Didn't Mean It

Didn't Mean It - Chapter 3

“I woke up the next morning in my bed. The room was silent and I was supposed to be at school. I looked at the clock noticing I was already late and quickly jumped out of bed to find myself still in my uniform. My head was pounding and I didn’t remember anything from last night.

“You’re not going to school today.” I looked up to see Josh sitting at my desk on the chair in front of it.

“Why not?” I asked nervously.

“You’re not safe there. We are going to the police today.” He said.

“Don’t tell me you told mom.” I asked in a scared tone.

“I had to. She wanted to know why I had to carry you home passed out last night. He hits you and we all saw him.” Josh said loudly.

“But I love him. I can’t press charges on him.” I said with tear filled eyes.

“You don’t have a choice. And the school has been notified. They’re not expecting you for the rest of the year.” My face grew shocked as he got up and left. I stood there flabbergasted not knowing what I was supposed to do next.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked walking into my room after Josh left.

“No. I have to go to the police. I can’t go to school. They’re not going to let me be with Jared.” I said as I broke into nervous tears. I was going into panic mode.

“Shh. Shh.” Liam said as he hugged me and I willingly fell into his arms. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“What if it’s not?” I asked him.

“It will be. Just trust me.” He said. “Do you know what happened last night?” He asked me.

“No. Not entirely. After he kicked me and I saw Josh I don’t know what happened after that.” I said looking up into his eyes.

“Would you like to know?” He asked me calmly.

“I don’t know. Was it bad? Is Jared ok?” I asked him.

“That idiot is fine. We let him go so he wouldn’t hit you again.” He said brushing my hair behind my ear.

“Then what happened?” I asked him.

“Only Josh and I went to get you. I’m pretty sure the other guys don’t even know what happened to you. Basically we saw him push you then kick you and Josh ran over to you and I guess you dozed off and Josh said his choices were to get out of here or get the shit beaten out of him and he ran.” Liam  explained and I nodded.

“Josh wants me to go to the police.” I said quietly.

“You should. He hit you.” Liam said, his arms still around me and my head now resting on his chest.

“But I love him.” I said looking into his eyes.

“Doesn’t seem like he feels the same.” Liam said as I pulled away from him. I felt the side of my stomach where Jared had kicked me last night and winced in pain as I sat back down on my bed.

“Can I?” He asked as he sat down on my bed next to me and I nodded. He lifted up my shirt just enough to expose a bruise the size of my hand covering the side of my stomach. I heard him gasp as he ran his fingers over my skin. To him, it was unreal to see this. To me, I saw them everyday and learned to cover them and hide them. “Does it hurt?” He asked me with pained eyes.

“Not as much as it should.” I said as he pulled his hand away slowly and looked me in the eyes speaking softly.

“How could you let him do this to you?” I was at a loss for words. How could I? These were proof that I really loved my boyfriend, right?

“Because he always says he’s sorry and won’t do it again.” I said in a childish tone.

“Does he do it again?” He asked me.

“Well yeah but he will stop eventually I know it. He loves me.” I explained quickly.

“Do you really believe that?” Liam asked me.

“I don’t know.” I said. 

“Liam, what are you doing?” Josh asked standing in the door way.

“Come here mate.” He said ignoring Josh’s question. Josh approached us confused and Liam lifted up my shirt once again exposing the bruising.

“Holy crap Ashley. Did he really do that to you?” Josh said covering his mouth.

“No I fell.” I said pulling down my shirt.

“Ashley we know you didn’t fall. We saw him kick you.” Josh said sitting on the other side of me on the bed.

“No that was the other side.” I lied.

“You don’t have to go through this by yourself.” Josh said pulling me into his arms as I broke into tears.

“I don’t have a choice. I love him. I can’t lose him.” I said and Josh held his grip firmly around me.

“I’m not going to watch my little sister die because of some idiot.” He said and wiped the tears from my eyes. “We need to get you out of this town though. I don’t know maybe you can stay with our grandparents or something.”

“I want to stay here though.” I said looking up into his eyes.

“Are you crazy Ash? Why? So he can come and murder you because you told someone? He’s probably plotting his revenge right now. He probably would have killed you at school today. Beat you until you bled, until you stopped breathing, until you were brain dead. He would have killed you then claimed he loved you even though he never loved you.” Josh said. I looked back over at Liam who gave me a look of sympathetic eyes.

“He’s right Ashley. You need to get out of this town. You’re a target right now.” Liam added in.

“I’m fine. I don’t need protection.” I said with pride and hope almost believing what I said was true.

“You need a lot more than protection.” Josh said. “You’re not going back to that school either. I refuse to let you die because of some idiot.” I looked at my bedroom floor trying to think of a way to oppose this idea of a new school and a break up. I didn’t want any of this, but everyone thought I did.