Scars Out Of Love

SleepOver(12)

"So are we gonna do are nails and hair or what?"

"Haha, you're funny, we're gonna watch a movie."

"What movie?"

"Titanic."

"Oh, whyyy??"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's sad!"

"Exactly."

She knelt down and slid a silver laptop out from under her bed. She set it on the covers and pulled a blanket onto her lap and held a corner up for me to sit beside her. I curled up under the fabric and leaned into Sky while she found our movie online. She clicked play and laid her arm on my shoulders, pulling me closer.

The movie started and I closed my eyes, just enjoying her company. I had seen it so many times that it was playing in my head, only based on the dialog. My head fell onto her shoulder and she leaned her head on top. I didn't truly start to watch the movie until the scene where Rose rescued Jack. I hated the end of this movie, especially when I had to watch it with other people. Tears rolled involuntarily down my cheeks as Rose promised she would never let go, causing Sky to pause the film, "Are you ok?"

"I don't like sad movies."

She smiled and shut the computer, readjusting so she was lying down and she moved me to cooperate. I was facing away from her and she was directioned towards me, allowing her to wrap an arm around my waist and pull me closer. She conformed to my body with hers and I eventually fell asleep.

When I awoke, I was spread out in Sky's bed, all alone. I sat up, questioning my next plan. Should I leave? Should I wait for her? Was I late for school? Sky interrupted my thinking process by pushing the door open with her hip, causing it to ram into the wall. She was carrying a blue plate with a melty poptart on it and came to sit by me, "Good Morning."

"What time is it?"

"We're not late, don't worry."

"Ok."

She handed me the plate and I picked up the gooey pastry, squishing it into a burrito and starting to eat it. She walked over to her closet and grabbed black jeans, a studded belt, and a graphic tee with Spiderman on it. I finished my sugary breakfast and looked at Sky, waiting for her to direct my next task, "I got clothes from your room earlier, they're on the bed."

I looked down to see a pair of my jeans and a navy blue long sleeve shirt folded on the edge of the comforter. I grabbed them and slid the pants on under the covers. Although Sky had seen me in the equivalent of my bra, I was still reluctant to take my shirt off. I awkwardly fumbled with the bottom of my shirt, before pulling it over my head and quickly replacing it with my new one. I zipped up my jeans and stretched my arms before I got out of bed. Once we were both clothed and ready, we walked out of her apartment, for once not through the window. We walked slowly to school, talking about random things, nothing too serious, until Sky's expression changed, "River, I have to leave now. I'll be back in a week, my brother died from an O.D. I'm sorry."

She told me this tragedy so suddenly, I couldn't believe that she was leaving, until she gave me a sorrow-filled kiss and walked away. Her stride quickly turned to a sprint and then she was out of my view. I looked away from where she had gone to realize that everyone outside the school had seen us and I headed towards the building with my head down, thoughts flooding my mind. How the hell could she have just told me a devastating tragedy and acted as if it was a daily occurrence? I cleared my mind with a deep breath before following the crowd into school. As I walked to my locker, avoiding eye contact with other students, someone's ankle snagged onto my foot and I fell to the unforgiving tile. The bell rang and I heard a faint, "Fag," as my abuser headed off. I lifted my head up and gazed around before pushing myself up, onto my knees. Blood droplets fell to my shirt and slowly spread downwards. I wobbled to my feet and walked to the nearest bathroom, taking a handful of paper towel and pressing it to my face. I sat down in a stall and locked it, pulling out my phone, not knowing what else to do. On the screen a message lit up, from an unknown number, "She doesn't need you, so stay away."

Even not knowing who the text was from, I was certain it was talking about Sky. As I sat there, tears and blood both rolling down my face, I realize how fucked up my life had gotten in a mere week. I had found love, ruined it, stolen, rebelled, and ended up back where I started.

"River?"

I curled my legs up to my chest, not making a noise.

"River, it's the counselor, Mrs.Higgs. A student told me you got hurt are you in here?"

I couldn't help but release a sob from my clenched jaw. She walked over to the door I was hiding behind and begged for me to unlock it. I shook my head, not realizing that I wasn't visible to her. After a few minutes of her arguing me, I reached for the lock and slid it open. She walked in and sighed, a disappointed sigh, at the sight of me curled up, holding a bloody cloth. She bent down next to me, "We need to get you to the nurse, darling, and then we'll call your parents."

I froze at the idea that my parents would find out about this and scrunched tighter into myself. She realized that I had flinched at the mention of my parents getting involved and remade her plan, "Actually, we don't have to tell anyone about this if you don't wanna. We'll just go talk in my office."

I nodded at her second proposal and she extended a hand, that I took and she helped me up. She walked ahead of me to the nurses office and whispered something to the woman sitting on a stool near a pile of papers and clipboards. Mrs.Higgs left and the lady hopped off her seat, "What happened?"

"I tripped."

She wrote that down on one of her many papers."

"So is it just a bloody nose?"

"I think so."

"Not broken or anything?"

"I don't know."

She scribbled something else down before telling me to take a seat. I sat on a paper covered bed and laid back on the pillow. The nurse pinched my nose and kept asking if it hurt. For most places, I didn't even have to answer, my violent cringes did that for me. She walked bak over to her counter and wrote down a few more things, "Your nose appears to be snapped out of place, are you sure you don't want your parents to know?"

"Don't tell them please." I would have begged at this point.

"Ok, well, I'm going to snap your nose, to get it set right, is that good?"

I nodded, anticipating the pain that would come. She fished something out of a drawer and walked back over to me, positioning her hands and a tool on my nose. She counted down from three and there was a pop, followed by a low yelp from me. She had me sit up and cleaned the dried blood from my upper lip, "If you're up to it, the counselor wants to see you."