The Last Summer

Chapter 12

Hannah has been depressed all week. They've gotten to see Jenna, but she's been in a coma. I don't want to intrude, so I've been laying off.

Tanner has been getting better with talking. He helps me with my dates with Jason and he seems to be getting more comfortable. He's really weird. Just thought I had to put that our there.

Jason and I have been seeing each other daily, since Hannah is currently unavailable. A few days ago, we confirmed that we were officially dating.

My mom hasn't done anything terrible. She is either gone or sleeping when I get home from work.

Today, my shift ended early because my boss is feeling nice, but I think it's because we barely had any customers today.

I get in my car and get home around 5:30. When I get out, I don't smell anything, but as I get closer to the door, the strong scent of liquor gets stronger. I get an idea and walk around the house. I find the window to my room and try to open it, but it's locked.

I start to get nervous. I walk back out front and open the front door and quickly walk to my room. I almost get there, but my mom walks out of the bathroom and scares the crap out of me, causing me to scream.

"What are you doing home early?" she slurs.

"My shift ended early..." I stutter. That's when I notice she doesn't have a bottle in her hand, but has her fists clenched so hard her knuckles are turning white.

"Unacceptable!" she yells.

"I didn't do anything wrong..." Right as I said the last word, I realized it was the worst thing to say at that moment.

She glared at me before punching me square in the face. I stumble back, holding my bleeding nose. She kicks my stomach that lands me on the floor. I try to look up, but she kicks my head. Dots dance across my vision before I black out for a few seconds.

Apparently my mom thinks that did enough for me, thankfully. I couldn't stand another hit from her. That's when I remember what Jason said.

"If it happens, just come straight to my house. Even if I'm sleeping."

I slowly stand up and walk to my room to climb out the window.

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I pull into Jason's driveway. I check the time on the dashboard. It's about 6. I walk to the front door. I take a shaky breath and ring the doorbell.

Jason answers the door. "Hi," I say. More like whispered.

He takes one look at my face and says, "Oh my God, Macy!" He walks outside and shuts the door behind him. "What happened this time?"

I tell him the story and by the end, he looks like he's about to punch a hole in a wall. Or someone's face.

"Oh my God...." He looks at me in awe.

"What?" I ask.

"I just don't understand how someone like you can have such a complicated background and still you're getting abused.... it's not right."

"I know it's just...." I look away because I tear up a little. I look down before he can see, but clearly I'm too late.

He pulls me closer to him and wraps his strong arms around me. I put my arms around him and lean my head on his shoulder. We stand there for a while, just wrapped in each other's arms. I breathe in and out.

Come on, Macy. Be stronger than this.

That's when my phone decides to vibrate.

Jason looks down at me. "You gonna check that?"

I look up at him and smile. Stop smiling Macy you look weird. I grab my phone and look at the text. It's from Hannah.

Hannah: We just saw Jenna again and she woke up! We had a conversation and everything! This is huge! The doctors didn't think this would happen! It's a miracle!

I smile at the fact that Jenna is ok.

"Everything ok?" Jason asks me.

I turn off my phone. "More than ok."

We stand in silence for a few minutes until Jason says, "You know I'm not letting you go back home after that."

"But I have to."

"Well, you're not." he insists. "You can stay here."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yeah. I mean, it can just be like a normal sleepover, not you staying over because your mom could kill you."

That confuses me, but I nod anyway. He opens the door and we walk in. His little brother and sister are playing wii in the living room.

"Katie, Mike, this is Macy. Macy, Katie and Mike." Jason introduces. "Mike's four and Katie's eight."

I save at them and smile. They say hi and Jason gets a small ice pack from the freezer. I thank him and we walk upstairs.

"So," Jason says. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure," I say. "What do you have?"

"Well, we have The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Narnia, Grown Ups.... and other things that I can't remember," he states.

I laugh. "Well, what do you want to watch?"

"I don't care. Plus, you're the guest. You pick," he insists.

"But I don't care either," I say. "They're all good."

"I'll just get my brother to bring a movie up." Jason yells at his brother to being up a movie and they have a long argument because his brother is getting confused. He calls on his sister instead.

"Sorry about Mike," he apologizes. "He gets confused so easily."

"It's ok."

Katie brings up The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. Jason puts it in and starts it.

About halfway through the movie, I start getting tired and I doze off. I slowly fall against Jason and drift off.

"Good night," he says.

I would have responded, but sleep takes over.