You Know I'm Never Gonna Let You Go

I stared back at him, feeling the tears hit the corners of my eyes as he sneered vibrantly. His foot connected with my stomach once again, forcing me to sputter and cough loudly. He bent down, hammering the side of his fist into my ribcage and forced me to grunt loudly.

"Little slut," he breathed, pulling away. He got to his feet at the click of the front door.

I watched his feet slide across the wood and out of my room, listening and watching the door shut behind him as my mom's voice rang out. I squeezed out a few more tears, sobbing and coughing at the same time, before rolling onto my stomach. I pushed myself up, resting on my knees as he started screaming at the women he was supposed to love.

I slowly got to my feet, pushing myself to lock my door. I brushed the dust from my black skinny jeans and tank top, reaching into my closet to grab my purple hoodie. I slid it over my head, ignoring the yellow bruises on my arms and walked over to my second story window. What difference would it make, if I broke a few ribs afterward, anyways?

I pushed the window open, crawling out just in time to hear the front door slam. I winced, shrugging against the siding and listened to the beat up muffler spew to life. Knowing that my step-dad was leaving made me smile solemnly, before listening as his car died off.

I slid down the shingles, before reaching out for the tree branch that swung out and laid on the roof top lightly. I gripped the bark lightly, swinging around until my feet hit the ground and began booking it toward my best friend's house. I ignored the pain in my chest and from the new bruises all the way, until my feet hit his porch.

"Oh shit," Jack's voice almost rounded the corner, even though he was a house away from me, "Emma," he hissed, reaching down to help me up, "you okay?"

I nodded slowly, taking in the fact that I hit my knees from lack of oxygen in my lungs, "Y-yeah," I laughed breathlessly, "just ran too much."

"Chick," Ellie smiled, as she stomped her cigarette out, "Smoking's bad for you, if you run, ya know."

I stuck my tongue out at her, getting to my feet more with Jack's help, "Yeah, yeah, hypocrite."

She laugh loudly, before attaching herself to Jack's side. Almost as if on cue, Alex opened his front door with a huge smile on his face.

My name was Emma Owens, the girl everyone seemed to forget about. My friends, Alex, Ellie and Jack were always there for me, but it never felt like enough. The man who was beating me senseless earlier was my step-dad, Mike—a man that was supposed to love me like I was his own. Even though it's only been going on every other hour of every other day, I hadn't brought myself to tell my friends, and that's how I wanted it to stay.

I wasn't exactly ready to confess the shame that was building up in my heart, especially to Ellie (who's been my friend since second grade) and Alex (the only guy I've actually trusted since my step-dad started six years ago). While this was building on my chest, I learned to keep my mouth closed, and that was how it needed to remain.