In The Mix

Chapter 1

This is unedited. Not some of my best work but here it is anyway. Drop a comment and let me know what you think. For the purpose of this fic, Jesy is 29 going on 30.

Jesy's POV:

"Has anybody seen Kenzie?" I question, curious as to where my fourteen year old daughter is. The girls and our mothers sit at the table on the deck but Kenzie is strangely absent from the first gathering since the tour ended. It really shouldn't surprise me that Kenzie has disappeared because Mum said the last two months of our tour she became very distant and started spending more time in her room.

"She's in the pool." My Mum says.

I walk down the deck steps and over to the pool. Standing at the edge, I look down to see Kenzie sitting at the bottom in her clothes. As if sensing my presence, she looks up, then pushes off the bottom, breaking the surface of the water. Neither of us speak as she slowly climbs up the pool steps and I lead her across the yard, up the deck steps, and into the house. In the laundry room I put a towel on the floor and have her stand on it, grabbing a second towel, attempting to dry her hair with it.

"Grandma said you started doing this a lot the last month of the tour. Why are you doing this, Kenzie?"

"I can think in the water, everything is quiet." She says softly.

Brushing her hair back from her forehead, I drop the towel on the dryer and raise the lid of the washing machine.

"Get those wet clothes off then get upstairs and into something dry."

She fiddles with the hem of her shirt.

"No."

Squatting down in front of her, I take her hands in mine and give them a gentle squeeze.

"What's going on with you, babe? I want to help you but I can't if you don't tell me what's going on."

She chews on her bottom lip. "C-can you help me with my shirt? I can't lift my left arm above my head."

"Of course, baby girl." Standing, I gently guide her left arm out of the shirt followed by the right, dropping the shirt into the machine. Between the bottom of her sports bra and the waistband of her shorts, her skin is covered in bruises.

"Baby, what happened? Who did this to you?"

She chuckles dryly. "The who doesn't matter." She points to her stomach and sides. "This is what happens when you get bullied and get the crap beat out of you for nearly four months and you don't fight back."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you fight back?"

"You were on tour! What good would it have done me to tell you? And I got used to getting the crap beat out of me and not fighting back. Did you forget where I came from?"

Sighing, I gently wrap my arms around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me. I still wish you had told me, I would've called the school."

"That would've only made it worse for me, Ma." Kenzie wraps her arms around my waist, her hands clutching the back of my shirt, and rests her head on my chest. "And you had enough going on with the tour, you didn't need to be worrying about me."

"You're my daughter, you are my priority! I don't ever want you to feel like you can't tell me stuff. I'm also pulling you out of that school. I don't want you going somewhere you're getting bullied and aren't safe."

The tension in her body disappears at my words. I pull back from her slightly.

"Now go get into some dry clothes and I'll get you something for your pain." I wrap a towel around her as she slips off her shorts and tosses them in the machine. "After you get dressed, put your bra, panties, and the towel in the machine, and turn it on."

"Yes ma'am. I love you!"

"I love you too, baby girl!"

Kenzie heads upstairs and I go to the kitchen, making a call that I hope will change her life for the better before grabbing two tablets and a bottle of water, then heading outside.

Just as I sit down a text from our manager comes through.

"Well girls, we have to be on a plane in two days time. We've been booked for a charity event."

"Where?" Perrie asks.

I lock eyes with Kenzie as she stands right inside the back door.

"New Orleans, Louisiana."

From the corner of my eye I see Jade's eyebrows raise. Kenzie has been open with everybody at this table about what she endured before she came into our lives but for the longest, Jade and I were the only two that knew.

Kenzie comes and takes the tablets and water from me. I've only been home for a few days and I really don't want to leave Kenzie but I don't want to take her back to the place she almost died. Guess I have two days to talk to her and decide if she's going or staying with Mum.

All mistakes are mine. Vote, comment, and tell a friend! Hope y'all enjoyed this.
Until next time.
Much love!