I droop my sleepy limbs out of the door of my car and plop onto the cold concrete of the senior parking lot, backpack slung over my shoulder. I scan the lot, searching for my usual partner in crime until I spot her sparkling navy blue Mazda.
"Good morning, Megan!" Kate's voice rings out for the whole lot to hear. I chuckle and jog over to her.
"Hi, babe," I smile, "how long until class starts?"
"We have 20 minutes. Let's go to Ms. Laurel's room!" She suggests and I nod and follow her to our usual hangout spot. Ms. Laurel lets us use her room whenever we want to meet up during breaks or lunch. It's basically our hub.
Chatter fills the room, coming from the cluster of students. Some guys are playing with a mini basketball and hoop Ms. Laurel has in her room, and other sit in clumps and chat about the latest happenings.
"Good morning guys," I walk in and scan for my best friends Taylor and Jenny.
"You look cute," Jenny teases. I decided to wear pajamas to school, conflicting with Jenny's stylish choice of a denim mini skirt, a sweater with a skull on it, and loads of jewelry. People often confuse me and Jenny for sisters. We both are platinum blonde (though we both dye it) with blue eyes and are around the same height of 5'4.
"Shut up," I smile back and take a seat with them. My eyes scan the room and lock with our friend Brandon, who comes over to us with his close friends.
"What's up?" He greets us.
"Your hair is insane," I chuckle at his messy blonde curls as he frowns at me. I don't worry though, this was our usual bit. My eyes wander to his friends and I smile at the two of them. Andrew throws me one back, and so does Aaron, but his gaze drops to my arm and snaps back up. I look away right when he does, avoiding him.
"What's your first period again?" I ask Kate, not looking back at the group. I know what he saw. I have a bruise the size of a date on the inside of my arm. Bruises are normal. There's no reason for him to feel any sort of suspicion about it, but it still freaks me out.
The passing period bell dismisses my thoughts as we get up to go to class. I check my phone.
8:20- Hey I'm sorry about last night. I love you 😘
I sigh and begin to respond, but sense someone over my shoulder. I shut off my phone and turn around to face Aaron.
"Let's go class is gonna start soon," he says and I search his face for a sign he saw the message, but find nothing. We usually walk to class together since we go in the same direction, so I nod.
"Okay one sec," I gather my things, hoping he didn't see the texts, and decide to respond later.
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My eyes track every click of the clock on the wall, waiting for it to hit 12:45, so I can go to lunch. After an agonizing amount of time, the bell rings and I practically sprint to grab my phone from its pocket.
I stroll outside and search for Taylor, finding her brunette head of hair walking towards me already.
"How was class?" We join together and walk towards our lunch spot.
"Disgusting. Mr. Harrison put our phones in phone jail," he rolled her eyes and I laughed at her.
"So did Mrs. Clark. My poor baby," I cuddled my phone as we approached the already bustling classroom belonging to Ms. Laurel.
Me and Taylor went in and immediately were sucked into a game the group was playing. It was so stupid, but so fun. You try to get your team to guess your word, but if you say a word with more than one syllable you get bonked with a blow up bat.
We're laughing and bonking each other, then my phone buzzes. I check it.
12:58- No response? Do you think I'm a bad person or something? See me tonight
All of my previous joy leaves my body and I pull away from the group, sitting at a desk right next to them. I look around, thinking of what to say and my eyes meet Aaron's. His blue eyes ask me questions and I smile in response, but it's not enough for him.
He slides into the desk in front of me, "everything good gang?" His tone makes me smile.
"Yes!" I lie, looking into his eyes, praying that he believes me.
"Oh okay good," he says casually and rests his head on his hand, sifting his fingers through his short, sandy hair. "Did you study for the calc test?" He asks me.
"We have a test?" My stomach dropped. I've been too preoccupied to study or even think about school.
"Yes it's tomorrow!" He raises his eyebrows at me. He seems so notice my panic. "I can help you study. I'm good at calculus."
"Omg please," I smile gratefully.
"Okay tonight," he agrees and returns to the game, his invisible bubble pulling me with him.
Lunch finishes too quickly and so does my final period of the day. I dread the ride home, not wanting to deal with my issue at home. I knew he'd be waiting for me, I always leave the door open and he knows that there's a gap in time where my parents aren't home.
As predicted, my boyfriend, Brent, is on my couch.
"Hi," I greet him tentatively.
"Do you hate me?" he asks me and it hurts my soul. I could never hate him. I shake my head in response. "Really? Because you've been acting real tough lately. Am I not good enough for you? Do you really think that you're any better than I am? We're all human we all make mistakes." I flinch at his words with guilt.
"No, no it's fine I promise it's okay," tears well in my eyes. "I forgive you," I tell him. He silently strides up to me and slaps my face, his silver ring catching my eyebrow. I gasp and clutch my face, the tears finally escaping my eyes.
"You're a bitch. I know you don't mean it."
"I do! I do mean it! I'm sorry!" I cry and he leaves my house without another word and I feel empty and I feel guilty.
I crumple to the floor and cry shakily. I crawl to my couch and lie down, one hand on my bruised face and the other wiping my own tears.
YOU ARE READING
Rescuer
RomanceMegan Laverne has a secret. Her boyfriend, Brent, abuses her and she is struggling to hide it from her friends. Aaron Beall knows that something is wrong with Megan Laverne. She comes to school tired and littered with occasional bruises. He wants to...
