By Chance

Chapter Ten : By Chance

Summer's POV

The entire morning I was a nervous wreck, praying no one would see my hideous truth beneath both the fake smile I was forcing and the pound of makeup I spent an hour doing to cover up what Lance did to me.

But I got through it, and no one seemed to notice. Why would they? This sure isn't the first time I've had to temporarily cover up the shame of choosing to stay in an abusive relationship.

The feeling of 'I made it' rushes through me as the last bell sounds throughout the building. I quickly grab all my stuff and rush to Brady's. With him, I don't have to fake or hide anything. He truly makes me feel free, more so now that he knows the full truth.

When I get inside the house, I find Brady asleep on the couch, still sitting up. He has his face resting on his closed fist. He looks so... peaceful. Calm.

Right as I try to walk to my room slowly, the floor underneath me creaks and he twitches in his sleep, waking him up. He blinks a few times to let his eyes adjust to the light.

"Hey," is all he says once he's completely awake.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," I answer awkwardly. There is a small amount of tension from the little argument we had in the kitchen this morning. It wasn't really an 'argument' than it was a disagreement, but we both left the conversation not extremely happy with one another.

"It's okay, I didn't mean to fall asleep anyways." He stands up from the couch and walks over to me. "I'm sorry about last night. It wasn't and will never be my place to tell you what I think you should do about Lance. I didn't mean to push so hard, and no matter what you do, I'll be there for you," he says, looking at me straight in the eye. I can see just how tired he is. I would safely bet last night wasn't his first and only bad dream.

"No, it's okay, I get it," I soft smile at him.

I really do get it. If something would have happened to anyone I knew, I would feel the same way Brady does, but it happened to me. It's just so different. I want Lance to be locked away, and I definitely don't want anyone else to suffer at the hands of him, but I just simply can't come forth. There's no other way to explain it. Unless it happens firsthand, others don't know how it feels.

"My mom made me take pictures and videos when I first got to New Orleans, so if I do ever decide to do anything, I'll have some proof of him hitting me," I assure him.

He lightly nods his head. "How was your first day back?" he asks.

"Not great, but I love those kids and teaching is therapeutic in a way. Being able to give kids access to knowledge that they may remember for the rest of their lives is crazy to think about. Most kids don't care about English, but each essay brings out such an interesting view on whatever the topic is, and I love..." I stop when I realize I'm totally rambling about stuff Brady probably couldn't care less about.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Honestly, I thought I was probably boring you," I admit.

Brady shakes his head. "Not at all. Continue," he pushes.

"I was going to say that I love how creative each student can be. Being able to bring that out of some kids is such an amazing feeling. I swear there's nothing like it, and it makes the worst days seem better," I finish.

"Kaine feels the same way. If he was cranky in the mornings, he didn't come home that way," he shares.

"Kaine is a teacher?"

"Yeah, he teaches elementary kids with special needs. There were days where a kid would be able to read a certain book, or count to whatever number, and Kaine would come home beaming with happiness. Sometimes a random mother would come to our front door just to hug and thank Kaine for breaking through with her kid." I can't help but smile. I really want to meet Kaine. He seems like an amazing person, just like Brady.