How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 53

If you like this chapter, please show it some love and consider giving it a vote. Thanks! A.L.

"Not bad." Sadie stepped back, admiring her makeup skills. "Keep in mind when you look in the mirror, I didn't put it on heavy." 

My brows furrowed as I heard the words come out of her mouth. I started to turn toward the mirror and saw what she meant by not heavy. "Sadie! I don't have anything on my face!" I stared at the greenish-yellow bruises under my eye and by my mouth. 

"Mom didn't want me to cover them up. Sorry. Please don't be upset with me. She'll explain everything. We've got to head downstairs." She set the eyeshadow brush down on the vanity table. 

"Girls! We need to get going!" Sadie's mom hollered up the stairs. 

"Go where?" My eyes widened as I brushed my fingers across the bruise under my eye. "I can't go anywhere like this." 

"Mom will explain, Rylee. We've got to go." Sadie held out her hand. "You can trust her, I promise." She smiled. 

Trust? Such a small word with an enormous amount of meaning. In the blink of an eye, someone can take that word and make it worthless to another person. And unfortunately, I was that other person, thanks to my father. I didn't trust people easily, and if you were one of the few I did, you earned it with a lot of hard work, and one mistake could cost you that place. I wanted to trust her mom, but the adults were a little more challenging for me to trust. The one person I should've been able to rely on let me down in the worst way possible, making it hard for me to trust others. 

"Girls! Come on!" Sadie's dad yelled up the stairs. 

"We're coming!" Sadie hollered, moving toward the hall. She pulled me up off the bench and down the stairs. Once we were out in the hall, she turned and yelled for Jules. She let go of my hand once we hit the middle of the stairs. Her parents waited impatiently at the foot of the stairs as her father kept looking down at his smartwatch every few seconds. 

"Girls, we've got to go. Hurry up." He huffed, moving to the right toward their front door, and opened it. "Jennifer, we need to go." He looked down at his smartwatch again. Jennifer turned and started to walk out the door when she paused in front of Sadie's dad. She caressed his cheek and whispered something to him, then smiled and walked out the door. I knew whatever she said to him was about me because he glanced up briefly, then smiled at her and nodded. Sadie's dad watched his wife walk out the door, smiling the entire time. She must have done something before she got in the vehicle because he laughed, then ran his hand through the top of his brown hair. 

"Where are we going?" The words flew out of my mouth. 

"We'll explain in the car on the way." He waved his hand for us to hurry out the door. I walked down the porch steps, shifting my eyes from right to left in search of my dad's truck. I don't know why I was looking for his truck; he didn't know I was at Sadie's house. I reached for the handle of the SUV when a shiver raced down my back. I closed my eyes and lowered my head. I winced a little from my nails digging into the palm of my hand. I loosened my grip on the door handle and opened my eyes, ready to face my father. I turned my head toward the road but found nothing at the end of the driveway. I dropped my hand, turned, and stood staring at the empty street, wondering where he went. "Where did he go?" I whispered, looking up and down the road. 

"Where did who go, Rylee? No one's come by." Sadie's dad said behind me. "Rylee, you don't have to worry about him anymore. We're going to protect you. Come on, let me open the door for you." 

"He was there; I felt him watching me," I mumbled, not taking my eyes off the street. 

"Rylee, he's not going to hurt you ever again." Sadie's dad turned me around and looked into my eyes. "I'm not going to let him hurt you." He wrapped his arm around me and walked me back to the vehicle. "Get in; we're running a little late." He helped me up, then closed the door. He opened the driver's side door and got in the seat. "Rylee, we're taking you to the Police station to start a restraining order against your dad." Sadie's dad said, driving down the road. 

"What?" My eyes widened as my mouth fell open. "He's going to hurt me worse if he finds out or takes Jules away from me." I looked over at Jules, who was on her phone. "I can't lose my sister." A single tear trickled down my cheek. 

"I won't ever let him lay a hand on you again. They said we could be in there with you when they talk to you. Rylee, I know you're scared." He looked at me in the rearview mirror. "No one is going to hurt you or take your sister away. We aren't going to let that happen." He glanced at Jennifer as she gazed back at him with a sweet smile. It was the kind of smile that spoke volumes without words. The kind of smile that said everything was going to be all right and you didn't have to worry about anything because that person was going to be there no matter what. 

"Rylee, no one will ever split us up." Jules reached over and placed her hand on top of mine. Through tears, I looked down at our hands and smiled at the small gesture. At that moment, I knew she'd be there for me. 

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up next to the police station, and my heartbeat started to pick up again, pounding in my chest. I knew Jules and Sadie would be with me when I went in there to tell the police my story, but it still scared the shit out of me. They would also look at me with enormous pity; I didn't want to see that right now. Pity wasn't going to stop Dad from beating me; Pity wasn't going to stop him from harassing me. I sat there for a few minutes staring at the red brick building, wishing Sadie's dad would change his mind and drive away, but I knew that wouldn't happen. 

"Rylee, are you ready to go in?" Jennifer asked. 

"Huh?" I mumbled, not taking my eyes off the police station. 

"It's time to go in," Sadie's dad said, opening the door. 

"Okay, Mr. McCullough," I opened the door. 

"Rylee, please call me Brent." He opened the door more as I stepped out of the backseat. Jules followed behind me while Sadie got out on the other side behind her mom. Jules took my left hand while Sadie took my right, swapped glances with one another, and then with me as they each squeezed my hand. We started walking around the corner toward the front of the station and passed a few officers on the way to the entrance. I kept my head straight ahead, not making eye contact with them. I had no reason to do that because I hadn't done anything wrong; I just didn't want them to see my bruises and get the wrong idea. The idea Brent had done this to me, but then again, he wouldn't have been walking me into the station himself. 

Brent and Jennifer opened the doors for us, and we walked in together, still holding hands. I heard them wince in pain when our feet hit the station floor. I loosened my grip around their hands and apologized for squeezing too hard. Brent eased past us and walked over to the police officer sitting behind a counter protected by a big sheet of glass. Being in a police station, I assumed it wasn't a regular sheet of glass either. There were chairs along the right side of the wall and a metal door on the left side of the room. The walls were beige, and the floor was a little lighter in color. The walls were adorned with pictures of the station throughout the years. 

"I'm Officer Fossi. Can I help you?" The officer with the salt and pepper hair asked, motioning Brent toward the glass. 

"Yes, I called earlier and talked to Officer Heeley about a domestic problem with the girl over there in the middle." Brent turned and pointed to me. 

The officer leaned to the side and looked at me. "Wait here, and I'll go get Officer Heeley." He got up out of his chair and disappeared through a side door. If it hadn't been for Jules and Sadie, I would've turned and run out the door the minute the officer opened it. Jennifer walked over and sat down in one of the chairs while Brent waited by the counter for the officer to return. I stood there trying not to squeeze their hands off their bodies. After about ten minutes, he reappeared with a younger-looking officer with dark brown hair through the same door. 

"Hello, I'm Officer Heeley. Mr. and Mrs. McCullough, I will need you to come back with Rylee while I talk to her. The girls can stay out here while we talk." He buzzed the metal door open. 

I clung to Jules and Sadie. "I want them to come with me," I said, pulling them closer to me. "Please," I begged. They know what's going on." 

"Okay. We can talk in the meeting room." He motioned for all of us to come back there.