Inferior: Draft 2 [ON HOLD]

Four

Lexis
My body slams against the window again, and I feel blood trickle down my scalp. My father, Uncle, and mother stand over me.
"You bitch. Go cut yourself, and hopefully you'll die this time." My mother snaps.
"Go knock back a few pills!" My uncle scoffs.
"I wish your mom had gotten an abortion!" My father yells.
They all kick me into the window, and it shatters. I fly back, my spine hitting the fire escape, my family coming to stand over me.
"STOP!!" I suddenly hear from the ground to my left. "You have no right to abuse your daughter!"
"The hell we don't! We brought he into the world, and we can do whatever we want with her. She is our property!" My family screams in unison. I turn my head and see... Jayden? The pain suddenly becomes too much to handle as my family starts kicking my ribs. I blank out as I hear someone yelling my name?

---

My vision slowly comes into focus as I rapidly blink my eyes against the bright light above me. I see a nurse writing stuff down on a chart over in the right corner of the room, by the door, talking with a man in a lab coat. A doctor. I'm in the hospital?! The costs are insane! They'll kill me for this! I think, panicking. The heart rate monitor's beeps speed up as I hyperventilate. Aaahh!!! The nurse runs over.
"Stop panicking! Calm down!" She urges.
"Sedate her again if necessary," the doctor calls to the nurse before exiting the room. My breathing slows.
"I demand to know who brought me in," I say.
"Some teenage boy. Blonde hair?" Oh, just Jayden.
"Who are you? The boy who brought you in claimed he didn't know you." I breathe a sigh of relief. She can't know what my real name is. I deflect and change the topic.
"What is the extent of my injuries?"
"You have 7 bruised ribs and various cuts and bruises."
"What should I do to take care of the bruised ribs?"
"Just wrap them up with some ace bandages. The doctor has a suggestion for a prescription of some pain killers."
"When can I pick up the meds?"
"We have some here."
"How much am I getting?"
"90 doses, one dose every 24 hours."
"Great. Am I discharged now?"
"Yes, and you can go with that young boy, if you feel okay with that."
"Yeah, sure." The nurse starts to unhook me from the iv and gets my clothes. I dress and she signs me out as 'Jane Doe' and leads me over to Jayden, handing off the pill bottle and 3 boxes of ace bandages. What a nice hospital. Jayden leads me through the sliding doors towards the subway before he finally speaks.
"What the hell is going on at home with you? Tell me." He demands, his voice low.
"No," I respond. "It's none of your business, no matter what you saw today. Thanks, but only because I scored some pain killers." I sounded cold even to myself.
"Are you kidding me? You're not fine! Your situation isn't uncommon, and there's hotlines to call. I found the razor blade in your bag." The fuck? He found my blade? God, I hope he didn't get rid of it. I only have 5!
"I didn't get rid of it. But, you shouldn't cut yourself. You should tell adults what is going on! They could help you."
"I said that nothing was going on. If you want to help me, you won't say a word. Just forget about me. Ask Mrs. Oliver to move you."
"Why?"
"Just go away!" I scream, running towards the metro entrance. I vault over the railing, dropping onto the stairs. I sprint down them, popping a quarter out of my pocket, dropping it in the slot, and slipping through the turnstiles. My feet pound against the pavement. It's the rush hour for the subway, and I slide under people, grateful for my small frame. I make my way to the platform, standing at the back of the group standing there, frustrated that I can't get towards the middle. I feel a hand on my shoulder and instinct takes over. I slip under the persons arm, elbowing them in the stomach as I do so. I move away from them, moving to stand at the side of the group. I am suddenly spun around, and I'm facing Jayden. Shit. I try to escape his grasp on my upper arms, but he easily keeps me in place. I'm stuck. The subway pulls up and he moves his hand from my arm to my hand. We walk onto the subway and find two seats next to each other. He turns to me once the subway starts moving.
"Why should I ask to move? And why would Mrs. Oliver say yes?" I really didn't want to get into this right now. But I feel compelled to give him answers.
"Because no one wants to sit next to 'cutter girl', even teachers avoid me."
"Why do they call you cutter girl?"
"You don't need to know." Someone saw me cut.
"Then, why should I move?" I really wish he hadn't brought that up again.
"Because I don't like you and you should stay away from me. Don't want to ruin your chance to get in with the jocks." His toned body and strength was kinda obvious. My voice carries snark and sarcasm. I'm so mean, after Jayden has been nice. I'm surprised he hasn't run off yet.
"I'm already on the football team and it wouldn't matter if I wasn't, I'm good in all sports[Ah, Usui].I was abused, and my mom, and I wish I had did something about it."
"I don't care. Too bad." I am such a liar. Curiosity killed the cat. He tells me anyway.
"My mom died, and the police sent my dad to jail. He's not allowed out. He has a life sentence, with no chance of parole."
"At least he's in jail," I state bitterly, thinking of my own situation.
"Yeah." He seems a little dense for someone so perceptive, or maybe he just ignored my tone of voice.
"Yeah. So, do you want to share? With me, if you can. I won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to." He just doesn't know when to give up. I think, for a long minute. I know I will feel better, but I know I can't share. This has been my secret, for 10 long years. 10 years of faking it. 10 years of hiding myself. 10 years of becoming a shadow. I sigh, preparing to tell him my final answer. "No."