Groggily I wake up, I look around, trying to make the room come into focus. The room finally comes into focus and I jerk upright, wincing in pain as I do. I look at the clock and let out a sigh of relief.

It's just around the time I would normally get up. I'm okay. I get my clothes and head to the bathroom as I check my phone.

THREE NEW MESSAGES, it flashes at me. I open it just as I get into the bathroom.

Nat - It's okay, tell me when you work next

Nat - Or maybe study together?

Nat - Or walk to school together…..?

Shit, I didn't answer her, she probably thinks I hate her!

Quickly I type a text, 'Yeah, we can walk to school together, if you want. I'm leaving the house soon. Also I am sorry I didn't text back, I fell asleep.' I hit send and get dressed, cleaning my wound as well. I gingerly rinse my cuts, biting my lip as I do. When I finish and re bandage my wound, I look at my phone. No new messages. I let out a slow sigh.

What was I expecting? Why would she like me? I glance at the clock and start to hurry. I grab my stuff and rush downstairs, thankfully he is asleep and his friends are gone. I make some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for him and rush outside. I look at my phone again,

ONE NEW MESSAGE.

Nat - I am at the park waiting

Me - I am on my way but I need to make a quick stop. I check my pocket to make sure I have my money for food.

Nat - Where do we have to go?

Me - I have to stop by the store to pick up some food. I won't have time to after school.

Nat - Don't worry, I can do it for you. It's not a problem, I don't have anything to do and I love shopping. What do you need?

Nat - Also, don't bother fighting

Me - Fine, I just need some smooth peanut butter, grape jelly, 2 things of white bread, loads of mac and cheese, and a four pack of butter.

I just hit send as I walk into the park, Nat spots me and immediately comes over. I attempt to say something about what just happened but she cuts me off.

"Don't worry about it, it gives me a reason to go shopping." She starts walking and I soon walk with her. I reach into my pocket and hand her the money.

"It's not a lot but it's all I have."

"It's okay, I will make do and get what I can." She smiles brightly at me and I smile back. We walk to school and we arrive early, just as I like to.

"We are here so early, do you always come so early?" she asks as we walk to my locker

"Yeah, I always come so early, it's easier that way." I reach my locker and quickly open it, putting my stuff in the locker and taking what I need.

"What do you mean, easier?"

"It doesn't matter, it's is silly really" I say as the school fills up. She nods and lets it slip, I smile gratefully.

"You shouldn't be seen around me, it could be bad for you."

"What do you mean?" Just as I am about to answer, Hunter spots me and knocks the stuff out of my hands. He slams me into the locker and I try to look at Nat, he follows my gaze and lets out a low chuckle.

He speaks low enough so that only I can hear, "You little bitch. What have I told you? You don't deserve friends. I'll help her realize how much of a bitch you are." He lets me fall down as he turns to Nat. He smiles and looks at her, she glares at him, not letting him get to her. He takes a half step back, almost seeming caught off guard, but he quickly recovers.

"Why would you hang out with someone like her when you could hang with a group like us?" He gestures to his group of friends, pretty, popular girls and strong, popular guys. I bite my lip to keep quiet, knowing that all of them are judgemental and shallow. I glance up at her and take a double take, she is flipping him off!

"I don't need you to tell me who I can and can't be friends with. And quite frankly, your "friends" seem fake. I'd rather stick with my real and interesting friend." she pushes past him and holds out a hand for me. I flinch before realizing she is trying to help me. I take her hand and let her help me up.

"Does he always do that to you?" she asks, concern in her voice

"You shouldn't have done that. He'll just hurt me worse and he might hurt you, it wasn't worth getting involved"

"I don't care what he will do to me. It was worth getting involved in because I care about you and you don't deserve that."

"It is nothing, I am used to it. You should go back and talk to him, forget about me."

She shakes her head before looking at me and smiling, "Hey, wanna skip?"

I look at her in surprise before nodding, "Yeah, that sounds good"

We walk outside and walk towards the park across the street, we both sit on the swings and gently swing as we talk.
"How long has this been going on?"

"Being hurt by Hunter or by others?"

"Who else hurts you?"

