A Brighter Tomorrow

• t h i r t y •

No, I was going to wear this.

Ruffling through my closet, I found a cropped bomber jacket and slipped it on. It went up to my wrists and covered all the scars that I was ashamed of showing now. Aiden might have given me bruises, but the scars were my own doing and that was only on me.

My face was tainted with tear tracks, and my eyes looked puffy but that could be fixed with the minimal makeup skills I knew.

After much deliberation, I curled my hair and applied a thin coat of makeup. Did I look too overdressed for a night with my friends? Probably. Was I going to change? Probably not.

A small smile crossed my lips as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. It may not have been the best outfit or the perfect makeup look, but I felt confident about myself.

Without overthinking too much, I resumed the book I was reading while I was with Jonah yesterday. It had been a long time since I had taken an interest in reading, and I grinned as I remembered Jonah's disgust with crime thrillers. It was exactly what I was reading right now.

Not long after, I heard a car honk outside and a simultaneous text notification from Bree that they were here. I grabbed my stuff and rushed downstairs, only to collide with Aiden.

His eyes ran over my body from top to bottom in a blank stare and disgust crawled it's way into my veins as I clenched my trembling fingers. A roll of those horrible flashbacks caused a fresh set of tears to brim my eyes and I turned away before he could say or do something. Just like always, I pushed down on those violating memories. If I pretended like it never happened, maybe I would believe it never did.

I wiped a lone tear that had streaked down my face and composed myself. It had taken effort to gain the assurance to put this outfit on, and for the moment I could manage to move past those dark thoughts. I wasn't going to let him, of all people, ruin that.

Opening the door, I was greeted by Travis' grinning face. "Hello" I waved my hand awkwardly.

"You look beautiful" Raf smiled at me as he turned around from the passenger seat. "I know" I grinned and he rolled his eyes before laughing.

"Thank you, and you look better than most days" I smirked at him and his eyes narrowed to slits as he scoffed. "I'm actually pretty handsome, if I say so myself" a cocky grin was plastered on his face.

"Humble too" I muttered at the same time Bree rolled her eyes. "You're delusional".

Raf huffed and turned around, as Travis started driving. Surprisingly, no one said a word and I took the chance to break the silence.

"So I have something to tell you guys" I met all of their gazes as they looked at me curiously.

"I invited Jonah, and he's going to be joining us today" Why did I sound so formal?

"I don't mind" Travis smiled and Bree nodded. "I don't either". I turned my eyes to Rafael who shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. I grinned brightly, causing Raf to raise an eyebrow.

During the rest of the car drive, Bree went on to told me how Ann had called her in a state of panic because she didn't know what to wear or how to act. "She tried calling you but apparently you didn't pick up" Bree quirked an eyebrow and I checked my phone to see her missed call.

"I took a little bit of more time getting ready" I murmured sheepishly. As I looked her in the eye, I sensed something off about her mood. "You okay?" Bree dodged my question, instead she looked at Raf wearily.

They silently communicated something before she answered "Yeah, just family stuff". Her smile was forced but before I could say anything else, I was cut off.