The Scar

Finding Him

I turned around in the mirror and stared at the scar across my back. It's been there for years. I used to get teary eyed when I looked at the scar, but now when I look at it it reminds me of what I overcame and how strong I am. My scar is a memory to me. It reminds me of my childhood. The person I used to be. I  wish I could give the younger me a hug. I overcame a lot.  Something creaked beneath me. The noise was coming from the floor as if the footsteps were headed towards the bathroom I was in. I quickly pulled down my shirt and continued to brush my silky brown hair. I didn't want my roommate to see anything.
The footsteps went past the bathroom door, whoever it was left and I let out a sigh of relief. I really didn't feel like being bothered.  Being drained of all my energy made me feel like I didn't want to talk to anyone. I've been having small flashbacks of memories from when I was younger. Today makes it 8 years since I escaped my kidnapper, and 6 years since I changed my name. I needed a fresh start. I hated the weird stares I would get once I told someone my name.After I escaped that horrific place, it was on the news everywhere. In every newspaper and article. A lot of people recognized me from the news broadcast that aired a few days ago at the time.  Everyone only saw me as the girl to feel sorry for. The girl who was different. The scar girl. There were a lot of benefits from it, but overall, it was lonely. I had no one I could talk to about how I was feeling, they all treated me like a fragile girl ready to break. Looking back at it, I wish they treated me without caution instead. I'm not saying to act as if nothing happened, but they could've just let me breathe.
I walked down the hall, towards my bedroom. Dirt collected on the bottom of my bare feet. The floor needed to be swept. Maybe I'll do a deep clean tomorrow on my side of the house, not Marissas. I opened the door to my bedroom and jumped onto my messy bed. My room was cluttered with random things, with clothes overlaying it all. I pulled my pillow over my face and just layed there in silence. I heard my door slowly creek open. I pushed the pillow away to see what she wanted.
"I'm going out to the new restaurant tonight with my friends, do you wanna go?"Marissa asked.
"No, I'm good. Thank you for offering though."
"You've been locked up in the house for a week, you should get out and have a change of scenery."
I looked at Marissa and groaned. As much as I didn't wanna go anywhere, she was right. I should leave the house. Maybe it'll be good for my mental health.
"Fine. I'll go, but not for long." I said.
"Perfect, be ready by 7:00."
I pulled the pillow back over my face as she walked away. I really don't feel like getting up. I checked the time on my phone. It reads 3:59. Great, I have 3 hours to burn before it's time for me to get ready. I closed my eyes for a minute, and imagined all the things that could happen there. I opened my eyes again, and I noticed the sun was now down. I jumped up and checked the time. It read 8:00. I quickly ran to Marissa's room to check if she was still here. There was no sign of her anywhere. I immediately started feeling bad. I pulled out my phone and called her.
"I'm so sorry. I overslept,"I said.
"It's okay. I saw you were sleeping. Instead of waking you I just let you get your rest. Terrys late too. I can just ask him to pick you up on the way here."
I took a pause. Not knowing what to say. I feel very uncomfortable around men, so I'm not sure if I should take her up on her offer.
"Kaloni? Are you there?", she asked.
"Uh yeah, I'll just catch an uber."
I hung up the phone and proceeded to get myself ready. I'm undecided on whether or not I wanna get all dressed up or wear something regular. I walked towards my bathroom and got in the shower. The hot water burned my skin as I stepped foot inside. I quickly switched it to warm water. I stood in the shower and stared at the water coming down from the shower head. It looked so satisfying, I zoned out as I was staring at it. It was like my mind wandered off to another place. I snapped out of it and proceeded to take a regular shower. I'm trying to rush so I  don't keep everyone waiting for any longer. I heard my phone buzz. I dried my hands and leaned over to check if it was Marissa. It wasn't, instead it was an ad for an app called yo-go. It was basically like an uber app. They had a deal going on where all their car rides were only 10 dollars. It doesn't sound bad, if I catch a ride with yo-go I could save money. Uber is expensive sometimes. I booked a ride, and headed towards my room to put on my clothes. I decided I was just going to wear some ripped jeans a black blouse. I didn't feel like being all dressy at this time of night. An alert was sent to my phone.
