4 a.m. // Jeggy

Chapter 13

John and I looked pretty similar when Monday morning rolled around.

We both had dark bags under our eyes and bruises littering our arms. His from his father, and mine from James.

The 'meeting' last night with James was exactly what I thought it'd be. Him cornering me into giving him what he wanted, and him hurting me when I tried to say no.

John ended up answering my text just after I got home, around 2:30 am. This was my original next.

Peggy: I don't know exactly what I witnessed tonight, but I know that no one should be treated like that in their own home, and what your father was doing to you and your mom is definitely not okay. If we could talk about this sometime, I think that would be a really good idea because I want you to be alright. Please let me know when you're safe xx sent at 11:38 pm

Laurens: safe. I don't really want to talk about it right now, but maybe someday. I'll tell you what my situation is when you tell me why you were wandering the streets at 11:30 on a Sunday night. Thank you for standing up for me and my mom, it means a lot to me. xx sent at 2:32 am

I didn't want to tell him the reason I was out at 11:30. I didn't want to tell him that I was being forced by my ex to have sex. I didn't want to tell him any of it.

But I'm sure he felt the same about the whole incident I walked in on last night.

At lunch, we sat across from each other as usual and shared occasional knowing glances. After a few minutes, Alex spoke up.

"Dude! How'd you get such a bad black eye? And your lip is bleeding." He said, eyes scanning John's many visible injuries.

John forced a laugh but winced slightly, holding his stomach which I assumed was bruised too.

"I, uh, got in a fight with someone. They were picking on that one freshman, Sam Seabury, and it just didn't seem right. So I punched the guy and he hit me back." John lied, glancing at me for just a moment, making sure I wouldn't actually say what happened. I nodded quickly, but apparently Alex saw and took it the wrong way.

"Peggy, you were there too?" He asked. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't think of anything so I closed it, and then opened it again.

"Um, yeah. I got there towards the end of it. I um, actually got bumped into and hit into a bunch of people on accident and got some bruises on my arms." I said, holding my arms out. It was way too hot to wear a long sleeved shirt without looking suspicious, so I ended up wearing a short sleeved shirt and kind of hiding my arms all day.

He looked at all the bruises on my arms and so did John. An odd look crossed his face and he pulled out his phone, typing for a moment before turning it off.

I felt my phone buzz but decided not to look at his text until all this was over and people weren't looking.

A few minutes later, the group fell back into a normal conversation about homework and teachers, and I pulled out my phone to read the message.

Laurens: did you get attacked last night when you were out? Was it my dad when he grabbed you and pushed out outside??

Peggy: no, it was neither. I don't really want to talk about it.

Laurens: are you sure?

Peggy: yeah

I turned my phone off and met his eyes. He looked concerned and I kind of felt bad that I didn't tell him. But if I did tell him the truth, he'd probably worry even more.

After that, I waved off the whole incident as well as what happened at John's house, since o knew he'd want me to. I guess just have to wait until he's ready to tell me.

a/n: i wrote this chapter last night and then wattpad decided to be stupid and delete it, which is why there's not going to be a double update on this book. I will try to get another chapter out tomorrow though! Sorry :(((