Watch Me Fade Away

Chapter 1

Trigger warning ⚠️ peer abuse, harm to others, swearing, mention of blood, etc. Great way to start a book, right?

I walk the sidewalk away from the school entrance. I pull my backpack in my shoulder into a more comfortable position.
"Hey Jenny!" a voice calls from behind me.
"Hey James" I respond, staring at my shoes. I have had a crush on James for a year now, and I feel intimidated by him.
"Wanna play a game with me and some friends?" James asks, and I say
"Yeah. Sure." We walk to a wall-ball court, and I see people.
Bad people.
"Hey James. Who's this?" one of them asks, and James looks to me.
"Jenny. Pleasure to meet you." I say, being as polite as possible. He sticks out his hand, and we shake.
"Colin. This is is Matt, Dom and Cam." He replies, pointing at the people he introduces. Hm, he seems pretty nice.
"Hi! So, how do I play?" I ask. Cam explains, and suddenly, right before he finishes, I feel two hands grip my arms. They are so tight, I can't run.
"James, what's happening? Let go, please!" I call, but he throws a punch at me.
"I don't help losers like you." is his reply. His friends all take turns, throwing things, punching me until one pulls out a small Swiss Army Knife.
"No...please..." I beg.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" I hear a voice call, but it isn't one of the kids trying to hurt me. Parker, from my math class, pushes his way towards me and punches Matt right in the face. The other kids get scared and run off. My clothes are bloodstained and my body feels even more frail than usual. Parker comes over and picks me up off the ground, not being a hard task because of how skinny I am. Tears rush down my face, and I cling to Parker for dear life. I fall asleep, or faint, because the next thing I know, it's black.

I wake up on a bed. It's not my bed, and I'm rather confused until I see Parker walk towards me.
"Hey. They got you pretty rough, eh?" he asks, and I only nod.
"I don't want to intrude, but all those scars and cuts can't just be from those kids." Parker says after a small silence.

Shit.

He noticed.

"Um...yeah...i-it's my d-dad..." I'm unable to finish because I combust into tears.
"Can I hug you?" Parker asks. I nod, and he sits next to me, and I feel his warmth as he wraps his arms around me. I appreciate him asking. He pulls me in towards his shoulder, and eventually I fall asleep again.

"Jenny! Where have you been?"
"F-father..."
"No! Don't 'father' me." He removes his belt and turns my back to him. Lash after lash after lash. I feel the blood begin to drip along with the tears. I was at study group, preparing for the annual testing.
"Now get out of my sight" he spat after lashing me one last time. I crawl back to my bedroom and am too pained to get into bed. I curl up on the floor, falling into an uneasy sleep.
I wake up screaming. Parker is lying next to me, shaking my shoulders with a worried look on his face.
"Jenny! Are you ok? No, you aren't." Parker says, pulling me into a hug. I try to stop the tears steady flow, and after several minuets, succeed.
"I'm so sorry." I plead.
"It's not your fault your dad hits you. Yeah, you were muttering..." he says.
"Crap! I need to go! What time is it?" I shout, realizing I'm supposed to be home by 4.
"7. And I'm not letting you go back to that shitshow of a house. No way" Parker says.
"Please...my dad is going to kill me." I say, and it dawns on me he might actually do just that.
"That's why I'm not going to let him! Tomorrow, we're going to child services and sorting all of this out. Now get some rest" he says. Never, in all my life, have I ever felt more wanted than I do now. Just before he leaves the room, I say "Thank you." before falling asleep. This time, there aren't any nightmares.

Authors note:
Hey guys! This was a wicked heavy chapter, but I think the whole book is pretty deep. Just a heads up. Well, thanks for reading my first chapter! If anyone has anything they need to talk about, I'm always here. Love you guys 😘

-Katie