Straight from the academy

17.

possible tw- abuse

Leah, Beth and I are woken up in the early hours of the morning by the door bell ringing repeatedly. Beth and I are the first to wake up.
"What is that?" She asks annoyed and half asleep.
"The doorbell." I reply rubbing my eyes.
I tap Leah gently on the shoulder. "Le?" I say quietly. She grunts and slowly starts to wake up. "There's someone at the door."
"I'll get it." She says sighing, clambering out of bed and walking to the front door.

"It's him" I say to Beth worried after hearing his deep voice coming from the hallway.
"It's alright, leah and I will deal with him if you don't want to speak to him." She says wrapping her arm around me.
"Okay.." I say quietly.
"ELLIE" He shouts from the other room. I jump and my heart starts racing. Beth embraces me in a hug to try and keep me calm, and it kind of works but not fully.
"Should I speak to him?" I ask Beth.
"It's up to you, you can if you want. But if you feel unsafe or uncomfortable at all you can leave and come back to me or Leah."
"Okay thanks." I lift the covers off of me and get out of the bed.
"Be careful" Beth says to me, before I leave the bedroom and walk into the kitchen where Leah and Luke are.

"Ellie let me talk to you." He says moving closer to me, although Leah's arm is in the way.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." She says quietly to me.
"It's fine" I say, Luke glaring at me.
"I'll be with Beth in the bedroom, okay?"
I nod my head at Leah before she walks off leaving Luke and I alone.
"Why are you here Luke?"
"How dare you." He says sternly.
"How dare I what?"
"How dare you treat me the way you did. And how dare you try to embarrass me in front of your family like that." He raises his voice, towering over me like he did before.
"What? I don't understand, what have I done wrong?"
He scoffs and sniggers at me. "No one will ever speak to me or about me like that." He says pointing his finger at me. He is nearly shouting now, but getting louder and louder with each word.

He keeps shouting things at me and getting closer to me before eventually he just looses it. He slaps me hard across the face, his cold hands stinging my cheek. I try to keep in the tears as best I can but I'm failing miserably. Leah and Beth rush into the room, Beth practically shoves Luke out the door whilst leah tries to consolidate me. I break down into her arms and she picks me up and carries me to my bed. 

She gently puts me down and lies next to me, hugging me tightly. I cry onto her shoulder, my tears dampening her top, as she rubs my back to try and calm me down. Beth comes in after dealing with Luke with some ice.
"Come here." She says, and puts it up against my red cheek. I flinch away in pain. "I know it hurts but it will really help, trust me." She places the ice back on my cheek and holds it in place. Leah looks down at my hands and notices how much they are shaking. She holds both of them in her hands.
"Don't be scared anymore, he's gone and he's never coming back. I promise." She kisses the side of my head and brings me in closer to her. My breathing starts to regulate again and I'm starting to calm down.
"What did I do wrong?" I ask quietly, tears still running down my cheeks. Although I can tell my words broke Leah's heart as she hugs me tighter.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing."
"He's flipped it and tried to make you look like the bad guy. You have done nothing wrong, I promise you." Beth says putting her hand on my shoulder.
"But he said I did."
"Don't listen to what he has to say. Don't let him get in your head. Your a good person Ellie, and he's not."
Leah and Beth both reassure me before my eyes start getting heavy again. I want to go to sleep but I'm scared he'll come back if I do. I'm trying to stay awake but I'm struggling.
"Els you can go to sleep. He's not going to come back and even if he does Beth and I will sort him out and he won't go anywhere near you. Just relax, your safe. I've got you." Leah says looking down at me, practically reading my mind once again. She always seems to know what I'm thinking about. I nod my head lightly and hide my face in her neck.
"Thank you" I mutter, so quietly she almost can't hear it.
"Of course, you know we're always here."