My father never really did care for me. My mom somewhat did, but that was when she wasn’t drunk or high. Oh, I’m Vanessa by the way. But on this particular day we were in Meijer when it happened.
“Why don’t you just go get abducted by a pedophile, you worthless piece of trash!” My father yelled at me as we walked into the store. “Howard, please! Not here, were in a public place and people will stare.” My mother quietly whispered to him. “The hell I will! I want everyone to know that they can have this piece of shit girl!” that did it. I was tired of him doing this to me, always telling me how worthless I am. “Shut up!” I yelled as I took up across the floor, my face hot with tears and anger. “Sweetie! Come back! He didn’t mean it!” my mother yelled as she ran after me, my father still going at his leisurely pace. “Just leave me alone!” I yelled as continued running. I had reached the back of the store by then. “Honey-“ my mom said as she reached me “No, mom. I won’t calm down right now. He does mean it! He does and you know it! Just, please, let me walk around and cool off, you get what you need and I’ll meet you later.” I said as I tried to calm myself. “Okay, I’ll find you later…” she said as she reluctantly as she turned and walked away. It was then that I lost it, my strong hold of myself cracked and I began crying uncontrollably. I ran away from where she was, my eyes cloudy with fresh tears. “Oomph!” I said as I crashed into someone and fell backwards. “I-I’m s-sorry.” I said as I wiped away tears from my eyes. “It’s alright. Oh!” a voice said. Once my eyes were clear I got a good look at him. He looked like a priest, two or three years older than I, in his black and grey ankle-long gown and a white shawl. He had messy blonde hair and blue eyes, he also had in headphones, which he pulled out and silenced his music, and a cross necklace hanging down on his chest. He stared at me caringly and kneeled in front of me “What’s wrong?” he asked, sincerity and care ringing in his voice. For some reason I felt like I could trust him, probably because of the whole priest thing. “M-my father hates me. He told me he wanted me to get abducted by a pedophile.” I whimpered out. He sighed sadly “It been this way for a while, hasn’t it?” I nodded and he held his hand out to me. I took it and he helped me up. “What is your name?” he asked me once he pulled me off of the floor. “V-Vanessa.” I sputtered out. “Everything is going to be okay, Vanessa. My name is Justin by the way.” He said as he put his hand on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him and began crying into his chest. I couldn’t help it and felt bad for doing so, but he didn’t seem to mind. He stroked my hair and tried to calm me down. “Listen, do you do anything on Sundays?” he said once my crying had calmed down. “N-no, why?” I asked after I calmed down. “My father is a pastor at Meadowbrook, do you know where that is?” I nodded. Meadowbrook is a new church downtown, I haven’t been there but I heard it is different than all of the other churches in town and I hear really good things about it. “Well I am going to start taking over for him occasionally and this is going to be my first time. It would honor me greatly if you would come.” He asked. “Sure.” I said.
*Over the intercom* “Vanessa Salem, you are needed in the front of the store.”
I hand came to my senses somehow I had gone from standing and crying into his chest to sitting on his lap in on the ground. I stood up and offered him my hand. He gladly smiled down at me and took a small piece of paper and a pen out of a pocked that I didn’t notice and wrote something down. He handed me the paper once he was done
Justin Anderson
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“This is my number; call me if you have any more trouble. I hope to see you this Sunday.” I smiled “I’ll be there.” He smiled back “I’ll keep an eye out. It sounds like you are leaving now so, goodbye for now.”
“Oh, and Justin, I’m sorry, it’s just-“ he shushed me and stroked my head “It’s perfectly fine, this is my reason for being here. On earth that is- I’m at Meijer’s for food.” He joked. I laughed “Thank you so much. It really means a lot and helped me out a bunch to be able to get that off my chest.”
*Over the intercom* “Vanessa Salem, you are needed in the front of the store, Vanessa Salem.”
“It sounds like you should go. And thank you, it takes a lot to confess to someone you just met. I’ll see you later.” I smiled “Bye Justin.” I turned and walked to the front of the store where my parents were waiting.
“Oh I was so worried! Why didn’t you come the first time? I was afraid you really did get abducted!” my mom said as she put her arm around me.
“Damnit, I got my hopes up.” My father mumbled. Talking to Justin had given me a new hope, a new strength. I couldn’t wait until Sunday!
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A/N: I probably won't put many author's notes in this but since this is the first chapter I wanted to put one in. The character Justin, as some Soul Eater fans might've been able to tell by the cover, is based off of Justin Law from the anime show Soul Eater. This isn't a fanfiction about him, (I already had the idea before I decided to base a character off of him) but he fit the role (clothing/appearence, Personality, ect) well enough I wanted to use him. I hope you enjoy!
