Jess sat at a table in the common room and started flicking through the pile of magazines. Lying in between two was one of the photo's someone had mocked up of her and Aiden. She couldn't help but laugh at the idea of her and Aiden being together. Of course they were close...but he was like a brother. The laughing quickly turned to a frown when she thought about the real father...she heard the door open and then shut behind her. She didn't bother to turn round.
"We need to talk Jess." She heard the familiar voice and felt the shiver run down her spine, she didn't turn. She didn't want to have to look at her Dad. "I said...we need to talk." He walked towards her and twisted her shoulder so she had no choice but to look at her.
"Leave me alone." Despite the sharp pain where he had twisted her shoulder she still kept her eyes from looking at him.
"No. I've had enough of your stories...you are coming with me to the police station to withdraw your statement about Maria...they'll understand that it was an angry teenager trying to get attention..."
Now Jess couldn't help but look at him, she still couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't understand why he couldn't see what Maria was really like. All of the evidence was in front of him...yet he was still blind to what she could do.
"No Dad...whether you believe me or not is irrelevant...I'm not withdrawing anything...I wont let her get away with this..." She blinked her eyes. She knew that tears were threatening but there was not way she was going to let them fall.
"You selfish BITCH." With the hand that wasn't holding Jess' shoulder her slapped her clean across the face. The sound of the blow rang around the room. Jess sat there shocked. Charlie had let go of her arm straight after. He was looking at her, he seemed shell-shocked about what he had done. For Jess however her mind was made up. She looked up and straight at her Dad.
"You deserve each other." With that she got off the chair and left the room. She heard her Dad shout something after her, but she wasn't going to wait and find out what it was. She walked down the corridor not looking back. She was going straight to her Mum's office...she was going to tell her who the father was, she was fed up of having other people dictate her life and what she was or wasn't going to do.
"Jess." For the second time that morning Jess felt her blood run cold as she heard her name called.
"Leave me alone." She didn't turn round, she didn't want to see his face.
"Now why would I do that..." She heard him walking closer to her. She knew that she should be running as far away from him as she could, but there was an invisible force holding her where she stood...she couldn't move.
"Please don't..." She couldn't finish the sentence. There was a handing stroking the hair away from the back of her neck. He lent forward and she could feel his breath as he kissed her neck.
"I'm not going to hurt you Jess...why would I do that, I love you." He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby classroom and round a corner where they were out of sight from the corridor.
Jess started shaking as she looked straight at him face. She had done so well at avoiding him and putting him to the back of her mind. Having her Dad and Maria to deal with had made it easier, but now she was looking straight at him all of the fear came flooding back. "Please don't..." She couldn't manage anything else.
He lent forward and kissed her...at first it was gentle on the lips but then he had her arms pinned behind her and was forcing his tongue into her mouth. There was a smell of stale alcohol still on his breath and it was making her want to gag. When he eventually pulled away she collapsed to her knees. There were tears rolling down her face. The memories she had been trying so hard to hide had all come flooding back.
He looked down at her and laughed. "You didn't think I would let you go that easily Jess...you're mine...and that baby is mine, don't forget that..."
"You never wanted this baby...when I told you...you wanted me to have an abortion." She looked straight at Chris Mead. She had truly believed that she was in love with him, he had treated her like a princess and they had it all planned out. When she was eighteen they would tell her Mum, then she had found out that she was pregnant.
"No...but I want you, and if you don't come back to me...well then you wont be keeping 'your' baby for very long. I wonder who's going to win in a custody battle? A 17 year old kid...or a teacher." He went in to try and kiss her again. This time she turned away.
"You never wanted it...you said..." She couldn't repeat everything he had threatened her with when she had told him she was going to keep the baby, but she had seen the real Chris. The way he had threatened her...
"It's simple Jess...come back to me and we'll raise the baby together...if you don't then I'll have it taken away...you wont ever be a part of it's life." He slammed a hand against the wall next to her making her jump. "Your decision." Then he left her there shaking...
Jess took three deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She pulled out her mirror and tried to wipe away her tears. It was only then that she saw that her face had been cut from where her Dad had hit her. She pulled her hair forward to cover it before walking out of the classroom. She had a decision to make.
