The cuts you never see

Chapter 1

Trigger Warning: talk of harm and knives

I want to have solitude, nothing else, because nobody understands me besides me.
I close my eyes as I lay in a field of grass. It was just me alone with my thoughts. The calmness and solitude of the field were the reasons I always loved to come to this area. Not many people know where this place is, and the few who do rarely come here. I jolt up because very faintly, but prominently, I hear a sound. The fear of someone seeing me here makes my heart race. I bound to my feet and take off towards a tree, hearing someone running at me. My legs pump beneath me. Daring to look back, I see a dark figure chasing after me, but I don't dare stop to examine. I throw myself at the trunk of the large oak tree and begin my climb to the top.

After I finally reached the highest branch to support me, I decided to watch the dark figure run into view. Almost instantly, I knew who it was. His tattered black jeans, olive hoodie, and black converses gave him away. It was Zac.

Zac and I were best friends until he sat there and watched his "friends" hurt me. They kicked me, punched me, and one of them, continuously, cut me. Blood started to gush out slowly. I screamed as the knife slid down my thigh. It eventually became a whimper and then a cry of enjoyment, but when they noticed I was enjoying it, they stopped and left me sprawled on the ground, my body bruised and aching. Parts of my skin dyed red with my blood. Zac looked at me with his hands shoved in his pockets, a sly smile plastered on his face. Eventually, he walked away, implanting the knowledge that I was worthless. Ever since then, I've taken a blade to my thigh at least twice a day.

"ZuZu, I know you're here! I just saw you!" Zac exclaimed.

"You have no right to call me that!" I yelled from above his head.

He looked up and spoke, "I'm sorry." said Zac, distraught.

"Sorry doesn't even begin to cover what you did. Leave me alone and never bother me again." I called back. "Now go!"

"I know, but please let me apologize somehow."

"It's too late to apologize. Even if it weren't too late, there would be nothing you could say to mend the broken bond. There are no words to make up for what you did. Don't call me ZuZu either. It's Zoey to you. NOW LEAVE!!

  "Come on...Please come down!" Zac started begging. "NO! I REFUSE!" I felt my breath getting shaky, but I waited. When I didn't hear anything, I looked down to see Zac sitting at the base of the tree—leaving me with no other exit. I sat in the tree, and before long, I felt my head lolling to one side. I shook my head in an attempt to keep myself woke. But before long, the world around me went dark. "ZuZu!" I awoke to Zac calling me. I was falling. I quickly writhed my body around and latched onto a branch. For a few moments, I dangled from the stem.

  After catching my breath, I started to pull myself up. After a bit of struggling, I finally managed to get up. I sat down and pressed my hand to my chest. Feeling my heart pump like hell. I breathed in, and I let my heart calm. " ZuZu! Are you okay?" I looked down and saw Zac starting to climb. "No, get the fu*k away!" I screamed and started to shake. I began to climb farther away, as far away from him as possible. But it was all for not. As he got closer, the ground looked more appealing by the second. Holding my breath, I glared at him and jumped down.

  When I landed, I winced and started to run, ignoring the sharp pain that just shot up my right leg. I ran for as long as I could, and before long, I lost him. I slowly came to a stop, and after a while, I took in my surroundings. 'Shit......... I'm screwed.' There was pretty much nowhere to hide. The only thing in sight was rose bushes. My only choice was to jump in the rose bushes. It wasn't the roses that scared me. It was the thorns. Millions and billions of little thorns were waiting for their prey. And I was soon to be the prey. I needed a place to hide, and they were the only things near. If I were going to escape from Zac, I would need to jump in the thorns. It would hurt, but it is worth not seeing or talking to Zac. I dove into the thorns just Zac's feet touch the ground.

He must've thought I ran because when I looked out of the thorns, he wasn't there. He had taken off, and I was alone again. Zac will be back when he noticed I hadn't run. I quickly got out of the thorns I peered into the trees, watching to see if Zac was coming. When I didn't see him, I ran, my legs pumping beneath me. I ran faster. That's when I heard Zac, "ZuZu come back only want to talk."

"You should've talked with your friends when they were hurting me. You should've spoken up, but you just watched, and when you left, you smiled I was left betrayed." I said, just slowing down a little bit.

"ZuZu I-, don't go, you know what I'm sorry I never meant to hurt you, and I sure as hell didn't mean to make you cry. I-I just thought of it as a way, a fucked up way to hurt you after I saw you with Liam." Zac said as if he were about to cry

" What, you thought it was going to be entertaining to watch me hurt! Well, it's was, was it? I already had problems at home, but you decided that would be entertaining. Well, guess what was in front of me?! You were in front of me, you of all people! You! I trusted you, and you betrayed me. Well, I'm never going to let that happen again, not to me, I'm strong from now on. I am independent. I don't need anybody to tell me what to do. You may be sorry, but I don't care. How's the saying go 'you can forgive, but you can't forget,' Well I'm not that good, I can't do either."