Chapter 4

Song: Because of You by Kelly Clarkson

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" Kate started awake as her alarm cried out into the silent room. She glanced at the clock that read 6:30 am, groaned, and dragged her tired body out of bed. She quickly skipped across the cold floor and into her bathroom, locking the door behind her. After turning on the shower, she walked back to the mirror and looked in, dreading what she might see. Wincing, she examined the swollen black area around her right eye. This had to be the absolute worst black eye she had ever gotten, of course, Wayne was probably twice as strong as anyone who had ever punched her before. Her eye was as black as Wayne's heart and was completely swollen shut. Her cheekbone was very bruised and sore to any movement of her nose or mouth, as was the bone above her eye. She quickly showered and dried her hair, trying to move her mouth as little as possible, all the while thankful that there was a lock on the bathroom door. She hated to think of what horrible thing could happen if Wayne happened upon her while she was showering. She shuddered and pushed away that nasty, nightmarish thought. She pulled on her robe to shield off the cold and walked over to her closet. As she searched for an outfit, her eyes were drawn to the short denim skirt her mother had gotten her for Christmas. When she had first seen it, she had been completely against wearing it because it wasn't exactly the type of skirt she usually wore but today it she looked at it in a new light. She tried it on and it fit perfectly, settling on just the right spot at her hips. It was like it had been specially designed to fit her. Kate chose a medium green camisole and a long-sleeved white collared shirt to go over it. Rolling up the sleeves, she picked out her shoes, put on her necklace, finished her make-up, and headed to her door, but something was wrong. She didn't hear any of the noises she usually heard when she was getting ready in the morning. On most days, her mom would be downstairs getting ready to go to work, but today all was silent. Not wanting to go down and add a new bruise to her collection if Wayne caught her before she could find her mom, she decided it would be safe to eat one of the leftover doughnuts she had been allowed to take home from the store two days ago. She ate quickly and gathered up her things. Glancing at the clock, she saw that she had fifteen minutes before the bus was due to arrive at her corner so she got out her make-up again and tried to make her eye a little less noticeable but quit because it hurt so much at the slightest touch. Deciding that she wouldn't risk missing the bus again, she grabbed her coat and walked to the door of her room, which had been shut all morning. She turned the handle but nothing happened. The realization hit her harder than Wayne's punch last night: she was still locked in her room. Her legs trembled as she sat down on her bed. She had been locked in her room before but her mom always came and unlocked it sometime in the middle of the night so Kate could get out if trouble came. Then Kate remembered, her mom had flown out the previous morning for a meeting with her lawyer in Pennsylvania. She wouldn't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Kate had thought she could survive until her mom got back but after yesterday, she wasn't so sure. She went back into her closet and grabbed another change of clothes and her basic necessities. Her aunt and uncle had always said she was welcome and they knew her step-dad so she would be more than welcome. But first she had to get out of her room. Not that big of a deal, she had snuck out before but she had to make sure not to wake up Wayne.

When James woke up on Wednesday morning, everything was dark. He glanced at his clock and saw that it read 6:45 am. 'What on earth made me wake up this early?' he wondered. Quickly realizing that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, he showered and went to make himself a nice hot breakfast. After having a nice meal of eggs and bacon, and completely destroying the kitchen in the process, he gathered up his backpack and other things he would need that day and headed out to his truck. It was a quarter until eight and he figured that Kate would be heading to the bus stop anytime now, so he parked his truck at the corner and pulled out his very worn copy of his favorite book Watership Down and began to read. The minutes passed quickly and the next time James looked up it was 8:15. 'Where could she be?' he wondered. Yesterday she got here at 7:55, right as the bus pulled away. Today the bus was long gone and he hadn't heard word one from that house. He looked up and saw a small figure making its way slowly but surely across the roof of Kate's house toward the trellis on the side. Smiling to himself, James put the truck in gear and drove down the street to park his truck quietly in front of Kate's house.

Kate looked up when she heard the motor turn over. She had seen the truck at the corner and had been suspicious but now she realized that the only person who could possibly be in it was James. She began to hurry her climb so that by the time he parked his truck in front of her house, she was almost ready to begin her decent down the trellis. He came over and stood underneath her, grinning.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked quietly.

"Immensely," he whispered back.

"Stop being a pervert and get over her and help me."

"Okay, throw me you backpack." The air whooshed as the heavy backpack flew through it to land in James' arms.

"Good grief, whatcha got in here Freckles?"

Kate blushed and didn't answer. As she got lower, James set down her bag and moved to help her down. As his hands gripped her waist, his eyes turned hard. He slowly lifted her down to the ground. She couldn't weight more than 90 pounds, he thought to himself. And I'm no doctor but that is majorly under weight for someone who is five foot five.

"Thanks for you help. I take it you got your truck fixed," she asked as she picked up her bag and walked towards it, being careful not to let James see the right side of her face.

"Yep, hose that connects engine and fuel had a leak. I fixed it and it runs good as new," responded James, who had noticed a black smudge on the side of her face.

"Hey Kate, I think you got…What on earth happened to your eye!" James asked as Kate automatically turned when her name was called.

She grimaced and told him the story of Wayne as they got into the truck and drove to school. When she was finished James drove in shock for a few minutes.

"Well why didn't you call the police after he hit you?" James wanted to know.

"It wouldn't help. The sheriff is Wayne's best friend from high school. He doesn't believe me or my mom and refuses to make him stop." Kate had told her aunt and uncle this many times but if Kate ever came over to their house with bruises, they always called the police, which was the clue for Kate to spend the night.

"Anyway, I'm spending the night with my aunt and uncle tonight so I'll be safe there."

"Okay," James replied as he parked his truck. What he really wanted to do was go back to Kate's house and throttle the man who would put a fifteen-year-old girl through that kind of pain so often she had a plan when she had a plan to deal with it. He stifled the urge and looked at Kate while she chattered away. He smiled. If she would be okay, he could at least pretend. He let her talk for a while, just glad to be in the company of a friend.