"Ryan stop!" I whimper as my back was thrown against the cold wall of his house.
"Not until you tell me why on earth you didn't answer my calls and where on earth you were huh? Tell me that Maya!" he spat in my face.
His eyes had gone dark with anger and veins were beginning to pop out of his neck signalling that his aggression was building.
"I'm sorry I was out with my friends. I must have missed your calls" I cried back trying to hold in the tears.
My face was stinging and burning red due to the slap mark that my aggressive boyfriend had left on my left cheek.
"Shut up Maya! How dare you go out without my permission" he grunts as he punches a deep hole into the wooden wall beside my face
End of flashback
I lifted up my sleeve to reveal a barely visible scar that Ryan had given me. He was my ex-boyfriend and the scar was from a pocket knife that I tried to snatch away from him however, I tried my best to grab it out of his hand but it only made it worse as the sharp end was visible and open and the blade accidentally slid across my arm. Ryan had a lot of anger management issues. He would abuse me to a point where I was too scared to go near him. Needless to say, he was also bipolar. I would always hear comments from people such as
'Why are you still dating him?'
'He's a psycho and an abusive boyfriend just break up with him'
Truth is, I always saw the good in him. With his dad in jail at that time Ryan was going through a lot in his life. Being aggressive and abusive was part of the way he dealt with his emotions. I didn't like it but every time I would try to leave the relationship he would threaten me into hurting me or someone I deeply cared about. Now that he's also in jail for murder and rape, I pulled a restraining order against him and I was finally free.
However, that's a life I promised myself I would never speak of. Joel knows about it and so does Ingrid, my best friend, since she was there to see it all for herself from the start. My restraining order was reaching its expiry date and I refused to file out a new one since I thought it would be pointless; Ryan was already in jail and he's probably moved on now since this was years ago and not to mention, it's quiet expensive as well.
"You've been staring at that diary for literally 17 minutes now"
My thoughts were interrupted by Bailey who was sitting on the bed beside mine with her books spread across the bed.
"What? Oh right. Um yeah, I was just thinking about something that's all"
I had brought the restraining order with me since I needed to know when it would be expiring. Staring at the paper one last time, I folded it and placed it in between the pages of Joel's diary that was in my hand.
"Well I should get going. I have cheer auditions, wish me luck" grabbing my bag, phone and wallet, I stand up and walk out the door hearing Bailey's words as I slammed the door shut.
"Good luck! Go smash that audition"
4:12 pm
We were already 12 minutes into the audition and I was next in line. A lot of these girls seemed to be professionally trained at gymnastics. I on the other hand, was just a school cheerleader fresh out of high school.
"Next up, Maya Francis?" one of the senior female cheerleader calls out.
Her and a couple other girls were in charge of holding these auditions.
"Yup, that's me" I push through the crowd of girls and happily stand in the centre of the University's gym on the hard wood brown floor, facing the judges.
"Ok Maya show us what you got. Remember to have fun and show off those moves" a girl with long brown curls says to me with a smile.
I walked to one side of the gymnasium and took in a deep breath before the music began to play and I started my routine. It was all going quiet well and I was feeling proud of myself. My body was doing flips and tricks on the wooden floor as my moves synced perfectly with the music. For my final step, I ended with a triple front flip
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Finishing my routine, I strike a pose as my chest was rising up and down due to me being out of breath. The girls clapped and I made my way back to the crowd of potential cheerleaders for Summer Heights. Time was going by faster than I expected and the last few girls were finishing up.
"Thank you, ladies, for coming in, you all did a fantastic job. We will be posting the results on the blackboard outside student council office tomorrow so make sure to keep an eye out for that" one of the senior cheerleader finishes up as we all begin to file out of the gym.
7:36 pm
Several days had passed and I had made the cheer squad, although I was told it was a tough decision between me and another girl named Jessica. I felt bad she didn't make the team but I was also relieved. Currently finishing up an assignment that was due in a couple of days, my legs were spread out onto my bed with the white sheet covering just up to my ankles. Bailey, was on the phone with her mother deep in conversation. There was a sudden knock at the door and I decided to open up.
"Delivery for Maya?" a boy asks.
He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a smile spread across my face; knowing who exactly these were from. Joel.
"Thank you" I smile as he hands them to me.
"The delivery boy is downstairs, he wasn't allowed to come into the building so its our job as student council president and vice president to handle students deliveries" he says. "In saying that, you're going to have to sign this"
He hands me a piece of paper with my name, details and todays date. All I had to do was sign my name that I had received it. In doing that, I closed the door and ran back to my bed with the smile still spread across my face. Joel was so thoughtful. I opened the card and read the message,
'Surprise Princess. Long-time no see. I'm finally out of jail and according to my calculations, your restraining order expired exactly 2 days ago, which means I can finally have you back in my life. From Ryan'
