Punch after punch my dad collided his fist with my stomach. He'd done the same the night before. He slammed me into the wall behind me and continued punching me. Eventually he left me on the floor in agony to go to work. Trying to avoid hurting myself more, I shakily stood up. Justin poked his head in and said "Get out. Now."
While I was trying to fix my shirt, Justin grabbed a fist full of my hair and dragged me out into the hall. As Justin was closing the door I yelled "Justin! You're such an inconsiderate jerk!"
Kaleb walked out into the hallway, "What did you call him?"
"Nothing," I replied glaring at him. He returned my glare "Good. Now move, I got to get to practice."
Both Justin and Kaleb played soccer, well here it's football but whatever same thing! I used to play and I was actually really good, but once the beatings started I couldn't. Most nights I still sneak out to the back yard to practice.
Pushing past Kaleb, I went into my room and locked the door. Carefully I lifted up my shirt to expose my stomach. The scars from everything were covering my stomach and, no doubt, my back too. A black and blue bruise slightly smaller than a basketball was already forming where my dad had been punching me. A few scars were more distinct than the others. My dad carved the first letter of his name into my stomach and so did my brothers. So now there was a J, K, and D in the middle of my stomach. But there was one that wasn't visible at the time. It was an H. It was right on the back of my neck.
I shook the thought of all my scars out of my head and fixed my shirt. I fixed my hair a little bit before deciding to get out of the house. Without making a sound, I climbed out the window. Once my feet hit the grass I started walking down my street. I glanced over at Harry's old house. For all I knew his family could've moved, since I've never even talked to them. So I don't really know. It didn't really matter anyway.
I pulled out my cellphone and dialed my best friend, Bella. She answered awkwardly "Why hello there DJ!"
This girl could make me laugh so easily! I laughed "Hello! Can I come over? I need to get out of the house."
"Of course! I'll come pick you up at the end of your street like always!"
I said "Thanks! See you soon!"
She yelled "Bye!"
The phone clicked, alerting me that the call ended. I slid my phone back into my pocket and continued walking.
Bella has lived here her whole life so she has the cute British accent, unlike me who still basically sounds American. Her full name is Isabella, but almost no one calls her that. I never told Bella about being beaten. She stopped asking once she realized I would just avoid answering. It's fine that I come over all the time because her mom loves me and is more of a mom to me than my own mother. I reached the end of the street and just sat down on the curb.
A few minutes later Bella pulled up. She screamed " Get in!"
I laughed and climbed into the passenger seat. She started to blast One Direction. I had to try not to wince when Harry's parts would come on. Oh, did I forget to mention that Bella loves One Direction? Yay. Plus, she has no idea about how Harry hit me too.
She looked over at me with a giant smile on her face. I asked trying not to laugh " What's with the creepy smile?"
She smiled "Guess who got two tickets to One Direction and is bringing their best friend in the whole wide world!"
Inside I was terrified out of my mind, but on the outside I squealed " No way! That's so cool!"
"Yeah," she paused and said kind of seriously, "But there's one catch."
"What is it?"
She replied " It's in the U.S."
The U.S.?! I asked a little bewildered " Where exactly?"
She replied " Connecticut. Mohegan Sun."
I've wanted to visit the U.S. ever since I moved, so there was no way I wasn't going even if I had to suffer through the One Direction concert. I smiled " I'm in!"
Bella screamed " Yay!! "
"so when do we leave?"
Bella replied " um... Tonight."
Well, that was short notice! I said "well turn around so I can go to my house and get packed!"
Bella laughed " Wow! I almost forgot that!"
She turned the car around and we drove off towards my house. She parked outside while I climbed out and climbed into my window. Luckily, I made it to my room without anyone seeing or hearing me.
Out of my closet I grabbed my duffle bag. I threw a ton of my clothes in and my bathing suit. I hoped we wouldn't go swimming, but I brought it anyway. Also, all of my toiletries and cosmetics. I grabbed my ipod and phone charger. I also grabbed my guitar case. Last minute I made sure I had my passport and all that stuff.
Double checking if I had everything, I quietly began sneaking downstairs. Thank God I made it to Bella's car without being noticed. I threw my bag into the back and realized that maybe I should at least leave a note so they'd know I wouldn't be home for about a week. Not like they'd care, but still. I said "I'll be back out in a sec!"
