𝐇𝐞𝐫 | 𝐁.𝐄

~Chapter 17~

-Time skip-

it's been 2 weeks since my dad was here unexpectedly. he's been treating me the same way and I always have marks on me but I try to hide them the best I can, luckily Billie hasn't seen any marks and no one else has either which is good because that means I'm hiding it well.

I grab my things and head out the door, I turn around to lock it and get in my car to head to school.

-At School-

I park my car and grab my stuff, I lock it and start heading to the front doors of the school. when I walk up I see Billie leaning against the wall on her phone, so I decided to tap her shoulder to get her attention.

she looked up and said "oh hey, come on let's walk in" I follow her and we walk to our lockers.

"so I was thinking maybe you could come over after school and hang out again?" she asks while opening her locker.

"yeah sure I'll have to let my mom know but I'm sure she won't care" I smile

she smiles back and we finish getting our stuff ready to head to class.

—

it's almost lunchtime and I've been sitting at my desk watching the tiny clock on the wall, waiting for the bell to ring. I'm so ready for today to be over.

finally, a couple of minutes later the bell rings and everyone starts packing their stuff up. as I'm about to walk out the door I see the dude that almost beat me up weeks ago, I quickly run back into the classroom and hide behind the wall, luckily there was still a group of kids trying to get out of the classroom so no one really noticed.

once everyone left I followed behind and made sure to keep an eye out in case I saw any of them again. I need to figure out how to handle this because I can't keep hiding and running away forever.

I started heading to the cafeteria but I didn't get any food I just sat down at a random table. I just don't feel that hungry it's fine.

"yo Amara" I hear someone call my name

I look up and see it's Billie so I smile at her

"how come you didn't get anything?" she asks sitting in front of me

"I don't feel that hungry right now I had a big breakfast" I lie

"oh ok, I'm honestly surprised to see you in here, you usually leave to eat lunch" she laughs softly

"yeah, sometimes I like to eat under the trees in complete silence and just have some alone time" I lie again. the truth is I leave to go on a drive and clear my head I don't mind not eating, I feel better when I don't eat, and I'd like to keep it that way.

"yeah I get that" she smiles and starts eating her food

we just sit and talk about anything that comes to mind like always. I feel so comfortable and safe around her like I can trust her with anything but I'd never tell her the truth about what happens to me and what I do, I don't want anyone to stop me, I like hurting myself it makes me feel good because I know I deserve it but I do wish my dad was in jail. I hate him for what he does to me but maybe I deserve to be treated like that.

-after school-

"ok so my parents are not home so we got the house to ourselves" she smirks

"oh ok, what do you wanna do?" I ask

"hmm I don't know maybe we could watch a movie and then go get something to eat after" she shrugs

"Sure I'm down" I reach for my phone and hear a gasp. I got confused so I look over and see Billie with a shocked face, she also looked confused.

"Are you ok? why'd you gasp?" I question

"What happened to your wrist" she asks

at that moment I freeze, I don't cut on my wrists I do it on my thighs, no one will see it there but I do have bruises from my dad on my wrist from him holding me down and grabbing me. I sit for a minute and try to figure out what to tell her.

"I fell on the ground skating the other day" I lie

"I've never seen you skate though?" she says confused again

"I don't do it around people I know"

"why not? I would like to watch you skate" she leans back and looks up at me

"I just like to do it alone, what do you wanna eat later" I change the topic. she looks at me suspiciously but decides not to push it

"I was thinking of just getting taco bell if that's ok with you"

"yeah that's fine with me" I smile

-

Billie let me pick the movie this time so I picked the monster high movie...don't judge me. it's over now so we've just been sitting here talking.

"I still can't believe you used to hit yourself in the head with a hammer when you were little" Billie started dying laughing when I told her that and she still thinks it's hilarious

"ok ok shut up it was a long time ago" I giggle

Billie finally stops laughing and asks "do you wanna go to taco bell now I'm starving"

"yeah sure"

she grabs my hand and drags me outside, the feeling of her hand in mine makes me blush but I immediately try to calm myself down so she doesn't see it. she opens my door for me and then goes to her side. we both put our seatbelts on then she turns the car on and pulls out.

we headed to taco bell and ate at the park she took me to. we just sit there for hours and talk about anything and everything. her presence is peaceful and relaxing, it makes me feel safe.

—