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Post by mikayla leigh james on Jun 21, 2011 5:22:12 GMT -5
Kayla stood in front of the mirror, caught in a daydream as she twiddled her long blonde hair around her fingers. She wondered just what was going on with Alex, what he was keeping from her, what was so bad he couldn't tell her? She sighed sadly, snapping out of her daydream and reaching for the lipgloss. She pouted her lips as she applied to pink gloop, wondering why she felt she had to make so much effort to look good just for revising. Maybe it was because Addie was here and she didn't want to look like the scruffy waif next to her ever glamourous sister. What a ridiculous thought, really.
Kayla checked her phone to see if he had text her.. no. 9:54. Kayla looked back towards the mirror, ruffling her hair a little and smacking her lips together in an 'I'm ready' gesture to herself. She moved away from the mirror to begin to tidy her room a little while she waited. |
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Post by alex on Jun 21, 2011 5:38:18 GMT -5
Alex was awake early, like he always was. Normally he had to drag himself out of bed, as the thought of facing another day wasn’t normally that nice, but today he was meeting Kayla and that was enough to make him get up willingly. Rather quickly he showered and got himself dressed, before going downstairs to eat breakfast. There was nobody downstairs, confirming his suspicions that his mother and Steve were still in bed, having gone out last night and not returned until late. They’d probably be in bed the rest of the day and when they did get up, Alex wouldn’t be there as he was planning to spend the whole day at Kayla’s, or at least as much of it as possible. Wanting to leave the house as quickly as possible, he picked up the folder with all his notes and walked out the front door. There was no point in leaving a note to explain where he was. They wouldn’t worry.
Since most people were still in bed, the streets were pretty much deserted. But still, Alex kept pulling down the sleeves of his shirt to hide the wound on his arm. It had healed enough to no longer require a bandage, but it still looked quite messy. Most people on seeing it would instantly presume that he had done it to himself, which was of course not true. But if people noticed and he was to deny it, then people would question where it had come from. That sort of questioning wasn’t something Alex relished. When he reached Kayla’s house, he knocked on the door and then waited, checking his phone to see what time it was. 9.59. Good timing he thought. |
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Post by mikayla leigh james on Jun 21, 2011 6:07:28 GMT -5
Hearing the knock, Kayla quickly checked that her room looked reasonable before heading downstairs. Neat freak may have been a bit strong but Kayla certainly wasn't messy and rejoiced in organising and tidying her room. She skipped down the stairs and reached the front door, fiddling with the lock for a moment before managing to get it open.
"Alex!" she grinned, in an excitement that made it sound like she hadn't expected him. She tippy-toed up and wrapped her arms around him, enveloping him in a tight cuddle. Alex was not the touchy feely sort of person but Kayla still took the opportunity to spring an unannouced hug onto her best friend.
"Come in, come in!" she motioned as she released him, ushering him inside. "Just dump your shoes anywhere by the way" |
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Post by alex on Jun 21, 2011 7:10:54 GMT -5
As Alex waited for someone to answer the door, he lost himself in his thoughts. He hadn’t just come here to revise, although that was what Kayla thought. He had something that he needed to get off his chest. Every time that he explained away his injuries with the explanation that he was a total klutz, he could see that Kayla didn’t ever really believe him. It had never really seemed like the right time to tell her though. There were always other people around and he didn’t want to take the risk of them overhearing the conversation. Today though, they would be on their own together.
The sound of a lock being turned jolted Alex out of his thoughts and he fixed a smile on his face as Kayla came out. “You sound like you’re surprised to see me,” he said in a rather joking tone. When she threw her arms around him, he tensed up slightly for a moment, before he put his arms around her and hugged back. Once he was released from the hug, Alex followed her inside and kicked off his shoes, putting them neatly by the door. “Where are we going?” Silently he hoped they could go to her room, because there they would be mostly undisturbed and he would have the chance to talk to her in private. |
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Post by mikayla leigh james on Jun 21, 2011 7:47:22 GMT -5
"Not suprised, just excited" Kayla smiled, shutting and locking the door behind him.