"Your ride will be there in 7 minutes."
"7 minutes?", I mumbled to myself.
That's not enough time for me to do my makeup and hair. I rushed my clothes on and ran to the bathroom to curl my hair. As I was curling my hair I heard a horn beep outside the house. I looked outside and saw it was my ride. I grabbed my heels and ran outside.
"That was less than 7 minutes.", I said to the driver as I got in the car.
"I was in a rush.", he said as he chuckled.
"I didn't even have time to get myself completely together."
"You still look beautiful."
I cracked a smile and looked down so he couldn't see me blushing from his rearview mirror.
"So where are you headed to?"
"Downtown to that new restaurant."
"Oh yea? Me too. I'm meeting a few friends, but I decided to keep working a bit before I went.
"I'm going to meet my roommate Marissa to try out the restaurant with her friends, very nervous though. I'm kind of an awkward person."
"Marissa? Marissa Stanley?"
"Yes. How do you know her? Are you Terry?"
"Sure is. I assume she told you about me."
"Not really. She just suggested that I catch a ride with you, but I declined the offer because I usually feel uncomfortable around men. But we ended up together anyway I see."
"Maybe it's fate telling us something.", he said in a playful way as he chuckled.
Terrys and I conversation was never ending. We automatically clicked, and his presence was so comforting. When I first stepped foot inside his car I didn't feel uncomfortable at all. It was like a breath of fresh air. We made it to the restaurant, but we never made it inside. The conversation just kept continuing, we just sat outside in the car instead. I got out of the car and went to the front seat so I could face him as we're continuing the convo. I opened the car door and immediately got nervous. I don't know why I'm nervous, I barely even know him, but it feels as if I have known him for years. As I was getting inside his car, we made eye contact. The way he looked at me with those pretty green eyes gave me butterflies. He looks so innocent, and his face is so perfect. He looks like he could be a model. He's just so pretty. I took my fingers and I ran them in his dark tangled hair that stopped at his neck. His hair was so soft and fuzzy. After I realized what I had done I snatched my hand back.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me."
"It's fine."I enjoyed it." he said as he smiled.
His smile. Oh my god his smile. His smile was so mesmerizing. That's a smile I can look at for the longest time. I caught him staring at me.
"What are you doing?", I asked nervously.
"Nothing, just admiring you."
He leaned in for a kiss. I sat there in silence not being able to move. I had no idea what to do, but then his phone buzzed. He looked down at his phone and I took a breath of relief.
"Someone needs a ride, I have to go."
I grabbed the door handle ready to open it so I could get out.
"Where are you going? No one said you have to leave, I enjoy your company. You can come with me.
I relaxed back in the seat and buckled my seatbelt.
"Marissas gonna be so mad at me." I whispered to myself
"So, is this something you do everyday?", I asked him
"No, only on weekends. I work at my family business, that's what takes up most of my time. It's a law firm. This is just a little side job I do. I love helping people out in any way possible."
Our conversation continued, and the night went on. We eventually grabbed food and he dropped me off at home. In between those moments, he put his phone number in my phone so we could stay in contact.
It's been seven months since we first met. We ended up being in a relationship. Things are great, I really felt as if I found my soulmate. I'm supposed to meet his parents today, and I'm really nervous about that. I want them to like me, sometimes I feel as if I'm a hard person to like because of how closed off I am.
         "Be there at 10."
My heart dropped to my stomach once I saw that message. I replied with an "okay, not nervous at all."
I walked towards the living room to find Marissa.
    "Hey, does my outfit look okay?", I asked.
    "Of course girl, they're gonna love you."
