The music blasts and echoes through out the house as I dance and clean the house. It was a Saturday and since I loved to clean, I felt I should probably clean the house properly because of how dusty it had been from all the time I was abscent. I slide across the room in my socks and the vacuum cleaner in my hand despite the pain I feel in my side.
It's been about three weeks since I've been discharged from the hospital and I just wanted to take my mind off of everything that had happened and dance my pains away. It was the quickest way to not get a heart attack at a young age.
"Hey, you dancing monkey!!" I heard screaming behind me above the loud music and I turned to see who it was. 
Elle was standing behind me, her arms crossed over her chest, her face looking done. 
"What is the problem?!" I shout over the music, not wanting to turn it off. 
"The music is too loud. You're going to ruin my ear drums. I can hardly even hear myself speak. We are going to get complaints from the neighbors if you don't turn down the volume!" She shouts back.
"I don't care. It's my house, not theirs!" I shout back as I turn around, doing a little dance and then taking her hand and twirling her around.
"Don't say I didn't warn you. You're gonna have the police on your back soon." She drags her hand away from mine and shakes her head as she walks back up the stairs back to her room.
I finish up the vacuuming and go to do the laundry. I put the clothes in the washing machine and arrange the rooms so that I wouldn't waste anymore time because we hadn't eaten all day. 
I finish up arranging the rooms and doing the laundry at almost the same time and make my way to the kitchen to prepare food for Elle and I. 
When I'm done, I turn off the music and call her to come and eat.
"Hey, you can dish your food yourself. I wanna go upstairs and take a bath, I'll be right down." I say, dragging my aching body up the stairs, taking it one at a time.
I get upstairs and take off my clothes that are wet with sweat and drop them in my laundry basket. I go into the bathroom and the cold water that slid down my body calmed my aching nerves. I sighed as I quickly washed my hair and got out of the shower.
I tied a towel around my hair and my body as I step into my room and siy on my bed deciding to check my messages since I hadn't touched my phone all day. I pick it and see missed calls from an unknown number on the lock screen. 
I pick it up and unlock it and click on the number, wondering who it was. It had to be someone I knew since the person called so many times. I dial the number and it rings for a while, but there's no answer.
What the hell? 
I stand up and throw my phone back in my bed as I grimace, annoyed. Just as I'm about to open the door of my closet, my phone rings and I rush to it, really curious about who it could be.
I see that it's the unknown number, so I pick it up immediately.
"Hey, please who's this?" I ask, hoping for it to be worth my time.
"Hi, Beth. It's me, Taraji." I hear the voice from the other side say and I grimace again, regretting my very existence.
Why the hell had I picked the call?
But there was no way I could have known it was her, so it wasn't my fault. She called with an unfamiliar number. Maybe she knew that if she had called with her number, I wouldn't have picked up.
Why did this always have to happen to me?
"Hi." I say and add as much enthusiasm as I can. "Taraji, how have you been?" I really didn't want to sound rude, but I wasn't in the mood to talk to her.
"I've been fine, but more importantly, how have you been?" She asked, her voice low.
"I'm fine, thank you. How is New York?, I hope they're treating you well and business is good, right?" I ask.
"Yeah, yeah. Everything's going smoothly." She says and there's an awkward silence, because I don't know what to say. 
I've never really gotten along with her, so even small talk with her was hard for me. So, before she could say anything, I interrupt her.
"Um.. I was actually doing something important before you called, so I should get back to it." I say and immediately hang up without waiting for her reply.
I sigh in relief as I throw my phone on my bed, far away from me. At least I was able to escape that one unscathed. 
I go to sit in front of my dresser and decide to do some light make up to cover the remaining bruises that were showing on some parts of my face and look good a little bit. The thought of the stupid girl that had caused me all the pain that I was feeling was madenning. She and Mark had succeeded in making my life a sad, pitiful story.
When I finish my make up, I walk to my closet and pull out a short, free dress as I wasn't going to leave the house. I go downstairs and Elle is still seated on the dining room chair, her head down as she looks at her phone.
I go into the kitchen and get my food and sit across from her, dropping the plate with a sigh. Elle's eyes leave her phone and stare at me.
"What?" I ask her, frowning.
"I should be asking you that. Why do you look like you're going through some kind of melt down?" She asks.
"It's nothing, I'm just thinking about the call I just made." I say and pick up my fork and start stabbing the food in my plate.
Just then, a knock comes to the door. I raise my head up knowing it had to be one of two people. It was either Celine, who I had no problem seeing or Mark, whose presence made me want to throw up.
Elle tries to stand to answer the door, but I hold her arm to stop her, because I didn't want her any near Mark if it was him, which I sure that it was. I walk to the door with my face stoic and pull it open. My facial expression grows to one of fake surprise as it was exactly who I expected it to be.
As expected.
I roll my eyes as he smirks disgustingly at me, leaning his face close to mine.
"What's with the expression on your face?" His disgusting breath fans my face. "You don't look happy to see me. Won't you invite me in to eat?"