The Girl with Cat's Eyes

C H A P T E R 22

I saw him looking at me expectantly.

'I... don't know.'

Daniel was funny, and just as bad as the others, except Emma, and I. He had detentions all the time, and it was funny to watch him complaining. He was also always flirting with Josh, which was funny. It was so obvious to the rest of us he liked him, but Josh was oblivious. Completely, utterly, oblivious.

I caught Josh staring at Luke a few times over lunch, and could see how much he missed his friend, but he didn't talk about it much. Luke was his past, and I guess he didn't want to bring back memories, just forget. Just like I wanted with mine. I sensed there was something he wasn't telling us, but I didn't want to push him. I was sure he would tell us in his own time.

Still, Daniel made everyone laugh and helped take our minds off the rest of the schools prejudice. James had words with Chelsea, and she was just ignoring me now. No names or anything physical. I was pretty sure he black mailed her but I wasn't complaining.

School carried on, life carried on. I worked in the shop more, and the butterflies increased whenever Jesse and I touched. I wondered whether he still felt the same way he had at the hospital. I doubted it. He was pretending like nothing happened, which was good. Maybe it would help me stop feeling the way I did.

But it got harder to ignore.

I just had to remember: love hurts.

All the same, I was falling hard. And I didn't look forward to the pain, as I met the hard ground of reality.

**

You bitch! You told them!'

I'm sorry, Daddy. I really am... It was an accident, I swear, please... I'm-‘

He struck me across the face and I fell on the floor next to a smashed bear bottle and the edge of the old worn sofa. Sticky liquid pumped from my leg, and I realized it was blood. Then something flashed, caught my eye, and I saw that he had a knife. It had never been this bad. He had never stabbed me before, that I could remember anyway. I watched the blood leak from my shin. It hurt, but it was like I was watching from above. I was detached almost.

'It wasn't an accident, Rosie.' He said my name mockingly, pretending to be Levi. He knew that hurt more than any other horrid name could. He knew that thinking of Levi hurt. His memory was still fresh in my head. He had died barley a week previously. I started to cry, and he laughed, harshly though, not happily. 'Aw, Rosie, are you sad?' Then his voice changed. It was cold, hard. 'Shouldn't have told them then.'

‘I'm sorry, daddy, I didn't know what to do! I couldn't take it, since he died. Please Daddy, I'm sorry.'

‘I don't care if you're sorry, what is done is done, bitch. Now you have to pay.' He took a step closer, and then spat in my face. 'I don't like having to lie, Rosie. I don't like it at all.' His eyes flashed dangerously. 'I'll teach you not to talk. I'm going to break every bone in your body. I'm going to calve a picture in your stomach so you never forget this. And if I ever hear you speak to anyone ever again,' he leaned in so I could smell the stale alcohol on his breath. 'If I ever hear you speak to anyone again, about anything at all, it will be a million times worse. I'll cut out your tongue, make sure you never, ever forget again. Got it?'

I nodded quickly, just wanting it over with. And then he commenced with the beating. He was true to his word. He broke nearly all the bones in my body. It hurt badly. But my miscarriage, and the blood I found in my knickers the next day, hurt so, so much more.

**

I sat up in bed, with a short scream. Cold sweat trickled down my back. Oh, God. I'd been pregnant. Was it Levi's? But we'd have had to have done it. No, I was sure we couldn't have... It was all so confusing. I just wanted to scream!