Sketchbook

Chapter 7

Mother didn't notice something was wrong with me which was a good and bad thing. She came home acting like normal. She only gave me a few glances, not questioning anything. I ask her if she needs help with anything, but she says no. I decide to go back to my room to lay down because that's all I wanted to do from now on. That's what I needed actually. I laid in my bed attempting to go to sleep. I really wanted to skip school tomorrow, but Brady threatened to hurt me again if I didn't go, so I had to.
I sat in class completely drifting off into space. I tried my absolute hardest not to cry in front of everyone, especially when I got to chemistry. Brady stared at me the whole time, but I didn't look at him once. It took everything in me not to let my tears flow, and sitting in the front of the class makes the situation even worse.
The bell rang, and I was about to leave. Brady attempted to come towards me, but the teacher beat him to it. In the corner of my eye, I watched him walk out the door. I then gave my full attention to the teacher.
"Jayda, are you alright? You don't look too well. Should I take you to the nurse?"
"No, I'm fine," I say in a monotone. My voice sounded really raspy and hoarse from the lack of speaking making me sound a lot less believable.
She tilted her head giving me a small smile. I could tell that she really is worried. "Are you sure?"
I nod in response. "Thank you, though." I then left her classroom.
To my surprise, not, Brady was standing outside waiting for me. I ignored him at first until he spoke making me freeze in place.
"I hope you know, if anyone finds out, whether you tell them or not, I will make sure you regret it," he says quietly, so only I can hear it.
I didn't respond and kept walking.
For the rest of the day, and the week, I walked around school like a zombie. Some people noticed that I wasn't okay, but I had to make sure I didn't look suspicious. People would ask me if I'm alright, and I wouldn't even smile when I tell them I'm okay; which is making me very suspicious. It was like this for the next few weeks. Brady watched me suffer and suffer and it brought him pleasure and satisfaction. I continued to do as he says though. He became the person I feared most. He would pull me into bathrooms and closets occasionally when he wanted to be with me. I never did anything about it either. Luckily, he never tried to force himself on me again. He usually would just kiss me and put his hands all over me. He would always tell me that he loves me and that I belong to him and only him. I never gave him a response to stop what he'd be doing. I knew it wasn't going to do anything, and fighting back would probably only make him angry, and I didn't want to see him angry.
As I said before, I was doing a horrible job at not being suspicious. People constantly reported my attitude and appearance to the office. I had been called up there more than 10 times in the past 2 weeks. The principal couldn't take it anymore, and he called my mother to address the situation to her. That means I had to have a talk with her when I got home which I obviously was not looking forward too.
I wait outside for Mother or Father to get here. Both of them show up this time, and that happens very rarely. I understood why they were together though.
We walked through the front door, and I went to the couch to sit and wait for one of them to start this uncomfortable conversation.
"So, the principal called.." Father said.
"I know." I said looking at the ground while fidgeting with my hands. There was silence for a minute before Father sat in the chair that's parallel from the couch.
     "What's going on, sweetheart." He said calmly. He was trying to make sure I felt comfortable and that he wasn't mad at all. Usually, he gets aggravated when I end up in the principal's office, but apparently he knew something was up. The way he looked at me showed how worried he was.
"Nothing's going on," I said shrugging my shoulders, still looking at the ground.
"Something had to have happened for you to be acting like this." Mother said a bit loudly sounding aggravating.
My eyes started watering up. Father shushed Mother and came to sit next to me. He noticed my tears started to fall and wiped them away. "What's wrong?" He said just above a whisper.
"I got pregnant dad, that's what happened!" I said loudly, crying louder now.
He sighed. He was about to speak until I continued.
"Charles said he loved me and would always be there for me! He left me!!!" I started sobbing into Father's shoulder. Father just held onto me and rubbed my back. It reminded me of when Charles used to rub my back when I cried in his arms. That thought made me cry even more.
I heard Father say under his breath, "I'm gonna kill that boy," before letting go of me and holding my head up to dry my tears. "Is that all that happened? Didn't anything else happen, sweetheart?"
I'm contemplating on whether to tell him about Brady, but I'm so scared Brady will hurt me again if he finds out I told on him. I need to do the right thing though. Tell him the truth or lie? My mind was just going back and forth with itself. I decided to tell him...
     "Anna and I are best friends anymore, and now I have nobody. She was the only friend I had." I continued to cry after that. I could barely breathe from how much I was crying.
     Father fully turned me towards him and hugged me tightly. "You have us, sweetheart." He said.
     "And you have God," Mother said.
I thought I was going to hate this conversation, but my parents really made me feel better, and I smiled.