The Elite (Where the King is Nice)

Chapter 6

(Maxon's POV)
I watch as America slowly leaves the library. For about 10 minutes, I sit there, thinking to myself. Then I realize what I had done. I'd pushed America away and made her feel bad. I shot out of my chair and ran through the corridors, looking for America.
"America!" I yell. She's nowhere to be found. Then..
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
The rebel alarms go off and the Safe Room is all the way across the palace. The place that's closest is a personal safe room that only my family knows about. I see America across the hall and we make eye contact.
"Come here!" She runs over and I bring her into the personal safe room and lock the door.
"Should we be.. quiet?" America whispers.
"No, it's fine. We should keep it down, but the walls are soundproof." America nods and I turn to her.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I've just had so much on my mind lately." She looks at me sympathetically and then says quietly,
"It's ok.." Then, she becomes quiet and we don't talk for awhile. Outside, you can hear the rebels screaming and the guards fighting them. Upon hearing those sounds, America shivers. I bring her close and murmur into her ear,
"It's ok. We are safe here." She nods ever so slightly but the look in her eyes is distant. Then I make a decision.
"America?" I ask quietly. She turns and says,
"Yes?"
"There's something I need to show you." I take a deep breath and pull my shirt off. She gasps and says,
"What are you doing??"
"It's not what you think it is," I reply. Then I turn so my back is facing her and she gasps again.
"Are these... scars? What happened Maxon?" She then lightly runs her fingers over my scars.
"My.. My father used to beat me," I say quietly. Her eyes widen and she whispers,
"But.. But he seems so nice!" She quietly gasps to herself.
"When I was younger, my father resorted to beating me as a form of discipline. I would have gashes all over my back, and the nurses would ask what happened. I'd usually tell them it was from the rebels or something. I didn't want to ruin my dad's reputation.
"He continued over the years, until one night, my mom found out."
(A/N: I know this isn't what actually happened but you'll see why this is important in a minute.)
"They had a huge fight until at some point, my mother threatened him. I don't know what she said exactly, but he seemed pretty darn scared about it. He stopped beating me, and then ever since about....2 years ago, he was really nice to me. Like a loving, caring father. My mother had obviously sparked something that made him change."
(A/N: Since this book is The Elite: Where the King is Nice, I had to have the king turn nice, so that's why there's a big change there.)
America's big, blue eyes stared into mine. I could so easily get lost in her eyes for a long period of time.
"Say something," I pleaded.
I hope she doesn't think I'm weak or something now that I told her that story. Seeing the shock in her eyes, I wonder to myself if I should've waited to tell her.
"I-I...." She mumbled. I held her tighter and she leaned against me for awhile. That was, until we both realized that I still didn't have a shirt on.
"Sorry.. I'll go get it on," I tell her.
"No! Wait!" Her eyes land on a spot on my back and she whispers,
"You're bleeding, Maxon. I thought you said that your father stopped beating you 2 years ago."
"He did," I say painfully.
"Unless he knows that my mom will be away for awhile. Like last night," I tell her, with as much courage as I can.
"But... But I thought he was nice now?" She says with uncertainty.
"He is. He's truly a great father during the day. But once the day starts to reach an end and all of the stress starts to pile up on him, he becomes irritable. My father will usually take his stress out on me when Mom isn't around. It's like he's in some trance when he's stressed, and the only person who can get him out is my mother. If she's not around, he'll still be in a trance and he'll beat me. The next morning, when he's out of the trance, he'll feel really bad about it. Occasionally, he'll even apologize to me." America just stares at the wound and then says slowly,
"So your mother wasn't around last night, and your father was in a trance, and he.. beat you?" I nod to confirm her statement.
"It's going to get infected," she says quietly,
"Why don't you have a nurse heal it up?"
"I don't want them to know, America," I say quietly. Immediately, she gets up and goes over to the cabinets in our personal safe room. After shuffling through them, she comes back with some bottles.
"Turn around, please." I do as I am told and then I feel medicine on my back. Wincing, I ask her,
"What is that?"
"Medicine for your back." Soon, the room goes quiet and all that you can hear is the commotion going on outside of the room.
"America, you don't have to do this," I tell her gently. She shakes her head stubbornly and says,
"But I want to."
We go back into a peaceful silence. Then, after awhile, America gasps and says,
"Oh my God, Maxon. This isn't good!"