Saving Ally

Chapter 15

—Drew Borden

    After being at Ally's house for over two hours, we start working on homework together. We sit on the ground, leaning up against her bed. There's a science textbook in between us as we try to work on our homework, but we keep getting off topic.

    "We're suppose to be working, Drew," Ally says, bumping her shoulder into mine.

    "I'm sorry, you're the kind of person to get lost into conversation with."

    Her cheeks turn pink as she quickly look away from me, and down to her book. "Okay, so chemical bonds," she says, getting back onto subject. "Ugh, what does Hg stand for on the periodic table again?"

    "Aren't you the tutor here?" I ask, laughing.

    "Tutors can forget too! Just tell me," she begs.

    "It's mercury," I respond, rolling my eyes.

    "Thank you. Chemistry is hard," she sighs.

    "Speaking of chemistry," I say, and she rolls her eyes.

    "You're such a dork," she chuckles.

    "I have a question," I say. "Why do you take all that shit from Kate?"

    She looks down and shrugs, messing with the sleeves on her shirt. I watch her as she does. Then I realize something. "Why do you always wear long sleeves?" I ask. "It's not that cold outside."

    "I'm just...a cold blooded person. I'm always cold," she responds, blushing.

    I touch her cheek. "You don't seem so cold right now," I point out.

    "I just don't like short sleeved shirts," she says sternly. I move my hand and look at her. She looks so uncomfortable and awkward. She looks like she's hiding something.

    "You're hiding something aren't you?" I ask concerned. I move my notebook and move myself so I'm sitting in front of her. She doesn't look up at me, which makes me more concerned. "Ally?"

    "I can have my secrets, okay?" she says strongly. I sigh and nod, feeling defeated.

    She sighs, "I'm sorry, alright? I just...I don't share things, personal things, with a lot of people."

    I look up at her. "Personal? Ally its long sleeves."

    She looks up at me, then back down at her arms. I can see the gears turning in her head. I know she's wondering if she should tell me or not. If I'm going to keep the secret, or blurt it out to the entire school. If I'm going to leave her and move on. The thing is, I would never do that. I would never hurt Ally like that, because that's wrong. If anyone did that, especially to someone as kind and innocent as Ally, then they deserve to be hurt themselves. If anyone hurts Ally again, especially as bad as her dad does, then they're going to regret the day they were alive.

    "Drew...can you keep a secret?" Ally whispers. I nod, scooting in closer to her and placing my hand on hers. She looks up at me, eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

    "Ally, you can tell me anything. What's wrong?" I ask her, my body filling with concern. Ally rotates her hand so her palm is upright.

    "When my mother died my life turned into hell. Then, my dad started hurting me, getting drunk all the time, and yelling at me, which made my life worse. I didn't know how to cope, so I kept it deep inside my body and locked it away into a box. I became the quiet girl. I couldn't help but stutter when talking to new people, because my anxiety got so bad. Then, Kate started bullying me. That box inside of me exploded and out came a hurricane of emotions. Pain, sadness, numbness, and anything else but happiness. I couldn't fight back because of how weak I am. So...I did something else to cope."

    With a single tear streaming down Ally's face, Ally pulls her sleeve up, revealing scars. There are lines going horizontally down her arm like the steps on ladder. Some of the cuts on her arm are new, and red. Some of the cuts look weeks old, but I know they'll never fade.

    Feeling tears swell up in my own eyes, I look away, blinking constantly. "Why?" I manage to say. "Ally-" my voice cracks when I try to say more words. I feel her hand on my cheek, and I slowly look over at her.

    "It's how I cope, Drew," Ally whispers, wiping her tears.

    "By hurting yourse-" my voice cracks again, and a few tears manage to escape from my eyes. She wipes my tears with her hands, and I look into her eyes. I take a deep breath before speaking again. "Why do you stutter around your dad?"

    "Because I don't know him anymore. He's a stranger to me. He's not my dad, but I call him that. Why? Because I try to make myself believe that I'm a normal girl with a normal life, but I'm not. If this is normal then I hate normal. I want the families that you see in movies. The cute small house with white picket fences and a single tree in the yard. The happy couple with their children all sitting at the dinner table with the dog sitting underneath waiting for food. The mom might ask her children how their day at school was." Ally smiles slightly, and drops her head. "That's never going to be my life."

    "Ally, no ones life is easy. We all have hard times," I say, pulling her sleeve back down. She looks up at me, eyes emotionless.

    "It's getting late you should probably go home," she says. I look outside her window at the sunset.

    "Will you be okay by yourself?" I ask, looking back at her.

    "No, but I'll try to make it through the night."

    I watch as she looks down at her hands again. "How about I stay here tonight," I advise.

    She looks up instantly, her eyes filling with joy, but her face still emotionless. "Will your dad be okay with that?" she asks.

    I nod, "Will yours?"

    "We just won't tell him," she says and smiles.

One step closer.

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