Devil May Cry ✔

9

"Claire, open up I know you're in there," I said and kept knocking. It's been half an hour and I'm still standing outside her front door, "Claire come on."

"Angy please leave me alone," her voice came out raspy from inside.

"You know I'm not going anywhere."

I exhaled in relief when I heard her unlock the door. She looked tired, with puffy eyes and messy hair. Her bruises were now fades but they were still visible when she ties her hair like now.

"You can't lock yourself in the apartment forever," I began.

"I can't face the outside either."

"You don't have to face anyone."

"Come on in."

Once inside, she locked the door once and then sat beside me on the couch.

"Walking around people is scary, Angy. I'm practically forcing myself to leave the apartment."

"I think you should see a therapist, Claire."

"No, I don't want to talk to a therapist about this."

"Claire what happened to you was traumatic and you need help; you're barely talking, you're afraid of your own shadow, and I know you're crying yourself to sleep every night."

"I'm fine, Angy."

"You're not fine Claire! This is not fine! Blaming yourself for a crime you didn't commit is not fine! Not reporting that guy is not fine! Staying quite is not fine! And refusing to get help is not fine!"

Again with the silence, I know it's hard on her and I know I shouldn't push her but I can't stand there and do nothing.

"Please say something. Talk to me Claire."

"I'm too weak to seek help Angy," she spoke and a tear rolled down her cheek, "I'm too weak to go to the police and tell them what happened. Hell I'm too weak to get the mail."

Her crying interupted her, I myself was blinking away tears.

"He destroyed me Angy," she kept saying while I hugged her.

"Listen to me," I forced her to face me, "You're not the one who should be crying. He did you bad, you should be out there suing him but you let him walk away. It's your life Claire and you shouldn't let him control it when he's not even around, you shouldn't let him enjoy his freedom when you can't step outside your own apartment without worrying someone will attack you again."

She stared at me for a long time, "How can you be so strong?" she sniffed.

"Life forces you to be strong, you need to be strong."

Claire nodded her head slowly.

"Let's go to the mall," I said, finally.

She hesitated before she agreed.

We left the apartment and stopped a cab to get to the mall since Claire didn't want to drive her car. She stayed close while we walked through the crowd, we bought the essentials and talked while shopping.

"We should throw a party," I suggested once we sat down to drink something.

"A party?" Claire asked in confusion.

"Yeah this can be our last party before we leave off to college."

"I don't think this will be a good idea, Ang."

"Come on it will be fun, I rarely went to parties during highschool and I really want to host one before leaving."

"I guess it'll be a nice way to say goodbye to everyone."