Tattoos and Scars | Completed, Unedited

11 | Honored To Be Your Friend

"What do you want?" Blake asks me, while I stare at the menu. I've never really ordered anything in a restaurant before. Much less, have eaten lunch before. I was always so used to only eating once a day, that I would throw up if I ate twice a day.

"Um... I'm not really hungry," I tell Blake, but he just shook his head.

"You don't eat anything. I'll order for you," He takes the menu out of my hand, and picks out a random dish I've never even heard of before. I shift nervously in my seat, because I already had a bag of chips on the way, and I'm probably going to throw up if I ate more.

"What does this say?" Adrian asks Blake.

"Sandwich," Blake answers, not the least bit concerned that Adrian couldn't read the word sandwich. Isn't that... like concerning? I shake away the thought.

"Yay! Lunch!" Anna giggles, after ordering. This girl is really excited about her food. I wish I could feel the same way, but I'm not exactly hungry right now. "Isn't food the most exciting this ever?" She asks, looking at Blake.

"Yeah, it sure is," Blake replies. Anna and Blake continue to converse, while Adrian and I stare at each other awkwardly.

"Um... hi," He starts, probably to break the awkward tension.

"Hello..." I reply quietly, as I push in my glasses and hide behind my hair. He figured that I probably don't want to talk to him, and took out his phone. He's right, I don't want to talk to him.

I study my surroundings, and notice that there's a bar here too. Which means there are going to be drunk people. And that's not good.

"Can I have a bottle of Vodka please?" I hear someone in the next booth order. Well, that would mean trouble.

"You okay?" Anna asks, when she notices my nails digging into my skin. I quickly stop, and manage a smile.

"Yeah," I tell her, but when my eyes land on someone I hoped I'd never see again, I abruptly get up and rush out of the restaurant. My dad. He was probably here to drink again, like every day. And when I was still there, he come home and torture me.

The door opened like every night, and the person that I dreaded to see walks in. "Did you do the laundry?" He growled, as he stumbled in.

"Yes," I told him, not the least bit faltered by him.

"Are they dry?"

"No, I just put it in the dryer," I reasoned with him, but he was happy to use that as an excuse to do something terrible to me.

"Do you dare talk back to me?!" He screamed, and pushed me into the kitchen counter as he grabbed the steak knife. I wasn't scared. I looked him straight in the eye, because I needed to let him know that he was just a chapter in my life.

There was something better out there. Waiting for me. I was going to find it. It sliced across my stomach, and I winced. The blood started seeping through the tear in my shirt, but I didn't move. I wouldn't move until he left.

After five terribly long and painful minutes, he left for his room, and I pulled myself up and headed to the bathroom to clean off the blood and bandage the cut.

Slut, bitch, whore, 'I wish you were never born', 'I hate you'. These were words that I was so used to hearing, and I've never let them get to me.

But that one night. "You're nothing more than a slut." It keeps ringing through my head like a blaring fire alarm that won't stop.

"Bailey!"

Startled, I turn around, and see that Anna has run after me. I wipe away my tears and put my glasses back on, so I can see her clearly.

"Are you okay?"

I slowly nod, but she looks at me suspiciously. "Then why'd you run off like that? You have to tell me what's going on. Please."

"No... I can't," I cry.

"Oh, you poor thing," She runs over to me and pulls me into an incredibly warm hug. I immediately melt into it. So... this is what a hug feels like. "Tell me what's wrong."

At this point, the wall I've spent building my whole life is no more than a few bricks stacked up like building blocks, waiting to be knocked down. What Anna is seeing is the vulnerable side of me. The one that gets hurt easily, and the one that doesn't have the strength to carry so much on her shoulders.

So I tell her. I tell her everything, and not once did she interrupt me. I told her about how my entire life, I've been hurt and bruised. I tell her how I cover it all up. I tell her about that dreadful night, till the point my shirt is soaked with my tears.

"Well, now you have me to stand by you. Bailey Willow, you are the strongest person there probably will ever be. I'm honored to be your friend."

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*claps* YESSS BAILEY! WE LOVE YOU!