I ran back inside and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. Hastily, I scribbled out a note saying I'd be with Bella for about a week. Then I placed the note on the counter and started towards the door.
Before I got there, someone pulled me back by my hair. Yelping, I fell onto my back. It was my dad. He pulled me up by my hair and asked "Where do you think you're going?"
I replied trying to get out of his grip "I'm going to Bella's!"
He laughed menacingly "Don't think I didn't notice you with your duffle bag. Where the hell are you going?!"
I partially lied "I'm staying at her house for a week! We have a project!"
He slapped me and yelled "You ask me before you make plans!"
I tried to get him to let go of my hair and replied "She's already waiting! You wouldn't want her to get suspicious if I take too long! I told her I was just leaving a note!"
He punched me hard in the ribs once before releasing my hair. Quickly, I scrambled out the door. I sprinted into Bella's car and said "Floor it!"
Bella looked confused but quickly drove away. She asked looking at my face "What happened? You have a bruise!"
I lied quickly "Um. I just tripped on my way out. It's no biggie."
Clearly, she didn't believe me, but she didn't push. We soon arrived at her house and I took my bag inside. Once inside, Bella yelled "We're home!"
Her mom ran over and smiled "Hello girls! How are my two lovely daughters?"
She treated me like her daughter and even called me her daughter since Bella was an only child. I called her mom, too. I smiled "Hey Mom!"
She hugged me "Oh, hun, what happened to your pretty face?"
I shrugged "I just tripped. Normal, clumsy me!"
She shook her head laughing "We should really just make you wear a helmet!"
Bella interrupted "So, Mum, are you coming with us to the U.S.?"
Mom shook her head "I feel that you are old enough to go by yourselves. But call me as soon as you land!"
Bella hugged Mom and squealed " Thank you, Mum!"
I hugger her too. "You're the best!"
Mom laughed "Ok. OK! Now let's make sure we have everything packed now so we won't be worrying about it later."
I asked "So what time is the flight?"
She replied "6:30."
It was 1:27. I asked "So what time are we leaving to go to the airport?"
Mom replied "At about 4. We want to get there early to get through security and everything."
I nodded understanding. Bella said "I'll go bring my stuff down."
She bounded up the stairs and was back down in a minute with her bag.
Suddenly I realized something. I had absolutely nothing One Direction related. I asked "Bella, do you have anything that I can wear to the concert?"
Bella nodded, dragging me up to her room. She flung open her closet and pulled out a few shirts. I couldn't even look at one of the shirts. It had Harry right in the middle of it. Immediately I said "Not that one."
Bella laughed "Why not Harry? I mean he was your neighbor!"
I lied fake laughing "I've seen enough of his face, I don't need to be wearing it."
She laughed "okay, fair enough."
I looked at the other shirts. All but one had a picture of them on it. The one that didn't just had I love One Direction across the front. That could work. I picked it up and said "I'll wear this."
Bella grabbed the rest of the shirts and put them away. We walked back downstairs and put the shirt in my bag. I asked "So are we staying at Mohegan Sun?"
Bella replied "Yeah. My uncle I guess is some sort of special person there so we'll be staying there. Guess what else!"
With fake enthusiasm I asked "What!?"
She jumped up and down squealing "We have front row seats!"
My heart stopped for a second, but I pretended to be completely excited. We both jumped around squealing. Mom laughed "Okay girls. Now when you're at the hotel I want no boys anywhere near your hotel room! Okay?"
We both laughed "yes, we know."
Bella brought me up to her room and we both sat down on her bed. She asked all fangirlishly "So what was living next to THE Harry Styles like?"
Obviously I couldn't tell her about what happened so I just replied "Well it was just like any normal neighbor. I didn't talk to him much though."
Bella nodded and smiled "I wonder if he'll remember you! Like what if he sees us in the crowd and recognizes you!"
I sure hope not. I laughed "Yeah right! He probably forgot who I am."
Bella laughed "Whatever. How crazy would it be if we saw them in the hotel?! I would die!"
I laughed "Me too!"
Well I'd probably die for a different reason than her, but still. I checked the time and it was already 3:12. Wow, time flew by! I suggested "Why don't we load our bags into the car so we can just leave when we need to."
Bella nodded and jumped off her bed. We walked downstairs and grabbed our bags. Bella just kind of tossed hers in but carefully placed mine in. Suddenly my body became rigid when I heard a familiar voice talking on the phone. It was Kaleb.