Trapped ღ j.t

Ch. 13 Awkward Surprises

{ P E R R I E }

Jade did her best in trying to bandage my cuts. She looked miserable every time I hissed or whimpered at her touch, so I just bit my lip instead. I felt so guilty! It wasn't her fault, yet she completely blamed herself. Sweet, silly girl. The girls had long since gone to their bunks. I didn't understand why they needed 8 bunks when there were only three of them. Now four. I sat on the couch at the front of the bus, and Jade was kneeling before me, concentration written all over her face and she tried to 'heal' me. I kept trying to get her to let me do it, but she insisted, mumbling about how I 'needed to be taken care of'. Something was off here . . .

"Jade?" I pondered.

"Mm?" she murmured, using a cotton ball and hydrogen peroxide to clean a bloody scratch.

"What did my mother tell you?" I asked curiously. She tensed for a second, then met my eyes, smiling a bit, but there was a tinge of sadness lost in them.

"Nothing, just telling me how . . . inspiring you are," she said sincerely. I raised my eyebrows. I knew my mum loved me, but she wasn't the type to brag about her kids.

"What do you mean?" I asked softly. She looked lost in thought for a second, then snapped out of it. She responded with another question.

"What's going on with you and your dad?" she asked me suddenly. Now I wasn't only surprised, I was shocked. I had purposely not said anything about . . . him. Talking about him made me lose control over my emotions. Oh boy. I sighed. Might as well get it all out now.

"Umm, my parents are going through divorce right now," I responded. Jade kept working on my arm, wrapping it in gauze.

"I understand how you feel. My parents went through divorce too," she answered. I smiled sadly and shook my head.

"I'm willing to bet your parent's divorce wasn't anywhere near as . . . violent as mine." She winced, as if that hurt her, but nodded for me to continue.

"My parents were married for 16 years. The last six of them were awful," I whispered, my voice cracking toward the end. Jade finished bandaging my arms. She sat on the couch next to me and put an arm around me. I buried my face into her neck. I took a couple deep breaths.

"You don't have to tell me," she said gently. I shook my head again; it actually felt good t share what I was feeling. The only other people who knew my story were Katherine and Zayn.

"I want to," I said, firmly. "It all started when my mum wanted to go back to school. My dad hated the idea, said it was a waste of money. Mum ignored him and went anyways. They started arguing over everything. That led to fights almost every night, and they always ended up with my mum coming to sleep in my room, crying her eyes out, and telling me everything." I paused to take a shaky breath. She rubbed my arm comfortingly.

"By the end of that year, I hated my father for everything he'd put her through. Then one night, he came home, drunk, with a cut on his wrist, saying my mum did it." Jade gasped, but stayed quiet.

"He called the police on her, got her kicked out of the house. One night, when he was drunk, he admitted to me that he'd lied, but I couldn't prove anything. He made us stay home from school for two weeks, claiming my mum was going to kidnap us. By the way, he's a psychiatrist."

"Go figure," Jade breathed, but then went back to silence, waiting patiently for me to continue, holding my hand.

"I lived with him and my sisters for six months. Since he worked all day and night, I was left to take care of everyone. The twins even went through a stage where they called me 'mom'. Every night, Dad would come home, drunk or half-asleep, cursing my mum, my grandparents, everyone I knew and loved. Sometimes," I paused, choking back a sob. Jade kissed my cheek, and for some reason that gave me strength.