Chapter 3: My Skin

I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I look at all my bruises that have never gone away, all the scars that litter my body. I look at my sunken eyes that have seen things that I wish I could erase. I look at my face. I look at my cheekbones that are more noticeable than they should be. I look at my waist that looks like a twig that could break at any moment. I look at my arms that dangle at my sides. Everything about me is a flaw. I've been treated so wrong.

I shake my head and turn away from my reflection. There's a soft knock at my door so I walk to the door and pull it open. I expect it to be Michonne or maybe Miranda, but I come face to face with The Governor. "Milton tells me you left The Fights early yesterday." He says walking in uninvited. I glare at him. "I did." I say. "Why?" He asks, turning to me. "Because I don't want to watch them, duh." I say. "It isn't an option kid." He says. "No, it's not an option for me. It is for everyone else." I say. The Governor turns to me. "You just don't know when to stop, do you?" He asks. "I guess not." I say. "You need to learn then." He says. "I just don't take orders from ass holes." I shrug. He glares at me. "I would stop is I were you." "You aren't me." I say.

The Governor raises his hand above his head and slaps me. "Follow the rules and this wouldn't happen." He says and I hold my hand to my cheek. "I'm used to it." I whisper weakly. "And I'm not your bitch, I'm not gonna do whatever you tell me to." I snap. The Governor shakes his head and storms out of my room. I watch the door slam shut. I fall onto the bed and bury my face into my pillow and scream.

"You told me she wanted to do it!" The Governor yells at Merle. "She did, she's just bein' a lying brat." Merle says. I lay there in my bed hearing them argue outside my room. I brush my hair out of my face and glance at the door. It hits me then: I could have died tonight. Part of me wishes I had.

"I don't know if she's alive anymore or not…I mean for all I know they could all be dead." I mutter. Michonne looks at me. "At least there's a chance." I shrug. "I guess, but I could just end up chasing shadows." Michonne sighs.

"When are you gonna teach me to shoot?" I ask. Michonne looks around. "I was thinking about that and…maybe it's best if we do get out of here first. You can use a knife, they doesn't take much skill. Besides I don't even own a gun myself and I've lasted. It's not a necessity." I nod. "Okay. Fine by me." I say taking a deep breath. We sit in silence for a while watching pedestrians pass by.

"Stay here." Michonne says after a while and gets up and walks away. I bite my thumb nail and watch her go. I lean back in my chair and look up at the sky. "Sophia?" I look back down and blink a few times before Miranda comes into focus. "Are you okay?" She asks. "Why?" I ask, not answering her question. "You have a bruise on your face." She says. "Yes, I do." I say sarcastically. "That's not good, what happened." "Thanks for sharing, and I really don't think you would believe me if I told you." I shrug.

Miranda looks at me. "My mom wants you to come live with us." Miranda blurts. I stand up. "She does now does she?" I snap, towering over Miranda. She nods and gulps. "Well tell her I don't want to come and for the billionths time, she is not your mom! She is some random lady that saved your ass on the first night after your real mom was eaten by your dad. You don't know any better than to think she's your mom. For all you know she could have a been a child murderer before this! So just shut up and leave me alone!" I yell. "I'm so sorry." She whimpers and runs away. I watch her go and take deep even breaths.

Then a voice in my head says, "What makes you any better than him Sophia? You just screamed at an innocent kid that was just trying to help." I stand there. "I know." I whisper to no one. "Hey, are you okay?" A woman puts her hand on my shoulder. I look up at her. "Yes, I'm fine." I say as nicely as I can. "Are you sure, you look really pale?" "Yeah, don't worry about me." I murmur when I see Michonne standing behind her waiting for me. I brush past the woman and come to Michonne's side. "You can't draw attention to us." She whispers harshly. "Sorry." I say. "Look, I know things are hard for you, I know it can't be easy. I get it, but you gotta relax okay?" Michonne says. I nod. "Okay."

"Please, stop calling me." Mom whispers to someone on the phone. I stand on the other side of the wall listening. "No, stop…I don't need this. I'm married now, whatever happened between us then doesn't apply now." She says. After a while she says. "Bye." And I hear her put the phone back on the receiver.

"Who was that?" I hear Ed ask her, he must have come in from the other side of the room. "No one, just and old friend. You remember Olivia?" Mom says. "Yeah, sure do, but when did Olivia start sounding like a guy?" Ed asks calmly, too calmly. "I, uh…" Mom trails off. "Who is he?" Ed yells. I jump. "Ed you don't understand, it's not like that!" Mom says. I peek around the corner. "Who is he?" Ed yells louder and pushes Mom up against the wall.

"Tell me!" He screams.

"I want to leave soon." I say as Michonne and I head back to the apartments. "We will. I think tomorrow night actually. This town isn't good for you…if you're here any longer I'd bet you'd kill yourself." Michonne says. "I've considered it." I shake my head. "Something's on your mind, what is it?" Michonne asks.

"I was thinking about my Mom." I say. "What about her?" "Well…would it be a bad thing is she cheated on her husband if he was abusive and a jerk? I didn't even call him Dad. But I think she was with someone else and it made me uncomfortable, but also proud of her for doing something against Ed…I don't know." I bite my lip. "Who?" "I don't know…she never said his name. Ed couldn't even beat it out of her." I laugh sickly. Michonne looks at me from the corner of her eye.

"I'm sorry." She mutters. "Stop. Don't say sorry for something you didn't do. I hate that. The person that needs to say sorry is Ed, not you. You did nothing. Who ever thought of saying sorry like that was an idiot." I shake my head and kick the ground. Michonne says nothing. "My friend, Carl, used to say that all the time and I was like 'shut the hell up Carl, you didn't do anything'. Uhg…" I say. Michonne sighs.

"It's just a nice thing to say." She shrugs. "Yeah well…" "We got a big day tomorrow, you should go to sleep." Michonne says. "Okay, thanks for everything." I say with a small smile. "Sure." Michonne nods and strides away wordlessly. I go to my room and before I go to bed I pack up all my stuff into s bag and then stuff it under my bed and then I pull the covers over me. Tomorrow I leave this place. I leave behind all the abuse once and for all…I hope.

I hope that was okay. I know this fanfiction is a bit different and i know this is a way different version of Sophia (and somewhat Michonne too) so i'm trying to make it as realistic as possible from what I already have. Positive reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading :D