Rose Tinted Lenses

Chapter 10

Wednesday morning had been a series of blurs.

A blurry drive to school, blurry classes and blurry conversations. She had been on autopilot all morning as she counted down the minutes until the day was over.

But she didn't want to go home.

Home was where her mother was, sizzling with rage and disappointment from the previous evening.

She had volleyball practice that afternoon and she couldn't wait to fuel every negative emotion into a powerful and fulfilling practice session.

Daniel was sitting next to her in the study hall, typing away on his phone. She didn't have it in her to nudge him to do his work. She didn't even have it in her to do her own work.

Her wrists were aching and stinging no matter how many painkillers she took. The searing pain was a sharp reminder of Chad's hands roaming her body. She shivered at the thought.

Daniel looked up at her sudden movement, confused. "Are you okay?"

She flinched though there had been nothing harsh in his tone. In fact, she had never heard him sound so concerned and soft. But she had been skittish all morning, jumping and flinching at random sounds or movements. She fiddled with the sleeve of her hoodie.

"Yes, good thanks." She squeaked, then got up and walked out into the hallway. Daniel was more perplexed than ever.

Her breathing suddenly went shallow and panic engulfed her. The school doors were open and daylight shone down the corridor like a beacon. She followed the beam.

She was numb to almost every form of sound, except for Daniel's raised voice behind her.

"Slow down, what's going on?!" he shouted. She could hear from his footsteps he was gaining on her.

"Kendall, stop, god damn it!" He reached out and grabbed her wrist, spinning her round to face him.

Pain shot through her wrist and up her arm. She winced and hissed as she snatched her arm back.

His eyes widened in concern, he could see the tears threatening to spill as she cradled her wrist. He knew he hadn't held her that tightly and it dawned on him that something else was going on. Something bad.

A fiery pit formed in his stomach as he guided her into an empty classroom. He turned to face her, gently took her hand and pulled up her sleeve.

Bruises.

Black, blue and purple bruises littering her soft skin.

He took her other hand and did the same to the other wrist.

More bruises.

He looked down at her defeated expression. She couldn't even look at him.

He'd noticed she had been off all day but had assumed it had to be something to do with her period or a girl drama with Megan. Never in a million years would he have expected her to have been hiding bruises.

He tried to keep his voice calm. He didn't want to frighten her. "Who did this to you?"

"It's nothing," she said quietly.

He was consumed with rage, but refrained from yelling. "That is not nothing, Kendall. Tell me who did this to you?"

She looked up, angrily. "Oh, like how you told me all about your split knuckles and bruised cheek?" she shot back.

He huffed. "That's different."

"What's the difference?" she countered.

"The difference is you." Daniel said before he could help himself.

Kendall paused and her anger abated.

"What does that even mean?" she asked.

He sighed, swallowing his pride. "It makes sense that I would be roughed up now and then, but you... who could possibly want to hurt you?"

Her eyes widened. It was the most caring sentence she had ever heard him utter. He was showing the kind of care her parents never showed, not even after she'd been assaulted.

"Is that a hickey on your neck?" he said, his temper rising.

Her hand flew to her neck, like that wouldn't make it obvious. She grabbed her hoodie and tugged at it to cover the mark. She had concealed it with make-up that morning but inevitably, that had rubbed off.

She felt humiliated.

"What's his name?" Daniel's voice was harsh and impatient. The hickey connected the final dot that told him she had been sexually assaulted. The mere thought of it made him want to kill any man that went near her.

"Just drop it." she pleaded.

"I can't do that. Tell me his name, Kendall." he commanded. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name leaving his lips for the second time- ever.

"You don't even know him. Besides, Austin dealt with him. He's in the emergency room as we speak," she said.

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Good, that's a relief."

I'd be happier if he was six feet under, he thought to himself.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Since when do you care anyway?"

"I may seem like a complete dick sometimes but I do care if one of my friends is hurt," he said matter-of-factly.

She raised an eyebrow. "We're friends now? Could've fooled me."

He frowned at the dig but chuckled nonetheless. "Look, I know I've been an ass lately. I'm sorry. It stops now."

"Are you sure?" she said, sceptical.

"Yes. Now can we please go back to me calling you Princess and you pretending not to like it?" he said cheekily.

She giggled and they exited the empty classroom.

It amazed her that Daniel had managed to improve her mood so drastically in just ten minutes. Suddenly, he had her laughing and feeling all fuzzy inside when she'd felt she wanted the ground to swallow her up just a few moments ago.

He made her feel wanted and safe.

She was unfamiliar with this feeling.

She liked this feeling.