Scars To Your Beautiful

Chapter 2

Everyone's gaze remains pinned to the door, where the young girl stands looking at them uncertain while playing with the bottom of her sweatshirt. It's the first time Jay's seen her and judging by the expressions of others, it's the first time she's come to the place in general. Before she can tell them anything, Dan stands up to welcome her and she takes a tiny step backwards, a move that only Jay seems to notice. 

"Hello," the man greets her trying to sound as welcoming as he can, something that he did with everyone, wanting to make them feel comfortable. Indeed, he seems to succeed as the girl turns towards him smiling, and Jay can't help but think how sweet she is. 

"Hey," she says even though her voice comes out like a whisper, and walks into the room approaching them. 

"I'm sorry I'm late, but I took a wrong turn and for a while, I was lost," she explains, and as she talks, Jay's interest grows as he hears her accent. British. 

"Don't worry, we're glad you came. Sit down," Dan reassures her, and the girl's gaze moves from his face to the only empty seat that exists. 

She swallows a little louder than she wanted when she sees that the seat is between a girl and Jay. She tentatively looks at the man for several seconds, though she feels it like hours and his green eyes pierce her immediately. She shakes her head and without saying anything she sits in the seat there, moving in the plastic chair until she's comfortable.

Jay's eyes remain on her and he smiles at her as soon as he sees her looking at him. He frowns, however, when he realizes that there is fear behind her blue eyes. His detective's instincts are unconsciously activated and he begins to observe her. She wears baggy jeans and a much larger grey sweatshirt, looking like she's swimming inside the garment, while her outfit is complete by her pair of earrings. He smiles, trying not to giggle, as he sees the little rubber ducks that are hanging from her ears. But what he can't stop looking at is her hair. Purple edges fall on her shoulders. It's pale, and Jay's sure it wasn't the shade the girl wanted, but that it used to be brighter. Her leg is bouncing, while her hands continue to play with the bottom of her sweatshirt causing him to see a few rings on her fingers. Before he can notice something else, Dan starts talking. 

"Well, I'm Daniel, but you can call me Dan," he introduces himself, and the girl turns her attention to him, taking her gaze away from Jay. The man stares at her and while he is ready to get up again in order to shake hands, he remains still as soon as he sees her hiding her hands inside her sweatshirt's sleeves. 

"I'm Violet. Nice to meet you" she introduces herself while rubbing her hands over her pants. 

Violet, with the purple hair, Jay thinks smiling, and he can't help but let his curiosity get to him and realize that he wants to know if there's a story behind this color choice. He also realizes that he's never met anyone with that name before. 

"You too... So Violet, how did you find us if you don't mind me asking?" he asks her the classic question he asked all new people to relax them. 

"Um, my therapist recommended it," the girl explains, and Jay smiles since he had given exactly the same answer. Just like most people there. 

"That's very good. I'm glad you made it," he says honestly, and Violet nods. 

"So would you like to tell us something about yourself?" he asks her again, and the fear that for a few minutes was lost, returns to her eyes, making Jay realize that whatever had brought her into this situation is too recent. 

"Um... Yeah... I..." she tries to say with great difficulty and Dan hastily shakes his head. 

"It's okay. You can leave it to us today and tell us about yourself next time," he interrupts her smiling, wanting to reassure her. Besides, it wasn't the first time he wasn't pushing anyone to talk. He'd done it to a lot of people so far. He had even let Jay get away on his first visit.