The Wish

Part One, Chapter Two

    I stopped at my locker and threw everything I didn't need in it. I walked out the front door and made my way over to Jasmine's truck.
    "Hey, Little Cub," Jasmine greeted me.
    "Hey, Momma Bear," I greeted back with a smile.
    "Do you want to run home and drop your bag off before you come over," Jasmine asked.
    "Would you mind," I asked back, "I have to get the salad, too. I made it this morning."
"Alright, make it quick," Jasmine stated, "I'll be waiting." I ran in the house quickly to grab the salad and drop my school stuff on the table, and I ran out before Adrianna or my mom saw me. I went back into Jasmine's truck and buckled the seatbelt.
"Got everything, Belle," Jasmine asked me. I nodded slowly. The ride to Jasmine's house was mostly quiet. When we got inside Jasmine's house, her two cocker spaniels, Seven and Cotton, greeted me excitedly. Both of them were jumping on me as if they're starving for attention.
"Get off," Jasmine yelled at the dogs. I went straight for the fridge to keep the salad cold, and to grab a juice box. I grabbed a small bag of Cheetos from the pantry and went in the living room to sit on the couch.
    "Momma, where are you," I yelled from the living room.
    "I'm in the bathroom," Jasmine answered, "Don't get too comfortable down there and start getting yourself ready! We're leaving in one hour!"
    "Okay," I replied. Cotton and Seven both jumped on the couch and laid on my legs. Jasmine came back downstairs and sat down next to me.
"Belle, are you okay," Jasmine asked me with a concerned look on her face.
"I'm fine, momma," I responded, "I promise." Jasmine didn't buy it one bit.
    "Tell me what's wrong," Jasmine answered softly, "You know I'm not going to tell anyone."
    "Promise me you will not say a single word," I replied.
    "I promise," Jasmine said.
    I told her about how the fights with my mom had progressively gotten worse. Somehow I summed up the courage to tell her that I started getting urges to cut myself and that I've been having suicidal thoughts. Jasmine looked at me and pulled me into a tight hug.
    "If you ever cut yourself or if you feel like you're about to hurt yourself in some way, I want you to call me or text me with a single word," Jasmine says, "It will be a code word that only you and I know, and it will stay between us."
    We came up with three "code words" that had different meanings and different levels of severity. The first word, Grover, is the mild code word that means that Jasmine needs to call me. The moderate code word, Jailbird, would mean that I need Jasmine to pick me up and take me to her house. The code word we chose to have the most severity, Dahlia, would mean that something has happened and I need to go to the hospital.
    The hour quickly flew by as I readied myself for the church dinner. I had a splendid time seeing Joe and LouAnn, their kids, and their little granddaughter. I enjoyed spending time with Jasmine the most. But when I got home, the unimaginable happened.
"Your report card came in the mail," Mom stated with an angered look on her face, "Almost all C's? And only two A's? That's completely unacceptable, Arabella Verna-Mae. There is no reason your grades should be that bad!"
    "I didn't know that getting C's halfway through a marking period would mean that I'm a failure," I sneered.
    "You're throwing your life away, girl," Mom replied, "No college is going to accept grades like these."
    "Did you ever think that maybe I don't want to go to college," I asked with a raised voice
    "You're either going to college, or I'm making you enlist in the military," Mom yelled.
    "You can't make me do anything," I screeched, "I'm not your slave, and I'm not some puppet that you can control!"
    "I'm your mother, I have every right to control you, you little bitch," Mom screamed, "I never even wanted you. You were nothing but an accident."
    The last two sentences that she said sliced me like a knife. Mom started lunging at me so she could hit me. I ran upstairs and locked my door. Not even two seconds later, I burst into tears. I grabbed my phone off my desk and texted Jasmine.
    ME: Grover

About a minute later, I got a response.

MOMMA BEAR JASMINE: Give me two minutes and I will call you. Love you