Picture Perfect

I watched as the drunk idiots practically fornicated in the living room. Drinks were spilled, things were breaking left and right. I wanted to scream from all the loud music. But I didn’t. Instead, I pushed myself off of the couch and walked through the ever-growing mass of pulsating bodies and pushed my way into the kitchen. It was a little quieter in here, but not by much. There was a couple that was heavily making out on the counter, and another two guys that were chatting around the kegs.

“Hey, Anna,” Colin Haynes slurred as he stumbled over to me. He was popular, like all the people here, and captain of the varsity basketball team, as well as class president. But, all-around he was a nice guy.“You’re pretty,” he grinned cheesily.

“Thanks, Colin, but it would mean a lot more if you weren’t so drunk,” I replied with a smile.

“Listen, Anna, I gotta tell ya something,” he said, grabbing a hold of my shoulders so that he could keep his balance.

“How about later, ok? Right now I need to find Chris. He’s supposed to take me home now.”

“You,” he began, starting to sway again. “Deserve someone better than him, because, h-he’s cheating on you. A-always has been.”

I grabbed his face. “I know, Colin.”

His face broke out into a wide grin. “You’re so pretty.”

I smiled and patted his face. “And you’re trashed.”

“Anna?”

I turned around to come face to face with Chris. “Hey, honey, I was just looking for you. Are you ready to go? Dad’s expecting me home.” I watched as he swayed back and force with a hungry expression on his face. “Chris, is there something wrong?”

He staggered toward me, making my heart beat rapidly in my chest…and it definitely wasn’t the good kind beating…it was the scared shitless kind of beating. “Leave,” he growled lowly, making everyone in the kitchen scamper. He made sure the door was shut before he staggered closer to me. “You’re so pretty,” he grinned, touching my cheek as he leaned in closer. I could smell alcohol, weed, and sex on him.“I want you right now,” he whispered into my ear before taking the lobe in between his teeth.

I whimpered in fear as he moved his lips down my neck. His hands were already creeping up the back of my shirt. “Please, don’t.”

A sharp sting landed on my left cheek as my head whipped to the side. He grabbed my face and dug his nails in. “You are mine,” he seethed. “And when I tell you to do something, I want you to fucking do it,” he growled, his free hand creeping down to the front of my jeans.

“Chris, please.”

“That’s it, bitch, beg for it. You know you want it.”

I whimpered, not wanting something this to be how my first time played out.

His hands crept lower and my heart rate rose. The sound of ripping cloth echoed through the room and cool air hit my back.

Before I knew what I was doing, I head-butted him and simultaneously kneed him in the crotch. When he doubled over in pain, I ran out the door and through the throng of people. I ran out into the cool December night. The wind whipped through my tattered clothes as I pumped my legs faster. I only allowed myself to collapse when my feet hit the beach several miles away. I curled up in a ball and cried. My body wracked from the cold night air and the sobs that I didn’t even try to suppress.

“Hey, are you- Anna?”

I knew that voice. I trusted that voice…I think.

“Anna, are you ok?”

I flinched at his touch.

“Anna, what happened?” he asked, throwing some kind of clothing over my shoulders. Whatever it was smelt of cigarette smoke.

I tried to suppress the bile that was quickly rising in my throat and the memories that kept flashing across my eyes.

“Anna, I’m taking you in. You’ll be safe there. I promise,” he said before he scooped me up in his arms and took me to where it was warm. He laid me down on something soft.

All I could do was whimper and curl into a tighter ball as he gently placed blankets over my still-shivering body. When I felt the bed shift from the removal of his weight, I cried out. “Please, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me with the memories,” I whimpered, my hand clutching at his arm.

The bed sunk back down as his arms wrapped around my tiny waist. “Shh, don’t worry,” he cooed into my ear as if I were a frightened child. “Nothing is going to hurt you. Not with me here. Shh, just go to sleep.”

“Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t…ever.”