00. ➳ PROLOGUE.

ASTRA DOUGLAS was what many elderly people in her town (and her own father) considered a whore, due to the fact that she always hung around boys instead of girls and she spent most of her time with her best friend, Donnie Darko, who was of course, a boy. It wasn't like Astra didn't have any female friends at all, she did, but she enjoyed Donnie's company far more than anyone else's: boy or girl.

But the truth was that Astra was far from being what people assumed she was. Sure, she'd kissed many boys before and had allowed them to touch her, but she'd never slept with a boy before. Astra was a virgin, and most students, boys and girls alike, at Middlesex High School knew that, although they all liked to lie and spread rumors about her, but that's high school and she'd just have to live with that. Not only did people spread rumors about her virginity and innocence, and made rumors and jokes about her and Donnie "secretly being fuck buddies", but they also spread rumors about her family. Astra's mother had died a couple of years before in a tragic car accident that left her mother dead and her father paralyzed. People liked to say that whoever was driving the car that night was on drugs, or drunk, and that that was the cause of the accident, but Astra knew what had actually happened.

"Where's my god damn soup, Eris?" Richard Douglas, Astra's father, asked Astra in a growl as he called her by her middle name, crossing his arms as he sat in his bed. The man was paralyzed from the waist down after the car accident and was bound to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Astra sighed, holding up the bowl of soup in her hands as she entered his large bedroom, her feet dragging against the soft brown carpet in the room.

"It's right here, dad." Astra said calmly, trying to not anger the hot-headed man any further. Astra set the glass bowl on a nightstand besides Richard's bed, setting a small tray over his legs before setting the bowl and a spoon on the tray. "Your water's right here." She added as she placed a glass of water on the tray besides the soup after grabbing it off the nightstand. Richard glared at his daughter and then at the soup for a second, carefully picking up the spoon and swallowing a spoonful of soup. He smacked his lips together a couple of times in attempt to get a taste of the soup, but quickly scrunched his face in distaste and tossed the spoon onto the tray.

"What the hell is this? You tryna poison me or something?" Richard asked in a dangerously low tone of voice. Astra gulped, wishing their live-in nurse-slash-maid hadn't left for her doctor's appointment that day. "It's cold as hell and it tastes like shit, you useless bitch!" Richard shouted, flipping the tray over and knocking everything onto the floor, spilling water and soup onto the recently cleaned brown carpet. Astra clenched her jaw and sighed.

"Dad, you know I can't cook very well, but I tried my best. I followed all the instructions. It's not my fault Hannah had a doctor's appointment today." Astra reminded him calmly, knowing that would probably anger him even more. Richard reached over and snatched her wrist, pulling her closer before using his free hand to strike her across the face three times before Astra managed to pull away, holding her face in pain.

"Don't you ever talk to me in that tone again or you'll regret it." Richard warned with a snarl. "Clean that mess up and get me another god damn glass of water. I'm not eating that shit you call "soup"." Richard spat as he raised his hands besides his head to do air quotations. Astra's eyes watered, but she refused to show any emotion in front of him.

"You have to eat something dad, you have to take almost all of your medication with food—"

"I'm not eating anything until Hannah comes back. Unless Hannah's cooking, I'm not eating." He snapped again, pointing back at the mess on the carpet. "Now clean that shit up." Astra nodded, lip quivering as she turned to clean the mess.

"Yes, sir." She murmured quietly, getting down on her knees to clean it up. This had become a regular thing for Astra. Her father despised her after the death of her mother, claiming it was Astra's fault that Edith Douglas was dead and that Richard was paralyzed. Astra had eventually started to believe that. Once she was finished cleaning the mess and bringing Richard a new glass of water, Astra was right about to head out the door when Richard cleared his throat loudly, making Astra freeze in her spot at the door.

"Where are you going?" Richard asked in an accusing tone. Astra sighed.

"My room."

"Where are you actually going, Eris?" Astra squeezed her eyes shut, sighing once more before opening her eyes and smacking her lips.

"I'm going to hangout with Donnie." As soon as Astra finished speaking, Richard scoffed and crossed his arms.

"That boy again? Why are you always clinging to his side like a damn whore? He's a bad influence and he doesn't even care about you, all that boy wants is to get in your pants." Richard accused angrily. Astra bit her tongue to keep from saying anything that might make him angrier, even though she herself was fuming. She hated when her father called her names, and it made her angry that he always had something bad to say about Donnie.

She knew Donnie Darko was no saint, he was a horny, reckless, careless, teenage boy who often times disrespected teachers and authority figures, but he was also a good person and an even better friend. Astra loved Donnie. After all, they'd been best friends since diapers, due to the fact that Edith Douglas and Rose Darko, Donnie's mom, had been best friends as well. Even before the death of Edith, Richard had never really liked Donnie, much less Astra being around him, but he never went as far as to call them names like he did now.

"Donnie is my best friend, dad. He's like a brother to me, he always has been." Astra reminded him calmly. Richard hummed in disapproval and shook his head.

"No boy ever wants to be just friends with a girl, Eris. If you're not gonna listen to me and stop being a whore, the least you could do is make sure you don't end up pregnant. I'll disown you if you end up pregnant, you hear me?" Richard threatened. Astra remained silent, eyes wide and tears running down her cheeks as her back still faced him. "I said do you hear me?!"

"Yes, sir." Astra responded loudly, trying her best to hide the fact that she was crying, her face still aching from the slaps. Richard nodded to himself.

"Don't come back late or I'll have Hannah lock you out of the house once she's back." Richard demanded as he sipped on his water. Astra nodded and rushed out of the room, making her way into her own bedroom on the second floor and tossing herself onto her bed, screaming into her pillow. Astra allowed herself to sob loudly into the pillow, wondering what she'd done to deserve this treatment from her own father. But then she remembered. The car accident. It was her fault. It was all her fault.