All Along

009

I feel my eyelids get heavy, and before I know it, I'm fast asleep.

It's Monday; probably my least favorite part of the week. Not that there is a "favorite part" but if there were, Monday would be at the bottom of the list.

While dragging myself out of bed, I remember that I have detention today. Just fantastic; Does anyone else wand too add onto the pile of things I don't have time for?

Just as I make a mental argument in my head about Mr. Montgomery and how his annoying cackle is, I hit my knee on the corner of my bed.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!" I whine, looking at the bruise forming on my knee.

Wow, today is going just dandy so far!

Jack must have heard me struggling because he walks into my room, rubbing he's eyes.

"Tessa? What are you doing up?" Jack asks, as I rummage through my wardrobe to find something to wear.

"Its Monday..." I groan, "We have school!"

"Tessa, its President's Day there is no school today," he laughs, walking out of my bedroom.

President's Day? Is that today?

I flip my phone open to check the date. He's right. Thank God.

This works in my favor, really. One, its Monday and I wasn't looking forward to going too school today anyways. Two, Mr. Montgomery must have forgotten about the off day. That was his screw up so there is no way I'm staying after school for an hour and a half. Three, I really need to start my project! I know I'll end up on my phone all day but at least I can say that I had planned on doing it.

Jack walks back into his room and I lay back down in my bed. I can't bring myself to go back to sleep so I decide too go outside to get some fresh air.

I deserve some me time; some time for myself. It's a new week; everything that happened last week is behind me. It's not important now so I really don't need to dwell on it.

I walk down a street Im not firmiliar with and take a couple turns without thinking. I get lost in the music blaring through my headphones and before I know it, I'm beyond lost.

It's six thirty in the morning so there is no one to ask for directions and I don't want to call Jack right now. I could still find my way home and on the off a chance that I still can't find my way home after walking a little further, I'll call Jack but I'm not a child and I'm perfectly capable of finding my way home without the assistance of my big brother.

Oh God here we go again. Liam.

Surprisingly, I'm not scared. I walk past him with confidence. Liam is in the past. My daily beatings are in the past. I don't say a word and neither does he. I walk a few more feet and what Liam does leaves me in awe.

"Tessa, wait! Please let me talk to you!" He pleads.

"What do you want, Liam?" I snap.

"I was going to tell you last night but your brother didn't like that idea," he lifts his shirt, revealing a huge bruise across his rib cage. The spots of green, purple, blue and black make me want to shake my brothers hand. "I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything that has happened in the past two years. You... When you stood up too me the other day I realized something!"

"What's that?"

"That... That I never had the right to hurt you in the way I did and that I wish I could erase everything everything that I have ever said and done to you-"

"But you can't. You can't, Liam. I-"

"I'm sorry, Tessa!" He snaps and a tear begins to roll down my cheek, thinking about how much I have suffered because of him, but I don't let it escape my eyes. I've shed too many tears for the man standing in front of me and he didn't deserve a single one.

"No, no, no, Liam! You don't get to be sorry! You don't get to be sorry until you spend two years being kicked around. You don't get to be sorry until you suffer through three months of your brother not speaking to you because he thinks your lying when you tell him his friend has been beating you and that's the reason you came home crying for two years! Two years, Liam!" I scream at him. We are in the middle of a sidewalk, at seven o'clock in the morning, screaming at each other.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm a different person now." He mutters.

"A different person? You have to be joking! Your a different person since when? Since yesterday when someone finally stood up too you? Since your petty excuse of a girlfriend cheated on you?" I fire back.

"Tessa, I need you to forgive me. I'm so so sorry for everything that I have ever put you through. If I could, I would go back and erase everything I ever said and did too you. I would be nicer and I... I would have told your brother everything myself. I would and I know that I can't and I'll never know the level of pain you suffered from, mentally and physically... because of me. I'll never be able to be on good terms with you or your brother again. But I need you to know that I'm sorry. Even if you don't forgive me, I need you to know I'm sorry." He begs.

"Liam, why are you doing this? Why now?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I wish I would have done it sooner and I-"

"Then why didn't you?" I ask.

"Because I was scared, Tessa!" He crys "I was scared of what the team would think. Before I started picking on you, I was just another bench warmer... And once I... Started doing all of those horrible things to you, they saw that I was stronger than they thought; I got to play in more games and developed more and more friends. I was so selfish to think that my popularity meant more than the well being of my best friends sister! And because of it, I've lost my best friend. The only true friend I ever had. All those other guys are just there because I was dating the most popular girl in school but not with Jack. Jack had been there since the beginning. Since... Since the headgear and the glasses. He didn't care what I looked like or how much I weighed or how straight my teeth were. He was my friend because he like the kind of person I was. If only he would have known that a year from then I would have been beating up his little sister." He sobs. Wow. I've never once in my life seen him cry, let alone full on sob.

"So your saying all these things so my brother will be your friend again? Because that's surely what it sounds like to me!"

"No, Tessa! That's not why..." He's getting frustrated and I'm absolutely loving it.

"Liam, I'm going home," I roll my eyes as he falls to his knees and begs- literally begs- me to forgive him. It will never happen. He's waisting his breath. I will never forgive him for everything he has done. He has torn apart the relationship with my brother that I once had and I don't know if I will ever feel the same about him again.

"Tessa, please! I want you to know I'm sorry! Please, Tessa!" He begs again.

"Liam, I can't forgive you. What's done is done and I can't erase it and neither can you, no matter how hard you try! Even if I wanted to forgive you, it would take time. I can't forgive you right off the bat after I waited two years to hear everything your saying now. I don't think it's fair that I had to wait so long for you to finally apologize to me and for me to forgive you at the snap of a finger!"

"Tessa, I'll give you all the time you need. I'll give you all the time in the world to forgive me. But please, please just know that I am truly sorry and that even though the damage has been done, I want to make it up to you!"

I'm getting a headache already. Liam understands that I need time to cope with all this. It's all happening so fast and I don't know how much more I can take before I crack.