Forbidden

'Make sure you call me before you go to bed.’

She’d read the text over and over again, for reasons unknown. Jessa wished more than anything that she could have just stayed at Danny’s house for the night, and even possibly, forever. She was wanted there, treated right, and never put down for idiotic reasons her own parents found important.

Her eyes darted to the dashboard, noticing the time now read 9:04. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took deep breaths, doing her very best to stay calm and collected. Maybe they wouldn’t even notice, maybe they were already in bed, maybe they wouldn’t make a big deal out of a little one-hour late arrival…maybe they’ll change altogether and never treat her bad ever again. Jessa’s mind raced to every ‘maybe’ outcome possible, each one sounding more far-fetched than the one before it. All she could do was hope, pray that things would turn out all right.

Her house came into view, and the lights from an alive living room made the knot in Jessa’s stomach grow thicker by the passing seconds. No matter how many of those silly scenarios she came up with, she knew something bad was going to happen; and after seeing her father’s car parked out in front of the house, it was almost guaranteed. She pulled her own car into the driveway, said a quick prayer, and exited the vehicle. Her steps approaching the house were small, taking as much time possible to reach her destination.

She held the keys in her hand tighter, feeling the sharp edges begin to indent into her skin, as she stepped onto the porch and opened the outside door. It creaked loudly, and Jessa cringed, knowing if there was even an ounce of hope of not being discovered, it just went out the window. She inserted the key and turned the gold knob slowly to the left, opening the oak portal and stepping inside. Immediately, her ears were met with the familiar sound of Patrick Dempsey’s voice. Grey’s Anatomy, of course; her parents had been die-hard fans since the very first season. Jessa made a feeble attempt to sneak past the living room and get up the stairs, but even the most reticent of treads couldn’t escape the wrath of Donna Davis.

“You’re late,” The middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway, making Jessa jump a little.

“I lost track of time, Mom, I’m sorry,” Jessa replied, voice shaking some.

“I’m aware, but that’s no excuse, young lady.” Donna crossed her arms over her chest, head shaking back and forth in disappointment.

“I know it’s not, but that’s what happened. We were hanging out, and time just seemed to have flown by. I’m sorry.”

“I heard you the first time, Jessa. Normally, I might be obliged to let you off the hook.” Liar. “But I gave you strict instructions to be home by eight, and not a minute after. It seems like lately, you’re just doing things to make me mad at you, and I can’t have that in my house.”

Jessa took a deep breath and looked away from her mother’s gaze. This was going south faster than she originally thought. “So, what do you want me to do?”

Donna looked away from her daughter and back into the living room, nodding almost faintly, and Jessa’s stomach dropped even further. Hard footsteps followed, and suddenly she was met face to face with the man she loathed more than anyone else in the world.

“What we want is for you to start showing us a little bit more respect,” Philip Davis spoke, his abysmal voice almost succeeding in making Jessa grimace.

“Respect? I show you guys more respect than anyone of my friends or superiors.” Jessa found herself doing her best to plea a defense, unusually enough.

“Hah! That’s rich,” Phil proclaimed. “If I had a dollar for every disrespectful remark you’ve ever given your mother or me, I’d be a billionaire instead of just a millionaire.”

Jessa scoffed at her father’s arrogance. “I’m not going to stand here and argue with you. It’s pointless. If you want to ground me, fine, do it. I have nothing else to lose to you guys anymore.”

At that, Jessa began to walk away from the adults in front of her. She almost made it passed, when a strong grip pulled her back, and she was abruptly met with the floor below. She gasped, as the wind was knocked out of her, and cried out when a familiar back hand struck callously against her cheek. She immediately brought her own hand to where her face stung and pulsated painfully, eyes blurring with tears.

“You see what happens?!” Phil hollered boisterously. “You see what happens when you act like a smart-ass?”

Jessa cried softly, warm tears heating up the already inflamed skin. “I hate you,” She whispered in vain. She knew she’d be made to suffer again, but it didn’t matter to her at that moment.

“What was that?” He asked, bending down close to her.

“I hate you!”

Phil raised his hand and brought it back down to strike the girl once again, this time harder. Jessa whimpered a little this time, knowing her lip was now busted and beginning to bleed. She looked up at her mother, who still stood in the same place, arms crossed, observing the scene with mild interest. Phil stood again, gazing down at his bruised daughter, before walking away and back into the living room. Donna quickly followed. Jessa breathed heavily, attempting to control her tears, and slowly brought herself back up to her feet. She walked quickly passed the living room, not wanting them to see her breakdown, and ran up the stairs to her room.

It was after she closed her door that she let tears flow freely and unabashedly. Her breathing took on more of a hyperventilating tone as she tried to overcome the emotions that were taking over her completely. After throwing down her bag, Jessa collapsed on her bed and cried into the fluffy, white pillow where she would normally cradle her head comfortably. She let out a scream into the cushion and pounded her fists violently against the mattress. She did this for another two or so minutes before her breathing regulated to steady breath’s, and her clenched fists relaxed. She turned her head away from the pillow and sighed, before flipping onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.

“I have to get out of here,” She whispered to herself. “I can’t fucking take this anymore.”

More tears escaped her, and she quickly wiped them away and sat up again. Her purse, which had been tossed on the end of the bed, was picked up and dug through without mercy as she searched out her cell phone. Pulling it out, she saw the screen flashing with five missed calls and fourteen new text messages. She pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear, taking a deep breath as the other line began to ring.

“Hello,” Dan’s voice sounded directly after the first ring.

“Hey,” Jessa said back, trying her best to mask what she was truly feeling.

