Jade loves her boyfriend. But, she hates him even more. Andre isn't exactly Mr. Perfect. He hits her. She's thrown around. And today was the day she got hurt the worst. Andre had never dared to touch her neck. Today he did. He slammed her into a wall. He punched her, kicked her. Everytime he did it he promised to never do it again. He lied. He told her she would be better off dead. Eventually she started to believe it. She wanted to die. And when she opened her locker and looked in her mirror at the red rings on her neck. She knew she was one step closer. People underestimate Jade West. She doesn't like pain. She is a normal girl. She falls in love like any girl would. And in this case, she wishes she never did. She had no intention of speaking to anyone today. Not that she ever talked to anyone anyway. Burbank high didn't exactly have the most interesting people. She looked in her mirror once again at the rings around her neck. Perfect little paintings of her abusive boyfriends hands. She felt hands grip her waist and she turned around.
"What do you want?" She hissed in a raspy whisper, when she noticed it was Andre.
"To see my girlfriend." He stated, pulling her lips to his. She kissed back, not wanting to make him too mad, then pulled away. Jade loves Andre more than she loves herself. She has forced herself to like being thrown around. She craves it. Because that is pretty much the only attention she gets. They never talk. He knows nothing about her. All he knows is he feels better beating her. He feels like a man, pushing her around. He also knows, he likes having her in bed. And, Jade knew that. But, she didn't care. She loved him too much to tell. Loved him too much to let go. She loved him too much to say no. Too much to fight back. She turned back around to her locker. He didn't like that. He turned her around quickly, and pushed her against it.
"Ow, what?" She spat.
"I was talking to you!" He said, gripping her wrist way too tight. She sighed, leaned her head against the locker door.
"Ok, so talk." She said, quietly.
"What is this?" He pulled a piece of paper from his bag and showed it to her.
"Uhm, you see, its called paper." She said, sarcastically. He pushed her up harder against the locker. She read the first line on the paper. It read: Hollywood Arts Acceptance Letter. She looked up at him.
"Well?" He growled. She looked down and whispered something he couldn't hear. She was even more quiet since her throat hurt.
"I was accepted?" She tried to smile.
"Who said you could enroll?" He growled, fisting her hair. She whined.
"Andre, please. We're at school." She said. Andre didn't care who saw him. Everyone knew what went on between he and Jade. Jade knew she couldn't go to HA without Andre's approval. She had been living with him for the past year. Her mother walked out on her father at that time and her father started drinking, beating her. Little did she know at that time she would get abuse from both places. But she preferred Andre hitting her. Andre was a lot weaker than her father.
"I don't care where we are!" He said.
"Andre, baby, it's just an acceptance letter. I know I'm not allowed to go." She whined. "I just thought I would give it a shot…" He let go of her hair and she winced.
"Damn, right you aren't allowed." He said.
"Well…What if you got accepted? Could we both go?" She would do anything to go to HA. He sighed.
"We'll see." He growled and walked away.
~that night~
Jade's POV:
"Jade!" Andre called me into the kitchen. I walked in, not knowing what to expect.
"Yeah, babe?" I sighed walking to his side.
"Go to the grocery store for me." He, of course, didn't ask me. He told me.
"Uhm, for what?" I asked, rubbing his upper arm. He looked at me, kissed me quickly, then handed me a piece of paper. Must have been a list. He kissed me again then muttered 'hurry' under his breath.
"Ok." I smiled and walked to my car. Sometimes when he is rough and mean to me I can't help but get turned on. Sounds strange, I know. But, it's true. I drove the grocery store, quickly to get what I needed. I plowed through the store and then went to the register, to pay. There were 3 people sitting on the bench next to the check out counter. The store must have been closing soon. There was 2 girls and a boy. The boy had a puppet with him. One girl had brown hair and the other had bright red hair. But the main one who caught my eye was the one they must have been waiting for. The one ringing me up. He had dark brown long hair and very tan skin. He was tall. And through his tight shirt I could tell, he had a nice body. I looked at the brunette girl from the corner of my eye. She was wearing a Hollywood Arts jacket.
"Hey, you guys go to Hollywood Arts?" I said, not being able to bring my voice very loud. The brunette stood and said "Yeah." I unison with the boy at the counter. I smiled, wishing I could go. Its been my dream since I moved to California 2 years ago. I searched my pockets trying to find my cash, or my credit card.
"Shit." I whispered.
"What's wrong?" The boy at the counter asked. I sighed.
"I forgot my card." I said. The red head stood up and looked at me.
"What's wrong with your neck?" She said in a sort of squeaky voice. I sighed again.
"Long story." I told her. "Shit. If I don't get these my boyfriend is going to kill me." I said, rubbing my neck.
"Did he do that?" The boy with the puppet asked, pointing at my neck. Why lie to complete strangers?
"Yeah, and if I don't get this stuff I'm gonna be in so much trouble." I rubbed my head.
"Here." The boy at the counter slid his card through the cash register.
"What are you doing?" I asked. He smiled at me.
"Helping you." He bagged my things and sat them at the end of the counter. I smiled. Happy that I wouldn't get beat again today. He walked out from behind the counter and held out his hand.
"I'm Beck." He said, shaking my hand. "And this is Tori, Cat, and Robbie." He pointed to each person as he said their name.
"I'm Jade." I said. "Thank you so much. Really. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't get this stuff. I'll come back tomorrow and pay you back!" I said.
"No, you don't have to pay me back.." He said. "But, come back tomorrow." He smiled. "I get off at 3." I smiled.
"Ok. See you then. Bye guys." I waved to the other 3, walked out of the store, and drove home, smiling.