Breaking Free

Monday at school is awkward for me, I know that my father can show up at any moment and there is nothing I can do to stop him.
I'm dressed in a nice, fitted tee shirt with the word LOVE printed on the front in block letters. The pair of jeans that I got from Jackson's mom fit me almost like a second skin.
The bruise on my cheek has faded to an ugly, yellow color and Jackson's mom showed me how to cover it with makeup which I am forever grateful for. She has also taught me to apply makeup to my eyes to make them stand out more.
I look insanely different to myself.
I feel different too. I feel kind of normal.
"Lina?" a familiar voice from my past says quietly to me while I'm standing at my locker.
"Francis?" I ask.
"How have you been? You look fantastic," Francis says with her brown eyes glowing. Her brown hair is shorter than it was in middle school, it's also littered with blonde highlights and I can tell that she's finally gotten a little taller, but not quite as tall as she'd always hoped, she stands about four inches shorter than my five foot seven inches.
"I'm okay, I guess," I answer, it's kind of awkward to be talking to her again after I cut all ties with her when my father stopped letting me go to friends houses.
"That's good to hear, I was worried about you for a while, but you seem to be getting back to the old Lina," she notes.
"That's very true," I want desperately to hug her, but I know that it might not go over so well considering our last meeting ended with both of us in tears.
"We can't be friends anymore," I say to Francis.
"Why not?" she asks with tears welling in her eyes.
"I can't tell you," I say, tears spilling down my face.
I shake the memory away and look her over. She looks healthy and the braces that once adorned her teeth are no longer in place.
"I'm sorry," I say.
"For what?" she asks.
"For everything," I say simply before shutting my locker. "We can talk more later, I have to get to class."
"Okay, I'm going to hold you to that," Francis says before sauntering off down the hallway, her short skirt flitting back and forth as she sways away.
I am happy that she's spoken to me, but I still feel like it was awkward.
I hurry off to class so I'm not late. Halfway through class, someone from the office comes to my classroom and says that my father is in the office, signing me out for a doctors appointment.
I walk out like I'm going to follow the girl and immediately hide in the first bathroom I come across. I'm shaking I'm so terrified.
I don't know what to do, there are no windows for me to climb out and I know that someone is going to come looking for me eventually.
Jackson. I have to find him.
I think he mentioned that he had English this period. I have three shots on which classroom he's in, my luck, they'll be in the computer lab which will make me walk right by the office.
I get to the first classroom and let out a sigh of relief, there Jackson sitting in the front row.
I tap on the glass to get his attention.
Jackson raises his hand and politely excuses himself from class, feigning having to go to the bathroom.
"He's here," I say as soon as Jackson gets into the hallway. "He's trying to sign me out for a doctor's appointment."
"Do you have an appointment?" Jackson asks.
"No," I say honestly. I haven't been to the doctor in a really long time, but I don't mention that.
"Okay, stay here," Jackson orders and I watch him walk off in the direction of the office.
I don't know what he's about to do, but I know it's not going to be pretty.
About fifteen minutes later, Jackson walks down the hallway, I'm sitting on the floor outside of the classroom.
"What happened?" I ask him.
"I told them that you didn't have a doctors appointment," Jackson says.
"Did they ask any questions?" I ask.
"A few, but I tried to brush them off, I had to tell the principal a little of what happened Saturday," he says.
"What did you tell them?" I ask shocked.
"Just that you're away from home right now due to a tricky family situation and that the cops need to be called if he doesn't leave."
"That doesn't sound good. Did he leave?"
"Not yet, but I think they're going to get rid of him," Jackson says reassuringly. "We're leaving now though."
"What about class?" I ask.
"We're okay to leave, I've already cleared it," Jackson says offering me his hand so he can pull me up off of the floor.
I can't believe how helpful Jackson is to me. He's already gotten me out of my father's home and out of another mess involving him. I don't know how I could ever repay him.
Jackson leads me out of the school and we bypass the office because we're not sure if my father has left or not.
We get to his truck and I see my dad's Ranger still parked in front of the school, but he's no where to be seen.
I duck down as we go through the parking lot, in case my father were to happen to be outside at the time we pass by. I don't want him seeing us and him following us.
I feel safe when I'm with Jackson.