I looked over and noticed Terry's favorite black leather  jacket was laying
On the couch. He must've left it here from last night. I proceeded to grab it, and as I grabbed it something dropped out. It looked like a business card.  I reached down at it to put it back,and as I picked it up , something on it caught my attention. The logo on it matched the scar I have on my back. I froze and slowly dropped the card out of my hand. Everything was going in slow motion.I couldn't breathe. I started hyperventilating. Marissa started running towards me.
     "Oh my god are you okay."
I tried to calm myself down so I could tell her everything. I'm scared she'll judge me, but I just wanna get everything out in the open hoping she'll be able to help me.
    "My name isn't Kaloni."
   "What?"
    "I changed my name 6 years ago, my name is really Jasmine.  I said while crying. When I was 15 I was kidnapped when I was walking to school. They grabbed me, and took me to what seemed like a warehouse. I was stuck there for 4 months. They tortured me , and did everything you can think of to me. If I didn't behave, they would starve me for weeks. They made sure to always wear a mask so I couldn't see their face."
    "I'm so sor-"
    "Wait, let me finish ." I said as I was wiping my tears.
    "He gave me a scar. A scar on my back. The scar I have on my back resembles the logo that's on this card. It has to be connected. It looks too similar. It has the same circle with the 4 lines in the middle of it. Take this card and hold it up to my back and tell me what it looks like to you."
I pulled up my shirt, and let her examine.
"This is crazy, it looks the exact same. Even the uneven marks in the middle are the same, in the exact same place."
"I knew Terry was too good to be true." I said as I held my head in my hands.
"Wait. You dont think Terry had anything to do with this do you? He would've been the same age as you at the time. There's no way a 15 year old could pull that off. Here, look at the name on the card. It says Paul Williams, this isn't Terry's business card. This is his fathers."
The room was getting dizzy. I couldn't handle this at all, but it helped knowing there's no way Terry could have anything to do with this. I heard a car pull up in the driveway. I immediately stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes so he won't know I've been crying.
"Are you still going?"
"Yes, I need to face him."
I grabbed Terrys jacket and started walking towards the door. I put a fake smile on my face and pretended like everything was okay. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and we drove off. I was quiet the whole way there. We made it to the front of the house, and my heart dropped to my stomach. I wanted to leave right away, but I needed to do this. Terry stepped out of the car and opened the door for me. We walked towards the house. He took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. I started getting hesitant, but I found the courage to walk in. When I first stepped inside, I started regretting my decision.
"Mom.Dad? Terry yelled.
Most of the interior in this house is gray, it was depressing in a way. The house was a nice sized house, we walked past 2 living rooms and 4 bedrooms so far. We made way in the kitchen, and that's where we found his mom.
"Hey, it's so nice to finally meet you.", his mom said with a big smile on her face.
She seemed so sweet. His Dad walked in in the middle of our conversation.
"Hello.", he said.
His voice sent chills down my spine. I held my chest and dropped down to the floor. I started having a panic attack. The plan was to wait for the confrontation, but I couldn't wait anymore.
"Get away from me, I know who you are."
"What's going on?"Terry asked.
"He's the man that kidnapped me when I was 15."
"What? You must be confused." Paul said.
I pulled out his business card.
"This logo, this is the same exact match to the scar I have on my back"
I showed everyone the scar. His mom gasped.
"She isn't lying Paul, you gave me the exact same scar as well."
"Mom? He put his hands on you?"
It was constant back and forth arguing. Terry was disgusted with his father.
"That mark I gave you, it's special, and in case you ever got away I needed a way to identify you again. Oh how I missed you so very much."
"You're crazy.", Terry said.
"I'm calling the police."
"You won't be calling anyone."
Paul ran towards the cabinet and pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. Terry stood in front of me and pulled out a gun from his waist.
"When did you buy a gun.", I asked frantically.
Even though it was Terry standing in front of the gun, Paul didn't lower it at all. He kept it aimed.
"Terry no."
"It's okay. I'll do anything to protect you. If I die right now, I'll be at peace knowing you were the last person I ever loved.
He looked at his father, his father looked at him, and a gunshot went off.