I think about whether I want to answer, after a few seconds I sigh and say, "My dad…. He hurts me really bad." I pause and try not to cry, "He beats me and rapes me, sometimes his friends join in to. He is always drunk, that's why I'm always working, to support him. To pay the bills and pay for food."

She looks at me, tears falling down her face, "Can I hug you?"

"Yeah"

She gets off the swing and hugs me tight, I smile sadly and lean into her.

"This feels nice, thank you."

"No problem. Hey, I can help you out! You'll be able to focus on school instead of going to work. And before you say that it's not fair or you don't want to take from me, I don't care. I'd be glad to help you, I promise. And it's not like we don't have enough money, we have loads. And you can sleepover anytime you want because we have such a big house and….."

I interrupt her "Thank you, for everything. It means so much to me. It feels nice to be able to talk to someone about this. I don't feel so alone."

"Don't mention it hun, I will always be here for you." She pauses for a second, looking slightly confused. "Hey, Chloe? Why haven't you told anyone? Why haven't you gone to the cops? Someone could take you away from him."

I smile sadly, wiping my eyes, "I have tried, I have told cops and teachers, no one believes me. They think because I am a "child" that this can't happen to me. And they think the marks are fake, or that I did them to myself."

She lets out a pitiful whimper and I feel bad. "Don't be sad, I'm used to it, 7 years of this. No worries, you are already doing so much to help me." She looks at me and I am shocked, she isn't looking at me with disgust, she looks at me with sympathy.

I could kiss her right now, I am so happy she doesn't think I am horrible.

"Hey, how about we go to my house? Relax and take it easy" she says to me with a beaming smile. Her happiness is contagious and I smile back.

Wow, I am actually, genuinely smiling. She actually made me smile!

"I would love to… if you don't mind that is."

"No worries, I would love for you to come to my house. It has been so long since I have had a friend over!' she gets up and claps her hands, doing what I think is a happy dance.

"Why are you dancing?" she laughs and I laugh too, covering my mouth as I do. I am surprised I am actually laughing.

"You look cute when you laugh, you stick out your tongue and I really like it. Also, I was dancing because I am so happy and excited for you to come over." I blush and look at the ground, moving my tongue back into my mouth.

"Thanks, let's head over to your house now" I stand up and almost fall, she quickly rushes over to me and grabs my waist, stabilizing me. I flinch and she notices, but she doesn't move her hands.

"I'm sorry I made you scared but I won't hurt you, I promise. And I know you won't be able to stop flinching everytime I touch you, at least not right away, but I just want you to know I won't hurt you." she smiles at me and I blush and smile back, realizing how close we are. She takes a deep breath and steps back, "Okay, let's go!" she reaches out her hand to me and I put mine in it after a few seconds of thought.

She says she won't hurt me, this has got to be too good to be true.

We arrive at her car and she unlocks it, jumping in and starting it. The music starts playing loudly and I'm glad it is loud because it covers the sound of my stomach. I look out the window so she doesn't see me grimace.

I need food soon, I am getting weak and dizzy. I really don't want to eat though, because I've already lost a lot this week.

We get closer to her house and I feel safe, relaxing for the first time in a very long time. She looks over at me and smiles before singing out the last lines of the song. She stops the car just as the last line plays, I sing along just as she stops singing and closes her eyes.

"We get colder as we grow older, we will walk so much slower." She looks over at me in total shock, smiling huge, I blush hard.

"You sound so good! Are you joining choir? Oh, I hope you do, because I would love for you to be in my class!" she stops and blushes, "Sorry, I am rambling and probably making you uncomfortable."

"Hey, it's okay, you don't need to apologize to me and you can ramble all you want. I would rather listen than talk anyway. And to answer you question, I talked to the choir teacher, I did a test and she says I can get in."

"Oh, that was you? You are in ASL? That's so cool, do you think you can teach me?"

"Maybe, well, I can try. My teacher says I am the best and fastest learner, she also says I am an amazing teacher, but I'm not sure. I would love to teach you but I may not be that good at it."

"Hey, that's okay, you don't have to be perfect. Let's go inside" she opens her door and I soon follow her. I gasp and look at her house in awe.

"Yeah, I know, it is huge and amazingly beautiful, I know. You should see the inside. We even have several butlers!"

