The Girl Who Couldn't Feel

“You brat!” Father shouted at me as he whipped me with his belt once more. I could feel the belt cutting into my skin, but I still didn’t make a sound, though it took so much effort.

It was about 4 in the morning, and Father had called me up to discuss yesterday’s dinner, and the fact I was sleeping in my bed and allowed Jaden to sleep on the sofa bed. He grabbed my hair and pulled me up.

“Maybe next time you’ll act properly. Now scram, before I whip you again!” He growled, and let my hair go, causing me to fall to the floor. My long hair and bangs covered my face, and I practically crawled out. I went down the stairs quietly so as to not wake up Jaden. I had a cut on my lip from biting it so hard, since that was the only thing keeping me from screaming. I thought I was crying, but I knew it wasn’t true. I knew that my face looked like it usually did, with no expression. As I reached the door, I took in a deep breath, which made my lungs and my back ache so much. I walked in as quietly as possible and got back into bed. I was so tired, so I closed my eyes, hoping to escape all the pain, hoping to escape what I had seen in Father’s eyes, hoping to get away from it all.

“Dad? Mom?” they stood infront of me smiling, but then they turned around, and kept walking. “Wait! Mom! Dad! Wait for me! Mom! Dad! Hear me!” I screamed, and suddenly, I felt a sting on my lip.

I woke up to find myself on my side on the edge the bed, and Jaden was squatting in front of me with one of his fingers touching my lip. “Wha-“ I said, sitting up and moving away from him, I then moved back till I was on the opposite side of the bed.

“How did you cut your lip?” he asked as he stood up. His eyes looked darker than usual. I just kept looking at him stupidly, not realizing he had asked me a question. “You kept saying ‘Mom, Dad’ so I just came over to check on you. You looked like you were having a nightmare.” He said with his hands in his pockets as he walked around the bed to where I was slowly. “So,” he said once he was a foot away, “how'd you cut your lip?”

“I-I-I fell on my way to the bathroom.” I looked back down as I said this, hoping he would let it go. However, he wasn’t going to do so.

“Really? It looked like you bit yourself so hard that you started bleeding.” He eyed me carefully, but I kept my eyes down. His eyes were smoldering me. My heart was beating faster, and I felt as if I was losing control of everything around me.

“I-I bit myself as I was falling. I was afraid if I screamed I would wake everyone up.” I glanced up at him for a moment. What right did he have to question me? We didn’t know each other! He even threatened to rape me! Okay, so he did let me sleep in my bed, but still, we weren’t best friends now because of that. But why was that bugging me. I shouldn’t care. I wasn’t going to care. I didn’t care at all. “I should get ready for school.” I murmured. As I walked out of the room, I felt him put his hand on my back. The first and only thing I felt was the searing pain from my back. My whole body shook with the pain. He realized something was wrong, or he had expected it to be.

“What’s wrong? How is there blood on the back of your shirt?” he said, helping hold me up. He pulled me back to the bed, and put me on my side, so I wasn’t on my back.

“I..I’m okay. I’m sorry.” I whispered, but then I realized he was going to check my back. “I’ll check my back…later.” My voice was shaky.

“I’ll tell your mom that you can’t go.” He sighed. As he said that, Mother came in.

“What’s going on?” she asked with a smile, but I sensed she was angry with me.

“Mrs. Grace, Marie isn’t well enough to go to school.” He stood up and spoke politely.

“She’s fine. Don’t worry about her.” Mother smiled. “Come on Marie, get up.” I saw the look in her eye and knew it wasn’t a joke. I quickly tried to stand up, but my legs were too shaky, so I didn’t really have much balance.

“Mrs. Grace, she can barely walk. And there’s blood..." He glanced at me and I shook my head harshly. "Anyways, she shouldn’t go.” He insisted. I saw my Mother glare at me before she smiled at Jaden and agreed.

“But, who’s going to take care of her?” she feigned worry. I knew she’d left me home alone before when I had a 103 degree Fahrenheit fever.

“I’ll stay and care for her.” He said. I began thinking about the blood he saw on the back of my shirt. I was wearing a tank top under my shirt, so for the blood to be on my shirt, it had to soak through the tank top. I must be bleeding a lot, I realized. Suddenly, I felt so tired. My eyes closed slowly, and everything went black. I heard Jaden and Mother, and even Candy, but soon, even their voices slipped away, and I drifted off, far away.

I opened my eyes and felt refreshed. Not perfect, but refreshed. As I sat up slowly, I saw Jaden on the sofa bed listening to music. His eyes were closed as if he were sleeping. I got out of bed and started heading toward the door, when I heard him behind me. “So, you’re awake.” I turned back and he smiled. With my eyes down, I stood in place. “So quiet. Never any emotions. Like stone.” He smiled. “That’s what your father said. But, I see more than that, Princess.” I kept my eyes lifeless and my expression empty. “I see you.” He whispered in my ear, my eyes widened the slightest bit, and he chuckled. “What would you like?” I looked around, and knew he wasn’t going to let me leave, nor was he going to let me sit in silence. I considered his question, as I turned and went to the door, but he got to it first. “Tell me what you want first.”

After considering everything I could possibly do, I decided to tell him. “I’m hungry.” I said looking at my feet. I looked up at him, and saw his hand coming at me. Without thinking, I flinched, and closed my eyes. However, all I felt was a soft touch to my forehead. I slowly untensed my body and looked at him. He seemed upset. “You don’t seem to have a fever. So, why don’t we go make some food.”

We entered the kitchen and he told me to sit on the table. Without thinking, I did as I was told. “What would you like Princess?” he smiled once more.

“Some vegetables.” I muttered, but when he didn’t speak, I glanced at him. He looked confused. “I’m..tar..ian…” I whispered.

“Louder.”

“I’m a vegetarian.”

“Then why do your parents make meat all the time?” he asked while chuckling at what I had just said.

“They don’t know.”

This seemed very funny to him, because he began to laugh so hard. I just sat there, embarrassed, though I didn’t know why. I felt my cheeks get a bit hotter than usual. When he looked at me, he only began to laugh some more, as he fried some vegetables.
After some time, he placed a plate of vegetable pasta in front of me. “Here you go, Princess.” I tried a bite, and was impressed by how good it tasted.

“So, why did you become a vegetarian?” he asked, his blue eyes focused on my face, as if he saw something truly magical about my scrawny appearance.

“I liked chickens. Father…he…brought home a chicken that was alive and then killed it in front of me. He had Mother cook it so that we could eat it.” I whispered. He didn’t reply. And I didn’t look up from my plate of pasta.