if we just had time.

chapter one

mention of abuse, alcohol abuse, . read with coution.
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Isabella Evergreen

Life is never what you expect.
At school, Isabella is like any other teenager. She reads, she gets good grades, she hangs out with her friends and goes to parties, talks about boys, and has lunch every Saturday with her mother, Mary Anne.

But when she's with her father, Glen, for the summer. She's a whole different person. She stays in her room when her father doesn't need her, she takes long hot showers when her father is passed out on the couch after many drinks, she tries to stay calm when her father yells at her for being too slow with the cooking or the beer he wanted, she'd cover her bruises when they go out for dinner or to the grocery store, act as if they were a happy family when they talked to people.

After everything Glen had done to Isabella, she still loved him. She will love the horrible Glen Avery after what he does to her. She will still love him if he'd abuse her, after he sent her to the hospital for pushing her down the stairs, after he made her face so swollen she couldn't go out of the house for days. She hated herself for still loving him. She didn't want to love him, but she did.
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It was Isabella's first day back to her school. She was happy to go back to school and be away from her father to be with her friends and have evenings with not her father but her mother, and just distract herself from her life away from school and her father.

Isabella was packing when Glen walked in her now empty room, "if I get a call from that school I'm bringing you back here for the rest of the school year."
She nodded in agreement.

As he pulls her into a hug Isabella flinches, "I'm going to miss you, bells.." Isabella knew he didn't mean it. He wasn't going to miss her, but she wanted to believe it. But, she knew she couldn't. She always wanted to, she wanted to have fun with Glen like any other kid on the planet. She wanted him to teach her how to ride a bike, to help her with her problems, to keep her away from boys, to protect her. But no. He hits her and treats her like she works for him. Treats her like she's nothing to him. Glen always told Isabella that she was a mistake and she's worthless, he always made her repeat those words. She'd always cried in her room after saying those words.

When Glen leaves Isabella's room she continues packing her clothes in her luggage. She never left her fathers with many clothes but when she came back her trunk was always filled to the brim. Filled with clothes from when her and her mother goes shopping when she visits Isabella's at her school. Isabella likes shopping with her mother. She thinks shopping and spending time with her mother is the best thing in the world for her.

As soon as Isabella left the house she already felt like she was getting better already. She always felt okay when she was away from her father and his house.
Mary Ann was in the driveway waiting for Isabella with her luggage. Once Isabella put her luggage in the trunk of the car and got in the passenger seat, she hugged her mum. "I missed you." They both exchanged words with each other. As their hands were around each other, Mary Ann's hand was on one of Isabella's freshly new bruise. Isabella tries not to wince with the touch of her hand. She was relieved that her mother let go of her because she was about to let the wince out of her mouth and would have to tell her about the bruise and tell her that her father was abusing her.

Isabella and Mary Ann were now on the road and talking about their summer apart from each other. Isabella had to make up things to say because there was no good that happened when she was staying with her father. Isabella fell asleep during the ride and when she got up, they were at the boarding school. Isabella was happy when she saw the school. She missed this place, mostly because she would be away from her father for most of the year. But, she missed her friend, Katherine.

Isabella met Katherine in her first year here two years ago. Isabella had no clue where she was going and Katherine saw that she was lost so she helped her around and they've been friends since. They became close fast and Katherine now stays with her and her mothers house for christmas. They enjoy being around each other.

Isabella and Mary Ann got out of the car and took her luggage from the trunk and walked inside to Isabella's dorm room. Once they were in the dorm room they started unpacking everything in isabellas trunk.
Mary Ann asked her daughter. "So, how's your father?"

Isabella thought what to say for a moment. Thinking about what lie to say, "Dad's fine." Isabella replied."He's actually going away for a bit."
"Really? To where?" Mary Ann asked again
Isabella thought what to say again. "France I think. For holiday." She lied.

"Oh, okay. Tell him I said hello." mary ann smiled.

I highly doubt that Isabella thought. "Sure thing."
Isabella and Mary Ann continued talking and finished unpacking her luggage. They said their good-byes then Mary Ann got in her car and left. Isabella was happy to see her mother after a few months of staying with her father, and not being able to see her. She thought they had a good time catching up from the few months that passed.
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It was an hour before dinner. Isabella is cleaning herself up before dinner starts. Her bruises were surprisingly still covered, so she didn't need to cover them up again. As Isabella was putting on her mascara and eyeliner, there was a knock on the door. She was confused because she didn't expect any company. She walked out of the bathroom and she opened the door. Isabella was confused. Because there was no one at the door. She closed the door and walked back in the bathroom. As soon as she walked in the bathroom the person knocked at the door again. But, it wasn't just a gentle knock, it was an aggressive one.