A Fragile Doll

Chapter 2

Steven’s POV:

“Hey, I’m Steven,” I said, introducing myself to a petite brunette, long haired girl. I ignored the other girls’ heavy gazes on me and the whispering that was going on around the room about me. From the whispers they brought out a little flirtation. A little was not even the right word to put it; the girls around the room stared at me while fixing what clothing they had on. I don’t know who this girl was but she seemed to be less impressed by my looks. I tried again. This time her head swung towards me in a slow motion, her curly tresses bouncing with her. I took in the sight of her features, smirking. Her face was flawless apart from every other girl in this room. I saw no hint of makeup on her. Her pink lips were plump as she bit her bottom lip quickly looking away from me.

“Hey.” She didn’t give me her name. That’s new. I usually got every girl’s name before I took them to bed. However, thanks to the teacher taking attendance I soon found out her name was April; a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She seemed too innocent, too fragile, she seemed…different. She ignored my stares as I continued mine towards her until class started. This girl was giving me a challenge that I was willing to accept.

April’s POV:

I walked outside after school and sat on the bench waiting for Riley. I took out my phone seeing I had a text from her.

Riley: I got detention, I’ll explain later. I’ll be here for another hour so catch Tyler before he leaves and ask him if he can drop u off. Love u!

Me: UGH again Riley!? Fine. Call me later. Love you too!

This girl was always getting herself into some sort of trouble; what am I going to do about her? I looked around the front of the school for Tyler but he was nowhere to be seen. I took out my phone and texted him.

Me: Ty I need a ride home. Please!
I waited for a reply and two minutes later he replied back saying he’d meet me outside of school in five minutes. I sat on the bench scrolling through Facebook as I waited for my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without Riley and Tyler; they’ve been there for me through so much. Tyler doesn’t know about the incident that happened a few weeks ago but I was planning on telling him today; I know I can trust him.

“Hey gorgeous, need a ride?” someone asked as I looked up to see Steven looking at me. What does this guy want from me? I’m not like all the other girls; I DON’T want him!
“No thank you, I already have a ride.” I said getting up and walking towards Tyler as he was walking out of the building. When I saw him I gave him a tight hug knowing Steven was watching; maybe he’ll just leave me alone.

“I missed you too” Tyler said laughing and giving me a tight squeeze back. It feels like I haven’t seen this boy in ages since we have no classes together this semester and I haven’t really attempted to spend time with him out of school after the terrible incident. I looked over at Steven before getting into the car and he didn’t look so happy. Oh well I don’t live to please him.

“So how you been? I haven’t talked to you in weeks!” Tyler said driving towards my house.
“Well…that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. There is something that Riley and I have been hiding from you for the past few weeks…” I said trailing off waiting for him to reply. He pulled over on the side of the road and put the car in park waiting for me to continue. As I told him exactly what happened his grip on the steering wheel got tighter and his face got redder. I gently pulled my shirt up and let him see the bruises that he left on me. Ty slammed open his door and walked out punching the brick wall of a building. Tears started spilling from my eyes as I walked outside after him and put my hand on his shoulder.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me what this fucker did to you earlier?! April we’ve been friends since the third grade, we tell each other everything! You know I can’t stand it when you’re getting harassed by a guy in school! This is on a whole different level!” he said jerking away from my hand and yelling at me. Tyler and I dated about a year ago and that is when we realized that it’s just too weird for us to be together since we have been best friends for years now. Nothing changed between us; instead he just got more protective over me. I continued to cry harder not knowing what to do. Not knowing how to get him to calm down. Right when I was about to say something someone pushed Tyler against the wall and punched him in the face.

Steven’s POV:

I was driving home from school when I saw some guy punching a wall. Then I realized that that’s the same guy April was with. As I observed her getting out of his car she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He jerked away from her and started yelling at her. That triggered something inside of me; why? I have no idea. I parked my car on the side of the road and walked towards where the two were standing as I pushed him against the wall and punched him in the face.
“Don’t fucking yell at her like that and don’t you dare try to hurt her!” I growled at him holding him up by his shirt. He pushed me back and punched me back in the face.

“Stay out of it new kid, this is none of your fucking business.” He said growling back. Just as I was about to throw in another punch I felt a slap across my face. I looked over to see a very pissed off April.

“Listen Steven, Tyler is my best friend. He would never do anything to hurt me. You have no idea what was going on here and you have no right to barge in and try to make yourself look like my hero. Instead you just made yourself look like a dumbass. Stay away from me. I have no interest in you whatsoever. Every girl in school wants you, but I don’t; so do me a fucking favor and leave me the fuck alone.” She said taking Tyler’s hand as they both got back into his car and left me standing there dumbstruck. What the fuck just happened? I thought I was doing her a favor by keeping that Tyler dude from hurting her. He looked pretty damn pissed off and I didn’t want her getting hurt. I stormed back into my car and sped my way home.

