A Scarred Soul
Remembering
"Come here, you stupid whore!" He yelled as she was trying to run from him. She ran up the stairs, in the hope she could lock herself in the bathroom, but halfway up the stairs, he grabbed her ankles and dragged her down the stairs.
"Please, daddy! No!" She screamed, begging for him to stop, raising her arms above her face in an attempt to shield her from the blows of his fists.
"You will learn to obbay me, Haley!" Nick James, Haley's father, yelled as he kept hitting her over and over again.
Haley slowly opened her eyes as she tried to remember why she was laying on the floor of her bathroom. All though she did not want to remember it, it was printed into her memory.
After her father was done hitting her, she slowly climbed up the stairs, into her room, to her bathroom, where she passed out. It can't have been more then minutes since she blacked out.
She slowly stood up as she heard someone enter her room, filled with fear that it was her father coming to finish what he started. But as she saw the shadow of the small tiny person walking across her room, she sighed in relief.
Step by step, she walked out of the bathroom and sat down on the bed, next to her mother, Sally James.
"I'm so sorry sweety, but you know how he gets sometimes. I just want you to know that he loves you very much, we both do, and we just want the best for you." Sally explained, avoiding Haley's eyes.
"Yeah, I know, you've been telling me the same thing for 5 years now, eversince I was 11 years old. I understand, I'll be a better daughter." Haley replied. Her tone sounded angry and harsh. She blamed her mother for not helping her, for allowing her father to do these things to her. In her opinion, her mother was as bad as her father.
"Okay, good. Make sure to cover up for school tomorrow. You don't want anyone to know our buisiness. Goodnight." Sally James said as she stood up and left the room.
Haley took a deep breath as she felt the tears flow from her eyes, past her cheeks, slowly dripping of her chin. She layed herself down and thought about that faithfull day where it all went wrong. The day when it happened for the first time.
A young, energetic girl was sitting in her daddy's office, playing with her dolls as her dad was making a work related phone call.
She threw her dolls in the air, she loved to do that. I made her feel as if she could fly. But she threw one doll to high, too far. The small blonde barbie doll hit the glass door of her father's book cabinet. The glass broke into a million pieces.
Pieces of glass hit into her, scraping her face, arms and legs. Haley started to scream and cry intensly. All she wanted was for her father to help her.
She saw Nick James walking towards her and she reached her arms out, in the hopes her would pick her up, and tell her everything would be fine. But instead of doing that, he did something that would change her life and her view on it forever.
"You stupid girl ! Look what you did!" He said, raising his arm, hitting her across the face, once, twice, untill she was so beaten she couldn't go to school for a month because her face was so swollen and bruised.
Haley whiped away her tears, she wouldn't cry, she couldn't, she wouldn't let him see her weakness. He would only punnish her for it. With those thoughts, she slipped away into a dream where all her fears were gone and her entire world was amazing. A world where she was happy, if that was even possible.
She woke up early the next morning, it was only 4.30 am. She always got up this early, so she'd have enough time to shower and cover all the bruises on her face.
She undid her bra, very carefully, as she was filled with bruises over her entire body. She slipped out of her underwear, turned on the hot water of the shower and stepped inside.
The hot water felt so good on her bruised body, it eased her pain a little bit. She stayed in there for almost half an hour, untill her skin was bleeding red.
As she got dressed, she carefully picked out clothes that would cover her entire body. A long jeans pants to cover the bruises on her legs, a long sleeved t-shirt to cover the bruises on her arms, stomach and back.
She also put on a scarf so no one would see the hand imprent that was forced onto her throat from when her father tried to hold her down. She then started with the long and slow process of covering the bruises on her face.
Around 7 am, she was finally ready. As she looked into the mirror, she dreaded another day of school. She was a good student, straight A's, she had to be, to please her father. But she had no friends.
She had one friend, up untill two years ago, her best friend. But as the beatings by her father got worse, she shut down and pushed him away up untill the point where they were no longer friends.
Lucas was one of the popular guys now, big shot high school basketball player, with his very popular cheerleader girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer. His half-brother, Nathan Scott and their friend, Brooke Davis. The most popular girl in school.
Haley grabbed her back pack and walked down the stairs. Luckely, her father and mother were always gone this early in the day. They worked in the same law firm and always started early so they could be home at a descent hour.
She didn't eat breakfast, she didn't feel like it. Her throat was still very soar and painfull, so she didn't think she could eat anything anyways.
Haley didn't have a car. She had once asked for one, about a month ago, but her father got so mad and told her she was too young and too irresponsible to drive her own car. That harsh speech followed by one of the worse beatings she had had in the last couple of months, not including last night.
She started to walk to school, a 20 minute walk. But she had hardly left and a car pulled up next to her.
"Hey, you're Luke's friend, right ?" the young blonde, Peyton Sawyer, asked her.
"I used to be. Why ?" Haley asked, she had learned to be suspisious of everyone, that was one thing her father had tought her.
