Choices

Chapter Six

Shannon's POV

Jai text me later that night, asking me if I was ok. I knew exactly what to say, I've had enough practice over the years, at least I don't have to fake a smile over text.

'I'm fine. thank you for taking me to the party tonight. It was really great getting to meet the girls. I'm off to bed now, I'm really tired. Goodnight, Shannon xxxx'

It only took him a minute to reply, he must have been waiting for me to reply, I feel so guilty that I've made him worried.

'sweet dreams beautiful, Jai xxxx'

I put my phone down on my bedside table and turned the light off.

Jai's POV

I don't understand why Shannon turned away when I went to kiss her and why she didn't want driving home. have I done something wrong? I can't believe I've upset Shannon, but she said that she is fine and I can't keep her up all night until she tells me what's up, she will tell me in her own time. I just want to know she's ok, it hurts me knowing she is all alone and upset. Why can't I be with her now?

Shannon's POV

I haven't slept that bad since I first moved to Australia. I couldn't help thinking about what beau had said, about him kissing me. What if he tells Jai about the scars on my body? It might scare him off, he might hate me! I don't care who else he told, anybody but Jai. I had about an hours sleep, I look over at my clock and it says 6am. I can't take lying in bed any longer so I get out and turn my laptop on. I've not been awake early enough to speak to my best friend ellie since I got here so I open up Skype and it says she is online. I hear the sound of it calling followed by the familiar sound of my best friends voice.

"SHANNON!! OH MY GOD SHANNON ITS YOU! I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH OH MY GOD!!"

"Shh ellie" I whisper trying not to laugh "it's 6am and you're about to wake up the whole house and they hate it when I am loud!"

Although I love the fact that ellie is so excited to speak to me, I can't risk getting into any trouble. Ellie is so beautiful, the most beautiful person in the world. Her smile always makes me feel like everything is ok. When I lived in England, we had the type of friendship that you normally only see in movies and that you dream of having. Everybody was always jealous that we had each other and of our strong friendship. She got me through so much, she saved me life, I would die for that girl. We speak for about an hour, I tell her everything about Jai, about how much of a kind hearted guy he is. I leave out all of the parts about Beau and I tell her the same lie that I told the girls at the party about the black eye.

"I'm really sorry Shannon but it's getting late and I have an exam tomorrow so I have to go to bed."

It only feels like we've been talking for a couple of minutes and she has to go already. I miss ellie so much, I just want to hug her and tell her about all of my problems, but she's so far away! We have the 'I love you more' argument then eventually my laptop screen goes black. I put the sad thoughts about missing ellie to the back of my mind, I have enough to think about right now. I hear somebody downstairs so I tiptoe down to investigate. When I get to the bottom of the stairs, I see my aunt Mandy about to leave. She is wearing big, red heels and a short, tight 'business' looking dress. She had long, blonde curly hair that goes all the way down her back and has bright red lipstick on to match her shoes. Wow she is beautiful.

"I've been called into work Shannon, they need me to do a photoshoot. Ed will be here all day but don't bother him." Ed is her husband. She stands opposite me and lifts my chin up with her fingers and inspects me.

"It's unfortunate that you got your mothers looks and not mine" she said as she walked out of the door laughing. For a minute I had forgotten how much of a bitch she is. Ugh I hate being left with Ed, he always gives me horrible looks like I've offended him. The best way to get away from reality and clear my head is to go in the swimming pool in the back garden. I walk back upstairs and put my swimming costume on. I hate the way my body looks but once I'm in the pool, I don't have to look at it and there is nobody around to see it anyway. Feeling the warm water on my body and in my hair makes me feel relaxed. It makes me feel like I'm on holiday. After about an hour of swimming, I get a feeling that somebody is watching me. I look around and that's when I see him. Ed is stood at the side of the pool, watching me.

"Get out. You can't swim in the pool on sundays. it was only cleaned last night!" Ed shouted to me. I swam to the closest edge and climbed out. I hear him laughing, obviously trying to pull myself up out of the pool looked funny. I grab my towel and walk over to the doors to go inside and dry off. It's just my luck that Ed is stood by the door. As I'm about to step inside, I feel him grab tightly on my arm. He pulls me close until we are face to face. He looks me straight in the eyes then pushes me away. I have to try my hardest not to fall to the floor because he pushed me at such force. As much as I want to run upstairs to get away from him, I know that running will get me into even more trouble so I walk at a normal pace until I get into my room. I throw my towel to the floor in anger and get in the shower to cool off. I just don't know what to do. I need to talk to someone, I need to feel safe and secure because I'm so scared of being alone with Ed right now, what will he do next? I text the first person that comes to mind.

'Hi Jai, I was wondering if you could pick me up so I can come round to yours for a while? I really need to get out of this house, Shannon xxxx' I sit by my phone waiting for him to reply, I need to get away. it takes him about 5 minutes to reply but it felt like forever.

'Hey Shannon, of course you can, I will pick you up asap, Jai xxxx,

I sit on my bed, waiting for Jai to text me to say he is outside, waiting for my knight in shining armour to save me from this hell. Within minutes I hear a car horn beeping outside the house. I look out and Jai's car is there. I shove my phone in my pocket and get out of there as quick as I can. I sit down and look over in the drivers seat and it's not Jai who is driving the car.

"Beau? why are you driving Jai's car? why isn't Jai here picking me up? what are you doing?"

"Ok too many questions Shan! Jai had to go shopping for mum and he knew you were desperate to get away so he asked if I could pick you up. Is that ok with you sweetheart?"

I just nodded, I wanted to away from that house as soon as possible.

"I heard that I was so drunk that you had to look after me last night, I'm sorry about that. I hope I didn't say or do anything to upset you? I really don't remember any of it"

At least Beau didn't remember what he said and about how he kissed me, maybe I can forget about it and love on from it now. I shook my head and Beau started the car.

We pulled up outside of Jai's house, I stayed sat down when beau got out, expecting him to come around and open the door for me like Jai did. instead he just walked to the house front door and turned around waving at me to come in. I opened the car door and strolled up the pathway into the house. I could hear Jai's voice from in the kitchen so I run as fast as I can and jump into his arms.

Jai's POV

I was just putting the shopping away then Shannon comes running in and jumps onto me. I drop the shopping and put my arms around her. I wish she knew that I was holding my whole world in my arms.

Shannon's POV

I don't want to cry but I can't hold back, the tears stream down my face. I feel Jai's arms tightly around me. he keeps one arm around me, pulling me in tightly and uses the other one to scoop me up by my legs and carry me to his room. He lays me down on his bed and pulls me in as close as possible.

Jai's POV

Seeing Shannon upset is breaking my heart. Whoever did this to her is going to pay for it. nobody is allowed to hurt her like this. The only thing I can think of to do right now is hold her until she stops crying, until she is ready to tell me what is wrong. I just want to hear the amazing laugh that made me realise how much I want her. I want to see the smile that makes my heart skip a beat. I want her to be happy.