Lifesaver

Chapter 9

When I opened the door, I see my dad sitting on the couch like he is mad. My stomach turns to butterflies because I am scared to know what he will do if he is mad. He looks at me and says, "who was that"? I look at him confused, even though I knew who he was talking about, and say "who was who"? My dad rolls his eyes and stands up while saying, "that boy who dropped you off. I saw you kiss him. Who is he and why was he here?" I just tell my dad is a guy I go to school with and we hang out sometimes after school so he decided to bring me home. My dad pushes me to the floor and begins to beat me. I can tell the thought of me having a friend or a boyfriend disturbed him, mainly because he did not know if I would tell on him or not. My dad pins me to the floor as he says, "I don't know what kind of games you're planning on playing but it won't work here". My heart sinks at the thought of Joey already knowing what I go through. As my dad gets up and goes into his room, I stand up and run into mine. 

As soon as I throw my bag onto my bed, I check my phone and see a text from Joey. It says, "text me and let me know you're okay. Your dad was looking out the window at us and it doesn't sit right with me. He looked mad". I text Joey back and tell him I am okay and nothing happened, which I lied about. After texting Joey, I go to the bathroom to see if I have any new bruises. As I lift my shirt up, I notice blood on the inside of Joey's shirt I slept in. I was not too surprised when I saw the blood because it had happened before. I was more upset about my blood being all over Joey's shirt because I did not want it to stain and I also did not want to take it off. I grab toilet paper and hold it on the spot until it stops bleeding and then walk back to my room. I put on a different shirt and start reading a book until dinner. 

After dinner, I hide under my bed and ask Joey if he wants to FaceTime. As soon as I text and ask him, I get the FaceTime call and I immediately feel happy again. I answer the call with a smile on my face while saying "hiii"!! Joey just grins at me and says, "I know it's only been three hours since I dropped you off but I missed you a lot". I just snicker and say, "wow, I did not realize I could be so entertaining to the point you would miss me". Joey says, "I missed you as soon as I dropped you off. I know tomorrow is Saturday but would you want to get breakfast tomorrow"? I tell him I would have to ask my step mom in the morning but sometimes she does not wake up until late. Joey just says he understands and if it would be more safe for me to not go then it would be okay but he wanted to see me again before school on Monday. 

As I continue to FaceTime Joey for the next several hours, I ask what time he wanted to get breakfast because I could just sneak out of the house for the day. Joey frowns and says, "Bella, don't do that. I don't want your dad or step mom to get mad and lash out on you for sneaking around with me". "Joey, my dad is going to lash out on me either way so I might as well have a reason to get beat to death" I tell him. "Don't worry or think about the thought of me getting abused. I'm glad you care about me as much as you do but I don't want you to live in stress because you're worried about me. It's going to be difficult and challenging but I want a normal relationship. I know normal relationships don't involve abuse but this is just how it is" I say. Joey just says, "Okay, I promise not to overstep my boundaries and continuously think about your situation if you don't want me to. I'll just think about our time spent together instead". Joey just stares at me for a few seconds with a smile on his face but breaks the silence by saying, "You wanna meet somewhere at 8 in the morning? We can hangout at my house after if you want but I understand if you need to get home". The thought of spending another whole day with Joey made me excited and happy so I tell him that is perfect and I will meet him in the morning.