“Hey, is everything okay? I’ve been texting and calling.”

“I know. I just got in,” She lied, closing her eyes tightly. She’d always hated lying to him.

He was silent for a few moments before a heavy sigh sounded and he finally said, “You’re lying to me, aren’t you?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“You are. Jessa, what happened? What did he do to you?” Dan’s voice was now gentle and caring, a tone he rarely used and saved for occasions such as these.

“Nothing,” She choked out, feeling herself beginning to cry again.

“Jessa Lynn, you’d better tell me, right now. What the hell did he do? If you think I’m going to let you lie to me and I’m just going to deal with it, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Dan, please,” She cried out now. “It was just an argument.”

“Just an argument and you’re crying like that? Come on. I wasn’t born yesterday. Did he hit you?”

She sighed and wiped away her tears. “Yes, okay? Yes.”

“What the fuck. Tell me everything that happened.”

“Dan, I’m really tired. I just want to go to sleep. You asked me to call you, so I did. But right now, I just want to go to bed. If you keep me up any longer, I might start to get ideas and end up killing myself or something.”

He gasped. “Don’t say that…”

“I’m trying my hardest here, Dan. But…I don’t even know what to do anymore. I could never kill myself, okay? So don’t worry about that. I just want to leave. I hate it here. I fucking hate them so much.” Jessa’s hand formed back into a fist and she fought the urge to punch a hole in the wall.

“Sweetie, I know. Please, calm down. You’re freaking Chloe and me both out. Just breathe, okay. You’re almost eighteen and then you won’t have to deal with that ever again. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you,” She said, sighing deeply. “Tell Chloe I’m fine. Listen, I’m just really tired. I want to go to bed. Text me tomorrow or something.”

“Okay,” Dan replied quietly. “I love you, kid.”

Jessa smiled at the warm gesture, but it quickly fell as she felt the sharp pain from her busted lip. “I love you, too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Jessa ended the call and placed her phone on the side table. She kicked off her shoes, lifted up the covers on her bed, and crawled under them. She didn’t feel the need to change into her pajamas, as her body was already sore from the excursion it faced no more than ten minutes ago, and she also didn’t feel like leaving the comfortable embrace her bed was giving her. She’d just get a shower in the morning and wash clean of Philip Davis' filthy clutches. That’s all she could do at that point, as sleep was already overtaking her worn body, and the unexpected dreams of a certain rugged classmate overwhelmed her abused mentality.



Jessa made an impromptu visit to the bathroom before lunch the next day at school. She placed her purse on the edge of the sink in front of her and quickly dug through it for some blush, eye liner, eye shadow, and lip gloss. She’d been doing her best since that morning to cover up the bumps and bruises inflicted by Phil, but it seemed like every time she stopped in the bathroom, the makeup was worn off and they were easier than ever to see.

She blushed her cheeks some more, outlined her eyes in the liner and shadow, and dabbed her lips with the gloss. It was the most makeup she’d worn in a while, but it somehow made her feel a tiny bit better about how her face looked. She even wore a dark tank top that day, hoping to match some of the colors on her face while showing skin she rarely showed in an effort to get people not to notice her true appearance. She wasn’t sure if her facade was working, but since none of the other students or teachers had any questions, she could only hope it went unnoticed.

Jessa gave herself one last look in the mirror, before packing her stuff and moving away from the sink to exit the bathroom. She walked through the hallways with her head down, moving faster than she usually did and avoided being spotted by her friends or boyfriend. They hadn’t seen her face yet, as she’d been doing everything in her power to abstain from running into them. It was what needed to be done in order to keep her face hidden as much as possible.

She pushed the lunch yard doors open and headed outside, finally lifting her head to view the surrounding area. Half the twelfth-grade population was in Jessa’s lunch period. She knew most every single person, too, as a lot of them turned when they saw her coming and waved or smiled. She, of course, returned the gestures, strained at best. Upon looking to the left of her, she found her eyes wandering over to the little plantation where Jason and his friends usually sat, and a shiver immediately ran down her spine when she found hazel irises staring right back at her. She faltered in her steps just a bit, finding that she was now walking slower than before, as if trying to savor the glance being exchanged. His expression seemed to be one of concern, his eyebrows furrowed and lips slightly parted as if wanting to speak, but didn’t know what to say or even who he’d say it to.

‘He can see,’ Jessa thought, swallowing the lump in her throat. ‘He can see my pain. How? No one else has mentioned a word about it...’ Their eyes continued to dance with one another, having some sort of silent conversation that succeeded in filling Jessa’s stomach with unwanted butterflies. It continued until she reached her own lunch table, and she finally turned away from the gaze to seat herself next to Scott, who was already there along with Alyson and Taylor.

“Oh, there you are,” said Scott. She side-eyed him and nodded, smiling softly. He squinted at her, noticing something was up, and quickly reached forward with both hands to grip her face, yanking it towards him. Jessa squealed, as the action put unwanted pressure on her bruises, and she pushed at his chest until he let go. “What the hell did you do to your parents now?”

She scoffed and turned away from her boyfriend, eyes darting over to Jason again, noticing he was watching the scene intently with a look of distaste written in his features. “We got into an argument, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Scott belittled. “I argue with people all the time and it doesn’t usually end up in a full-on fight. You must have done something to really piss your dad off, and if you did, then you probably got what you deserved.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jessa rolled her eyes and sighed.

She did her best to remember what Dan told her; ‘You’re almost eighteen and then you won’t have to deal with that ever again.’ She shook her head and fought back angry tears. Eighteen couldn’t come fast enough.