Behind Every Smile

Kyle

Soon, this horrific battle would come to an abrupt end. However, before we get to that memorable day, I must introduce yet another important character into this story-Kyle.

Growing up, Kyle and I never usually talked too much-I hardly knew him. His physical appearance was quite similar to mine; blue eyes, blonde hair, somewhat short. Not to mention he's a day older than I am.

During this time in story, Kyle's parents were going through a divorce. Both he and his mother needed somewhere to stay for the time being. Which ended up being my home.

It had been roughly a week after the horrific day of utter humiliation and embarrassment. Ever since that afternoon, I hardly slept at night. When I did sleep, I'd have terrifying nightmares that I'd wake up crying to. However, one night, I had a particularly different nightmare then usual. They seemed like visions.

My first "vision" was of blood dripping off of someone's fists. I couldn't depict where the blood was coming from, or who it was that I saw. A smaller hand seeped inside the person's blood-stained fingers. Almost as if they were holding hands, whoever these figured were. My second "vision" was of simply nothing but a pair of dark eyes look straight through me through the darkness of a bedroom. They were Colin's, I knew this for certain. My third and final "vision" was of lying in a forest alone, looking up at the sky.

I couldn't figure out what it all meant at the time.

I woke up trembling and out of breath underneath the covers of by bed that night. I wasn't sure what I was more afraid of; what I saw, or trying to figure out why I dreamt of such things.

A silhouette standing at my doorway shook my attention. My body flinched all at once, scurrying back against the headboard.

It was Kyle.

"I-I heard you from the other room. I didn't know if you were okay." He explained quietly as he could.

"I'm..okay," I told him simply, trying to ignore the harsh punches of my heart against my chest.

"You sure? You're shaking." Kyle took a step closer, as if he were trying to see something. "You're crying too," He added worriedly.

"I said I'm okay!" I snapped, scooting farther back away from him.

Kyle stopped in place and huffed. I knew right then he wasn't going away.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked, more sternly.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, hoping he'd change the subject.

Kyle sat down on the edge of the bed. I could now see his eyes looking right at mine. "It's the nightmares, isn't it." He concluded

"W-What? No." I lied, looking away quickly.

"Bella, I can hear you whimpering from the other room just about every night that I've been here. I know there's something going on." Kyle explained with an eager tone to his voice.

"No, there's nothing going on. They're just dreams. They're not real." I insisted on telling him I was fine, clearly something told him otherwise.

"Bella," Kyle's hand placed itself on my arm, which immediately drew back and shivered harshly.

"L-Leave..me..alone," I quavered, hugging my legs, trying to hide the tears in my eyes.

"What'd he do to you.." Kyle mumbled, baffled by my sudden action.

"Who?" I asked him, hoping he wasn't going to mention Colin, but of course, he did.

"Colin," Kyle clarified.

"How do you know about him?" My voice rose, eyes widening.

"You really have no idea how much you talk in your sleep do you?" Kyle narrowed his eyes. So how much did he know already?

"Just don't listen to it then," I grunted, a little embarrassed.

"Easier said then done," He scoffed.

"Don't worry about Colin, okay? He's just-" I struggled to find the words to describe my relationship with him, or how I knew him.

"Just..what?" Kyle urged me on. I froze, feeling myself choke on a tear, trembling even more."Bella?" Kyle leaned to the side, trying to see past my knees. I couldn't response, my mind went in a state of bitter anger.

"Bella I just want to-" Kyle abruptly stopped in mid-sentence. I couldn't figure out why till I noticed my hand around his throat-he had moved closer towards me. I pulled back instantly hearing him gag, covering my face with my hands.

Kyle coughed a few times, his eyes wider then before. "What on earth did Colin do to you!?"

I sobbed harder, hardly able to control my own thoughts. My actions seemed to have come before my thoughts. It was all instantaneous. Adrenaline was taking its toll. I never wanted to choke Kyle, but because of months of nothing but fighting and defending myself, my body naturally thought it was necessary.

"H-He changed me," I managed to say in between breaths. "A-All because..I-I asked him too," I explained, regretting ever opening my mouth to Colin in the first place.

Kyle nodded slowly, probably unsure of what to do or say, so I thought. "Then let me help you."

"How? How is that possible? I can't change back. Not after all the damage he's done." I told him, not believing his help was even possible.

"Then get away from him!" Kyle argued.

"If it were that easy, I would have by now." I found myself struggling to explain how complicated of a situation I was in already. "I leave, he'll hurt someone I know. Or just come and find me again. I refuse to do whatever he says, same thing. I tell anyone that can interfere, he'll hurt someone I kn-" I stopped in mid-sentence, realizing I just broke one of Colin's rules.

"Bella, rules are meant to be broken. Breaking the rules is the only way you're going to get out of this," Kyle explained, watching me as I lowered my knees away from my face.

"He'll hurt someone else, or me. He has in the past, I've seen it." I shook my head, refusing to believe his statement.

"Bella, what did he do to you that you're so afraid of?" Kyle cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes.

Immediately I shrugged, unsure of where to begin. "It's not Colin I'm afraid of," I began. "or what he does to me. It's what he'll do to the people I care about. He knows my weak spot."

"You didn't answer the question. Stop trying to maneuver around it." He demanded impatiently.

I took a heavy hesitant breath, shutting my eyes. "For months, every single day, he'd give me a sheet of paper that listed things that he was going to work on with me. Whether it was patience, strength, fighting, overcoming fears. All these months I thought he was helping me. All those months of walking home with cuts and bruises. It turns out he wasn't helping me at all, and I failed to recognize that. He's breaking me apart, and knows I can't escape the strings he already has on me. Everyday, he'll test how far I'm willing to go, still believing I'm changing for the better. One day, I refused to do his directions, soon after, he found a way to make me regret ever disobeying him. He told me that day I was going to work on testing my patience. Little did I know that that actually meant other boys were waiting to expose me completely and run there filthy hands wherever they wanted on me for hours. Since then, whenever someone hugs meow touches me, I feel so uncomfortable so I tense up. It's a terrible game he plays. You see, I've already tried cheating."

A long moment of silence went by before Kyle responded. "Then you're going to win, with my help."

"You want to help me?" I glared at him with a confused expression, trying to understand why. "After what you told me. I'll make sure he never touches you again."

Never, in a million years, have I thought someone like Kyle would want to help someone like me, or have the heart to care.

Tears fell down my cheeks, but not in sorrow, in pure happiness. For the first time, in a long time, I felt a surge of hope run through me-rejoice.