Adopted by Alex Gaskarth

thorns

today i wake up with purpose.
tomorrow i'll wake up with purpose and on and on and on.
having to look like i decided to straighten my hair and wear a black long sleeve dress.
making my way downstairs i heard argument,
"fuck you alex"
"i just don't want anyone to get hurt."
"life is full of hurt, you know it, i know it, and she knows it."
"she's so young jack."
"i don't care."
at this point i was very confused and decided to just walk in the kitchen

"morning dweebs" i smile as i head to the pantry searching for cereal.

"we have to leave in 20 minutes so be ready." alex pointed at jack and I.

"hazel i love you." jack smiled

"love you too jacky." i laughed eating my cereal as a sigh escaped his lips and he made his way upstairs.

with that we headed to the court house.

(disclaimer: i've never been to court so idk if this will be very accurate)

i sat down in the front with alex and his lawyer at my side, jack wasn't allowed to sit next to us in the front so he sat right behind us.

and then i saw him,
i saw the boy with brown eyes that destroyed me.
i saw the hands that broke me.
i saw the mouth that assaulted me with words.
and my eyes started to water.

"hazel gaskarth will you please rise and tell us of your time with max." the judge smiled at me.

"hello and good morning. I fell in love with max. we went on dates and talked about everything. I loved him as much as any 16 year old can love a boy. i needed to take time to get better, i was in a horrible place with myself and decided being hospitalized was a good option. he lashed out and said some very negative things, so i left him. he then attempted to make contact with me and i told him to maybe in the future we could be friends. then he wanted to talk and i complied, he then drugged me and took me to his summer home in NC. he tied me down, sexually and physically hurt me and mentally scarred me. he took me away from my family and friends. i am a firm believer that no love is love lost. i believe you should love unconditionally and love as much as you can. but i do in fact regret loving him and i do hope that i don't have to see him again. thank you."

"objection." max stood up

"sit down boy." the judge rolled her eyes

"she loved me and we ran away together." he screamed

"there shows way too much evidence you held her against her will to ever consider that child." the judge raised her voice.

i started to cry.

"do you see what you've done to her, someone you claim to love? you broke this poor girl and took away so much from her. and you're going to sit here and lie. what kind of man are you? not a man at all i say." i judge stood up making max go red in the face.

"we all know how i feel now." the judge got up and walked out for a short break.

*fast forward legal stuff bc i'm no lawyer*

"Max Jenkins is declared guilty on counts of, kidnap, sexual assault, and physical assault. and will here by be sentenced to jail for 15 years."

15 years.
15 years.
15 years.

crazy that that feels so short but so long at the same time.