You Thought

Worth It

"You're worthless!" my new foster mother yelled at me as my foster father threw another beer bottle at me.

I scrambled to get out the door but my foster brother grabbed me and pinned me against the wall.

"Where do you think you're gonna, bitch?" he sneered at me.

I tried my best to hold back tears but a few slipped. "I--I just want to go for a walk."

"Why walk when you can just run and never come back?" my foster sister suggested. "We never asked for you so I think it's best if you just leave."

***

Finally.

Senior year.

I can't wait.

"Hey, Hayl!" I heard someone yell out. I turned around and saw my best friend Ashley Connors run up to me. "Hayley!!"

I engulfed my friend in a hug. "Hey, Ash! How have you been?"

Ashley pulled back and smiled widely at me. "I've been great! This college is thinking about accepting me because of gymnastics!"

"That's great!" I happily replied.

"Ha! You loser!" a masculine voice rang through the hallways.

I turned around and saw this jock shove this poor girl into the lockers. Huh, I've never seen her before. Maybe she's a transfer student. I was about to walk to my class when the jock kicked the girl onto the ground.

"Maybe this is why your family left you," he spat. "You're a worthless piece of shit."

I knitted my eyebrows together and walked toward the jock. When I saw his face, I knew immediately who he was.

The jerkface Crawford Kay.

"Crawford, leave her alone!" I demanded.

He looked toward me and laughed. "You really wanna defend this bitch? She's nothing, Hay."

"That gives you no right to beat her up!" I shot back. "Look at her, Crawford. She looks so tired, don't beat her up."

Crawford scoffed at me. "And what are you gonna do if I don't?"

I smirked a little to myself. "Well I may have to tell Courtney that you've been cheating on her with her sister."

Crawford's eyes widened and he stepped away. "No no, that won't be necessary."

With that, he jogged away. Happy with myself, I looked back at the girl and she was struggling to gather her stuff. I felt bad so I knelt down and helped her.

"Hey," I began softly. "Are you all right?"

She jumped a little and nodded her head. "Yeah. Thank you, ya know, for...that."

Oh my gosh, she has an amazing accent. Where is she from? "It wasn't a problem. I'm Hayley by the way. Hayley Carter."

I held my hand out for her to shake and she just stared at it. Confused, I took her hand and shook it for her. She shuddered a bit at the contact and I couldn't help but to be concerned for her. I've never seen her before and she's already getting beat up by our school's douchebag. I let out hands go and she retracted her hand, letting it dangle by her side.

"What's your name?" I gently pushed.

She briefly looked up at me and met my eyes finally. "I'm Greyson Blu."

Smiling, I nodded and looked her up and down. My eyes settled on her other hand, the one I didn't shake. I noticed that her other hand was badly bandaged with a bloody bandana.

"Hey," I spoke up. She jumped again. "Is your hand okay?"

Greyson looked down at her left hand and frowned. "Yeah. I just got it caught on this fence when I tried to climb it the other day."

My eyes widened at her explanation. "Oh my god! Why would you do that?!"

Greyson averted her beautiful green eyes away from me and stared at the ground. "I had to get over it somehow."

I shook my head and dragged her to the bathroom. Once we made it there, I grabbed a paper towel and lightly dampened it. "No, I mean, why did you have to get over a fence?"

The platinum blonde kept staring at the ground and tears brimmed her eyes. "I had to get away."

I turned the water off and laid the wet paper towel over the edge of the sink. I carefully unwrapped the bandana from her hand and I cringed a little by what I was greeted with. Her hand was all scarred and bloody. It looked infected and it was badly scratched up.

"Get away?" I repeated. "From what?"

Greyson wiped some tears with her good hand and took a shaky breath. "The alley dogs."

I stopped wiping her hand and looked up at her since she was sitting on the next sink. Her cheeks were now stained with tears and I couldn't help but to wipe them away for her.

"Hey," I whispered. "It's okay. I promise. You're safe now, right? You're with me."

Greyson slightly nodded and kept staring at me whilst I tried my best to fix her hand. Once I was down, I got her bandana and washed it off the best I could. I shook it out and it dried surprisingly quick. I got another paper towel and wet it down. I lightly wrapped it around her hand and then tied the bandana over the paper towel. I smiled at my handiwork. (A/N: ba dum tss) Greyson picked her head up and slid off the sink.

"Th-thanks," she got out.

I sighed lightly and moved some hair away from her face. She looked up at me and I couldn't help but to smile at how cute her height was compared to me. She just barely met my eyeline and I chuckled lightly at the thought. Greyson's eyes brimmed with tears again and I immediately stopped laughing.

"No no no," I began, taking her hands in mine. "I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing because I love your height."

Greyson sniffled and looked back up at me. "You l-like my height?"

Nodding, I wiped away her tears from her cheeks. "Yes, I do. You're such a cute height."

Unconsciously, I pulled her into a hug and she nuzzled into my neck. I felt her sigh and held me tight.

"I'm not cute," she mumbled against my skin.

I chuckled slightly at her and hesitantly kissed the top of her head. "Yes you are, Greyson. I like that about you."

I finally saw Greyson smile and I was taken away by it. I wish she would smile more often. "I like you, Hayley."

I smiled back at her and kissed her forehead. "I like you too, Grey."