Ava was a girl of many faces: pain, love, sorrow, fake smiles, and loneliness. Her past haunted her no matter the situations and no matter how hard she fought against them. On her darkest day came the brightest light, a doctor, whom grows to care fo...
The car ride from Toby's house to James' place was a quiet one, James concentrated on the road and I couldn't stop fidgeting. I was so anxious about everything, about him seeing me with Toby, the police questioning me, and the huge fight between Toby and him.
They thought I was fully asleep when they had their conversation...I wasn't.
I started pulling on the skin of my fingers to the point that they were bleeding, I didn't feel the pain though. My cuts were more painful than this.
I keep pulling when I see James wrap his large hand around mine, then intertwines his fingers with mine.
"Please stop babe, its okay." he says as I look up and he looks at me with worry then back at the road.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm nervous and-" I start to choke as I think about having to reimagine the incident.
"I'll be there with you the whole time." He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses it. I instantly feel a calmness run over my body. "I promise."
I blush then smile, and get up the courage to say, "So you're in love with me huh?"
As I say that he swerves into the other lane, he goes wide eyed then collects himself. I start giggling as I let go of his hand and hold onto the dashboard.
"Jesus Ava! We almost died! Warn me next time." He says and starts driving still again. I laugh the whole way until we pull up to his home.
I feel my breath catch as I start getting nervous again,
"Hey" He grabs my chin and makes me look at him, "You be honest with what happened. Everything, don't be scared." He lands a soft peck on my lips as I wrap my arms around him.
A tear escapes as we deepen the kiss, finally stopping to go inside.
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We walk in and a man stood in the middle of the living room and turns to look at us,
"Ava this is Jonathan, he's a friend of mine and also the officer looking into your case."
I extend my hand to greet him, "I've heard a lot about you. Please let's get started"
I sit next to him and James next to me on the huge couch, "Ava, is this the first incident where you've been hurt this way? We want to know if the act was premeditated."
I hold my breath as memories come flooding back, I look at James who looks at me for answer.
"No, this isn't the first time. I used to be in a relationship with someone older than me. It was when I was 16. He would..he would hit me. I ended up in the hospital twice..."
I turn to James because talking about this is searing me inside, I can tell this is bothering him but he turns and tells me, "You got this angel, keep going."
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I take a deep breath,
"I was 16, he was 18. He was a baseball player so I was shocked someone like that would even notice me. So we started dating, he would take me on dates and be so sweet to me at first, but slowly he began to dictate who I talked to. He would check my phone, he would show up at my house if I didn't answer even if he knew it bothered my aunt and she'd take it out on me. One day we were outside my apartment building and we were arguing when he shoved my face and I hit the concrete wall behind me. I had to go to the hospital that day, he claimed I fell at soccer practice. I was terrified of him and convinced myself he'd change so I didn't leave him. He treated me well for a couple weeks....until one day I was at his house and he saw a boy had texted me. My friend Ron who I had a project with. He went crazy, he slapped me, then dragged me by the hair to the living room in front of his brother who didn't care. I tried leaving, but he grabbed me by my hand and then my thumb when I resisted further....he snapped the bone."
I broke down then, those memories were something I didn't share with anyone. They hurt as if they were fresh wounds. The pain of being hurt by someone who's supposed to love you unconditionally is unforgettable,
He added to the pile of painful bricks I carried around with each bad thing that happened in my life.
"Did you ever tell anyone?" Jonathan asked as James held my hand tight.
"He was a sports star. I was no one. They believed him when he said I was lying because I wanted a guy like him as a boyfriend. So I just stopped showing up to school."
Never did I forget how it felt to be mocked for what I went through, people saying I made up a sob story to get attention meanwhile my scars were there proud as day.
Jonathan took a deep breath, and pulled out a laptop, "Okay, I'm going to show you footage from the pub and you tell me if you recognize the person"
I clear my throat as he plays the footage, you see me go into the alley but you don't see what happens or the beating I received, I take a deep breath as I see the tall man in a business suit adjusting himself as he walks off talking on the phone.
