Letters From the Lost

~Max~

I haven't been to school in a week. Jackson went and told everyone I was sick. I wasn't actually sick, but I was recovering from a few beatings. I had a lot of bruises around my abdomen, some cigarette burns too. But, the only reason I was staying from school was so my visible bruises were faded so no one would notice. It was my first day back, hopefully no one asks questions, especially Noah. I feel a sense of resentment toward him for causing me to get the worst beating I've gotten from Jackson. I shouldn't blame Noah for Jackson's immaturity and psychotic episodes, but when he showed up, things got worse with Jackson.

We pulled into the parking lot at school, Jackson put the car in park but didn't turn the engine off. Which means he wants to talk. I looked down at my hands which were resting in my lap. "What are you going to tell people if they ask why you were gone so long?"

"I was sick," I said softly.

"Okay, good. Now, who are we not going to talk to, look at, or even think about?" I felt Jackson's eyes burn in the side of my head.

"Noah, and if he comes up to me I have to walk away like I don't know him." He was obviously going to check on me, I hope he's smart enough to wait until he knows Jackson won't find out.

"Good girl, your eye looks a lot better. I'm glad it healed quickly," He said. "Now, let's go to class. We're gonna be late." I climbed out of the car, Jackson walked over to me and grabbed my hand. I stood close to him, cowering behind him like always. People would just assume that I'm shy, but Jackson likes it when he can actually feel me standing next to him, I never understood why and I don't think he does either.

I walked into my first class, shortly after saying goodbye to Jackson. Noah was sitting at the desk next to where I usually sat. I took a deep breath and walked across the class and sat down. He smiled, I gave him a slight smile back. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm fine," I answered. Short answers means a short conversations.

"How are you feeling? Jackson said you got sick."

"Like I said, I'm fine. Everything is fine." I wish I didn't snap like that, I really like Noah. Which I know is the worst thing to do with an abusive boyfriend. I can see myself dating Noah if I ever got out of this relationship in one piece.

"Okay, but you don't have to hide anything from me. I promise, I'm not going to say anything nor will I use it against you. I promise, you can talk to me." I looked down and smiled, maybe I like him more than I thought.

"Okay, but you have to promise me that you will not say anything to anyone." I held my pinky up toward Noah, he giggled quietly and wrapped his pinky around mine. I took a deep breath and sat up straight. As I grabbed my shirt, I cringed when touching my skin. Noah's eyes grew in horror as he saw the huge green and yellow bruise covering my entire side. Since class was starting, Noah couldn't say anything. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. He writes something then passes the notebook to me.

'What did he do to you?' I could imagine the solemn tone he would use if he was actually talking to me. I looked at him, his eyes were filled with worry, his thoughts were a continuation of what his eyes said.

I grabbed the pencil off his desk and started to write, 'He thought I lied about when you came over both times, he thought I told you about something else. But he didn't, so he got mad that I was "lying" to him.' I passed the notebook back to him. He read it, then looked at me, I looked away. Hiding the sadness in my eyes.

He slid the notebook to my desk, I looked down to see what he wrote. 'Do you want to go talk about it in the clearing? The teacher won't even notice we're gone' I handed the notebook and pencil back to him. While the teacher had her back to the class, Noah and I ran out the door. We walked to the clearing in the woods. It was quiet there and none of the employees bothered checking here for students that skip class.