The mute witness

chapter nine

~Harpers POV~

My life used to be amazing, I was a normal 12-year-old girl, obsessed with my mother's makeup and I would sneak into her bathroom after school every day to wear it and she'd pretend she didn't notice, but I knew.

Just like I knew the smiles she would give me every day would take all the strength she could muster

She wasn't depressed, she had told me so, so many times, she had told me that she had been before me, my father's mental abuse to her. He was so close to taking her over the edge, and when she had found out about me, I was the light at the end of the tunnel She needed "Harper, baby, you are the strongest little girl I've ever known, Do you want to know why?" my mom had knelt in front of my little 12-year-old self and asked me one day after I messed up in a wrestling match.

I had sniffled the goo that was sliding out of my nose so easily at that and asked "w-why" and my eyes darted around a little bit.

"Because since the moment I knew about you, you gave me so much strength, strength to do things I would never think in a million years I could've done"

"Really?" I looked at her, feeling a little better after hearing what she had just said.

"Yes, now, what do you say about going to get some food then we can go and hang out at the house for a while?" My mother's smile- even in memories gives me a soft feeling inside

And I know that me being obsessed with makeup and also being a wrestler sounds weird, but at that time in my life, the best words to describe me were "tomboy in a dress", I wanted to do what the boys did, if not better but also put art on my face.

Now, the only thing that's stuck with my interests is wrestling but, you can still see me playing around with makeup sometimes just to remember my mom.

Looking in the mirror, bags under my eyes, and the only thing I like about my appearance is my physical build of muscle. Even though I know I'm generally pretty, I have medium length, wavy blonde hair and green eyes, but I still can't seem to feel pretty.

I don't typically wear makeup to school every day, but I don't want to have to answer stupid questions because I have bags under my eyes, so I dab on some concealer and some blush to bring color back into my face. I put my makeup away

As I walk into the living room, I mess with Adam and help Hadley with getting the kids breakfast.

Avalon and Zsolt walk in not too long after.

I'm happy for them, I truly am, but I'm scared for Avalon because I know how Zsolt handled everything with his mom a few years ago. I am not saying that he was wrong for wanting to do something about it, but he did let it get out of control a little bit.

I give them both a plate then sit down and eat mine. Letting the taste of the eggs and toast take me away for a moment.

When all of the kids are done, we all head outside and start walking to school.

We all go our separate ways, me going to my first hour, health class. I get through it, understanding what the teacher is explaining, drowning out the immature kid's nasty comments.

I go through the rest of the day and I'm in my seventh hour when something switches in my brain and I don't know what, but I start breathing heavy and I look around me and this is the one class I have with Avalon and I lock eyes with her and I just know that she knows

I manage to get myself out of my desk and ask the teacher to go to the bathroom and I make it there and lean over the sink, breathing heavy, tears falling down

I hear the bathroom door open and quickly go into a stall and make myself as quiet as possible even though my chest feels like it's about to explode and I can barely breathe.