Violated

Three

August 26th, 2019. Kate. 

Six-thirty. My phone was ringing, loudly, and vibrating beneath my pillow. What was so important at this time? My eyes tried to adjust to the cell phone light puncturing my eyes. Jake. The second to last person I wanted to talk to. The idea of his existence right now made me want to disappear.

"What?" I mouthed in the most bitter way I could imagine.

"Please let me pick you up. I miss you. It's our first day back at school," he pleaded. The pain in his voice sounded so convincing, I almost thought it was real.

"Don't call my phone, don't text my phone, and sure as shit don't come near my house, or near me at school." I hung up the phone as quickly as possible, hoping my point came across in my words before he had a moment to speak back.

Awake, knowing Laura would be here in an hour, I decided to force myself awake. Mom would've just left for work, leaving leftover coffee still in the pot. Black, and full of caffeine for me. I needed to be awake on the first day of school. All eyes would be on me. I needed to be my normal, happy self. I couldn't let anyone see what was on the inside. People talk, and I didn't want them to talk about me.

I threw the sheets off of my body, exposing myself to the chilled air, the hairs on my arms sticking up already. It was worth it, knowing that when I stepped outside, I'd die of heat exhaustion in this heat advisory. I grabbed my robe from my chair and threw it on over my silk, skin exposing pajamas. Throwing on my rabbit slippers that I got for Christmas two years ago, I was finally ready to make my journey down the stairs and to the kitchen.

"Hi Dad," I greeted, taking a seat at the kitchen bar, only feet away from the sizzling bacon and the cheese filled eggs that awaited me on his pans.

"Hi sweetie. I heard your alarm go off and figured I'd make you some breakfast." He handed me a coffee mug. Another one of my christmas presents. It was pink, with a unicorn, and said 'world's best daughter' on it. Being an only child had it's Christmas and Birthday perks.

"It wasn't my alarm. It was Jake..." My dad knew everything. We were close, closer than I was to my mom, which was odd to most. It was nice. Moms told you what you wanted to hear and made everything romantic; dads spoke their mind, especially about boys.

"I could show up at his door and really make sure he doesn't call you again," dad threatened.

"Do you mean like...kill him?" I whispered, partially okay with the idea.

"Not that much physical harm." He had the most straight face you could imagine as he mouthed his threats.

"Rebecca hasn't even called," I mumbled. Dad loved Rebecca since he she was five and we first met. He had been her replacement dad most of her life. He blamed Jake and only Jake, not her for her own actions. It takes two. It took two.

"Her mother said she's been gone for a few weeks, but she didn't seem to know where," he explained, handing me a plate of fresh, hot, delicious smelling food.

"She's probably on a drinking binge, just like her mother," I retorted. The words came out of my mouth so quickly that I couldn't stop them. I could see the upset in my dad's face. He cared for her, a lot, and always hated that we couldn't save her from her mother. He never knew me to be anything but kind; until this moment.

The look expressed in his eyes made me regret my words. I could feel the disappointment piercing me.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, rarely being able to say those words out loud.

"Her mom said she wouldn't talk to her a few weeks ago, then disappeared. She left a note that she'll be back before school. You know she doesn't care enough to file a report." Part of me felt guilty when he told me this. But not after what she did to me. She didn't deserve my guilt. She deserved nothing.