"Woah….."

The outside is a perfect shade white, no dirt or dust visible to mar how clean it looks. There are two marble columns holding a arch that has red roses along the middle, in between two lines. The only color maring the outside. There are large windows that I can't quite see into, as they are covered by beige drapes. On either side of the arch, below the windows, are brightly colored flowers that seem to be in perfect health.

"And you can come here anytime. And help yourself to anything." she unlocks the door with a key that she then hands to me. "It is for you, so you don't have to ask before you come over. I don't sleep at night, insomnia and such, so feel free to join me." she opens the door and my jaw drops further.

I thought my jaw hit the floor when I saw they outside. My jaw must be 13 feet underground.

We walk into a wooden opening, with a coat rack on either side, also made of wood. The hooks are a perfectly polished silver, and the shelves don't seem to have any dust. The shoes, though there are few, are neatly placed under each coat, as if they belong to whoever owns the coat. Nat throws her school bag onto the shelf below the coat rack and kicking her shoes off, ruining the perfect fasade of perfectness.

"Don't worry about being neat, we have countless maids around, might as well make them do something." I nod my head and set my stuff on the shelf, kicking my shoes off as well. We start walking further into the house, and I gaze around eagerly, trying to see as much as I can. To my left, as we leave the hallway, I see a huge living room. There is a huge window covered by drapes which goes well with the wooden floors. Hanging on the wall is the largests T.V. I have ever seen, it had to be at least 80". There is one large couch and one loveseat, separated by a chair. On either side of the loveseat and couch there is a side table that is made of black wood, it contrasts the floors very well. When I look down I see a perfectly white rug.

Wow, I wonder how they get the rug to stay so clean. The room looks both lived in and not, which is a weird combination.

"No, no one actually uses the living room," she says as she looks back at me, "the maids know how to make it look that way though." I nod my head and rush after her. I glimpse a perfectly clean kitchen along with an extravagant dining area.

She stops in front of a closed door near the kitchen as she explains where we are, "This is the best room in the house, you know, besides my room." She laughs and opens the door, giggling as she hears me gasp. The room is a normal bedroom size, but instead of having a bed and stuff, it is full of all kinds of food. My stomach growls and I blush and hope she didn't hear it. She walks in, "What do you like? We have everything." she looks back at me and smiles encouragingly.

"I-I don't know, I usually don't eat much. I am trying to lose weight…" I trail off and stare at my feet. She looks at me sadly before grabbing a grey laundry basket.

"The maids always keep a basket in here for me, I tend to bring lots of food to my room." she hums as she starts to fill the basket. "Come on, grab some food. Anything you want, and don't worry about anything hun. I will show you something after we get food and put it in my room." I nod my head and start grabbing food, I make a small noise of surprise when I see Nerd Ropes and Cow Tails I instantly grab those and place them carefully in the basket, as if they are precious jewels.

She lets out a chuckle before nodding her head, "Good choice hun, now come on, let's go to my room. She walks out and I let out a laugh, the basket full of food sways precariously, looking as if it will tip over any second. She attempts to look back at me but the food is in the way so she shrugs her shoulders not thinking about being careful. I rush forward to catch the food that falls as she shrugs, letting out a gasp. I manage to catch it all and she laughs as she says, "Let's get to my room quick before anything else falls."

"Yeah, I can only catch so much perfectly before I manage to knock even more over." I let out a laugh as I say this and she laughs along. After walking a bit more, and having to catch a bit more food, we finally reach her room and she places the basket in a soft, cushioned pit. It is a giant blue rectangle that is a step down from the normal floor, it is all cushioned and it almost looks like a ball pit.

