Ava's POV:
"I was 12 years old. My dad had just gotten back from work and immediately went to the liquor cabinet like always. Since my mom died from childbirth, he had never gotten over her. I went up to my room and locked the door knowing how he got when he was drunk. An hour later, he came up to my room and knocked on the door. I made the mistake of not letting him in. With one swift kick, he knocked the door down.
'You've been a bad girl.' He said with a wicked grin plastered on his face. He pulled off his belt and started lashing my back with it. My cries were drowned out by the sound of leather making contact with skin. My skin. After it seemed like a thousand lashes, I blacked out.
When I woke up, I looked in the mirror at my back. Dried blood was crusted around cuts made by his belt. I still have scars from it. This happened so many other times that I would start sneaking out before he would come home, and crawl in through my window when he went to sleep. My hatred for him grew ever since then."
Mason wiped a tear off my face that I didn't know I shed.
"You're safe with me." He said. He pulled me to him and wrapped his big arms around me. That's when the waterworks started.
"I just don't know why he'd do that to me!" I cried. Mason just stroked my hair while I sobbed away my memories.
* * * * *
Our last day of being juniors went by smoothly. At last, it was summer! I didn't realize how much I missed those long days on the beach, sand squishing between my toes, the ocean breeze in my hair. The best part was that I got to spend it with Mason.
We traveled to the beach about two hours away and planned to stay for three nights. The hotel we stayed at was really nice! They had free breakfast every morning and the view from our window was amazing.
When you pulled the blue curtains to the side, you could see the private part of the beach that the hotel owned. That meant nobody but other guests at our hotel could come here. The clear waves crashed against the shoreline and the sand was super soft. The sky had barely any clouds, so it was a beautiful soft blue.
We spent hours in the water splashing each other and riding the waves. After we got tired of that, we would go to the sand and make a huge sand castle. It was far enough back from the water so it wouldn't get knocked over. Somehow, it stayed there almost the whole time we were there. Everyday we would add to it and make it a little bit better. The last day we witnessed a kid savagely murder our poor castle from our window. It was tragic.
Soon, our time was up and we had to go back home. We passed time in the car by singing along to Disney songs.
"Let it go! Let it gooo!" I sang in my beautifully off-pitch voice.
"Can't hold it back anymooore!" Mason finished for me in an equally bad voice.
He dropped me off at my house, still humming Disney songs. After him making sure I was safe and happy, he left. I remembered Cody was still at the boarding kennel so I made a mental note to pick him up tomorrow. At least I got to enjoy the night in peace.
* * * * *
Summer was over way too fast. It was time to go back to college as seniors. As I walked in the school, I greeted my friends in the usual place. I was last to get there, also as usual.
"Hey guys!" I said, hugging my best friends I hadn't seen in forever.
"Can you believe it? We're seniors now!" Gabby squealed.
"Yay! One more year!" Marie said.
Meanwhile, Mason and the boys were talking about stuff like basketball. Booooring! I pulled him away from his immature friends who started going 'Oooooh. Someone's gonna get it!'
We walked to the janitor's closet and closed the door behind us.
"You're friends are immature." I said.
"I know." He replied. He bent down to kiss me and I pressed my lips against his.
"I love you Ava." He said.
"I love you too." I replied.
"Forever and always."
