**Say What You Mean Out Loud**

~ T W O ~

One week later

Greyson Elliot started at the long, pale scar from her right hip, up to her mid-ribcage.
She detested it.
It looked hideous.

Before he died, Greyson and Jared's dad took them rock climbing.
Grey spent countless times slipping and falling.
Her father never helped her.
"You can't learn if I do it for you." He had said.

Grey frankly thought that was bullshit, he never helped her do anything.
Which is why she didn't give a rat's ass about rock climbing.
She didn't want to do it, her dad did.

Until one day she had gotten pretty far up, about 20 feet off the ground.
Jared told her to slow down but she didn't pay him any attention.
Then she suddenly felt the rocks give way.

She wasn't screaming, she was gasping from fear.
Clawing at anything and everything as rocks scraped up and down her torso, her arms, her legs.

Her feet hit the ground hard, making a snap.
Her back hit the ground and she looked up at her brother and her dad, who were long ways up the red wall of stone and earth.

Her head was spinning and she could see her brother, frantically trying to get down to her.
Well, she could see two of him, swirling around each other.

While her vision restored, she looked up at her father, with the excruciating pain hitting her all at once.
He just kept climbing.

He looked down at her, giving her a short glance, and kept climbing.

Her side was burning like a jellyfish sting, and she brought her hand down to touch it.
She flinched away from her fingers, and there were copious amounts of blood on her.

Jared's feet hit the ground little ways away, and kicked up dirt.
The earthy dust filled Greyson's bloody nose, making her cough violently.

But her dad kept on climbing.

So now she had a huge, thick, pale scar all the way up her side.
It used to be even bigger, nearly up to her collar bone, but she hit a couple growth spurts since then.

She stared at it for another minute or two, before pulling the edge of her bra over it and pulling down her tie dye shirt.

"Grey! You're going to be late!" Jared shouted from the kitchen.
His voice boomed through the house, in a way that made Grey shake.

She saw so much of her dad in him, but knew he could never be that threatening.
He's Jared for Christ's sake, he a big softie.
Mostly.

Grey grabbed her bag from its hanging place on her bed post, and charged out into the TV room.
"Look at the bright side," Jared smiled. "After today, there will only be 2 weeks of school left."

Grey grabbed an apple from the bowl on the kitchen table and smiled back at him.
"I know, I've been counting."

The tall boy was looking through shelves and under couch cushions.
Grey spotted a shiny Arcade name tag sitting in the bowl.

"Hey." She tossed it to him and he caught it with one hand.
"Thanks. Hey do you need a ride from school today?"

Grey shook her head.
"No, I've just been walking all week."
He nodded and grabbed his keys.

"Alright well I am late so I'll see you later, and you come down to the arcade if you need anything."
She have him a quick thumbs up and he ran out the door.

Greyson left as well, walking in the opposite direction of Jared's sputtering Chevy.
On the walk Grey started tracing up and down her side, up her hip and to her ribs.