Unforgivable Mistake

Chapter 7

Iris's Pov:

At the cafe

When I walked into the cafe I looked around and saw Daniel sitting at a table in the corner. He was looking down at the table in deep thought.

"Hi Daniel", I said walking to the table.

He looked up startled,"Oh hi", he said once he realised it was me, "Aren't you going to get any food or a drink?" he asked when he saw I was empty handed.

"No I'm not really in the mood for anything", I replied.

"Okay then. Now lets talk about what happened yesterday but you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you or it could ruin my reputation at school. Okay?"

Seriously?That's what he cares about? I thought.
"Okay.", I nodded.

Daniel told me about what his dad says to him which explained the shouting.
"Okay", I said slowly,"I understand what the shouting was about but you said he hates you. I don't understand how a parent can hate his own child."

"He hates me because I'm the reason my mum left him and he never even wanted me to be born in the first place.", he explained.

"Does he hit you?"

"Erm..Sometimes?" Daniel hesitated.

"What?! Why haven't you told anyone about this?!" I exclaimed shocked.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" he shouted in a quiet voice while looking around the cafe incase anyone heard.

"You should tell the police. They might be able to find you a new home where you'll be safe."

He shook his head,"I can't do that."
"Why not? Your dad abuses you for gods sake." I argued getting annoyed that he isn't doing anything about it.

"Would you be able to call the police on your parent's?" He retorted.
"Well...Maybe?"

He stared at me in disbelief.
"Okay maybe I wouldn't be able to that", I sighed in defeat. "Isn't there any other family member you can tell and they can help you?" I asked trying to find another way to get him out of this mess.

"No", he said in a sad tone,"I've tried telling my family before but they don't believe me and say my dad's a good man and he wouldn't do anything like that. No matter how many times I tell them what he's like they'll never believe me."

I didn't know what to say. Daniel looked so broken and defeated. I stared at him closely and realised that he had dark circles under his eyes and he had a very thin frame. His head was hung low and his shoulders were slouched and it looked like he was trying to curl up in a ball as if he was trying to hide away from this cruel world. I never would have guessed for his life to be like this, it always looked like he had a perfect life and nothing to worry about.

"Have you told anyone else about this?" I asked in a gentle voice.

He simply shook his head. I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy to fix.
"Why don't you tell anyone at school like one of your friends or Rose?"

"I can't tell anyone. Especially Rose",he said.

"Why are you so scared to tell someone? I'm sure you can trust them to keep it a secret."

"Because if I do they'll look at me differently and then eventually rumours will spread and the secret will get out. After that people will say things about me."

"Do you seriously care about other people that much? It doesn't matter what people think about you. Everyone calls me a nerd but I don't care and carry on with my life. If your friends don't accept you for who you are then they're not your real friends. It could help you if you tell someone about this then if anything happens you can tell them about it without feeling uncomfortable.", I explained trying to get him to consider telling someone about this.

He sighed,"I just don't have the courage to tell someone and if I do say something they'll look at me with pity and they'll judge me because of my dad. I don't want that which is why I keep it a secret."

"I get your point. It's not nice when people look at you in a weird way with pity in their eyes and then they'll end up thinking your not capable of doing things for yourself."

Daniel just stared at me with curiosity probably wondering about what I'm talking about. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was starting to set.

"Anyway I better get going. I have to get home before it's dark." I said while standing up to leave.

"Yeah I should get home too. Thanks for coming and listening to my problems.",he said with a small smile.
"No problem. If you need someone to talk to, tell me at school and we can meet up.",I smiled back, "I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"See you tomorrow.",he replied. We both walked out the cafe and went our separate ways.

At home

"I'm home!" I shouted walking through the door. I went to the kitchen and saw my mum preparing dinner.

"Hey how did it go with Daniel?" She asked.

"It was okay. If he needs to talk some other time is it okay if I meet him? He's going through a lot of things and I'm the only one that knows about it."

"Okay but how come your the only one that knows?"

"He doesn't want to tell anyone else because he's scared of what they'll think of him."

"Oh okay you can meet him if he wants to talk. However don't tell your dad. I don't think he'd be happy if he finds out your talking to Daniel. He might take it in the wrong way.", she warned me.

"Okay.", I said.

My dad is over protective when it comes to boys or if it's something to do with my health. He's a really nice person but like I said he's over protective.

Daniel's Pov:

After I got home I went straight to my room and collapsed on my bed. I lied there for a few moments and thought about what Iris said. I feel better now that someone knows. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I know if I need to talk to someone I can go to her since she pretty much knows everything about me.

After getting changed into my pjs I got into my bed and for the first time I felt like I didn't have to worry about anything around me and fell into a peaceful sleep.