The Drama With My Drama Teacher

The Light at the End

The Light at the End

That night, sleep evades me.

Every time I'm fallen asleep I'm woken up by horrible nightmares. In some, Mr Howard got what he wanted from me. In others, Finn is telling me he hates me.

The worst dreams of all are when I picture Finn crying because of what I've done to him.

Every time I wake up screaming and writhing around, causing Chris to come in running to check on me. Afterwards he sleepily walks back to his own room, only to repeat the process half an hour later. After a while, Chris drags his bedsheets onto the floor of my room and vows to just sleep there.

Daddy even came up once or twice to check on me, but decided to leave Chris to it. He's downstairs working.

He told us that the moment he received Chris's call, he booked indefinite time off of work and immediately got in contact with the police station. Following that, he contacted top lawyers and attorneys to be advised on the best course of action for how to proceed.

So, while he wasn't physically at the police station, he was preparing everything he could behind the scenes.

He said he's going to be with me every step of the way with the trial, and will do his best to keep my name out of the papers. He's already got a team of lawyers working with the police to speed up the time it takes to build a case.

Daddy says the weakest cases are those that go on the longest. The evidence for this case is irrefutable, he says, and that will make it easy to win.

But the thought of a court case is so distant and alien to me at the moment that I struggle to think about it. All I can think of at the moment is the temptation to call Finn, or how I want to see him, or the thought of his lips on mine for the very last time.

It's these thoughts that keep me up all night.

When exhaustion finally hits me, I succumb to sleep, and don't rise while late the next day. When I stumble down the stairs wrapped in my blanket, I find Chris, Gemma and Matthew in the kitchen.

Without saying anything, Gemma rises and wraps her arms around me, giving me a big hug. "How you feeling?" She asks, and I shrug.

"I'll make you some pancakes, there's some batter left from this morning" Chris offers and I nod. He begins rattling the pans about, deliberately being theatrical to amuse Matthew, who chuckles in his high chair, clapping his chubby hands in joy.

"Where's Dad?" I ask, and a head pops around the kitchen door.

"I'm right here" He responds, beaming at me. He leans down to kiss my forehead. "How are you feeling, Princess?"

"I'm okay, I just hurt" I complain, shifting slightly in my seat. Now I'm awake, I can feel the pain my body is in, every part of it seems to ache. It seems I acquired more bruises than I originally thought.

"Would you like some painkillers?" Dad offers, and I nod. He gets me some, and a glass of water, and gratefully I take a couple. "That should ease your pain"

"You haven't even told her the good news" Chris chimes in, while subsequently burning my pancake. He places it on a plate, and puts it in front of me.

"There's good news?" I ask sceptically, looking at my burned breakfast. Chris shoots me a look.

"Well it's nice to see your sarcasm is still intact" Chris mutters, handing me the syrup. I give him a wide, insincere smile.

"I'm glad you think so, brother of mine" I retort sarcastically.