The Secret Daughter

Chapter 2

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I tap my steering wheel along to the beat of the song.

"So he calls me up and he's like, 'I still love you' and I'm like, I'm just, this is exhausting, ya know? We are never getting back together. Like... Ever." I mimic the words to the song as I drive along the road. I'm almost to Kyle's house, but I'm running out of gas quickly, so I pull into a station to fill up. I take my keys out of the ignition and walk into the mini-mart, passing only an empty car in the lot. The bell rings above my head, but nobody appears at the counter. I creep back outside into the night. 'Maybe I should just refill the tank at the next station.' I think, when something catches my eye. There are people inside the other car here, 2 of them to be exact. The brown hair is familiar, too familiar. I knock hard on the window of the car, interrupting the couple's snogging. The brown haired boy turns around and I catch a glimpse of his sharp, handsome features. Kyle. The tears start to stream as my face registers in his mind. He reaches for the handle and opens his door, but I kick it shut.

"No explanations!" I shout. "No!" he opens the door again and this time I can't stop him.

"Mica you don't understand!"

"I understand you were snogging another girl while I was on the way to spend the night at your house!"

"Mica, hear me out!"

"Oh, shut up, Kyle!" I shout, anger mixing with grief. he looks to the ground and doesn't say anything else.

"I trusted you." I mutter, and turn my back to him. He makes a noise in the back of his throat, but I ignore him and climb back into my car, slamming the door. I drive onto the street and go a few blocks, sniffling all the way. When I'm a safe distance away, I pull toward the curb. The sobs rack my body. After I broke up with Logan, Kyle was my rock. The only thing I could hold on to. Now he cheated on me with some sleazy redhead. This thought sends me into a new round of sobs. I must sit there for over an hour before I check my phone. Nothing from Kyle, only an angry text from Logan that I delete without reading. As soon as I don't think I can cry another tear I start the 3 hour drive home. Every mile seems to take hours and I pull into the driveway as the sun is peeking up over the horizon. If I wasn't so tired I would have noticed the blue pickup outside my house before I walked straight into it. I fall to the ground with a painful crack.

"You sent some pretty disrespectful messages to me, Darling." Logan appears above me.

"Leave me alone." I say, crawling towards the door.

"C'mon Mica." He says grabbing my shoulders and dragging me onto my feet. "Just do what I tell you and I won't hurt you."

"Get your hands off of me!" I shout. He slaps my face shooting streaks of color across my vision.

"Be quiet, Baby." He says pushing me against the garage wall.

"Get away from me Logan!" I yell giving him a good knee right where it counts. "GET AWAY FROM MY HOUSE!" He recovers quickly

and throws his hands around my neck. I can't fight him off and quickly all of the air from my lungs escapes. I start making horrible noises as I drift through clouds of darkness, then back into the world.

"White lips, pale face, breathing in snowflakes," Logan whispers to me, his tone cruel. He laughs as I gag again. "burnt lungs, sour taste, lights gone, days end. Struggling to pay rent. Long nights. Strange men." The familiar words sink into my soul. This isn't a bad way to die...

I'm aware of the slamming, and the weight pushed away from me. I gasp for breath, but only a little fills my lungs. There's a hand on my chest as my eyes flutter open. I recognize the boy checking my pulse not from past dating experience, but from my mother's work.

Liam.

The face connects with the name for a brief moment before the world goes black again.