Snatched - Nothing is What You Thought

Chapter One - Dirty Little Secrets*

A/N

As of 8/01/13, this is edited. Still a rough draft though, as I am re-reading and am already seeing some errors I hadn't caught before, whoops.

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~ Three Weeks Earlier ~

I blew up my cheeks as I waited for Joshua to speak. He had been sitting silently for five minutes.

"Josh, what's wrong?" I asked impatiently, the cold breeze chilling me to my bones.

His brown hair dropped over his eyes as I sighed, squatting down next to him as I pulled my jacket closer.

"What happened?" I asked him again, exasperated by his silence.

Josh bit his lip and looked up at me. "Sapphire, I love you. You know that, right?"

I looked away from him, nodding. "I know."

"Move in with me. It isn't like your parents would care. You practically live there by yourself anyway." He shrugged, standing as he took my hand.

I shook my head. "You know I can't."

The leaves softly blew around as I looked at him closely. His arms were covered completely, and a red flag immediately went up in my mind.

Without thinking further, I grabbed his sleeve and pulled it up. I bit my lip as I looked at a healing, but massive gash surrounded by bruises.

"You said you would stop!" I yelled, holding back the urge to slap him.

Josh shook his head. "It isn't what you think, Sapphire. Honest."

I rolled up my own sleeve, showing him the scars. "I stopped because of you. You promised me we would stick together. You would stop the dope, I would stop hurting myself. We promised each other that we wouldn't hurt each other or ourselves. But what do you call that?"

Joshua sighed. "Sapph, honey, come on. Let's go watch a movie or something. We can talk about it later."

I shook my head. "I thought I could trust you. But obviously, I can't. Don't bother trying to contact me. I'm done."

Josh stepped forward and kissed my cheek, sadly walking away as I stormed home.

I trusted him! I TRUSTED him. But that's all they ever do! They lie, cheat, and leave! They use you for their own pleasure and then when that doesn't work, they'll get rid of you. I thought, clenching my fists as I ran.

"Sapph? You okay?"

I looked up, instantly met with a blast of frigid air. "I'm fine. Leave me alone."

The voice happened to be my best friend Beth. Older than me by a year, she was more of a sister than anything else. We had helped each other through everything, including my own dark secrets.

"You're riding with me. No 'But I have to do this or that.' Understand?" She ordered, grabbing my hand and pulling me to her car.

And in that moment I knew it was over. My life had changed again, and only time would tell whether it was for the best or the worst.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

I looked around as my principal and counselor stepped forward. My heart pounded out of control

What in the world is happening? What did I do? I thought, looking at them nervously.

"Sapphire, can you come with me and Mrs. Taylor for a minute?" My principal asked, taking my hand.