After Dark: A Story About Lucy And Niall

Chapter 20: Lucy

                                                                *Three Days Later*

The doctor said that the pain that I was feeling was the cause of my broken ankle. And, yes, I have a broken ankle and only a broken ankle. Thank goodness it wasn't anything worse, like breaking my entire legs and dislocating my hips. That would've been bad.

Anyways, we arrived at Niall's house and his mother started asking me questions like, "Are you okay? How did you brake your ankle?" The bad thing was that I was in pain, so it looked like she annoyed me. I don't want her to get another super bad impression of me.

I went to my room and started chatting with Minerva and Niall's mother. I told them everything I remembered and then we started talking about our past and how we got to be in the place that we were. I felt like Niall's mom was starting to see that I wasn't one of those girls that Niall fell in love with.

Their stories were interesting, though, more interesting than my lame old abuse stories.

When they left, I checked my flip phone for any new messages. Some of them were from my dad, others from my father, and others from my dad. Insults.

I kept scrolling through, and found one that, surprisingly, wasn't from my dad. It was from . . . Monica?

Monica:

Meet me at the dollar store near your house, or else, you and your family will be dead.

Let's clear the air a bit.

Although my dad hurt me and made me get bruised and sent me to the hospital a few times, I couldn't let him get killed. And although my mother didn't really care about me, I couldn't let her get killed either. They are my parents after all, and at least I am alive. I am not a girl of revenge, and never count on it because I will never be a revengeful person.

I guess I have to go to that store now, but when and what time? I was afraid to, but I texted her.

Lucy:

When and what time?

I jumped at the sound of someone knocking at my door.

"Lucy? Can I come in?" It was Niall.

"Yeah."

 He opened the door and popped his head in. "Are you okay? Did I scare you?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay. . . . Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah."

"Um . . . what do you think about going to college?" He sat on my bed.

"Uh, I want to go there and make my dreams come true."

"Yeah, but how do you think it will work?"

"Oh, uh, there would be a lot of classes you'd have to take in order to get the career you want."

"Do you really, really, want to go there?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of college or university would you like to go to?"

"One that's nice. One that doesn't have nasty bathrooms or mean teachers that hurt you, or something. Why?"

"Just wondering." His head dropped down and he stayed quiet for a little bit. "What would you think if I told you that I can help you with your payments for college."

"That's nice. But, no thanks. I can work hard and get enough money to get myself to college. You don't need to give me loans-"

He moved right next to me and held my hands. "Lucy, I want to help. If that's what you want then let me help you. Please?"