The Story of Us (Editing in progress)

Chapter 3

Darkness enveloped my vision and a burning light is shone into my eyes. I grunt and try to pry my eyes open. I regret the decision, and allow for someone to give me a bitter liquid. 

"Here you go, sweetie. This should help. Your dad is coming in a little bit to pick you up."

I couldn't believe the words I was hearing, I had to go home early. I wanted to stay at school, then straight to work. I sit straight up in surprise. I immediately fall back on the pillow, my vision still blurry.

"Hey Isabella," Gabriel says, still where he was when I first passed out.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, not bothering to hide that I didn't want him near me.

"You've been out for a while and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll be leaving when your dad gets here." He hands me my phone and I quickly hide the threatening messages Father had sent me. I call him even though I didn't want to talk to him.

"Hello, Father."

"Don't act all innocent. I know you are pretending to be sick, I can't wait to see the look on your face when you get home." I sigh and pretend that Father is still the kind man he once was when Mom was around.

"I'm sorry I had to make you leave your work, Father. I feel a lot better anyways." I lie through my teeth. "I can still go to work later tonight."

"Isabella, I think you need to rest, not go to work." Gabriel tells me. I inhale sharply.

"Who was that?"

"No one Father. I don't know this person." I try to stay calm, knowing that I would be punished tonight.

"If you say so, Isabella." I hear Gabriel leave the room. "It didn't look like this guy is a nobody." Father says, suddenly right next to me. I try to hide my shock at seeing him in the school infirmary. 

"He's in some of my classes, but I don't talk to him." I respond to the threat in his tone.

"You are going to walk to the car and you are going to look like you are not in pain. " I nod to his demands.

We walk across the school and the parking lot with Father pinching and twisting the skin of my arm the entire way. He shoves me in the car and quickly drives away from the school. When we get home, the entire place is a mess. Father roughly throws me against a wall and tells me how I've disappointed him and marks each word with a hard pinch or a punch on my body. He takes off his belt and whips me across the back of my legs. I'm screaming in pain, but he hits harder. He slaps me across the face any time I scream for him to stop. I know that I should stop screaming so he will stop but I can't make myself shut up.

 I always wonder what caused him to be this way. Was it my mom leaving us? Was it him losing his job? Was it his only son dying in a car accident? Was it the fact that his only daughter tried to go down the wrong path, just like her brother? Or was it that his first wife left him for someone who wouldn't control his children? I don't think I would ever know. He is yelling at me, saying that I shouldn't be talking to boys. He's telling me to study harder and not go down the path that my brother took when he was in high school a couple of years back. He finally stops and tells me to clean. And so, I clean.

Hours later, the door bell rings. I limp my way to the door and see that Gabriel is outside. My eyes widen and I quickly check to see if Father was asleep. Thankfully, he was. I hide my bruised face and push Gabriel out of the doorway, motioning for him to stay quiet.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, "How do you know where I live?"

"I'm here to see how you are doing and to give you the work you've missed. Daniella gave me your address." I roll my eyes at how easily she gave up my personal info.

"Well, thank you. I'm fine, I feel better than I did this morning."

"You don't look any better. You're limping. What happened to you?" He tries to push the hair out of my face and I turn away.

"Nothing. You've given me my papers, you can leave. Good bye." I shut the door in his face and start on the work that was given. I finish three hours later and get to eat before Father. It was time for dinner and I made sure to stay out of Father's way. I didn't want to go to school the next day and I knew that Father would let me stay so I don't expose what he does to me. 

My phone rings later that night. Daniella's number comes up on the caller ID, so I answer, keeping the volume low.

"Hey, sorry I couldn't come over and hand you your assignments. Did Gabriel bring them?"

"You told him where I live? Danny, you know not to tell anyone without me knowing. Don't tell him anymore of my personal info. Now he knows where I live so he will want to come over anytime." I start panicking. What if he comes when Father is punishing me?

"I know. I just want you to have more friends other than just me. Everyone in our class likes you, but anytime they come close, you push them away. I just wanted-" Her voice cracks.

"You just want me to have more friends? I don't need anyone other than you, Danny. I don't like the fact that you are giving my personal info away to someone I don't even know." I interrupt her ramblings. 

"You would know him if you let him. If you actually tried talking to him, you would find that he's an actual nice guy, not like Adrien."

"I'm done talking to you about this." My voice quivers and I hang up the phone. I wish she hadn't brought him up. My hands shake and I ball myself up and start crying, thinking about things that I haven't for a while.

*Flashback*

"Adrien? I want to go to the mall. Come with me."

"You sure? I know you never like me to go with you anywhere."

"Yes," I drag him into my favorite clothing store, "I need your opinion on dresses." We had been dating for a long time and I was reckless with him. I would hang out in the open, not knowing that Father was nearby, watching me. I never had the sense to hide who I was with, especially knowing how Father was.

We decide on a dress for me to wear to school the next day and I take the bag from Adrien and hop into his car. Before I know it, Father's car is parked right next to me and he is pulling me by  my hair. He pulls me into the car and takes me to the house. Once inside, he beats me. Slaps me across my face until I have hand-shaped prints all across both of my cheeks and on my arms. He yells at me over and over again until I am on the floor, no tears left to fall down my face, feeling like I was worth nothing.  

Several days after the incident, I walk into school and notice the stares. Adrien comes up to me and starts asking where I've been. He asks why I've stopped talking to him. I ignore him. He continues to ask me. I decide to make up a lie. In order for him to be spared and so that i have a reason as to why I had to leave him.

I shout in his face, "I don't want you. You hurt me, look at what you've done to me! I don't love you. I never did. How could I love a monster such as yourself?" It hurt to tell the boy I loved that I didn't, but I had to so that he would be safe. I could only hope that he understand what I was actually saying that it wasn't him who hurt me, but Father. I didn't want to say a word to Danny, but I told her that he had caused the bruises covering my face and arms. He moved away because my lie spread like wildfire throughout the school.  After that I learned my lesson to keep everyone else out of my life and to never fall in love.