Tyler’s POV:

“What the fuck was that about?!” I asked looking at April. She looked terrified and didn’t know what to say to me. She was just as clueless as I was. I shrugged it off telling myself I’ll take care of that bastard later and pulled into April’s driveway.

“Want me to stay until your mom gets home?” I asked realizing her mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway. She nodded her head indicating a yes. As soon as I walked into her house I jumped onto the couch as she headed into the kitchen.

“You hungry?” she asked not looking at me. I yelled a yes and then walked into the kitchen with her.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, it wasn’t your fault your obviously scared.” I said with a feeling a guilt rushing through me. April and I have been best friends for the longest time. At one point I thought that we could be more than friends but soon realized dating each other is just plain weird. After the breakup nothing was awkward between us, instead our friendship got stronger, I treated her like my younger sister. After her father’s death a few months ago she had no male figure to look after her and her mom. I took control being the great friend I am and promised to look after not only April but also her lovely mother who loved me like her own son. I have lots of problems at home and when I want to just get away for a few days I’m always welcome here.

I went back to the living room and turned the TV on. The news was on and it was something about a sex offender.

FOX: “this guy over here has been out in the open for months now, raping innocent young women all around New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He was finally captured a few weeks ago. However, the court might not give him the sentence he deserves. Is the law bringing injustice to all the women out there who were his victims?”

“Th-that’s him” April said walking into the living room with a terrified look on her face. I got up and took the sandwiches from her putting them down and getting her to sit down on the couch. She cried into my shoulder as I tried to calm her down. Once she was calm we ate the sandwiches and talked until she fell asleep. I carried her upstairs to her room and went downstairs to see Ms. Anderson walking into the door.

“Hey son” she said smiling at me and giving me a warm hug.

“Hey Ms. Anderson” I said returning her hug and telling her what we saw on the news.

“Where’s April?” she asked looking around worried.

“She fell asleep so I took her up to her room, I think I’m just going to crash here tonight” I said looking at her. She smiled at me as she walked upstairs to her room getting herself ready for bed. I looked at the time, it was 9:10 and I better call my girlfriend before she starts going off on me for not calling her today.

Steven’s POV:

Ever since I saw April and Tyler together I couldn’t get it out of my mind. She looked terrified, not from Tyler but from society itself. Something was bothering her and she was obviously afraid of something or someone. How can I care for someone that I barely know? I was known as the “player” back in Florida, girls died to go on a date with me, but this girl; she didn’t even remotely seem interested in me. She was different, she wasn’t like all the other girls I’ve been with and that just made me want her more.

I got on Facebook before bed and looked her up. It said that she was single and currently not looking for a relationship. I send her a friend request and scrolled through her news feed. Her statuses from the past few weeks seemed really depressing. One of them said:

“Just when I thought life couldn’t get worse, just when I thought life couldn’t get any more stressful…life gave me something to not want to wake up in the mornings, not to trust anyone anymore. Life is my abuser and I’m now life’s fragile doll.”

That status clenched my heart just by reading it. What could have happened to her that was so terrible? What could have happened that made her not want to face the world anymore? I wanted to get to know this girl and I wanted to heal her broken heart. Why? I have no idea; all I know is that I have to have this girl in my life.

April’s POV:

I woke up feeling really thirsty, I looked at my clock, 3:38 a.m. As I walked downstairs I saw Ty passed out on the couch. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. I walked back upstairs and realized I haven’t checked my laptop today. I took my laptop out to check my twitter and Facebook. As it was turning on I quickly undressed realizing I was still in the clothes I went to school with. I looked at myself in the mirror. There were black and blue bruises all over my stomach and hips. I moved my long dark hair from my face and neck and looked at the hickeys and bite marks that I had tried to cover up with makeup. You would have thought that these marks would have disappeared by now, but they seem to be getting worse. I gently touched my neck with my fingers as my eyes started watering up. What had happened to me shouldn’t happen to anyone no matter how bad they are; it makes your life fall apart.

I quickly put on my fuzzy snoopy pajama pants and threw on a tank top. I turned the lights off and carefully laid down on my stomach. I logged onto twitter and saw the recent One Direction posts that make my day no matter how down I am. Once I checked my twitter I logged onto Facebook and saw I had six new notifications and one new friend request. I checked to see who the request was from.
Steven McQueen wants to be your friend

I quickly clicked accept and went through his pictures. Steven was the most attractive guy I have ever laid eyes on; he’s god-like. I went back to his profile and scrolled through his news feed. There were a bunch of comments from different girls on his pictures and statuses where he commented back totally flirting with them. There was this one post from a blonde girl from just two months ago.
I should have known not to trust you. You’re a fucking cheater and I pray to god karma gets you good.

I should have known this guy was a complete douche bag and a player. I quickly turned off my laptop and drifted off into a deep sleep dreaming about a boy with gorgeous chocolate brown eyes…