Perfect

Chapter 2

When sexually abused by parental figures, most kids keep completely quiet, and nevertheless talk again. Sydnee? She kept quiet about the event, but always feared it would happen again. She always took a shoulder check, no matter where she was, to see if her father was anywhere near. She despised living in fear. But she knew she would be asked questions if she came to school one day and didn't talk, so she was a normal teenager until the end of the ninth grade. Now, she was off to high school. And it was a few days after it started, that she got raped.

Sydnee had had to take the city bus, which was always full of annoying kids. She sat down at the front, and listened to her music, ignoring the rest, until she got a tap on her shoulder. Sydnee jumped slightly in her seat, then turned to find herself face to face with a boy who sat next to her in her English AP class.

"You're.. Sydnee, right?" he asked her with a grin on his face. It wasn't a cocky grin, but there was a glint in his green eyes. Sydnee just nodded to confirm, and turned down the volume on her iPod; she knew this would be a longer than she'd hope for conversation.

"I finished reading that John Green book, 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson'," he said, "When's the quiz again?" 

 "Uhm, the ninteenth," she spoke quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"Sweet," he replied, "Anyway, I'm Cody."

"Sydnee," Sydnee nodded, and started to turn around, until-

"Whatcha listening to?" Cody smiled again, his black choppy hair brushing his eyes.

"Uh, Black Veil Brides' new album, Wretched and-"

"-Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones!" Cody finished for her, "Man, In The End is perfect. And Days Are Numbered! But my favourite has gotta be either Devil's Choir, We Don't Belong or Lost It All."

Sydnee had no idea how to respond; she hadn't really expected that answer. She thought he was a "down to the core" metalhead. Sydnee just nodded and smiled shyly.

"Lost It All is beautiful," Sydnee said, "I'm in love with We Don't Belong. My favourite is In The End though, it has a classic rock feel to it. Ressurect The Sun is my other favourite. It's just plain amazing."

Cody and Sydnee spent the rest of the bus ride talking about the new album, and all Sydnee could think the entire time wads how lucky she was to be talking to Cody. She'd always had a crush on him, imagined talking to him but never had the guts, not because she was the regular cliché girl, but she was scared he'd think her a freak, because of her "mental issues." But.Cody never once interrupted her when she talked, always paid attention to every word she said, and she did the same when he talked. She was grateful. When they got to school, Cody said goodbye and promised they'd see each other in a few hours in English.

She was definitely looking forward to it.

As she made her way to Chemistry, a few girls who'd been on the bus earlier shoved her as they ran passed.

"Watch out guys! The emo kids are gonna get together!"

Sydnee didn't mind as she usually would have. That morning was the most Sydnee had spoken in years! And it was about music. What wasn't to be happy about?

She got through Chemistry fine, and during PE, she escaped early to shower, and redid her hair so it would look as it had earlier that morning; her hair voluminous at the top, getting thinner going lower. She looked good, and as she was leaving, all the girls were just entering the locker room. Sydnee tried to go unnoticed as she exited an made her way to English class. She waited at the door a few minutes, waiting for the bell to ring to announce the next period.

"You don't ever break a sweat, do you?" Cody's familiar voice broke the silence of the hallways.

"What?" Sydnee was momentarily.confused.

"I saw you in the gym earlier, and I must say," Cody explained, "Miss, either you don't sweat, or you clean up real nicely."

Sydnee felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and looked down.

"Only teasing you," Cody laughed, "Anyway, I just found out that we didn't need to finish the book until the eighteenth."

Sydnee giggled, nodded and looked up. She felt happy to have found a friend at last.

"Don't tell me you knew!" Cody looked at her with exasperated eyes. Sydnee just nodded and grinned at him.

"Argh! Why didn't anyone tell me?" Cody joked.

"He said so quite a few times!" Sydnee said, "Whatever. I finished it last week. I love John Green."

"Same, man!" Cody said, and shoved her forward. Sydnee entered the empty room, not noticing that the previous class had already left for their next classes.

English class had never gone by so quickly. Cody continuously made English jokes, making it difficult for Sydnee to concentrate. By the time she knew it, English was over and it was lunch. She grabbed a water bottle, a pack of cigarettes, which she slipped subtly into her bra, and left the school. Sydnee walked over to Starbucks, which was a block down from her school. There, she lit a cigarette and smoked half the pack. It was a good feeling for her, to get stoned like she did. It took her mind off things. She returned to school smiling to herself.

"What's so funny dollface?" Cody showed up again.

"Are you following me?" Sydnee smiled at him. He leaned in and sniffed her, then shook his head.

"You smoke?" he asked.

"Mm, yeah," she replied, her words slurred.

"If you need to get shit off your chest, just come find me and well, we'll talk," he kindly offered. "You don't need to get stoned to feel better."

With that, he stalked off into the school. Sydnee made her way to homeroom, had attendance taken, and to hide in the washroom, where she passed out until the bell rang, waking her with a start. Sydnee was sobering up, so she went to her, grabbing her homework, and made her way to the bus, where Cody sat with his gang of jock and emo friends. He beckoned for her to join them, so she was obliged. She'd have been embarrassed to decline. She sat uncomfortably close to Cody for about half an hour, which never bothered Cody... until her stop came.

"Aw, shit, do you gotta?" Cody whined. Sydnee found that insanely adorable, though. She modded and stepped off the bus, waving to Cody.

When she got home, she pressed her ear to the door, checking to see if her dad was home..It was utterly silent, so she stepped in, ran to her room, stripped down and after a while, she was lowering herself into a bath, enveloping her entire body in warm soapy water.

Sydnee layed there for an hour before deciding to do her homework, which didn't really take long.

Then, as she wrapped her homework up, her dad walked in. Sydnee hadn't expected that, or heard him. Her father clutched a bottle of beer in each hand. Her dad wasn't bad looking, no. He had black hair, which was shoulder-length, but it suited him well. He still looked like he could be in high-school. Her dad offered her a bottle of beer. Sydnee rejected it, but instantly regretted it.

She was being tied to her chair, her clothes being torn off. Sydnee was crying already, and when her father started undressing himself, she cried even harder. She wasn't a virgin, but she still didn't want this. Her father spent the whole night causing her immense, traumatic pain. Then, left her tied to the chair, which was on its back, flat on the ground. Sydnee laid there naked and bruised, spending her night getting out of the knots, tears streaming down her face, and shivers being sent down her back at the sound of the slightest shuffling. It was a safe bet, to say that it was the worst night of her life so far.

Her father had been so intoxicated, he hadn't remembered a thing in the morning.