Crystal's Saviour

19

I leaned off my car when I saw Crystal coming out of the school building. Her bag was hanging on her left shoulder as she clutched onto the strap tightly.

I opened the door for her and she got in without speaking to me. I got in the drivers seat and started the car. I was driving to Bob's that was almost 15 minutes away from the school.

The car ride was awkward. She didn't speak anything at all. I was starting to regret pushing her to tell me everything. I looked over to her. Her face showed no emotions as she looked outside the window.

"Crys." I said and she looked over to me. I had been calling her that lately and she seemed to like this new name. "Hm." Was all she said.

"Crys, if you don't wanna tell me, it's okay. I was so concerned and I just wanted to help out and I didn't mean to push you. It's okay if you don't want t-"

"Aiden. I want to tell you. We've been friends for some months now and I really trust you. I needed to tell you sooner or later. It shouldn't be a secret anymore since we've grown really close." She said and my heart raced in my chest. She trusted me. She said it today.

"I wanted to tell you but I couldn't find the courage." She said and I nodded, understanding her.

"Crys, I'm glad to know you trust me." I put my hand on hers and smiled. She gave me a small smile and said. "I hardly trust someone but when I do, I hope them never to break it."

"I won't break your trust. I promise." I said and she leaned back on the seat, watching me as I drive with my left hand interwined with hers.

***
"What would you like to have?" The waiteress asked as she stood there with a writing pad in her hand.

"I would like a hot chocolate, please." I said and looked at Crystal. "Just a bottle of water." She said. The waitress nodded and wrote down our orders on the pad and walked away.

I looked at Crystal and she sighed nervously, keeping her hand on the table and I interwining her fingers together.

"Alright." She shut her eyes tightly and took some slow breaths before starting.

"I was only 9 when dad died. I still remember that day when he left. I couldn't stop crying..." A sad expression took over her face and I immediately felt bad for her.

"I was a daddy's girl. Dad always put me first and never let anyone hurt me. With him, I felt the safest. Even when mom sometimes got angry at me dad was always there for me. He would always tell mom not to shout at me. He never liked seeing me cry."

"Aiden, you know one day I had a bad day at school and when I came home crying, dad was there for me. He took me to the park, we had ice cream and we roamed around the city." A sad smile made its way up to her face as if she was rewinding all that in her head.

"And then all of a sudden he was gone. He left me alone, on my own." A lonely tear escaped her eye. "I was never close to my mother. She always thought I only loved dad and not her."

"I was bullied at school. Dad was always worried because of that. He would do anything to make me smile when I was sad or had a bad day. Dad had always been worried because of me, because I had no friends and I was bullied and sad. And when he died, mom blamed me. She said he had a heart attack because all the tensions I gave him. She said he took so much stress because of me and his heart couldn't handle it.." Her voice broke and she was crying now. My heart broke to see her like this. I never knew her story was this painfull.

"Crystal." I whispered and held her hand. Her fingers interwined with mine and she held onto my hand tightly.

"His death was enough to break me but mom had to marry that devil and make my life even more miserable." She sobbed as I pulled my chair closer to hers and embraced her in a hug.

Thankfully, the place was almost empty. Only an elderly man sat there with a newspaper in his hand. Other than him the entire place was empty because of the week day.

"Davis is a living nightmare. He does this to me." She burried her head in my chest and my eyes buldged out of their sockets when I heard her.

"What? He abuses you?" I tried to keep my voice down. She nodded her head.

"The hell." I was still in shock.

"Your mom doesn't stop him?" I asked.

"She left." Was all she said. I was totally confused. "She left when I was 13. She moved to another country and David adopted me legally."

"How could someone abusive adopt? I don't think that's allowed."

"Nobody knows. I have to hide my scars and bruises with makeup because he told me to. He said if anybody ever finds out about this... He'll kill me. I can't even go to the police." Another cry left her lips.

"Crystal, please talk to the police about this. They'll catch him and he'll rot in prison." I said and her eyes widened. "No! You're not telling anyone about this. I trusted you, Aiden. Please. Don't tell the police or anyone else."

"Okay okay. Relax. I won't."I told her.

The waitress arrived and put our orders on the table but when she saw Crystal's face she froze.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked and Crystal nodded. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Is this man making you cry?" She gave me a disgusted look.

"What. No, he's not. I'm fine. Thankyou for asking." Crystal gave her a smile and she nodded and walked away but I didn't miss the look of disguise she gave me before walking away. Do I look like a bad man to you, mam?

"Crys, I never knew you were going through this much." I hugged her tightly.

My eyes landed on her wrist and I looked at her. "Did you do that?" I held her wrist. She nodded. "I wanted something to take my mind off of things."

She took a sip from the bottle. "Crystal, I'm right here if you ever need me,okay?" I genuinely said and she smiled at me.

"And I need you to promise me something." I said. "Promise what?"

"I want you to promise me that you'll never cut yourself or hurt yourself again." She looked at her hand and thought for a while.

"Aiden, I can't promise that.. I-"

"Crystal, I won't hear that. Promise me that you won't hurt yourself from now on. If you ever feel any pain or if you want to talk to someone or forget about things you come to me. Please Crystal, don't ever cut yourself again. Please."

"Okay. Okay, I promise. I won't hurt myself." She said, nodding her head.

"You come to me." I whispered and she nodded. "I'll come to you."