Jessica Grayson has struggled with body dysmorphia and bullying for most of her life. And when she believes she has finally turned things around for herself, she is betrayed and made fun of by her boyfriend and close friends, which sends her into a...
This chapter is once again dedicated to Scintillahx for always being so supportive. I am thankful for you. And guys, ya'll need to go check out her amazing story. :)
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"Jess," Liam calls hesitantly.
"Yeah."
"There are things about me that you're not going to like. I did things I'm not proud of when I was in New York. I wasn't the kind of person you would have loved." He says, and I hear the anguish in his voice.
I get out of his hold so I can look at him.
"I wasn't exactly a saint either, Liam. I would never judge you for your past." I tell him, and he averts his gaze.
"When we moved to New York that summer, my dad put me in boarding school and made sure I wasn't allowed to leave, even on the weekends to go home and visit. I was told I had disciplinary issues. The next two years were spent in confusion and loneliness. I already knew my father wasn't exactly fond of me, but I didn't know the extent of his dislike for me up until that point. I grew bitter in there. I grew angry. There was so much rage inside me." He says, and I nod, understanding his pain.
He was only, what, 12, 13? How could a father do that to a boy who had just lost his mother? I don't say anything, not wanting to interrupt him. This is the first time he is willingly telling me about his past.
"I started making real trouble then. Getting into fights, vandalism, disrespecting the teachers, you name it. A few counselors tried to get me to talk about my anger. Where it "esteemed" from, as if that wasn't obvious. They tried to get me to talk about my mother. That didn't help at all. I only got more aggressive. At some point, the school board had enough and decided to expel me. When my father heard, he was enraged, but it didn't take long before he found another prestigious boarding school he could throw me in. That's where Jayden and I met, junior year of high school. By the time he joined, I was already labeled a trouble maker and had quite a reputation with the ladies. Nobody messed with me. The guys kept their distance because I was known for losing my temper. Jayden was different, though. He wasn't intimidated by me in the slightest. We ended up in the same dormitory, and whenever he and I spoke, he would make sure to let me know I was the biggest asshole he'd ever met." A little bit of humor crosses his eyes before it disappears again. I'm holding my breath, waiting for him to continue. Surprised that he is finally sharing this part of himself with me.
"I would beat the shit out of anyone who spoke to me that way but the fact that he held his ground and said what he truly felt, I don't know, it made me respect him. We did butt heads a lot, but through it all, we grew closer. He wasn't exactly fond of the way I behaved and the trouble that followed me around, but he was the only guy I could actually count on. He told me about his past, his parent's death, how his aunt and his grandmother raised him and his twin sister, how he chose to stay here, and enroll in a boarding school when his aunt moved to England for work."
