Atlas Grove, once a dancer with dreams of dancing under the stars, now lives petrified in the shadows of abuse. To escape her living nightmare she must keep her head down and work hard, being her senior year this is her last chance to get out. Altho...
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"Stop dad please," I scream from across the room, curled up in a heap on the floor.
"Shut up!" He snarls taking a step closer to me, dragging my sister behind him by her hair.
"Let her go, don't hurt her." I rasp, my voice barely a whisper. I look at my younger sister howling in pain and the red marks on her face, "Please just leave her alone." I cry.
He lets out a wicked laugh letting her drop to the floor where she sits and cries. Nearing me he reaches out and grabs my neck, holding me against the wall.
"Oh dear Atlas, you need to shut your pretty little mouth before something worse happens to her. Look at her crying on the floor, you've done that. You and your precious momma both dancing about like you're fucking swans. You've taken her away from me." He spits inches away from my face. Hands tightening around my neck denying me of oxygen. I flounder about, trying to wriggle away, gargled noises strain from the back of my throat at the deprivation of air.
His eyes bulge with anger as mine frazzle out with stars, my lids becoming heavy. The distant cries of my sister ring in my head before the hands are removed opening up my throat and a slap sounds across my cheek.
I gasp, panting on the floor for air as I'm kicked hard in the ribs, sliding back into the wall before a series of hits pain my face.
I wake with a start, still, in the library, my breathing laboured and heavy. A small line of perspiration sits on my forehead, I quickly grab my rucksack with shaking hands in search of my water bottle, in need of washing down the queasiness.
I pull out my phone to check the time- 5:02.
Blaze is an hour late, no texts, no calls. He's just bloody late! I must have fallen asleep after half an hour of waiting. The library's practically empty, with the exemption of the middle-aged librarian who's sat reading her book at her desk, occasionally looking over the top of her glasses to see if I'm still here.
I send her a soft smile and she nods wearily over at me, I think she wants to go home.
So do I! The least he could have done was text that he wasn't coming-
"Blondie!" I turn from my bag to see Blaze jogging into the library, the librarian gives him a look before returning to her book. His hair is wet and the waistband of his Calvins is visible, sitting under the top of his jeans, as he lifts his arms- obviously having thrown his clothes on in a rush, "Practice run over and my phone died."
"Oh okay," At last he didn't bale on me, I route around in my bag to avoid looking at him, still a little freaked from my dream. I'm just glad I didn't have a full-on panic attack- they're worse at night, I wake up screaming and crying. I find what I'm searching for at the bottom of my bag and turn to Blaze, handing him my portable charger.
