Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Chapter One

Hey guys! This is Abby, the author. And I just wanted to say that I mostly want this story to be in Lucy POV but it's starting off in third person, thanks everyone for reading this new fanfic!  (Also! The beginning of this, everything in italics is depressing, so if need to, skip it!)
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Her smile lit up the entire room,
All she would do is laugh that musical laugh,
And somehow
Everyone would fall in love with her.

She never worried about anything,
Why should she?
For she was lucky,
She was too young and naive to understand the pain yet.

She was only five,
In a small adorable dress,
Singing for the room of people,
It was Valentine's Day and everyone had begged her to sing.

They loved her every movement,
And her small tiny voice,
Carrying words in a light, sweet way.
It created an aroma that everyone craved.

But all too soon it ended.
She finished her song.
Got off the small stage.
Everyone had cheered.
Everyone had loved her.
Her Dad and Mom had smiled lovingly.

But then,
all too soon,
She grew up...
And then, no one wanted her.
She was left all alone.
Her mom had died.
Her Dad started drinking, he got angry quickly.
He never really recovered from the loss.

One night, he came home.
At that time, she was seven.
He came to her room, he was already angry,
But when she told him to go to sleep-
She had tried to help-
But in return, he hit her. And didn't stop.

Time passed.
Cuts and bruises healed.
But more also piled on.
Soon the not so little girl,
Could never stop crying.

She hated it.
Hated that she couldn't do anything.
Hated that everyone thought she was worthless.
Hated that she was so useless, and all she could do was cry.

But there was nothing she could do anymore.
...Except pretend...
So that's what she did.
She made everyone believe her fake smile.
Made them think she was okay.
She hid all her marks that her father gave her.
But it never really did work.
Although people believed her.
They soon began hating her again.

For her "perfect" smile.
But little did they know,
it was broken.
Just like her.

She had many secrets,
One's she would never tell.
She was broken
And knew that she would never be able to escape her hell.

Sometimes, she would look back at that sweet, innocent little girl. And wonder what happened to her. She used to be so sweet. So young. When she was little, she even used to think growing up would be amazing. That she would be so strong.

It's ironic, really.
Because she did become strong.
But not in a good way.
She tried closing herself off.
Closing everything off.
She was 16,
Why did the world already give up on her?
She was now in high school.
And still she tried to pretend.
But not for herself anymore,
She gave up on that quite a long time ago,
No, she pretended for others.

Because no one would allow her to have her sadness be shown.
They would close in on her.
And take that weakness,
They would crush her,
Like they had so many other times.

And all too soon,
Her world became bleak.
What she wanted,
Became meaningless.

Now,
It was what others wanted.

      The alarm clock blared it's annoying sound. Lucy slammed the STOP button and it's sound died off. She laid in bed, starting at the ceiling, and thought about how she really didn't want to go to school today. Wouldn't it be so much easier, she thought, if I could just stay home. I wouldn't have to deal with everything. Wouldn't have to deal with school.
      She knew that couldn't solve all her problems though, because she still had her father to worry about. And school was the only way to escape him.
      So she struggled out of bed. And started her morning.
      She showered and got dressed. Then raced quickly and quietly across the house to eat. Then she scampered to her bathroom, which was connected to her room, and brushed her teeth.      
      She applied makeup, and made sure that no one would be able to see the marks her father had recently given her. Then she walked out of her room and started to the door. She peaked around corners.
      She'd be fine as long as he didn't see her.
      The coast was clear. She raced across the living room and out the door. Her bag weighed her down, but she ignored it. She just had to make it across the block. Then, everything would be fine.
      She made it! She stopped her running and started walking to school. It should only take her about a half hour to get there. It wasn't incredibly far from her house.
      Lucy lowered her head as she neared school. Anxiety started to boil inside her.
School: just another part of her personal hell.