Freaks

Chapter Twelve-Reality

Derek's POV

I stared at the porcelain beauty in front of me in complete awe. Her tear stained face was cold and her lips were quivering. Her hair was sprawled around messily and gooshflesh raised the hair on her arms and neck. I traced the dull patch of faded make up that she had used to cover a heinous and painful bruise. One that stained her like a bright red stain on a clean white t-shirt. It was appalling to me how she could be such a talented actress. It took skill to be able to hide your emotions so well. Back at the party she looked like a Greek goddess. Greeting and pulling out chairs for her elders, serving her others which such grace and kindness that she simply seemed too good to be true, like she didn't have a care in the world besides you. To an outsider she would seem like she was okay. At first I too didn't notice how much she feared him. I didn't realize how scared she would be every single time she heard a loud voice, the clattering of a falling object, or the bing of a cellphone. Too afraid to even live her life in fear that she was doing it wrong. All because of him. How could someone treat her with such disrespect and hatred? She was everything good in this world and more. Yet here as I held her against my now wet coat I realized how broken she was—shattered to be correct. He had destroyed her. He had taken a goddess and tainted her with black and blue bruises, splitting her apart. All while blaming her for his own mistakes.

How could you destroy a person so horribly, make them afraid to even breathe without your consent. How did someone have the heart to do this? Who could stomach murdering someone in the worst way possible? By ripping apart them one by one? Tearing someone apart from the inside out? It wasn't the physical toll that seemed to destroy her—it was the fact that true one person she cared the most for in the world no longer loved her for the right reasons. He let his own demons destroy him and now he was destroying everything around him.

It was terrifying knowing that someone had the power to dominate the life of someone with a soul of pure gold.

Bridgette's POV

"Bridgette?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you with him?"

I felt my heart leap to my throat. "I love him." I replied shortly.

"Do you really?"

I stopped and thought about for a second. Did I really love him? My mind flashed back to all of the memories we had made together. When we first met, our first date, our first kiss...

(Flashback)

Jackson and I had been talking together for a while now. Perhaps six months after the first day of ninth grade. We hadn't officially established the fact we were together. I was hesitant and waiting for the right moment although it seemed that Jackson was losing interest in me. He hadn't even kissed me! However, I couldn't blame him. I myself had never kissed a boy before and of course he wouldn't want to kiss an unexperienced girl.

"What are your thinking about?" Jackson asked pulling me out my thoughts.

I shook my head as I looked up at him. "Nothing much," insmiled. "just thinking about how fun these last couple months have been."

Jackson grinned sheepishly. "Me too." He replied as we came up to my house. He let go of my hand and put his hands into his pocket as we stood in my driveway. "So did you have fun tonight?" He asked breaking the deafening silence.