Gone

1.

When I was young, I never believed people could be so cruel as to take away one's innocence and destroy it. It never crossed my mind that the world had an inch to be unsafe. My mom would constantly tell me to stay where she could see me. I always wondered why until I got a little older. I began to see the true horrors humans have. Shows and movies I'd watch on television would show me situations, and when children would go missing in my town or on the news, I began to understand more of what people were capable of. As I reached the end of middle school, my mom and older brother would try to make sure I was always safe. Even though I'd follow my mom's rules; I was still a victim. It all started with me and my three best friends, Chloe, Taylor, and Kelsey.

The first 3 years of my high school experience were more chaotic than most people would guess. People would always tell me that my friends and I were pretty popular, but none of us could see that. We more or less saw ourselves as part of the outcast crowd. Neither of us fit into a particular social group. Once Senior year came around, my life took a drastic turn for the worst.

The four of us all come from various backgrounds. As for me, my name is Kassidy Conners, I'm a brunette and was born in Chicago, Illinois. During elementary school, my mom decided to move me, my little sister Bailey, and big brother Owen up to Michigan, where we live currently. Soon, my mom met a seemingly nice guy, who eventually blocked me from being able to go to therapy. He says it's a waste of time and money, which leaves me helpless. He and my mom never understood the way I felt about certain things. My mom tends to favor my siblings over me. My older brother Owen is about 6 years older than me, and I'm about 4 years older than my sister Bailey.

Chloe is a long-haired brunette, but as long as I've known her, it's been dyed blonde. Out of the four of us, Chloe is the social butterfly and the most popular in other groups. She has a nose piercing and is from a difficult family. Her brother, which was who she normally went to for her issues, and who protected her, has since left for military training so she has no support at home. Instead, she goes to her school counselor for advice. A couple of years ago, in 8th grade, she had an intense argument with her stepdad. He ended up hitting her so badly that she had a bruise all down the right side of her face. Her stepdad was usually nice to the rest of us, but once we'd leave, he'd yell at her for something normal that teenagers usually do. She rarely does "friend things" with the rest of us. She claims she doesn't have any time but I could never fully believe it. Chloe would usually decline when we ask to go see a movie or something.

One time, Taylor went off on Chloe for never hanging out with us. I remember Chloe screaming back as her pale face began to turn a shade of tomato red. "Chloe, I'm tired of you saying you can hang out with us, just for you to flip and say you can't the next minute!"

"I don't fucking flip??!" screamed Chloe.

"Well, you're not really someone we can rely on," Taylor said, full of sarcasm.

"I've told you guys how my parents are! One minute, they say I can hang out with you guys, and the next, they say no," Chloe hissed as the vein in her neck began to pulsate consistently.

But, luckily, Kelsey and I were there to break them up. Chloe has trouble with her anger and speaks her mind most of the time. She's usually the comedic-relief of the group because of this. Even though she experiences abuse, she somehow remains blissful even to complete strangers.

Taylor is part Hispanic with long, black wavy hair. She tends to keep to herself and is the most serious, mature, and kind-hearted out of the four of us- sort of like the 'Mom Figure' in our group.

In Taylor's eyes, her mom seems to not really care about her, as she seems to pay more attention to Taylor's younger brother and sister. Taylor has two younger siblings and an older sister who she doesn't see as much due to her being in college. She and her older sister used to be insanely close, and she would talk about her problems too besides us. But, since her sister moved out, she feels less important with her mother.