Miss Sacrifice

Jaaliyah

It was morning and I woke up with the towel on my bed and my body completely naked. There was a banging on my door and I did a silent 'Thank You' prayer that I had locked my door the night before. I scurried out of bed and pulled on the closest pair of shorts and a tee shirt, not knowing or caring if they were clean.

"Liyah!" My dad boomed.

"Im comin' ." I said.

I opened the door to find my dad in his work uniform, "Im leavin' for work. Im comin' late tonight."

"OK." I said.

He didn't say much after that, he just looked at me and undressed me with his eyes. I turned to walk away but he pulled me before I could have the chance. Something made me think for sudden moment and I pulled my arm free from his grasp and try to slam the door shut.

"Liyah! You wanna act grown!?" He said and pushed the door back unto me. He didn't touch me but I flinched, "I'll deal with you later. "

I watched him walk away shaking his head and not looking back, I closed my door and sank down to the floor with my back against the wall. I pulled myself together knowing that I had to face Malik and I didn't want to go with puffy eyes from crying. I showered and got dressed, wearing light blue jeans with matching jean jacket, and a  black shirt. I wore my black Ugg boots and pulled my hair into a ponytail and looked at my face in the mirror, I also carried a small purse with me. I thought of the way I could hide the bruise but it was too dark for concealer to hide it, I shrugged my shoulders and looked at my body. I smiled at myself, only to get ready if Malik decided to make me smile again-which I knew he would do. He changed the plan and decided to pick me up at my house rather than at the library, I waited for about fifteen minutes before I heard the doorbell ring.

"Hey." I said, with casualty as I took in Malik's beautiful visage.

"What's up?" He asked and smiled at me.

I looked behind him and I saw his car parked, I've never given it much thought but now that I looked it was a black c30 Volvo. I looked up at him and noticed that he was taking me in, looking at my outfit and my face. Scanning for something, curious for something he wanted. I wasn't sure of what but I wanted to find out.

I smiled, "Nothing. " I said, not knowing what to say.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yep." I responded.

Malik offered his hand and I took it, he led me to his car and opened the front passenger seat for me. Malik waited until I was situated and closed the door softly, and before I knew it he was in the drivers seat. I stayed silent and watched as he put he key in the ignition and the car roared to life. I stole side glances at him from time to time but didn't say a word.

"You look great, if I didn't mention." He said to me.

"Thank you, so do you." I returned.

We didn't say much for a while, we just listened to music which he played and looked forward. "So tell me about yourself." He finally said.

"I already told you, my name is Jaaliyah. I am 19 yea--" he cut me off.

"No, I want to know the real you. What you just told me is reserved for everyone else. I want what you have to tell me. Like how you got that bruise--that was not from play fighting." He spoke like he knew everything and I was scared to lie and he would figure out the truth.

I looked over at him and he looked at me, he saw the worry in my eyes. "OK fine, how about I just ask simple questions and you answer. If you don't want to answer at the moment then you can say 'skip'.Deal?"

"Deal." I said and we took it from there.