and said, “What?”

“I was just wondering how you… um… how you’re so good at French. You know… you’re the only one in our class who actually gets the stuff in there.”

“I don’t know… maybe it’s because I study,” she said wryly, emphasizing the word ‘study.’

“Well so do I. I mean study every night. I just don’t do good on tests,” Joe said, with just a hint of insult in his tone.

Atari wanted so much to say, “That’s not my problem.” But she knew that was rude and unnecessary and she didn’t need her reputation to get worse. She was considered a freak because she didn’t have any friends at school. And plus, she was the only girl that could outdo any guy in gym.

“So, what do you want me to do? Tutor you?” Atari snorted.

“Um… that’s what I was thinking of.”

Atari blinked. This guy is serious. She couldn’t help but crack a smile. Me… as a tutor… now that’s just funny.

But then she really thought about it. This guy is filthy rich. Just look at him. He drives a freaking Porsche.

She sighed.

I need money desperately. I have to get out of this place. Just think about life without the S.O.B you have to live with.

“How much?”

“I don’t know. I get paid twelve dollars an hour for helping my aunt around her store. I guess like fifteen?”

Holy felgercarb. Fifteen dollars an hour. I’d tutor for probably two hours a day. And probably three times a week. That’s $90 a week.

She did some fast math in her head.

I’m eighteen. And I could move to New York in two months.

“I’ll take it.”
 
ohhhh i think 'Joe' is gonna turn out more than be just a person being 'tutored' :lol: love it. more soon nance!
--Mandy :angelic:
 
hmm..that dude is to nice to her....i bet that hes gonna try somethin with her...no hot dude is that smart (cept mv 🤤)..hmm
 
a.k.a.Kate_Jones said:
ooooo... yay! yay yay yay!

I actually really liked that chapter. :D
what? you didn't like my other chapters? huh? huh? :lol: :rotflmao: ;) wuv yah.

whaddya mean hot guys can't be smart... Prince William knows freaking 4+ languages 🤤
 
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