Promise Me Forever

“Damn, how’d you get so good at this?” Michelle yelled surprised that I’d scored five points in a row.

When the game started I knew that this was going to be somewhat easy. I was the MVP on my high school volleyball team. I’d been playing since I was twelve.

“Yeah, have you played before?” Jimmy asked throwing the ball back over the net and to me so I could serve, yet again.

I nodded then over handed the ball over the net, but this time Leana returned it and Val dived and missed the ball. Finally, I didn’t have to serve the damn ball anymore.

“Good job, Jay,” Zacky complimented. He started calling me Jay as soon as the game started, I guess that it was a good nickname. It didn’t sound pretty manly.

I looked back to the game and saw that Jimmy was getting ready to serve. He hit it pretty high and it would be a good ball to bump back to the other side of the pool, then my team could get the ball back. Evidently Lacey thought the same thing, cause she dived over towards me as I hit the ball and her hands pushed my side, we both fell under the water.

I surfaced a couple seconds later spitting water out of my mouth, I opened my eyes and they started to water right back up. She’d hit the bruise head on and it hurt like a bitch. I walked over to the edge and pulled myself up, the ball had been forgotten when we went under. Zacky was the first to make it to me, he placed his hands on my legs in a very caring way, I don’t think Josh ever touched me like this.

“You okay?” he questioned trying to pull my hands away from my side. I struggled against him at first, but gave up. He would have gotten my hands away eventually. “Do you want to go inside?”

I nodded still as loss for words. Zacky climbed out of the pool and helped me stand up. The others were still in the pool staring at us, I suspected. I heard someone ask Lacey what the hell she did.

He led us into the kitchen and told me to sit on a bar stool while he got an ice pack out of the fridge.

“You’re going to have to let me see it. If Josh did this to you, you need to go to the police. They can put him away for doing this. You know that right?” he asked and I nodded, that’s when he lifted up the shirt to reveal the huge bruise Josh gave me when he kicked me.

I watched his face go from pain, to anger. And I hoped that it was for Josh and not me. I didn’t want Zacky to be like Josh. He seemed different.

“Did he do this?” he asked angry, then he placed the ice pack on my side.

“Yeah,” I said then put my arm on his shoulder, hoping that he wouldn’t hit me. He lifted his hand and I took in a quick breath and winced awaiting the hit. I closed my eyes and turned my head away, but when I didn’t feel a hit I looked back at him.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. And you’re not going back to him, ever,” he said placing a hand on my cheek.

“No,” I said shaking my head. “I’ll have to go back. I can’t stay with you forever. He will find me. I don’t want to just get it worse. And I hardly know you guys.”

“Then get to know us! We’re, I’m not a bad person, Jade,” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up and letting the ice pack fall to the ground, which he quickly bent down and picked up. “Just give me a week, and if you’re still convinced that you don’t know me, I’ll let you go back to Josh. But I ask you, if you do leave us, don’t go back to him.”

I nodded then stood up, pushing his hand with the ice pack away, and went in search of the room that I’d changed in earlier. I wasn’t going to get back into the pool. My fun was over.

I found the room after I’d already walked into the bathroom. My clothes were still laying where they were when I left. I grabbed them then went into the bathroom to change.

I quickly pealed off the wet Avenged Sevenfold shirt that I had on and untied the swimming suit top and bottoms. I put my dry clothes back on and looked around for some sort of comb or brush. There was a small brush sitting next to the sink, I pulled it through my hair a couple times, just to get it to look somewhat decent.

I threw the wet suit into the bathtub before exiting the bathroom and going back down the stairs and out onto the patio where everyone was waiting for me to explain.

“What’ happened to you?” Michelle asked adjusting the way she was sitting on Brian’s lap.
I took a deep breath and started to explain everything, if they were going to be some of my new friends, they needed to know the truth.

Most of them looked shocked when I finished and showed them the bruise that Lacey had hit just so they knew I wasn’t lying just to get attention from them. Like Zacky most of the guys looked pissed off. At least I’d know that I would be safe while they were around. Most of them were pretty built, and as far as I know, they were on my side.

“Zacky, maybe you should take her to your house. Let her take a shower and get some rest. She’s had a rough day today,” Lacey said after she’d apologized a million times. I kept telling her that she didn’t know and it wasn’t her fault.

Zacky looked at me as if suggesting we go. I smiled, a shower and a nice bed would be nice.

“Then I guess that we’ll see you all tomorrow,” he said standing up and taking me back to the car so that we could go back to, what would be my house too for the next week.