"Well.." she pondered "We could sit down here, but then my brother and sister will probably come through and disturb our 'revision'". Kayla did little inverted commas with her hands, making it quite clear that revision was not top of the list of priorities for today. Who really wants to spend their saturday morning revising anyway?
"I vote my room" she nodded in conclusion, taking off at a sprint up the stairs. This was one thing which annoyed her father greatly- the inability for her to walk up stairs. Instead her feet whirred at an incredible pace, whizzing her up the stairs to a noise which her father described as a 'herd of elephants'. She stood at the top and turned to wait for Alex. |
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Post by alex on Jun 22, 2011 5:56:20 GMT -5
Alex smiled as Kayla said that she was excited. “Me too.” He waited as she tried to decide where they could go to revise. He so hoped that they could go upstairs to her room, where they wouldn’t be disturbed. He really needed to talk to someone about what was going on and Kayla was his best friend, so seemed like the right person. If other people were in the room though, he wouldn’t feel comfortable enough to open up to her. After all, he didn’t know her family that well and certainly not well enough to trust them with his secrets. Her expression and gestures as she said revision made Alex laugh slightly. She was right; they probably wouldn’t end up doing much revision. They never managed to get much done in each other’s company.
When she said that her room was the best place, Alex simply nodded, before smiling as she charged upstairs. It seemed that Kayla had an inability to go up a flight of stairs at a normal, walking pace. She always had to charge up them like there was something chasing her, or something like that. Alex followed her up, at a much slower pace. He paused at the top of the stairs behind her, speaking in a low voice. “Come on. I need to talk to you about something.” Well, there was definitely going to be no backing out now that he’d said that. Alex headed into Kayla’s room, already knowing where it is from previous ‘revision’ sessions. |
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Post by mikayla leigh james on Jun 22, 2011 6:21:38 GMT -5
Kayla watched him walk up the stairs slowly towards her, wondering what the point was in her hurtling up the stairs when he just crept up at a snail’s pace.
”Come on, I need to talk to you about something.”
Kayla looked at him, wide eyed and silent. The way he said this made her realise it was something serious. She gulped. She had wanted him to confide in her so much what was going on in his life but now it may be about to happen, she was terrified. What if she couldn’t cope with knowing what it was? What if knowing his deepest secrets changed things between them? She chewed her lip, wondering if she was being selfish or if these worries showed just how scared she was of letting him down.
”Okay” she nodded, looking into his eyes for a few seconds. She then turned, leading him into her bedroom and sitting herself down cross legged on the bed. He she just sat silently, waiting for him to join her. She licked her lips nervously, patting the duvet as he approached to motion for him to sit down. [/font] |
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Post by alex on Jun 22, 2011 7:44:17 GMT -5
At Kayla’s expression, Alex started to panic a bit inside. Maybe she didn’t want to know about his problems. Perhaps he shouldn’t tell her. But no, she was his best friend and if he couldn’t talk to her, then there was nobody that he could talk to. Teachers were out of the question, since they’d report the abuse to the police and then he’d be taken away from his mum and that was the last thing that he wanted. No, he’d tell Kayla. He had to. He’d just have to deal with any problems that came up later.
He followed her into the bedroom and shut the door behind him, not wanting anyone walking past to be able to hear the conversation that they’d be having. When Kayla patted the bed, he sat down next to her, putting his folder behind him. It was clear that she was waiting for him to speak, but suddenly he found himself feeling rather worried. What if she thought it was his fault? What if she decided that she didn’t want anything to do with him? No, Kayla was his best friend. He knew that he could trust her. But still, he couldn’t look her in the eye as he began to speak. “These…These injuries that I always have. They’re not from me being the world’s biggest klutz.” His voice was starting to shake and he took a deep breath, trying to keep as calm as possible. “My step-father is the reason for all the injuries I have.” There. He’d finally managed to tell someone about it. Still though Alex couldn’t look at Kayla. He wasn’t sure what her reaction would be and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.
