Daughter of Lightning

Chapter One

Shailee's POV:
I walked down the hall, my head low and my shoulders sagging. I was not in the mood to get into a fight with someone today. I looked over at my friend, Piper, who was walking alongside me. Piper was my only friend, besides Jason, her boyfriend, who I found extremely attractive, even though I knew I'd never have a chance, especially since he was dating my friend. I stumbled as someone shoved past me, my electric blue eyes looking down at the floor. For some reason me and Jason looked similar; we both had the same hue of blue eyes, and we had similar noses. My hair was darker than his, though, his was blonde and mine was dark blonde, my roots were brunette. I looked up and walked into my algebra classroom, not wanting to suffer through an hour of this crap. I sat down in my usual seat, between Jason and Piper. They had sat on either side of me the first day, to protect me. A girl named Tanya had thrown me against the lockers, and it had given me multiple bruises later. Jason and Piper helped me and got me away from Tanya, and I will be eternally grateful to them for that. I looked up at the board, squinting to try to see through my dyslexia. I had terrible dyslexia, and it made everything about school hard, except for art. I don't want to brag, but I think I'm a pretty decent artist, despite what other people say. I looked over at Jason and smiled. "Hi." I said, feeling sadness course through my veins. He smiled back, before looking over my shoulder and nodding to Piper. Piper blew him a kiss; it might as well have been a bullet through my chest. I watched my teacher shuffle her papers, before boredom sunk in.
Suddenly the bell rang. I had fallen asleep, and no on had seemed to notice. I stood and walked towards the door, ignoring Jason and Piper talking behind me. I walked to my next class, one that I didn't have with them, and prepared to be ridiculed by Tanya and her little accomplice, Marcy. I sat down in my seat, waiting for my art teacher to start teaching the lesson. I put my chin on my hand, not interested in doing anything as I mindlessly doodled on a piece of paper.
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"Hey, Shailee. Thought you could get away today?" Tanya sneered, pushing me against the brick wall of the side of the school. I didn't fight back, I knew I would be beaten worse if I had. My mother had always told me not to fight back, that it would only make it worse. I had never tried it, for I feared my mother terribly. "Please leave me alone." I begged. Tanya slapped me. "Garbage doesn't talk." She snarled. Marcy laughed harshly, her gaze full of hatred. I wiggled around, trying to get out of Tanya's grasp. She punched me in the cheek. I tried to bring my hand to my face, but she grabbed my wrist, squeezing tightly. I yelped, trying to get away. She pushed me onto the ground and started kicking me harshly, Marcy joining in. I curled into a ball, trying to fend off their blows. Tanya picked me up by the collar, for I was four inches shorter than her at the height of five feet seven inches. She slammed me onto the ground, my head banging against the concrete. I whimpered, helpless. They both kicked me a few more times, hard, and I winced as I felt something in my ribcage break. They walked away, and I laid there, in too much pain to move. I was half conscious, tasting the metallic tang of blood on my tongue. I heard the scream of Piper, before everything went black.
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I was limp as a rag doll. I was barely conscious, my eyelids closed. I felt the warm arms of someone wrap around me, before I was pressed against a hard chest. My eyelids fluttered open slightly, and I caught a glimpse of blonde hair. "Jason.." I coughed, my head lolling uselessly. I felt Piper brush against my foot as she ran past us. I heard her unlock a door, and whimpered as I felt a jolt, sending pain wracking through my body. My ribcage felt like it was on fire, and I had a splitting migraine. I felt Jason set me on a bed, and I laid there limply. I opened my eyes slightly, feeling blood trickle from my mouth. Piper set a wet cloth on my forehead, and began wiping the blood and dust from my face. I heard someone walk in, and flicked my gaze to the doorway. A scrawney, curly haired guy stood in the doorway. "Sheesh. What happened to her?" He asked, his impish face concerned. "She was beat up." Piper said. She looked over at him. "Get out, Leo." She ordered calmly, and the boy left, closing the door. "Shay, I have to take your shirt off to see your wounds, just warning you." Piper said, before gently slipping my shirt off. I yelped, feeling pain shoot through my left side and ribs. I shakily tried to sit up, gasping in pain. Swear trickled down my forehead, and I pushed Piper away as she moved to push me back into a laying position. I moaned and gripped my side, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes. "Ouch." I gritted my teeth as Piper prodded my side. "You for sure have a broken rib. Your side is just bruised, I think." Piper examined. She put a hand over her mouth. "Your neck. What happened?" She gasped, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Now you know why I wear hoodies in ninety degree weather." I said. There were bruises up and down my neck from my mother hitting me. Apparently I was a devil child, a curse on my mother. So she punished me for it. "Piper, just.. Don't look at me.." I said, feeling a sob rise in my throat. I swallowed it, not willing to show weakness. I had learned from my mother's beatings to never show pain. I would never let her feel the pleasure of hearing me scream. Piper turned away. I knew I horrified her. I blew it. I blew one of the only friendships I had ever had. I stood, wincing as I felt the pain exploding in my ribcage. I grabbed some wrapping cloth that was used to wrap around broke ankles and wrists and wrapped it around my ribcage, careful not to wrap it around my upper chest. I sighed and grabbed an ibuprofen bottle. I swallowed three pills without water, and slipped my dark purple sweatshirt back on, slipping the hood up. I walked out, looking down. I noticed bruises all over my legs, but ignored them. "Shailee, are you okay?" Jason said, standing from where he had been sitting on a couch next to the strange guy. "I'm fine." I growled, before walking out. Now I had to go home to my uncaring mother. I walked down the street, hopping over the fence into my tiny backyard. I walked up my small house and opened the door. "You're late." My mother snarled as I walked past her. "Why do you care all of a sudden? Yesterday you wouldn't have cared if I was laying dead in a ditch. Hell, you probably would have been thankful!" I said, feeling my rage beginning to boil over. I had never spoken like this to my mother before, and it felt good to stand up for myself. "Don't you take that type of tone with me, you little shit." My mother snarled back. I turned away from her and walked upstairs, knowing what I was going to do. I grabbed my duffle bag and backpack, packing as many clothes as I could. I packed my art supplies and my phone, a crappy iPhone 5C that I had worked two years to get. I grabbed the thirty dollars I had and shoved that into my bag too, before grabbing my pocketknife and walking downstairs. I walked out the door after I grabbed my jacket, throwing it on as I walked out. "If you leave this house you're never allowed back." My mother said. "I wouldn't come back if it was the only way for me to survive!" I yelled back, putting my middle finger up. I walked back down to Piper's house, totally done with my mother. I wasn't going to take the abuse any more. I knocked on the door, staggering a bit, feeling weakness crawl up my limbs. Leo opened the door. "What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised. "I'm leaving. I need Jason and Piper." I said. Leo vanished, and I heard whispering, before coming back with my two friends. "I'm leaving." I said simply, seeing shock fill their gazes, before they nodded to each other. "First, we need to talk." Piper said, before leading the way back in. I felt my arm brush against Jason's, and I blushed inwardly. I sat down in a chair opposite to Piper, Jason, and Leo. "What do we need to talk about?" I asked, crossing my legs.