So...I'm a worthless writer, and a horrible updater. Sorry guys. It took me FOREVER to do this chapter, but I was determined to continue it. Maybe next chapter will be better and quicker coming.
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We sat in front of the movie, my arm around Miley, my hand in hers. She had insisted on continuing to rub ice over my hand, ignoring my assertions that my hand was fine. Not that I minded. She was gentle, so much so that the pain in my hand faded a bit.
We watched the credits roll once the movie was over, and Miley spoke first. "Well, I'll drive you home now."
"Are you sure? I could help with the dishes." She had cooked for us, a simple breakfast-for-dinner kind of thing.
"No, no. I'll take care of those when I get back."
"What time is-"I paused, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket. I almost ignored it, but then it vibrated again, signaling someone was calling me. "Just a sec. Hello?" I asked, answering the phone.
"Hey Lils, can I come over? Please? I don't want to be home right now." It was Sarah, and she sounded desperate.
"Sar…I'm not home right now."
"Well, where are you? Will you be home soon?"
"I'm at M…" I paused, seeing the panicked look on Miley's face. "My friend's. I'm at my friend's. But…I'm leaving now anyway. If you want to go to my house now, it doesn't take too long to get home."
"Thanks so much Lilly. I'll see you soon."
"Bye." I hung up and saw the confused look on Miley's face. "Well, I guess now I have to go home."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure. Something's wrong with Sarah. She's on her way to my house right now, so I have to go. Sorry."
"No, no. It's ok. Let's go." Miley grabbed her keys, locked the door, and we went downstairs. The ride back to my house was quiet, though not in an awkward way. I held my right hand in my left. It pulsed, sending fresh waves of pain every time my heart beat. I didn't want to let Miley know it hurt, though more than anything I wanted to whimper. Miley pulled up to the end of the block.
"I'm sorry to make you walk, especially late at night, but no one can see us. And, if your friend is at your house, then I can't even risk it." I couldn't really see the expression on her face in the dark car, but I was sure it was apologetic.
"It's ok. I understand." I leaned in to kiss her. I had only intended a quick kiss, but the moment our lips touched it was like putting a lighter to a gas leak. There was an explosion of heat, and the both of us wrapped our arms around each other, trying to get even closer over the gearshift. She wrapped her arm around my neck, while wrapping her other hand around part of my hoody, tugging me towards her.
Miley pulled back from me a little bit. "Lilly," she murmured, so close I could feel the words form on my lips. "You have to go."
"I…yea…" Being this close to her was clouding my mind. "I know...I know." I kissed her one more time. "I know." I opened the door, getting out.
"Bye girl." She said, so sweet that I couldn't help but smile, even though those words signified another chunk of hours without her. I shut the door, walking slowly down the block, reliving the last few hours in my mind, skipping over the time with Chet. I kept smiling until I got to the porch of my house.
I was walking along, staring at the ground, when I turned onto the sidewalk to my house. And I heard the crying. "Sarah?" I asked. "Sarah, what's wrong?" When I got closer to the porch, she looked up. I gasped.
Her face was swollen, her eyes a deep red. The light from the porch cast a strange glow over her face, making her look eerie and incredibly pale. But this wasn't the reason for my shock. Along the right side of her face were a series of bruises, as if she had been punched again and again. I crossed the final few steps to her. I gently touched the side of her face, and she jerked away, gasping in pain. "Sarah, who did this to you!?"
She stopped looking at me, her eyes facing the ground. "My Dad."
"And your mom didn't stop him?"
She shook her head. "He hit her too. She left…three weeks ago."
"Sarah," I sat down next to her. "Has he hit you before?"
"Not like this."
"Why didn't you tell me your mom left?"
"I…couldn't."
I wanted to press her for a better answer, because I thought we told each other everything. But, something told me it wasn't the time. I put my arm around her, and she broke down again. "Come on." I tried to make her get up, but she just latched on to me, going nowhere.
"Ok then." I mumbled as she cried into my neck. I put my arm under her legs, pulling her into my lap. She just tightened her grip around my neck. I could feel her tears soaking into the collar of my shirt. I slowly leaned forward, gathering my legs under me so I could stand. I pulled Sarah up with me. She wasn't light, but she wasn't too heavy either. I turned on the porch, walking to the door. Luckily, Sarah's grip on my neck was so tight that I had one arm free to open the door. I carefully walked in, making sure not to hit her head or legs on the door frame. I walked, slowly but surely, up the stairs, making my way to my room. The door was open, which for me was weird, but I walked in and carefully set Sarah on my bed.
She wouldn't let go of my neck when I tried to leave her on the bed, so I had no choice but to lie there with her. I lay on my back on the bed, and Sarah shifted her hold on me a bit, putting her head on my chest and her hand on my stomach. I wrapped my arm around her, trying my best to comfort her. I couldn't get her to stop crying, and each sob was hurting me too. I grabbed the remote to my stereo and turned it on to the radio station we both like. I hoped the music would calm her down a bit.
My phone started to ring. I picked it up quickly. "What is it?"
"Hey Lilly, it's Oliver."
"Oliver isn't it a little late to be calling?"
"That depends. What are you doing?"
"I can't talk now. Sarah's here and-"
"Okay, bye." He hung up quickly. "Weird," I mumbled, talking to myself. It took a moment for me to notice in the dark that Sarah had abruptly stopped crying, and was looking at me. "What?"
"What did Oliver want?"
"I don't know. When I said you were here, he just hung up."
"Weird…" She looked away. I let it go.