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Post by mikayla leigh james on Jun 22, 2011 8:23:23 GMT -5
Kayla sat and listened silently, still looking at him despite the fact his eyes were firmly fixed on the duvet. She felt a lump beginning to form in her throat as she slowly absorbed each word Alex spoke.
“My step-father is the reason for all the injuries I have.”
Kayla frowned and closed her eyes. It’s not like this came as an out of the blue shock. Kayla was not naive, she knew full well that his injuries could not just be from clumsiness. Yet hearing it, hearing him admit these words hit her like a steam train. Alex was the sweetest, kindest guy you could ever wish to meet. He was gentle and loving and wouldn’t dream of hurting others. So then why was somebody inflicting pain on him? What had Alex done to deserve this?! Kayla felt that lump in her throat getting bigger and tears beginning to creep into her eyes. She was angry, livid. She loved Alex like a brother and knowing his stepfather was hurting him made her blood boil. How dare he?!
”How long has this been going on for Alex?”. Kayla said softly, trying not to let her emotion show through in her voice.
She needed to know. How long had her best friend been hurting for for? How long had he been suffering all alone? [/font] |
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Post by alex on Jun 24, 2011 16:16:53 GMT -5
Alex could feel Kayla’s eyes on him as he spoke, telling her what he was sure she had already figured out. He didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t look her in the eye. So his eyes remained fixed on the duvet as he hunched over, curling further into himself. With his hands he clutched at his forearms, his shoulders rounding off as he leant forward, placing his body weight on his arms that rested on his thighs. He just looked defensive, trying to shield himself from the blows that life was dealing him.
At the silence that followed his words, Alex started to panic. What if she thought it was his fault? After all, he was seventeen. He was old enough to stand up for himself. Well against most people anyway. But Steve was a 6’3, well-built guy who spent most of his spare time in the gym. Alex on the other hand was 5’8 and never went to the gym. He couldn’t fight back. Hesitating, he looked around to see tears in Kayla’s eyes. On seeing that, his expression tightened. Making Kayla cry had definitely not been his intention.
“He married my mum when I was seven, but he didn’t start…it didn’t start until I was about twelve. So it’s been about five years.” Thinking about how long he’d endured it for was painful to Alex. Tears started to form in his eyes and hastily he rubbed them away with the heel of his hand. Crying was bad, that much he’d learnt. If he cried, then there were consequences. He mustn’t cry. |
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Post by mikayla leigh james on Jun 24, 2011 16:55:09 GMT -5
Five years..
Jesus. He’d been keeping this deep dark secret for five years. Slowly eating away at him inside. Why only now did he feel ready to tell her?
Seeing him wipe away his tears set Kayla off properly. She had been holding it together until then but to see him cry was beyond heartbreaking. He was so strong. Kayla had never see him cry before in her life. To know how much he must be hurting sent big fat tears rolling down her cheeks.
”Alex. I’m so sorry.” she whispered, her voice squeaky with emotion. Kayla wasn’t quite sure what she meant by this sorry, as there was so much to be sorry for. She was sorry that this was happening at all. She was sorry she hadn’t noticed. She was sorry that she hadn’t been there for him and protected him. She was sorry she had nothing better to say than sorry.
Kayla licked a salty tear from the corner of her mouth, gently laying her hand on his leg. How desperately she wanted to wrap him up in her arms, hold him tightly and never let go. But Alex didn’t look like he wanted a hug. In fact he probably didn’t want to be touched at all.
”Honey, we have to tell somebody..” she said softly, realising that being sorry for what was happening would not stop it. In fact nothing she said or did would stop this. But they had to stop it. ”he can’t do this.” |
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