Sneaking out was easy. My window was the perfect size for me to fit through so I could climb out and jump the rest of the way since it wasn't that far from the ground. If my parents heard me, they didn't make it too obvious since they never bother to say anything about my late night escapes. They didn't really care about my wellbeing and something made me think they wouldn't even care if I did achieve my goal on Friday night.
Eli wasn't very clear on where we were meeting but I already knew where he'd be. He knew I'd go there. It was the place we'd first had an actual conversation: the bridge.
So the bridge is where I was headed. It had already become dark which I was actually quite glad of. The dark made it easier to slip away and avoid being seen by any nosy members of society that could potentially get involved. I was also lucky that due to being in such a small town, the park was only minutes away.
It was just like it was on Friday, making me feel a little uneasy to be there as it reminded me of what I was planning to do once I had finally pushed Eli away. That boy never really took a hint and it was making it difficult to get rid of him.
"Hey." He was perched up on the wall of the bridge, his bag tossed on the floor carelessly. There was no one around to take it anyway.
"Hey." I answered, shifting in my spot.
He patted the space next to him so I climbed up and sat beside him, gazing up at the sky. I found it quite beautiful on this night in particular as I never really took the time to ever view the stars or even the moon.
"It's pretty, isn't it?" Eli sighed happily, noticing what I was looking at. "It's a full moon tonight as well."
"I've never really looked at it before." I replied.
"Really?"
"Really."
"My mum and dad used to take me camping when I was younger. Late at night we sat outside together for a while and I was always amazed by the sky and outer space." I looked sideways at him and noticed a reminiscing smile on his face.
"Maybe that's why you're such a nerd then." I joked, grinning as he faked being upset by my comment.
"Why so mean?" He gasped.
"I'm only mean to you." I answered, giving him a genuine smile.
"I can tell. You really hurt my feelings!" He then nudged me playfully, the pain it caused my arm reminding me of the earlier events that lead up to our meeting.
"Careful." I said, rubbing my arm gently in hopes of soothing the pain.
"Oh, yeah." He rummaged through his bag and brought out some painkillers. "I thought these might help you."
"Thanks." I answer, taking them gratefully.
After I do this, I see him staring at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Why are you doing this for me?" I question, scrutinising him.
"Well, you called me and told me about your arm so-"
"No," I interrupt, "I meant why are you being so nice to me and making an effort. Is this some sort of joke? Or are you doing it to make yourself look good? If you are, I swear-"
"Ash, I wouldn't do that." He states firmly. "I can tell when someone is in need of a friend. I'm just being there for you since you seem so alone. You can't face everything alone, you know."
For a few moments, I'm speechless. His words had stunned me into silence and I wasn't sure how to reply to him. I wasn't used to a person truly caring about me. The expression on his face proved to me that he was being completely honest along with the hurt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry for assuming that about you." I say at last, making him let out a sigh of relief.
"It's okay. I understand you don't trust that easily," he replies, "but you can rely on me for anything, okay?"
"Thank you." I look at my lap sadly. "It's just been so hard lately with school and also stuff at home, you know?"
"Do you want to talk about it?" He repeated the same question from earlier with the same nervousness in his voice. "You don't have to, it's just it usually helps to get things off of your chest."
For a few moments, I hesitated on whether to fully trust him with what was going on in my life. People never usually ask and never usually care so I'm not used to this treatment. My mind is running wild with all sorts of scenarios that this conversation could cause. In the end, I sigh mentally. Who cares anymore?
"Well it started a few years back. My parents always were perfectionists so wanted me to be just like them, perfect in everything. That meant my behaviour, my personality and definitely school. There would be punishments if I wasn't doing well." I explained, still quite unsure of what was going to happen.
If I told him everything about me, he would either be scared or even more intrigued about me. He would run away or he would stay in my life and I wasn't sure what my reaction would be to either of those options. Obviously I was used to being alone by now so loneliness didn't bother me but something about Eli not wanting to be friends with me scared me.
"What did they do?" He urged curiously, his voice sounding incoherent, as though even he didn't know what to expect.
"At first they were regular punishments." I shrugged. "Being told off or grounded for a couple of days is normal for any teenager so this didn't really mean anything for a while."
I paused, trying to force out a voice that didn't want to be heard from within me. Every time I tried to utter something I managed to freeze up, unable to say a thing to him.
Surprisingly, Eli waited though. He sat silently and patiently, knowing it was difficult for me to talk about it.
"It got worse as time went by." I continued, a few tears making their paths down my face. "My dad beat me a few times but it was easily covered up with some makeup. No one noticed and if they did, they didn't question it. It just kept spiralling out of control from there and the beatings got worse until this happened."
I gestured to my arm and he looked down at it, unable to tear his gaze away. Eli tensed beside me, his eyes narrowing when I'd explained my story. He looked at a loss for words as I'd expected him to be. I started mentally preparing myself for his departure, forcing myself not to be upset when he'd leave me.
"I'm so sorry Ash." He whispered quietly at last. This was the part where he'd tell me he had to leave. "You had to face all of this alone with no one helping you through it. You're probably one of the bravest people I've met."
"No, I'm not brave at all." I laughed shakily, unable to stop fiddling with the end of my shirt in an attempt to stop panicking. "I tried to kill myself remember?"
"How could I forget?" He replied, his voice breaking towards the end. "But I'm here for you now."
I blinked in shock. My heart starting pounding against my ribcage even faster than it was before and I started struggling to breathe. He wasn't going to leave me. He was going to stay.
"What?" I asked, hands shaking in my lap as I stared at him.
"You're not alone anymore." He stated, smiling supportively at me. From the dim lighting, I could tell that it was genuine and not a fake one.
I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding in and smiled wearily at him. My mind just couldn't process the fact that I had a true friend that would stand by me despite the circumstances.
I wiped away the tears that had been trailing down my face in happiness and found it unnecessary to cry anymore. I had found something to be happy about.