"No reason. 'You want a ride ?" Peyton asked, she was very friendly, very unlike what Haley had expected from someone like her.
"Thanks." Haley said as she walked to the other side of the car, stepped inside and put her seat belt on.
Peyton started to drive, rather slowly, as if she wanted to keep Haley in her car as long as possible.
"So... He talks about you, you know ? Lucas, he talks about you a lot." Peyton said, breaking the ice. It kind of took Haley off guard, which caused her to completely go quiet.
"It's okay, you don't have to say anything, but I do hope you'll listen to what I have to say next." Peyton said, briefly looking at Haley before turning her attention back on the rode. Haley just nodded.
"He misses you, Haley. He always talks about how much he misses her best friend. He's worried about you too. He doesn't understand why you pushed him away." Peyton explained, Haley had to try harder than ever to hold back her tears.
"Euh, I was kind of hoping, that, if you saw him at school today, you could talk to him. Say hello, if you want." Peyton said, finally reveiling her true intentions of why she gave Haley a ride.
Haley was still stunned, not knowing what to say to that, so all she did was nod, again.
The rest of the drive, which lasted for less then 2 minutes, was completed in pure sillence. Haley and Peyton stepped out of the car. Haley thanked her and started to walk away.
"Think about what I said !" Peyton yelled after her, Haley turned around and nodded once again.
As she entered the hallway of the school, planning to walk to her locker, she saw Lucas, standing next to his brother Nathan Scott. She stared at him for several seconds, before making the decision, right there and then, to go talk to him.
She walked up to him, thinking about what to say, but having no idea. Before she could figure out what to say, she was standing before him.
"Haley ? Hey." Looking said, clearly suprised by this encounter, but joy sounded in his voice too.
"Ex-girlfriend ?" Nathan mocked as he looked from Haley to looked.
"Euh, no, we used to be friends, best friends. Is something wrong Hales ?" Lucas asked Haley, after informing Nathan about his relationship with Haley.
"No, I just thought we could talk, maybe, if you want, I mean you don't have to, but..." Before she could finnish her sentence, Lucas interrupted her.
"I'd love to talk Hales, lets go for a walk... outside." Lucas added as he saw the curious look on his brother's face.
Haley and Lucas walked outside to the parking lot, where Haley had just come from after getting a ride from Peyton.
"So, what's up Hales ?" Lucas asked, giving Haley a friendly smile.
"I wanted to talk to you. I... I miss you, Luke. I miss us, our friendship." Haley said, again, trying to hold back some tears. That had become a daily mission, holding back her tears. Sometimes, in class, her eyes would begin to tear up so easily for no reason.
"I miss our friendship too, Hales. You're my girl, you know that. I'd really like us to be friends again. Rebuild our relationship. What do you think ?" Lucas asked her with a big smile on his face.
"I'd like that, a lot." Haley replied on which Lucas took her off guard and hugged her, she moaned as she was very soar all over her body. Lucas quickly let her go.
"Are you okay ?" He asked, truly concerned about her wellbeing.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just forgot how strong you are. Really, you could crush a girl with your strength." She joked as she pretended to laugh. Lucas however, didn't laugh. He looked at her with much suspision in his eyes.
"I gotta get to class. I'll see you at lunch ?" Haley asked, changes the subject.
"Sure, see ya at lunch." Lucas said, kind of thrown of what just happened. Haley smiled a fake smile before she headed back into the school.
As the bell rang, Haley headed to her first class of the day. Gym. She already knew this would be extremely painfull for her. She had already dressed, she always dressed in the girls bathroom, so she could put on a long sleeved shirt under her gym t-shirt and very long soks, that came just under her short gym shorts.
People stopped questioning why she did that after a while. They figured she just didn't like to dress infront of other people.
It was soccer in gym today. Haley participated as much as possible in her condition. But suddenly, halfway through the game, Haley got hit with a ball right in her stomach.
She fell down on her knees, bending over, trying to gasp after air. The gym teacher and all the other girls of her class, incuding Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis ran over to her.
"Are you okay ?" The female gym teacher asked as she and some other girl helped Haley up.
"Yeah, I'm fine, good shot." Haley said, making some of the other girls laugh.
"Why don't you skip the rest of the class, go hit the showers." the teacher said, Haley thanked her and headed to the showers.
Usually Haley would wait to shower untill all the other girls were gone, she was lucky she had a free period after gym. Haley was glad she could take a shower for once without getting looked at because she didn't shower with the other girls.
But she didn't want to take any risks, so it was a short shower, only 5 minutes. Haley had never heard the girl coming up behind her and gasping for air when she saw Haley's bruised back and legs.
"OMG." the girl whispered, making Haley jump up and turn around. Now she saw her stomach and her arms and throat. The girl could even see the bruises on Haley's face, since Haley's make-up had been washed off by the water and she hadn't had time to put new make-up on.
