Wonderwall

“Stupid piece of shit.” Giselle said kicking the tire of her broken down car.

At the moment she was having the worst luck. First she had all of her personal things packed in her broken down car. She had just broken up with her boyfriend, Dave. Giselle and Dave dated for almost two years. They met when Dave got the job as a teacher’s assistant for Giselle’s creative writing class. The two hit it off immediately and soon after they met began dating. Giselle became really into Dave. He was nice, smart and overall just a good guy. But after year one, things started to change. He became really hot headed and lost his temper very fast. Giselle blamed it on the stress of being a teaching assistant. He had been moved into more difficult classes and she thought it was taking a toll on him. He would come back home to the apartment they shared and he would snap over the smallest things. At first it was just arguments but then the shoving began. Her heart would jump into her throat when he would grab her by the arms and shake her or throw her against the wall. But the next day, without fail, he would come to her with flowers and a heartfelt apology and she would always forgive him. Giselle never thought she would be “that girl”, the girl who would stay with someone who abused her. She was raised with the idea that behavior like that was unacceptable and shouldn’t be tolerated. But when you were in it first hand and the guy apologizes its easier to think he means it. Soon enough the grabbing and shoving turned in to slaps. Giselle was ready to leave him. She wasn’t going to stay in a relationship where the guy, who was supposed to love her, repeatedly hit her. But Dave begged her. He got on his hands and knees and begged her to stay. He promised her he would get help and that he’d never put his hands on her again. So when he called and made an appointment with an anger management group she decided to stay. She thought he was really serious about getting help and she loved him. It seemed to work for a while but then the aggressive behavior started again but this time it went from arguments to punches and kicks. Some of those punches and kicks brought suspicion to some of the friends Giselle had made at Nevada State. She also made a few trips to the hospital. Giselle wanted to leave but at this point she was scared. She didn’t know what Dave would do if she told him she was leaving and she didn’t want to call her parents. She knew they would be so disappointed in her for staying with him. So Giselle decided that she would wait until a day when he had work, pack up her things and leave. She would get on the road and head back to her home, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her car breaking down put a damper on her plans though.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I’m stranded in middle of nowhere, Utah.” She mumbled again walking to her car door and trying to open it. It was locked. She looked inside to see her keys on the seat.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she said out loud looking up to the sky.

She sucked up her pride and pulled out her phone to call for help when she noticed her phone was dead.

“Oh my god. What else could go wrong?”

As soon as Giselle spoke those words a strike of lightening lit up the sky. She looked down at the ground as the rain began to pour down on her.

“This is great. Just fucking great.” She mumbled

She came to the conclusion that if she wanted to get any kind of help she would need to start walking. So she did. She left her Toyota Camry on the side of the road and began walking down the pitch-black road. She wrapped her arms around herself trying to keep herself warm but failing as the cold rain drenched her clothes and hair. The hood didn’t even help with keeping the rain out of her face.

“I’m going to die out here. What are the odds I would get caught in a random thunderstorm.” Giselle mumbled as her body shook. After walking for about twenty minutes the rain stopped. Giselle’s clothes were still soaked but she was glad it had stopped raining. She was hoping someone would come down this road but no one had. It seemed like it wasn’t in use.

“Does anybody even live out here?” She said out loud to herself.

As soon as she said that she heard a car. She turned around and saw headlights coming towards her. The car pulled up next to her and she sighed with relief when she looked in the window and saw Dave. Her heart dropped into her stomach.

“What are you doing Gigi?” He said with a dark look on her face.

She pulled on her sleeves as she looked down.

“I uh, I was going home to visit and my car broke down-“

“Why did you fucking leave?” He yelled

Giselle immediately got scared and turned to walk away. She heard his car door open and took off running. She really didn’t know what she was going to do but running was her best option. She put everything she had into running but Dave’s long legs and speed overpowered her. She groaned when landed against the concrete.

“Why did you fucking leave Giselle? I told you I was going to change.” Dave said pacing in front of her.

Giselle backed away from him using her elbows and knees. She was scared out of her mind but she wasn’t going to show it.

“You didn’t change Dave. You put me in the hospital last week. I can’t stay with you when all you do is hurt me.” Giselle said standing up.

“I tried baby. I tried not to hurt you but I can’t help it. You make me so mad. You’re just so perfect and I fucking hate it.” Dave yelled stalking over to Giselle. She began to run again but he grabbed her.

“I love you Gigi. I do. Just come home. I promise I’ll change this time I swear. Don’t leave me baby.” Dave said with all the sincerity he could muster up.

“I can’t Dave. Just let me go.”

Dave didn’t like that answer.

“No.” he said slapping Giselle to the ground. “I’m not letting you go so someone else can have you.”

Dave grabbed Giselle by the hair.

“If I can’t have you, no one can.”

Giselle screamed as Dave began to punch her repeatedly. She began crying thinking that this might be the end for her.

~~~~~

“Jaime shut up! Why are you so damn loud all the time?”” Vic said shaking his head.

“Why are you such a party pooper all the time?” Jaime replied before sticking his tongue out at Vic before moving the back lounge. Pierce the Veil were on the RV in Utah on the way to their next show in Denver, Colorado. Vic hated long drives for shows. He hated feeling confined to a small space. Vic liked being out and about but on drives long like this it was impossible.

“What the fuck is this?” Vic heard Tony say from behind the wheel. Vic walked towards the front and saw a car right in the middle of the two-lane road.

“Holy shit. That guy is beating someone.” Tony said immediately stopping the RV. Mike and Jaime came out from the back of the RV as Tony and Vic made their way outside. They quickly walked over to the car and noticed a guy beating a girl.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Mike said walked up.

The guy dropped the girl and she immediately ran over to Jaime wrapping her arms around him. Jaime held her awkwardly as Mike and Tony walked towards the guy.

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t put your hands on a girl like that. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” Mike said shoving the guy.

“Fuck off.” He said before running to his car, hopping inside and driving off. Mike, Tony and Vic turned to look at the girl Jaime was holding.

“Hey, are you alright?” Jaime said to the girl

He could feel her shaking from the sobs that wrecked through her body. Her clothes were wet and he saw blood on her clothes. He tried to look at her face but it was hidden in his hoodie.

“Its okay. You can talk to us.” Tony said resting his hand on her side. She yelled and fell limp against Jaime.

“Oh shit.” Mike said stepping up and grabbing the girl from Jaime’s arms. Vic finally got a look at her face. Even though she had a busted lip and scratches on her face she was so beautiful. He didn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt her.

“Let’s get her on the RV.” Mike said carrying her into the RV.

Tony followed Mike inside and Vic and Jaime stood outside for a few seconds.

“What just happened?” Jaime said with a shocked face.

“I don’t even know man.”