And Then She Stopped

chapter five

Maya Hart woke up to the blaring sound of her alarm with her phone on the table and her book on her chest. She bolted up and rushed around the apartment, for some reason this tiny place seemed so much bigger in a rush. Tripping and stumbling Maya was struggling to pull herself together enough to leave, first she put her pants on backwards, and then her shirt was inside-out. It was as if the universe was telling her to stay home again, like she wasn't meant to go out the doors. Regardless of what she thought the universe was saying she made a promise, she promised Lucas she'd come to school, she promised Riley she's always pick her up before school, and she'd promised herself that she'd let anyone suspect she was anything but okay.

Eventually, she'd found herself ready for the day – pants and shirt put on correctly and all. She turned back to grab a jacket but she was already running late to get to Riley's so she decided to skip the coat and just speed walk the entire way there. She slammed the door behind her and Jeremy was sitting outside with a beer bottle in his hand.

"Hey blondie keep it down I'm trying to drink!" He was squinting and from the collection of glass bottles around him you could easily assume he'd been 'trying to drink' all night. He stood up and started to walk in her direction.

"I'm sorry Jer, I'll leave you alone." Had Jeremy been her mother she would have ignored him and run off to her room, locking the door behind her, he however was not. And there was nowhere for her to run off to.

"You think you're letting me off the hook blondie? Think you could take me?" He was walking closer and closer and she kept backing up until she was up against the building and he was in her face. "You think I'm scared of you, do you blondie?" He laughed and the stench of beer made her wince, and he took notice.

With one swift motion he had his hands wrapped around her neck and her feet were lifting off the ground. Maya was flailing and squirming but she wasn't a match against drunken rage. Just as she started to fade out a little he threw her onto the ground, she put her arms in front of her and when she landed on the concrete her hand smashed into a beer bottle sending shards of glass deep into her skin. Jeremy then began to kick her and he got down on his knees and beat her until she smashed a bottle on his head, he took a shard off the ground and slashed her face with it, then he spit on her and walked away.

Maya lay on the concrete, everything felt much worse in the moment but from previous experience she knew nothing was broken. She mustered up just enough strength to climb up the stairs back to the apartment where she started picking glass out of her hand. When she got most of the glass out she cleaned her hand with some hand sanitizer and went into her room to change her clothes since the ones she was wearing were now completely ripped and covered in blood. She opted for jeans – which hurt like h*ll to put on- a long sleeved t-shirt and a jacket, she also wore one glove on her hand to hide that. Everything was covered, everything was hidden. Everything except the massive gash on her face which was still dripping with blood.

On her way out Maya grabbed a dirty washcloth off of the counter to hold to her face on her walk to Riley's- if she was lucky she'd make it in time and the bleeding would stop.

By the time she got to Riley's building Riley would've already left for school, so Maya pressed on and walked to the school alone. A bunch of people were staring- who wouldn't? There was blood drying in her hair and she didn't have enough time to wash it out before she left. By the time she got to the school everyone was already making their way into their first hour so she followed suit. She threw the cloth out before walking in and she moved her hair around to try to cover the wound. When she walked in she made sure to tilt her head down so it wasn't too suspicious all her hair was in her face, but not enough that you could see the blood in her hair.

Maya tried to focus on what Mr. Matthews was saying during the lesson, but the lights were too bright, everyone was talking so loud, and her head felt like it was about to explode. She must have been making a face because Cory knelt in front of her desk.