THE GIRL AFTER

C H A P T E R 2

"Every day the clock resets. Your wins don't matter. Your failures don't matter. Don't stress on what was, fight for what could be."

- Sean Higgins

Sunday went by quickly. I never left my room, not even for food, because I knew he was still there. Still,  in my house acting as the perfect angel, my parents thought of him as.

By Monday, all the sadness had turned into anger and that was all that coursed through my veins as I got ready for school that day. All I felt was anger as I showered, remembering how the last time I was in that very shower my own blood was going down the drain because of him. It was the same as I got dressed in a t-shirt, before remembering how he gagged me with one to keep me quiet, making me change into a dress that was long enough and had sleeves to cover the bruises he left behind. And then I felt anger towards myself, for letting him do that to me, and to continue to haunt my life afterward.

"Morning, Athy." My dad was sitting at the island in the kitchen drinking his coffee and looking at his tablet, like normal, but I couldn't help but only feel mad at him. It happened under his roof, while he was only across the hall.

Instead of answering him like I normally would before, I ignored him and poured myself a cup of coffee. I had never had it before, but for the past two nights, I hadn't been able to sleep, haunted by nightmares and memories every time I closed my eyes. I couldn't even bring myself to sit on my bed so I laid on the floor with some old blankets I found tucked in a back corner of my closet; one had Dora on it.

"Are you feeling okay there, owl?" I lifted my head to look at him. He didn't look the same. Instead of seeing his normal caring blue eyes, I only saw the blue eyes of hate and anger that were Cameron's. Instead of seeing his concerned frown, I saw the sneer of Cameron as he held me down and said all the hateful threats.

"I'm fine," I muttered. Before he could say anything else, I walked away. It hurt knowing that I couldn't tell my father, the man who raised me, what had happened.

I stayed in my room until Bentley knocked on my door telling me it was time to leave for school. I didn't want to go to school and see everybody and know they didn't have a clue what had happened two nights previously.

My best friend, Willow, didn't even know. I had wanted to tell her that Saturday morning, but the moment I called her she started talking about her date with James Anderson. I hadn't wanted to ruin her mood since she was so excited because he kissed her, that I just pushed my thoughts and feelings away.

The moment I stepped into the building I could feel the panic rising. There he was, standing in front of my locker talking to my best friend.

"Athena! Hey!" Willow called out my name, waving me over. Cameron looked to me and I could see the smirk on his face as I slowly walked closer to them. He didn't have any regret about what he did to me, that much was perfectly clear.

"Good morning, Athens."

"It's Athena," I muttered. He had started calling me Athens at a young age, and it had stuck, but ever since that night, I wanted nothing special between the two of us. Anything that there was, it was gone.

"Um, we'll see you later, Cameron." Willow grabbed my arm and lead me over to her locker. "What was that all about?"

"I just don't like him anymore." Even though I knew it wasn't a lie, it still pained me to not be able to tell her what he did to me, because every time I gained the courage to tell someone, his words rang in my head like a mantra.

"I'll kill you if you even try."

"What are you talking about? You had the biggest crush on him ever since the 4th grade!  You can't just get over it that fast!"

"Well, I did!" I didn't mean to snap at her, but sometimes Willow didn't know when to stop talking. She would push and push until I would tell her what was going on or  I would snap.

"Athena, seriously! Tell me what happened."

"I like someone else!" The worlds slipped off my tongue so easily. I couldn't believe I was lying to my best friend, but I couldn't stop it.

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Who? Is it Percy Oconnel? Because you know he's had a crush on you since he moved here."

"No. You don't know him." I was extremely grateful when the bell rang and we had to go to separate classes. There was no doubt in my mind that she would continue to grill me about it until I told her, but I had time to think about my lie during class.

    That didn't happen though. As soon as I would stop paying attention to the teacher, my mind would go back to Cameron and that night. I would start remembering the feeling of him and the fear coursing through me as it happened.

    There was no stopping the memories as I sat in class that morning. There was no stopping the tears that stung my eyes, and I had to pray I wiped them away before someone saw.

    I hated how it constantly had power over me. I hated how I had to always be doing something so I wouldn't think of the pain it put me through. Every night, I stayed awake, just watching the door.

    I wish I could go back the night and change what happened so I would finally feel like myself again.