Beauty & Her Bruises

Chapter Nineteen

I stared at her with a blank emotion as she continued to laugh. Eventually when her laugh started to die down, she brushed fake tears away from her eyes. She put the pen back on the clipboard with the paper on it and looked at me. Her smile was big but when she looked back at how my face was joking, it vanished. She touched my kneecap lightly and I jumped. It wasn't because it hurt but because with that one action of laughing, I lost all respect and trust for her.

"Honey," she said. She stifled another laugh and took her hand from my kneecap. "When you want to tell me who actually did this, stop by any time." She began getting up and sat back at her desk. I was appalled by her reaction because this was true. Why didn't she believe me? I finally reach out to someone about this and they don't believe me. When she noticed that I still hadn't moved, she came over to me. I guess she was going to explain to me of why she didn't believe me. "Liam just came in and told me that the students were hurting you." She smiled again. "Although this isn't a funny situation, I appreciate it if you don't blame other people for what the students are doing. If you would like to give some student names, I'll be here." I began to speak but she cut me off. "That's enough. I don't know if you and your dad—" I winced at that name. He wasn't worthy of the title dad. "—but you can't blame him for beating you. Do you know what could happen to him just for the accusation?" I nodded my head rapidly but she just smiled. "It's time for you to go, sweetie, you've already missed your bus."

I didn't need for her to tell me again. As soon as I slammed the door shut, I noticed one lone body in the hallway. Ashton didn't seem mad at me for making him wait but instead he was smiling at me.

"How'd it go?"

I pushed past him and began limping very fast to my locker. He was right behind me but he kept a pace slightly behind me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I didn't answer him and continued to stalk to my locker. He didn't try to communicate with me but when I slammed my locker door open and threw my things in, I felt a couple of tears prickle through my eyes. I wiped at them fast before Ashton could have a chance to get a glimpse of them.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I whispered. Ashton only nodded his head as I stalked to the bathroom. I heard the faint sound of my locker closing and appreciated him doing that.

I just didn't appreciate him enough to say anything.

As soon as I got in a stall, I cried my heart out. I hated crying but I was running out of hopes. Liam was my first hope and he didn't even talk to me anymore. It was a complete miracle that he even saved me from Serenity. Although when he got there, she was about done. He didn't talk to me afterward either.

Instead, he ran to the nurse's office and told her a lie. He saw what father had done to me and yet he took it into his hands to tell her that father never did anything to me. His excuse was that the kids were doing it to me anymore. Nobody was even touching me anymore. Except for today with Serenity but otherwise, nobody else has touched me.

I flushed the toilet and wailed out my sadness. I didn't want Ashton to hear me crying so the flush of the toilet helped cover me.

The nurse. How could she just say that father never touched me? She never even met him, there was no way she knew if he touched me. Wasn't it the adults to take authority and believe what the students are saying? Not that I got in an argument and am just mad at him. I am angry at him but not because he got in an argument.

He abuses me.

What even happened between Malcolm and I? I haven't talked to him in forever and whenever I see him, he runs faster so that I can't catch up with him. Why won't he just talk to me? I miss him. He was one of my best friends but ever since he got out of the hospital, he just doesn't talk to me. Does he blame me too?