Bruises

Jason

I could hear it in her voice. The fear, the panic, the urgency. All of it transferred to me, I heard the banging and yelling in the background of the call. It killed me.

I've had this crush on Nicky ever since I first saw her in fifth grade. She wasn't like the other girls that were into me. She actually had a personality. She wasn't stuck up, snobby, slutty, or cared too much about her looks. She was fun, spontaneous, outgoing, sarcastic, and wasn't afraid to get a little dirt under her nails. I could tell she was strong and independent, also incredibly stubborn. It drove me crazy.

Her hair is long and golden brown and is always falling on her face. The way she tucks it behind her ear drives me insane. And when she bites her lip as she reads or when she's nervous makes me feel the need for her more than ever.

She has the most gorgeous eyes. A beautiful shade of hazel with twinges of light green on the edges. She carries herself high and walks without a care in the world. But I now know the true burden she has.

It's tacky to say, but most people would turn her down just because she doesn't have the same 'social status'. Most people would say 'you could get any girl at this school and you chose her?' Or some bullshit like that.

But the thing is, they would be right. I'm at the top of the high school food chain and she's nowhere near me. I could get any girl, but I only want her. But that asshole Brandon got to her before I could. She doesn't know it, but I would do anything for her. And I guess that's why I'm driving over to get her.

My mind's a fucking mess. I shouldn't be driving. But I need to make her safe. God, why did she even say yes to Brandon? He treated her like shit from the beginning. Ok. That's a lie. He treated her like a princess the first month and then he treated her like shit.

The first month he would pick her up and spin her around just to hear her adorable giggle, then he'd full on make out with her, it was sickening.

After that first horrific month went by I would notice him slapping her ass, calling her his bitch every once in a while. Just doing things that made her cringe, and boy did it make me wanna rip his head off.

I slammed my brakes in front of her house and waited impatiently for the police to arrive.

After what felt like an eternity, three cop cars pulled up. Once I got out of the car to greet the officers I heard Nicky's muffled screams, I look over and the front door is wide open. My heart leaps into my throat. They told me to stay behind them and I could go in once they detained Brandon.

I wasn't really listening, I was more focused on the cries for help. I waited at the bottom of the stairs, all of us cringing as we heard her screams and sobbing.

After a minute of them being up there one of the officers beckons me up. I run up pushing past him, my frantic eyes tearing up as they land on Nicky.

I grab a blanket off of her chair and draped it over her shoulders. She pulled it tighter around her and tears pooled from her eyes.

As she shook I felt my own tears making their way down my cheek as I clenched my eyes shut. 'I wasn't here in time' kept bouncing around my head as I pulled her into my arms.

"Thank you, Jason."