Lady Vixen

Chapter Three

I woke up the next day earlier than normal. My cheek was not swollen, and my father did not leave a mark. I did not want to have to explain anything to anyone at school. The teachers would try to take me away from him and I am scared to see what that may look like. He already lost my mother a year ago. If he was to lose me a year later, he probably would not know how to survive. I felt as though the previous day was all my fault. It was my fault for talking to Justin. I should've never got myself caught walking, or even talking, with him against my father's demands. My father was trying to surprise me by walking his daughter home. He stopped drinking for me. What did I do? I disobeyed his wishes. I befriended a boy, who was someone that care about me. I knew what I had to do.\

I walked to school. Whenever I saw Alex and Justin together, I would walk the opposite way. I did not want to get Justin involved in this any deeper than he already was. It hurt but I knew it had to be done. Alex probably understood why I walked away from her because I told her about my father's demands a while back. I knew she was not too mad.

It was lunch time. I walked to my locker by myself. I entered the combination and opened the locker. I switched my books for my last two classes. I closed my locker to find Justin on the other side of the door. I jumped for a moment and then recollected myself. I walked away from him.

"Can we talk?" he asked me. I stood in the middle of the hall forcing myself to not look back. "Please." I turned around and shook my head at him. He caught up to me and we walked towards the cafeteria together. We walked outside and sat beside the cafeteria wall.

"Before you say something, I just want to say I am sorry," I said to him.

"Sorry about what?" he asked me.

"Earlier," I said to him. "I convinced myself that I couldn't have you around me anymore. It was the only way to protect you."

"From your father?" he asked me. I looked down shaking my head.

"Yes. I am not allowed to have any male friends. If I did, there was going to be consequences. I didn't know he was going to come to the school yesterday. He was there to surprise me, and I surprised him with betrayal," I said to him.

"I didn't know you were going through this. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked me.

"I don't know, but it doesn't just stop there," I said to him.

"There's more?" he asked me.

"Yes. Ever since my mother died, my father started drinking at night. He would lock himself in his room and would not talk to me. When I tried to comfort him one night while he was drunk, he forced me out. When we got home yesterday, he..." I drifted off looking away from Justin.

"What did he do?" Justin said to me as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"He hit me," I said to him as a tear shed from my eyes.

"That's not cool," Justin said to me as I could see the frustration on his face. "We have to tell someone."

"Who?" I asked him.

"An adult? Mrs. Winters? The police? He's not supposed to be hitting you," he said to me.

"Justin, calm down. It's okay. He's not going to do it again," I said to him.

"This not right, Vivian," he said to me.

"I know, but I am the only thing he has. Without me, I don't know what he may turn to," I said to him.

"I love you," Justin said to me.

"Justin," I said with a smile nearly ready to laugh.

"I am serious. I care about you deeply. When you told me to run yesterday, I wanted to stand by you in front of your father. I wanted him to see us together. I would have held your hand if I had to," he said to me.

"I don't think you would have wanted to do that," I said to him.

"Actually, I do," he said as he pulled me closer to him. His book bag fell off his shoulder as he slightly placed his lips upon mine. For a moment, I felt safe again.

"We can't," I said separating our lips from one another.

"We can."

"What about my father?"

"What about him? I love you and not just as a friend. I want to be there for you. I would even have my father talk to him."

"For me?"

"Yes," he said as I smiled unconditionally.

"Does this mean we are together?"

"I guess so."

"Only at school. I don't want my father knowing."

"I respect that," he said to me. I stepped forward and kissed him again. The bells rang and the two of us stopped kissing. We walked to class together as boyfriend and girlfriend. Through the hardships over the year, this was the only good thing that has happened to me thus far. I knew with Justin that I would be safe again.