Faith

Chapter Twenty-two

Romans 12:19 (NIV) -- Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord."

I collapsed onto my bed with a loud creak. My head plopped onto the black and white striped pillows, and I started to stare at my plain white ceiling. Exhaustion plowed over me and I didn't even try to keep my eyes open. It's only 7 o'clock and I'm mentally exhausted.

The phone call with Shelby was long and draining, but I'm glad I talked to her. I finally feel like things might be turning out okay. However, the phone call was the easy part. Morgan and I had to go talk to the police by ourselves, and they asked so many questions.

I was forced to relive every single dark moment, and I'm pretty sure I was crying the entire time. My eyes still felt raw, and I had bags for miles. The one officer who questioned me didn't believe me at first, and it was tough to make him realize I told the truth.

But, right now, laying in my semi-dark room, I would replay the whole experience just to keep this feeling of safety. Jake was arrested at 2:25 exactly, during the school day, and he will stay in a jail cell for some amount of time.

Ryan and Sam had to go back to school, but they told me everything. Jake argued with the police the whole way out the door, even after they told him his rights. Everyone at school was staring at him, which only made Jake more upset.

Sam had never seen something so satisfying in his life.

Morgan and I left the station when Jake was escorted into it. He sneered at us, but the officer faced him away. When Jake's back was turned to us, the two of us rose our middle finger high in the air.

We giggled about it, but then it quickly became apparent the friendliness wouldn't remain. I asked her if she wanted to do something for the rest of the day but she sighed and turned to me. Morgan said, "We aren't going to stay friends because of this, Kaitlyn. I still don't like you that much."

I was shocked at her bluntness, but not surprised. I didn't expect us to be friends. I smiled half-heartily. "Well, I wasn't expecting us to be friends. Maybe we will just respect each other a little more."

Morgan laughed and started to walk away. She called out, "Bye Death."

"Bye bitch," I smirked after her. Morgan turned around and gave me a sad smile and a wave before she walked to her car and drove off.

And here I am now, laying alone and feeling lonely as I stare up at my ceiling. My thoughts consumed my quiet mind. "Sally said I need to tell my parents, but I really don't want to do that. Surely my mom knowing is enough. I told her everything when I would come to visit her."

But my conscience just had to speak up. "Kaitlyn," she said. "Your dad needs to know what happened. Eventually, this will make it to court. Would you rather him find out the hard way or would you rather tell him now?"

"Stupid conscience," I muttered aloud. I rolled over onto my side, which made me face out my window. As sleep started to take over, I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if Sam showed up outside my house right now? He would throw rocks at my window and I would lean out to see him in the moonlight..."

I fell asleep knowing that my late night, romantic scenarios would never come true.

★★★★

I woke up the next morning with sun shining directly into my eyes. It was that pretty golden glow of a sunrise, my favorite light in the whole world. It reminds me of new beginnings. Golden streaks break the darkness. They burst through the glass without making a crack...