"Are you ok? You know, now that you're done crying?"
"I just…" She looked away from me again, facing the dark wall. "Let's not talk about it. Moment of weakness."
I wasn't sure what exactly to say, so I let that go too. We would talk about it later, whether she wanted to or not. "Ok. Well, I'm going to sleep then. I guess we don't have to talk about it." I pulled her arm off me, rolling off the bed.
Sarah rolled onto her elbows. "Where are you going?"
"I just need to change." I flipped on the light switch and walked to my dresser, undressing as I looked for the clothes I needed. I pulled on a pair of long shorts, turning to face Sarah. She was staring at me. "What?" I quickly pulled on a tank top.
"I…uh…nothing." I looked at her, wondering exactly what was wrong with her. But, thinking about it, being beaten is no easy thing to deal with.
"Do you want some clothes to sleep in?"
"Um…yes?" I pulled a pair of shorts and a tank top from my dresser, tossing them to Sarah. I sat down on the edge of my bed. I covered my eyes, reminding Sarah of a joke from long ago. When we used to have sleepovers we used to cover our eyes if someone were changing. She laughed, and I waited patiently for her to speak. "Ok, all done." I uncovered my eyes.
"Well, let's go to sleep. Are you going to school tomorrow?" I asked skeptically.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Sar, have you looked in the mirror?"
She touched her face. "That bad?"
"There would be a lot of questions. Personally, I say you roll on in to school and tell guidance. They'll call 911. Don't ever let him hurt you again."
"I can't Lilly. Would you call the cops the next time your mom tries to hurt you?"
"Of cour…" I stopped, freezing the lie in its tracks. I would never call the cops on her. She needed help, not jail.
"I didn't think so." Sarah crawled up the bed, lying down facing the wall. I shut off the light, and lay down next to her. "Sorry Lilly," she said without looking at me. "I know that was harsh. I just can't do it. He only hits me when I make him mad. So I won't make---"
"No Sarah." I spoke over her, spoke to the darkness. "It's not your fault. And if I can help it, you'll live here. There's no reason for you to deal with that."
"Thanks Lilly. You're definitely the best friend ever." She scooted closer to me, and I put my arm around her.
"It's gonna be alright." We stayed in silence, and eventually, her breathing evened out. Mostly alone in the dark, my mind wandered to Miley. I wished she was here, that she was the one in my arms. I also wished she could tell me how to help Sarah. Hiding at my house would only last so long. I thought about this for a long time. But, eventually I fell asleep, my mind preparing itself for tomorrow.
I walked down a hall, looking for Miley. I couldn't find her, but I needed to. She wasn't in her classroom, so I began running, looking for her in each classroom, left and right. Suddenly she ran around the corner at the end of the hall.
"Lilly!" She shouted my name, her voice full of panicked urgency. She began running towards me at full speed. She jumped to me, wrapping her legs around my torso and her arms around my neck, holding me in a tight embrace. I almost toppled under the force with which she crashed in to me, and struggled to regain my balance. "Oh, Lilly!" Miley half-sobbed. "They know." And before I could ask her what she meant, she bent her head and crashed her lips against mine. She held on tight, kissing me hard, seeming to beg for more.
"You!" Someone yelled, but the sound seemed far away, muffled. I wasn't curious enough to pull away from Miley, to turn my head the fraction it would take to see who was here with us. Then, it occurred to me that we couldn't do this here, in school, especially with someone here.
I pulled back from her to tell her that, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the cops coming. "Miley!" I said, panicked, unable to raise my voice above a hoarse whisper. "Run! Please." Her eyes went wide, and she turned to look just as the officers were in reach. One of the cops grabbed my arms, jerking me back, while the other attempted to unlock Miley's arms from around my neck. I ripped my arms free of the cop, wrapping them around Miley's middle. He grabbed my wrists, wrenching them loose and pinning my arms around my back. "Ah!" I yelled in pain. Suddenly, Miley's arms and legs released me.
"Don't hurt her!" She yelled, allowing the cop to pull her from me.
"Miley! No!" I tried pulling away from the cop, aching to have my arms around her.
"You have the right to remain silent." The cop by Miley began, putting her wrists into cuffs, pulling her away. She never took her eyes off mine, so the cop pulled her sideways.
"I'm so sorry Lilly!" She said. "I love you!" And then she disappeared around the corner, led away by the cop. I crumpled to the ground, disintegrating into tears.
"Hey kid," I looked up at the officer. He was looking back at me with a mixture of pity and disgust on his face. "Sorry." I wasn't sure whether he was apologizing for hurting me, or taking away Miley, but before I could ask, he turned and walked away. I looked around, and suddenly, there were students everywhere, giving me the same look the cop had.
"I always knew she was a dyke ." Amber stage whispered to Ashley. All the kids in the hall started to laugh. I looked around, mortified.
Jackson's face stood out from the crowd, looking at me with a face different from the others. There was a hurt on his face, a hurt so deep that it could only compare to the pain in my soul, the pain left in the absence of Miley.
"Jackson, I---" I began, stumbling towards him. He grabbed my arms right before I got to him, then pushed me away with enough force to send me to the ground. The crowd laughed louder.
"Is that why you wanted to be in our band? To come to my house to see Miley? You've ruined her life. You're disgusting and you're worthless." He stomped away, but not before he could flash me that look of hurt again. Sarah came forward from the crowd, helping me up and pulling me towards the front door of the school. I tried to look for Jackson, but it was too late. He was gone.
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So...what'd you think? I know it was short, and probably not what you expected. Let's see those reviews!
