Chapter 7

Violet-

I could feel the sand on my arms and feet as I laid on the ground, it was amazing. It was so soft and warm, it was a good call to come here. I was trying to push back the feeling of dread that came over me when I thought of how my parents were going to react when they found out I ditched school, I could already picture the lecture on how we've barely been here two weeks and blah blah. I glanced over at the boy next to me and the smile on his face made me smile even more. I felt like I hadn't smiled like this in years and it was amazing.

"What are you thinking about?" Tate suddenly asked startling me out of my thoughts.

"Honestly I am thinking about how nice it is to be here, I don't even care how much trouble I get into for ditched school I really needed this." I say all at once and Tate nods in agreement.

"Sorry your going to get into trouble." Tate said and I shrugged.

"Its worth it." He doesn't say anything and goes back to looking at the ocean, I look at it too and looking at this huge amazing thing makes me realize how small I really am.

"I want to feel the water." I say suddenly, standing up before he can protest. I walking towards the water and I can here him behind me.

"Wait up silly girl!" He calls and I glance behind me and see him coming up fast. I let out a loud laugh and start running from him. He chases me until we almost get to the water, suddenly hes caught up to me and he grabs me around the waist and lifts me up high. I let out a shriek and he puts me down. We are both laughing now and I turn and look at him.

"You are fast!" I say in between deep breaths. He shrugs and shoves his hands into his pockets, like what I said was embarrassing or something. We both start heading towards the water again and when I feel the cool waves splash at my feet I sigh. This really was just what I needed.

"Where did you get that bruise?" Tate suddenly questions. I quickly look down at my arm and realize that I had rolled up my sleeves when we got here so I could feel the sand on them. I can see were my dad had grabbed me last night. It was a dark purple and blue color, I was a little surprised at the size of it. I look at Tate and he is looking at me. Now its my turn to turn with embarrassment and shrug.

"My piece of shit dad grabbed me last night, I guess a little to hard. He hasn't done that before, I am sure he didn't mean it." I wonder why I am defending my father, I know he meant it and will probably do it again. Tate doesn't say anything and is quite. It feels awkward now and I don't know how to proceed. Tate suddenly pulls his large sweater off and then to my surprise he pulls off his shirt as well. I suck in a breath not expecting that, I am completely caught by surprise and I am unsure what to do. Then he slowly turns so his back is facing me and I suck in another breath. His back if full of buries and what looks like a burn or two. I gingerly touch one of his bruises he doesn't flinch but I see him suck in a breath so I know they must hurt. He pulls away suddenly and starts quickly tugging back on his shirt and sweater.

"What happened?" I ask cautiously. He wont look me in the eyes and is looking down at his feet, his hands in his pockets.

"My piece of shit mother, she gets drunk and likes to whack me with things. Or put her cigarette out on me." He just shrugs and starts walking again. I don't say anything and start following behind him, my feet sloshing the water as we go.

"We should go get some food." Tate says out of know where and I just nod. We start heading back up the the beach where we both left our shoe. Since our feet were wet and are now covered in sand we just pick them up and start heading towards some food stands by the beach. We are almost there when my phone starts ringing. I pull it out of my pocket with the hand that isn't holding my shoes and I see its my mom. My stomach turns, they must know I am not in school now. I reject the call and I see on my screen it's almost noon. Tate is looking at me questioningly but I ignore him as my phone starts ringing again, this time its my dad. My stomach dips even more but I ignore his call as well. Before I can even put my phone away I start getting text messages from my dad

WHERE ARE YOU?

The all caps makes me annoyed and I wish I can just chuck my phone to the ground, but I know I can't. He sends another message and I shiver.

GET HOME NOW

DON'T MAKE THINGS WORSE ON YOURSELF

IF YOU DON'T GET HOME WITHIN THE HOUR YOUR BEING SENT AWAY

I suddenly stop walking and Tate realizes after a moment and turns and looks at me.

