Chapter 2

Mikaela's alarm clock was beeping constantly, flashing 6:00 across its screen. Crumpled up in a heap on the floor lay Mikaela, who finally started moaning and awoke to hear her alarm clock beeping across the room. She tried to stand up when pain shot through her entire body. Her head throbbed and her back, stomach and legs burned as she forced herself to stand, knowing that if the clock woke up her father, she would be in for "Round 2". She limped across the room and hit the snooze button just in time before falling onto her bed in pain. Her almost daily beatings were not unusual to Mikaela, but that didn't mean she was used to the pain that followed them. She gathered her strength and forced herself up so that she could take a shower and relieve her pain slightly.

Her clock now read 6:10 and she hurried (the best that she could) to her bathroom but not before peeking inside her father's room checking to make sure he was still sleeping. Luckily he was and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

In her bathroom she turned on the hot water in the shower and carefully took off her clothes. Her eyes were closed shut as she stood in front of the mirror, scared to see the amount of damage done to her this time. She forced her eyes open, finally, and gasped at the sight in front of her. Her entire stomach was black with bruises that traveled to her back and down to her legs. She felt the welts on her back and legs. Brushing her fingers over them she winced slightly in pain. Mikaela shivered and walked away from the mirror and into the shower.

The hot water and steam burned at first but quickly soothed her pain. She leaned against the wall of the shower for a few minutes just to relax and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Mikaela loved her father, and she knew that he had a tough time adjusting from his life in prison, but she also knew she was in trouble.

"I can't tell anyone about my dad." She thought. "I just finally got him back after living by myself for three years. They can't take him away again. I can deal with this." This was her usual mentality about her situation. She was torn between her love for her dad and her respect for herself. She always exhausted herself thinking about her problem so, like usual, she cleared her mind and quickly finished her shower. She didn't forget that Sam was picking her up early and she needed to get ready soon.

She chose skinny jeans and a t-shirt for her outfit that day. Her father knew that beating her arms would give him away because Mikaela always wore shirts that showed her arms. Deciding her outfit was acceptable for that day, Mikaela quickly did her hair and make-up, racing against the clock. She ran down the stairs (as fast as she could with her injuries), grabbed her school bag, threw a banana in it and popped two Tylenol in her mouth. She usually had a high tolerance for pain, but sitting in a chair all day with nothing to think about but the pain really made it worse for some reason. She filled a glass of water just as she heard Bee pull up in her driveway. Checking her bag one more time to make sure she had everything she needed for the day, she opened her front door and walked to the car, which already was open for her.

"Hey baby." Sam said as he greeted Mikaela with a kiss. "You look beautiful today."

"Thank you. But you say that every morning Sam." She teased. Sam always knew how to brighten her day, no matter how cloudy it started out as.

"I wouldn't lie to you. It's the truth." He responded. Mikaela's smile grew wider and she took his hand as Bee sped down the highway. Bee parked in the school parking lot in record time. Unfortunately, Sam and Mikaela were too busy making out that they didn't even notice that they had arrived at school. Bee blew his horn as loud as he could while blaring his radio to get the couple's attention. Startled by the noise the two broke apart and Sam hit his head on the roof of the car.

"God damn it Bee! Did you really have to do that?!" Sam yelled. Bee's response was opening his driver side door and expelling Sam out onto the ground.

"Fine! Fine! I get it! We'll pay better attention next time." Sam told the smirking Camero. Well, if he were human, he would definitely be smirking. Throughout this whole playful fight between the two friends, Mikaela slowly stood out of the car and picked up her bag. It caused her so much pain to put her bag on her shoulder, but she couldn't let anyone see so she quickly hid her wince. She walked around to the other side of the car where Sam was standing, brushing off his pants that were dusted in dirt. She laughed at the sight of her boyfriend desperately trying to make himself look presentable. Sam looked up when he heard her laugh and just the look in her eyes made him start to laugh as well.

Sam finally cleaned himself up and took Mikaela's hand as they walked into the school. After visiting both of their lockers, the couple parted ways as Sam went to go visit his techie friends before class started, and Mikaela left to go make up her missed test.