The Undescovered Gem of Hattie Anderson.
River's POV
Number One: Go to a real party.
We would have to take baby steps before stepping up to a level that advanced.
I walked down the dirt road going home from school on a groggy Monday morning, dragging my feet as I stepped.
Winter break was in exactly one week, and the winter formal was next Friday. I stopped going to those dances a while ago. It was stupid for me to think about even going. I can't see for Christ's sake!
I wondered why Hattie got anxiety attacks. Did she have a bad family background?
If you ever wondered why my mother's in prison, don't ask me, I don't know and don't want to know. The only thing I remember of my childhood was pain.
Each and every day were filled with beatings and abuse, from my father and my mother. Sometimes they even hit each other. Alison hadn't known about what was going on until she came home from college. That's when things got better.
I begged Alison to take me to her apartment everyday and whenever she asked why, I said I needed a break from mom and dad because they threatened that if I ever told Alison what they did to me, they would shoot me.
Finally, I gathered up enough courage to tell Ali and she called the police, interrogated both of them, put my dad in rehab for a while, and sent my mom to jail.
I despised her with all my heart, what's left of it anyways.
It's funny, I haven't been in a bar, or slept with another girl for exactly one week, to when I first met Hattie. I wasn't sure if I even liked Hattie as a friend, but she was always there for me and I knew she trusted me but I wasn't so sure if she had my trust yet.
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Hattie's POV
I trudged to school Monday morning, my head a screwed up mess.
I walked into first period and sat in an empty desk, but I didn't sit with River today. I didn't feel like having a one-sided conversation with him today.
I tapped my pencil on my notebook as I tried to focus on what my physics teacher was saying, but all I could hear was a single pencil moving, and that was River's drawing in his worn out leather binded notebook. It used to sound like the best sound in the world, but it sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me right now.
Did I take my pills for my anxiety? What time does this class end? When will he stop that bloody noise? I had a raging headache and the room started spinning. I could no longer focus on anything at all.
My mind slipped away into darkness.
12 years ago, Christmas Day.
I ran down the stairs in my Barbie pajamas feeling like a princess as I saw the mountain of presents waiting for me to rip open in front of our tree. Better yet, was that an American Girl Doll? My parents were sitting on the couch together, my dad's arm around my mother in comfort. He ducked his head down and planted a small kiss on her dirty blonde head. I ran as fast as my tiny feet could carry me to my parents and flung my arms around them, shouting 'I love you' a million times before diving into presents.
End.
The last thing I remember is my hands shaking uncontrollably and falling to the floor, then I blacked out.
