Remmington's School for Troubled Teens

Chapter 20

"I was fifteen when Ary died, her name was Aryella but that was our nickname for her..." Luke started off.

"I was already driving at the time, my parents were well respected and rich, so no one really cared. Plus I was a really good driver." He laughed, "I had taken her out for the day, like we usually did on Saturday's. We went to the aquarium because they had a special mermaid show that day, and she loved mermaids. It was about five o'clock when we were on our way home. And, well..." He bit his lip nervously. I took hold of his hand and ran my other hand up and down his arm.

"A drunk driver his us, from the front. The car spun and flipped. I could hear her screaming, it was terrifying. But somehow, she was okay. Just some cuts and bruises. My leg was crushed, and I couldn't move. I wanted to get her out of the car because we were in the middle of a busy road in five o'clock traffic. But I couldn't. And it wasn't even a minute later than another car crashed into our, but it was on her side. She screamed my name, and before I knew it she was dead. Her seatbelt had broken in the crash before and the second impact caused her to fly to the other side of the car and break her neck..."

He let out a breath and then looked down at our interlocked hands, not having the strength to look at me at the moment.

But I lifted his chin with my finger and looked into his saddened eyes.

"That wasn't your fault, Luke. You couldn't have stopped that car from coming. And you said yourself that you couldn't move because of your leg..." I then hugged him as tightly as I could, I wanted him to stop thinking that it was his fault. I knew what that felt like and I knew that, most likely, no one would be able to change his mind. And that really sucked.

"I know...But when someone you love dies-"

"You always think it's your fault. Especially if you were with them when they died. In the same room, house, car..." I said, finishing the thought. I knew that feeling better than anyone.

"How did your mom die? I know in group Dr. Vera said that, in your file, you said it was your dad? Is that true?" I felt really backed into a corner when he asked me that. He had just told me something that was really private and hard to talk about. Did that mean I had to do the same? Even though I didn't really want to.

I felt my nose do that thing where you feel like you're going to start crying, but I wasn't going to cry and I didn't want to talk about this right now.

"I, umm...Yes that's true." I was going to attempt to tell him. I was going to try to hold it together because I thought he deserved to know.

"My dad killed her. He killed her." I was staring down, not meeting his eyes, just like he was doing a few minutes ago. I began chewing the inside of my cheek anxiously. I thought that he deserved to know at least a little bit into my past. I knew that he wouldn't blow me off and would actually care about my feelings. So I decided to tell him...

"He abused her, he hurt her really badly all the time. She would hide me in this little closet in the hall whenever she knew that he was about to start abusing her. Then one day, I guess he had enough of her. He ripped the phone cords out of the wall, which was dumb because we didn't even have enough money to pay the electric bill that month, but after that he..." I stopped for a moment. This was the part where no one believed me. Where they would call my story unrealistic and made up.

"You don't have to tell me, Angel, I can wait-"

"No. I want to tell you..." I cut him off. I was ready. I could do this.

I took a deep breath.

"My dad was really smart. And after he was done beating her, he slit her wrists and shoved her done the stairs..." I started getting really anxious and my breathing became uneven. Luke still had hold of my hand and rubbed the top of it with his thumb.