Much to Haley's shock, the girl standing before her was no one less than Brooke Davis, most popular girl in school, but most importantly, Lucas's friend.
"What happened to you ?" Brooke asked in horror as she saw how badly hurt Haley was.
"I fell down the stairs lastnight, no big deal." Haley said, hoping from the bottom of her heart that Brooke would believe it.
"You fell ? So why do some of those bruises look old and other brand new ?" Brooke questioned.
"Please, don't tell anyone. Just leave me alone, please." Haley pleaded as tears ran down her cheeks.
Brooke opened her mouth as if she was about to protest, but decided to stay quiet when she saw the dismay on Haley's face. Brooke nodded and left the gym.
Haley quickly changed into her clothes, put the make-up back on her face and left the gym, avoiding Brooke's stares at all costs.
During the rest of her classes before lunch, all Haley could think about is that someone knows, not everything, but enough. If Brooke would tell, everyone would find out, including her father. She had no idea what he would do if he thought she told someone.
As Haley walked into the cafeteria, she heard someone call her name.
"Hales! Hey, Hales, over here!" she heard Lucas call. She smiled and walked over to him, dissapointed to see he was not allone.
Peyton Sawyer and Nathan Scott were sitting at the same table. But that's not what frightened her, the one person she had feared the most these last hours, was sitting at the same table. Brooke Davis.
Haley pretended to play stupid, just smiled and sat down.
"Everyone, this is Haley James. She and I grew up together. Hales, this is Peyton, Nathan and Brooke." Lucas introduced everyone. Haley gave everyone a friendly smile, but she could feel Brooke was not buying her act. She could feel Brooke's eyes locked onto her.
About 10 minutes into lunch, Haley couldn't take it anymore. Being around Brooke was making her very nervous.
"I'll be right back, I gotta go to the bathroom." Haley said as she stood up and left the table.
Thank god no one was in the bathroom, she was free to cry or scream or break something and no one would know it was her. But again, she had an encounted with someone she really did not want to see.
Brooke Davis entered the girls bathroom and locked the door behind her. Then she checked all the toilets to see if they were really all empty. Once she concluded it was safe to speak, she adressed Haley.
"So, are you gonna tell me how you got all those bruises ?" Brooke questioned as she looked at Haley with compassion, but also fear.
"I told you, I fell." Haley lied, yet again, knowing that this girl would not accept that lie.
"Oh, you fell, what about the older bruises, did you fall then too ?" Brooke asked, with a very sarcastic tone, Haley noticed.
"I just bump into a lot of things, I'll be more carefull from now on." Haley lied, yet again. She was so tired of lying, but she had no choice.
"You bump into thing ? Like what, fists ?" Brooke asked, more like said, because Haley had the feeling Brooke had it all figured out.
"What do you care ? You're not even my friend." Haley said, rolling her eyes while shaking her head.
"You may not be my friend, but you're Lucas' friend. And any friend of Lucas' , is a friend of mine. Just, let me help, who's hitting you ?" Brooke asked, concern flowing through her voice.
"Please, I told you, I fell." Haley said, now crying again.
"Do you honestly think I'm that dumb ? I know you didn't fell or bump into things. But okay, if you wanna tell me you fell, take that scarf of. It's your neck, if you fell, it's very unlikely you'd have bruises there." Brooke said, now throwing all her attention to the scarf Haley is wearing. Which is very unusual on a day like today, since it's over 20 degrees outside.
Haley just stood there, scared out of her mind, not knowing what to do.
"If you don't take of that scarf, I'm going to Lucas, then I'm going to the principal and then, I'm gonna go to the pollice. It's your choice." Brooke saide, practicly forcing Haley to take the scarf off now.
Haley sighed as she slowly began to remove the scarf. This injury shocked Brooke more then any of Haley's other bruises. Brooke saw a hand imprented on her neck, as if someone has tried to choke her.
"Who did that to you ?" Brooke asked, now feeling nothing but empathy for Haley.
Haley swallowed before telling Brooke the truth.
"My... my father." She confessed.
"How long has he been doing this ? What about your mother ?" Brooke asked, hoping she'd get a straight answer, all though she didn't know what to do about the situation.
"5 years, my mother watches." Haley replies, feeling overwhelmed by shame.
"Okay, okay. You're staying with me tonight. I'll have my parents call your parents, but there's no way I'm letting you go back there tonight. You need to heal." Brooke came up with a temporary sollution, Haley nodded.
"Just one question, why are you helping me ?" Haley asked, completely thrown that someone would help her like that, that someone would care.
"I told you, you're Lucas' friend, besides, you need help and if no one else is prepared to help you, I will." Brooke said, answering Haley's question.
Haley put the scarf back on as Brooke called her dad to tell him about the sleepover. Haley was still not sure of why Brooke would help her, but all she knew was, she needed it, now more then ever...
TO BE CONTINUED