"Whats wrong?" He asks and I show him the rapid fire text my dad had been sending me. He lets out a slow sigh.

"So what do you want to do?" I honestly don't know, I don't want to be sent away, but I also can't stand being near my family anymore. I look at Tate and my heart pumps, I don't want to leave him. I don't know if I can ever actually be with him but hes the first person to make me laugh in a very long time and I don't want to loose that.

"I think we should get home so my dad doesn't kill me." Tate nods, I can't tell if hes disappointed or not.

"Lets go." We both stop and sit on a bench and brush the sand off our feet the best we can before putting our shoes back on. We end up calling a cab to come pick us up because it took more than an hour to walk here earlier and I don't want to risk it. The cab shows up 15 minutes later and I start getting in, but I see Tate just standing there.

"Are you coming?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Its probably not a good idea to be seen coming home with me, I don't know if your dad knows about some of the stuff I've done but I am sure he will soon. My mom wants me to start seeing him so I am sure all my files will be sent to him. Just trust me, it will be better for you not to show up with me." Tate says and I frown, I hadn't told him yet that my dad doesn't want me to see him anymore, but its like he some how knew. I jump from the cab and give him a big hug, I can tell it surprised him at first because it takes him a moment to hug me back. He squeezes me tight before letting go and I get back into the cab.

"Thanks for today, it was worth it to me." I say to him before the cab starts driving off. I wave my hand out the open window and Tate waves back. Once I can't see him anymore my stomach starts doing summer saults. I don't know what my dad is going to do but whatever it is it can't be good. The drive is much faster then the walk and we get there in about 15 minutes. I take a deep breath as we get to the corner of my street. I tell the cab to stop here because I don't want my dad to see it. I pay him all the money I had on me and then I step out.

I slowly start heading down the street towards my house, the hour dead line is almost up so I rush a little at he end. I think my dad must have been standing at the door because he has the door open before I even start walking up the porch steps. He doesn't say anything as I enter the house, he closes the door behind me and I think about making an escape up to my room. Before I could he grabs my upper arm and pulls me into the living room. My mom is sitting there looking upset, she jumps up when she see me.

"Where have you been?" She starts blubbering, like she really cares or something. I know its just the pregnancy hormones.

"Sit." My father barks out and I comply sitting on the couch next to my mother who has sat back down.

"Are you really skipping school? We have been here for barely two weeks Violet, do you really think that's okay? Where have you been?" Hes demanding in a harsh tone and I flinch, I hate the way he speaks.

"I was at the beach." I answer honestly, leaving out the part about Tate of course. My dad takes a deep breath like what I said was the worst thing in the world. He is suddenly up from his seat and across the room before I can really process whats happening. His hand lifts and he slaps me across the face, hard. I can hear my mom gasp but not say anything as my father is standing in front of me red faced and breathing harshly.

"Get to your room, I don't want to see your disrespectful face anymore." I don't say anything, I just stand up and run to my room. My eyes filled with tears as I get upstairs and slam my door hard, before leaping onto my bed. I start sobbing and it takes all my energy not to reach for something sharp to cut myself with. I wont give that asshole anymore ammunition then he already has. I start calming down after a while, my face is stinging bad and I finally sit up slowly. My face is sticky with tears and one side of my face is throbbing. I am startled when I hear a knock at my door.

"Violet, let me in." I hear the soft voice of my mother. I am unsure if I should let her in or not. Shes been just as distant as my father and she has just sat by and watched him hurt me twice now.

"Please sweetie." I hear her beg at my door and I relent for some reason as I stand and open my door. My mom is standing there with a pack of ice in her hand.

"Sweetie I am so sorry." She says as I let her into my room. She sits on my bed and I sit next to her, she puts the ice pack on my face and I lean on her shoulder and start crying again.

"Shh its okay, your father isn't going to hit you again I promise." She starts rubbing my back and I hope this isn't a trick.