What Are Scars For

chapter one

I was late.
It was a beautiful Thursday night and I had been out with friends, and all I could think of was what my parents would say when I got back home.
"Relax, Ver." My best friend, Julie told me. "It doesn't work that way." I told her. "Don't worry I know that." She told me. I rolled my eyes, finally catching on that she was trying to cheer me up.
"Next stop: Prince Lake Dr." The speaker at the head of the public bus told us and I took a deep breath. It was her turn to roll her eyes, "I do all that work to get you to calm down and five words is all it takes to make you anxious again?" I nod, trying to make light of my own situation. The bus stops and we get off to walk the way to my house.
I squeeze her hand and walk in, hoping the door is unlocked and the alarm off. With my luck, of course it isn't. I unlock the door with a spare key we have left under a pot ever since we all got locked out about a year ago.
I smile at the memory and unlock the door. The next to go off was the alarm. A loud and quite annoying buzz that didn't turn off until someone put in a password that I didn't know.
I fell to the ground, covering my ears. For an unknown reason, the alarm had always been louder to me than either of my parents. All I could understand at that moment was blaring sound. Then a pair of hands picked me up and held me pinned to the wall. I still had my hands over my ears, so whoever the person was pressed me against the wall hard with one hand and pressed in the code with the other. I didn't want to take a chance and kept my hands glued to my ears. That was, until they were ripped off and a voice yelled in my ear "Why in hell would you be out this late?" I closed my mouth, knowing whatever I said would be wrong. He grabbed my wrists tighter and my eyes squeezed shut. "Why don't you say something? I need amusement. So go ahead tell me why you are so late." He slurred his words together. "It wasn't that late, only 15 minutes." He smirked. "Only 15 minutes." He slurred again. "Are you drunk?" I couldn't help but asking.
After it was out of my mouth I knew it shouldn't have left my thoughts. His sort of 'happy' mood was gone. He glared at me as much as possible and took his right hand off of my left wrist. As soon as I felt its presence gone, I struggled to get out of his grip.
The next thing I knew his fist connected with my unprotected temple. I scrunched my eyes closed and couldn't help but focus on it. He smiled and slammed me to the ground. My first thought was there is no way this is just from one comment! But as his strong leg connected with my weakening frame, I convinced myself it was. "I had told you, I was going with friends." I said, frankly trying to say anything to make him stop. He laughed at this, "Like you have friends." He tormented. "No one, not even the sweetest creature would find you nice. You're a stuck up, slutty, snob. You get everything you ask for; this is nature balancing out for how spoiled you are." I closed my eyes and felt a small tear running down my face. For all I knew of other families, he was probably right. But I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of hearing me say it. That didn't stop me from holding onto the hope that he would get tired, he would quit and fall and give me enough time to run. And if that made me selfish and stuck up and snobby, then I was okay with that. But I knew that would take a while, he had never given up that easily. He probably never would.
The next morning I woke up right under the alarm. As soon as my eyes were open I started to struggle, but realized it was just air around me. I took a deep breath and calmed down as much as possible before standing up. Something about those kinds of nights always made me stiff. It took me a couple of moments, but I was finally back on my feet. I checked my pockets, if I could call Julie, she might give me a ride.
No such luck. He had taken my phone. Either that or I had lost it. Slowly making my way to my room, I quietly tiptoed passed his room. I couldn't hear anything, so I doubted he was asleep. Maybe not fully awake, but not asleep. I pulled my sweatshirt up over my head and quickly grabbed my side. The pain was instantaneous, and breathtaking. I decided on a simple white button down shirt and got it on quickly before going downstairs quietly.
Getting to school was the next obstacle. I couldn't drive, he needed the car to go to work. He was the CEO of marketing for a big architectural foundation. Walking was my next best option. So I started to make my way on the six block walk to the near high school. It wasn't far when I thought about it, just when I tried to walk or breathe, there was a constant hot poker in my side. I made it about a block before a black truck pulled up before me. At first my heart rate sped up, not knowing who it could be. But as they rolled down the automatic window, I immediately knew who the driver was.
Zach O'Brien was behind the wheel, cocky as always, he decided to open his mouth. "Hey, I could give you a ride." He told me. This was probably the third consecutive day that he had told me that. "What makes you think that?" I asked, trying to add as much sarcasm as possible. In all honesty, I would have taken him up on his offer if it wasn't for the bumpy ride I knew was on the way to school. I didn't want to get taken to the hospital just for them to tell me there was nothing they could do for me. "If not, then I'll meet you there. I would totally take you up in a race, but seeing as the odds are in my favor, I'll let you win this one." He finished his mini monologue , of course needing to throw in a comment on his truck, and drove off. Thank god he's gone. I thought to myself.
I had known Zach for about as long as I could remember. In preschool, he had the coolest toys. In kindergarten, we were called boyfriend and girlfriend and our parents loved to torment us by joking about how adorable we'd be together; later on, we discovered popularity. That was where we split. He was the star soccer player and I kind of turned away from that group. He was different now. In grade school he had been tolerable, now he was annoying and unbareable. To all but the shallowest of girls, of course. By which I mean West James and her posse. I had my own theories that she had been dropped on her head as a baby, because she thought the prettiest or most expensive things were automatically hers. That included people, and thankfully, I didn't make the cut.
By the time I had drifted out of my thoughts, I was across the street from Hillside Highschool. The walksign glowed and I took my chances with the cars. As soon as I got inside I immediately went to my locker. I saw Zach close to my first period and ran the rest of the way to The Pit as I like to call it. By the time I got there, my ribs felt like they were on fire. I grabbed my side and tried to hide my expression from people walking around me. Julie was behind me in seconds. She muttered something about having a shitty world and helped me turn around to face her. I leaned against the locker and stared her down, reminding her of our deal. If she didn't look at me like a lost cause, then I would confide in her. She took a deep breath and nodded. I grabbed her arm and lead her to the girl's restroom before locking the door and leaning against a sink. The front of it dug into my back, but it was hard enough to stand at that moment. I slowly unbuttoned my shirt to see my side. I then realized it was the first time I would see the damage he had caused, and the extent of it. Her eyes widened and I had to tell myself to look.
It was black and blue and definitely different from the other side, but I had expected as much. What I was surprised about was the fact that I was bleeding. Every time I took a breath, a few more drops fell down my side. I gulped before looking at my shirt. It had seeped through and there was no way of hiding it. I raised my arms and nearly cried out. Julie grabbed me and helped me back into my resting position.
"If you don't call a doctor, I will." She told me. I shook my head, no. "They can't do anything." I told her. "And I don't have my phone at this moment in time." She frowned, "That isn't right."
"I guess I kind of deserved that part. I was out with friends on a school night." She just stared at me, "Maybe a little, but this," She gestured towards my side. "was a little overdone."
I smiled at her, "You're  right." I told her, She dug through her bag and brought out an oversized hoodie. "Put this on." I just stare at her. She unzips it and put my arms into it and zips it back. "It'll get messy." She rolled her eyes. "Like your shirt?" I nodded, obviously confused. She rolled her eyes again and before she could reply, the tardy bell rang. "Fûck." I said under my breath. She grabbed both of our bags and opened the door. I blushed. "You don't have to do everything. I am capable of doing things on my own." She giggled at this, "Don't lie, I saw you earlier." I shake my head and we leave.
First period, Algebra 2 with West and Zach. This was going to be interesting.