It all started off as a dare
Chapter Four
Stacey comes to school the next day looking red-rimmed and exhausted. She’s got a bruise on her left cheekbone and her body slumps with tiredness and hurt. I rush up to her.
“Stacey, are you okay?” I ask
She looks me deep in the eyes and when she talks her voice is wobbly “It’s... It’s Dad...” She starts and then bursts into tears. I embrace her as she sobs into my shoulder. She’s shaking with fear.
“What happened?” I finally ask “And why are you bruised?”
She lets go and looks at me again, her hand subconsciously hovering over her bruise, attempting to hide the mark “Jax, there’s something I’ve never told you... but I need to tell you”
There’s something I need to tell you too, I think to myself, but I take her arm and lead her inside “Come on, tell me when we’re away from all these prying eyes...”
So we stand in the toilets, talking over what happened last night. “So then he whacked me one around the face” Stacey tells me, as I stand there, totally shocked with how violent Stacey’s Dad could be. Stacey herself now had mascara sliding down her face like spiders’ legs, her eyes were all puffy, and she just looked... well awful.
“Mum has said that this is this last straw,” Stacey continues and my eyes widen, wondering what this could mean “and mum has said...” She sobs even harder than ever “Oh Jax! I can’t! I can’t...”
I pull her close “Stacey! Don’t cry, Stacey! It’ll all sort itself out--“
“No Jax, it won’t! Mum’s gonna take me away...” She shrieks and shakes in my arms. At this point I feel like shrieking with her, I’m sharing her pain right now, What if her mum does take her away? Now I start to cry too, and within a few minutes I am just as inconsolable as her. But her mum won’t take her away, will she? I just know it. With this thought in my head, I wipe my eyes of their tears and cuddle Stacey once again, before mopping her up and taking her into class.
“Stacey, are you okay?” I ask
She looks me deep in the eyes and when she talks her voice is wobbly “It’s... It’s Dad...” She starts and then bursts into tears. I embrace her as she sobs into my shoulder. She’s shaking with fear.
“What happened?” I finally ask “And why are you bruised?”
She lets go and looks at me again, her hand subconsciously hovering over her bruise, attempting to hide the mark “Jax, there’s something I’ve never told you... but I need to tell you”
There’s something I need to tell you too, I think to myself, but I take her arm and lead her inside “Come on, tell me when we’re away from all these prying eyes...”
So we stand in the toilets, talking over what happened last night. “So then he whacked me one around the face” Stacey tells me, as I stand there, totally shocked with how violent Stacey’s Dad could be. Stacey herself now had mascara sliding down her face like spiders’ legs, her eyes were all puffy, and she just looked... well awful.
“Mum has said that this is this last straw,” Stacey continues and my eyes widen, wondering what this could mean “and mum has said...” She sobs even harder than ever “Oh Jax! I can’t! I can’t...”
I pull her close “Stacey! Don’t cry, Stacey! It’ll all sort itself out--“
“No Jax, it won’t! Mum’s gonna take me away...” She shrieks and shakes in my arms. At this point I feel like shrieking with her, I’m sharing her pain right now, What if her mum does take her away? Now I start to cry too, and within a few minutes I am just as inconsolable as her. But her mum won’t take her away, will she? I just know it. With this thought in my head, I wipe my eyes of their tears and cuddle Stacey once again, before mopping her up and taking her into class.