Only You

Chapter 5

The next morning I regretfully wake up to my alarm clock and drag myself out of bed. My body is sore, bruised, and I couldn't properly walk. But I have a quiz today in calc that I don't want to miss. Looking back at my bed I'm frustrated to see blood on my sheets, and then looking at my clothes realizing that there is no hope in saving them.

After shuffling into my bathroom I undress and start the shower. Looking into the mirror I stop breathing. There are bruises running across my abdomen and onto my back. Some darker than others and the swelling is substantial. I have a feeling a rib if not more is broken and at the very least some badly bruised bone. My eyes roam up and land on the large scratch starting just underneath my left collarbone and ending at the bottom of my neck. It's deep but I don't think it will need stitches. There are smaller bruises on my upper arms and legs and my right wrist is a deep shade of blue from when he grabbed it. Lastly, my gaze lands on my neck. He stayed away from my face as usual but this is new. I had dark bruising all around my neck in the shape of fingers and in the front there were a few blotches of blood blisters formed. Along with that my eyes were really red and in the left one a blood vessel popped. I don't know how I was going to cover that.

Looking over my body some more I couldn't help but look over all the scars on my body from years of abuse. My back is covered in small white bumps along with a few on my thighs which I received after a botched dinner party. That was the first time he used a belt. I had one long scar running from my right hipbone into my stomach ending just underneath my bellybutton and other small marks left behind that I don't quite remember. And then my eyes finally trail onto my worst and most hated scar. He gave this one to me when he was particularly drunk a few months after my mother died. It was the first time he hit me and it was also the first time he pulled a knife. And with it he carved worthless in small jagged letters along my left side.

Looking at his rough lettering, and messy penmanship my eyes start to blur and my breathing gets heavier. My legs give out and I finally gave in to my sadness, sobbing uncontrollably on my bathroom floor, wincing every time I took a breath, due to my injured ribs. I hated my father but most of all I hated myself.
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An hour later I found myself in front of Seabrook High dreading another day at school. When I finally managed to peel myself from the bathroom floor and shower I put on leggings, and an oversized sweatshirt, which covered my wrist and the majority of my neck. I used coverup and foundation to cover the rest of it. I also put some makeup under my eyes and some mascara to brighten up my face and draw attention away from the red. And lastly I left my wavy hair down to air dry in an effort to further hide my neck. Overall I did a pretty good job. I also took some painkillers so I can walk properly now, but I still can't move too abruptly or breath too deeply. However with my success in mind I make my way in for my first class.
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It's lunchtime now and I did pretty well on my math test so thats a win. I'm pretty tired and my friends realized after a few failed attempts that it's best just not to talk to me. They keep sending me questioning stares but I just smile at them and put my head back on my desk. My ribs are throbbing and I can't really move my neck very much but other than that I'm okay, just need more painkillers.

"VERONICA STEVENS!" I'm pulled out of my thoughts by a screech next to me. Turning I see an out of breath Lily looking at me as if I have two heads.

"What?" I say looking around only to see that the rest of the table is looking at me as well. I sigh while saying, "I'm just tired, what were you saying Lily?"

"You seem to do that a lot, space out I mean" says a concerned Johnny who's sitting on my right side. "And your eyes are really red." Says an equally concerned Lily.