"This is my food spot, I usually eat here 'cause then I don't get crumbs on my bed." she explains to me as I look around her room. It is huge, about as big as two normal rooms, or about the size of our living room. She has a giant king sized bed near a window the bed is covered with pillows of various colors and two black blankets. The window is up kinda high, and it has a lip under it for someone, more like two someones, to sit on. There is a blue blanket on the lip, along with a pillow, and as I take a step closer, it looks as if the lip is cushioned as well. The walls are a deep blue, which goes well with a deep evergreen carpet. On one of the walls runs a bookcase that goes wall to wall and from ceiling to floor. It is full of many different kinds of authors, but they all seem to be fiction. There is a closed door that I assume go to a closet. Covering the walls are various posters, such as Supernatural, Stranger Things, Harry Potter, Five Nights at Freddy's, Mini Ladd, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, along with many others. She laughs and nods, "I have a huge room and it has so many things. Now, I have something to show you." She leads me towards a door I didn't see before, and it opens into a huge bathroom. She takes my hand and I am surprised I don't flinch.

I am just so comfortable with her, which will fuck me over in the end. She will leave just like everyone else did except hers will hurt really bad because she seems to care.

She stops in front of a scale and pulls over a curtain thingy. "This is going to sound weird but take your clothes off. Trust me, I won't peak." I bite my lip and start to speak, but before I get anything out, she says, "You think you need to lose weight and I am going to prove that you don't." I nod my head, and instantly bush because it's not like she can see me. I start taking off my clothes, and when I am done I cover my body, looking over to where she is. I see the outline of her and I relax a bit.

I should have checked to make sure she wouldn't take pictures of me or make fun of me before I got undressed. At least it doesn't seem like she has her phone out. I take a deep breath and ask, "Okay, now what?"

"Step onto the scale right in front of you" I look down and notice a scale, I move my clothes off of the scale and take another deep breath before stepping onto it.

"145" it calls out, and I cringe, letting out a small whimper.

Hey, at least I'm losing weight! But I still am so fat…

"See, I told you that you weren't fat! You weigh the same as me!" she calls out, making me jump and hurry to get my clothes on.

"I lost 30 lbs in the past 3 months, but I still weigh so much!" I smile sadly as I move towards her, finally fully clothed again. She tuts and when I see her face again I am shocked, she looks so sad, as if what I said hurt her. I walk close and slowly put my hand on her shoulder, trying to understand her sadness.

Her face softens and she looks more determined as she says, "You are a perfect weight and you have a body I would die for." she holds up a finger, as if she knew I was going to interrupt, "You may not see it, and others might not either because you cover your body up, but I promise you, I would kill for your body, and I love my body." she runs her hands over her body as she says that, letting out a small chuckle. Slowly, she grabs my hand, as if she was trying to make sure I didn't flinch, I give her a small smile and squeeze her hand. She leads me back to her room and we eat…. Well she eats…. I pick at the food and listen to her talk.

"And I never see them…" I tilt my head as I tune back in, after a second I realize she is talking about her parents. "They are always working. I hate it! I mean, they are good people…. I think… I don't remember them much. They were around when I was younger, but not for long. They never got me a nanny or put me in daycare, they just left me home alone at a young age. Like, who leaves a 3 year old home alone?! Especially in a house this big. At least I wasn't fully alone, there would always be a maid somewhere around the house, cleaning up my messes. I learned soon that no matter what I did, I wouldn't get their attention. So I stopped. I did what I wanted and stopped caring about their approval." she quiets down the longer she talked, until the last thing said was barely a whisper. I scoot closer to her and she lays her head on my shoulder, trying to hide the fact that she is crying. I lay there, doing my best to comfort her but not make it obvious I knew she was crying.

"That is absolutely horrible. You shouldn't have had to go through that. You deserve a family that cares about you and is there for you. I don't know how I would have gotten through that if I had to go through it." I tell her as I pet her hair, ignoring the sniffles. She shakes her head, as if trying to tell me it's not true, so I continue talking to her.

"You are so confident and you seem to know who you are, and that takes strength. You got through all of that and you made it out on top" I gently grab her arm and trace the vein on her wrist, "You got through that and you survived. You taught yourself, you did so many things and you didn't have as much help as many do. You were so young… and you did what you could. You did the best thing you could. And you are so sweet and special." she hugs me tighter and cries louder, making me sad.

How can someone so perfect be so broken? How can her parents be so cruel to leave her? How can they not see how perfect she is, how amazing she is?

We sit in silence for a while, I continue to pet her hair and hold her as her sniffles become less and I hear faint snores. I relax and close my eyes too, smiling slightly at her snores and soon sleep takes me as well.