Absent Spark [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

IV

I looked in the mirror and sighed as I shrugged on my jacket. I had to wear the jacket to cover the bruises on my wrists, and high tops to cover the ones on my ankles. I used the healing slave, but since it wasn't applied within a certain amount of time, it didn't work much.

I grabbed my book bag and walked out of the house. Brooke was off doing superhero stuff, saving lives and defeating the bad guys. He was hesitant at first to leave me on my own after my kidnapping, but I reminded him that they didn't even know I existed anymore.

I hopped into my car and drove the short distance to school. I was almost late, getting ready had taken longer than normal because the bruises stung at the slightest bit of pressure. I was nervous; I could cover up the bruises, but I couldn't cover up the nasty cut on my forehead. It was long and deep, and throbbed constantly. I just had to suck up the pain.

I hurried to my first class and slipped into my seat next to Anna. She took one look at my face, and her mouth dropped open. I ignored her and looked away. She was probably still mad at me, just shocked at the wound on my forehead.

The rest of class I tried to focus on the teacher, but Anna kept trying to get my attention. When it was over, I slipped out of the classroom before she could catch me.

I rushed to my next class, and slid into my seat, Will already in his. I turned my head so he couldn't see the cut, and fished my supplies out of my book bag. I swept my hair in front of my forehead, covering the cut before I turned to Will.

"Where have you been for the past two days Grace? You didn't answer any of our calls or texts." Will asked curiously.

"Well-" Before I could think of some half-baked excuse like always,
Anna stomped over to us.

"What happened to you?" She demanded.

"I thought you were mad at me." I told her, purposefully avoiding her question.

"Never mind that. What matter is what happened to you."

"What do you mean, what happened to her?" Will asked Anna, clearly confused.

"I mean this." She said, moving my hair away from the cut.

Will did a little gasp thing, and I sheepishly smiled.

"Well, the thing is," I began, taking Anna's hand away from my face.

I never got to finish though, because when I did that, my jacket sleeve fell down, exposing one of the bruises. I quickly yanked my hand away and pulled the sleeve back over my wrist.

"What was that?" Anna asked softly, her face one of upmost concern.

"N-nothing." I stuttered.

She took my arms and slowly pulled down both of the sleeves, revealing the two bracelet bruises.

"Grace, what happened?" Will whispered.

He looked at me like he was studying me. Like he was trying to put a puzzle together but was missing one piece, the piece that made the whole picture clear. But without the piece, you could never truly see what you were looking at.

Anna gave me a sad look, clearly concerned.

"Grace, did Brooke do this?" She asked slowly.

Will nodded, as if he was agreeing with what she was saying.

A look of horror came over my face. Brooke would never even yell at me, let alone abuse me.

"No," I said in horror. "Brooke would never lay a finger on me!"