"What's this?"
I stared down at the paper my dad silently put in front of me on the dining table as I finished pouring myself some cereal the next morning. My dad didn't respond while my eyes grazed over the paper. I felt a ball forming in my stomach and the words became jumbled in my brain.
It was a protection order. One my dad had filed without me.
"Dad, I told you I didn't want this!" I exclaimed. I stood up from my chair, my heart beginning to race at the thought of Jay being served with this new protective order.
"Amore, calm down," Dad said.
"No! Do you know what you've done?"
My dad's calm expression was replaced with frustration as he looked at me.
"What I've done is protect my daughter," he said. "You're underage, I don't need your permission to get a restraining order. If I feel you're in danger then I'm going to do what I have to do."
My body started shaking as I slowly sat back in my seat, still staring at the paper, my vision getting blurry.
I thought about the previous night. How happy Jay and I were being together. How sorry he seemed. How desperate he was to get me to trust him again. I'd given him another chance and now the opportunity to fix everything was being taken away from us. Jay was going to get in trouble now all because of me.
Maybe if I talked to Jay and explained I didn't want my dad to file a new order, he would understand. I didn't want to be away from him so it wasn't like the restraining order mattered anyway. We could still be together. I didn't care what anyone thought of me or him, all I cared about was returning my life back to how it was and that included having Jay in it. My dad just ruined the small bit of progress Jay and I had barely started to make. I had to make this right.
"Dad, please," I said," I don't need this anymore. Jay and I are going to work things out. He wants to make things right between us. He's apologized and-"
"I don't want to hear it anymore," my dad interrupted. "That boy can no longer see you or be near you. The school has been notified as well as his parents so unless he wants to get arrested, there's nothing he or you can do."
I swallowed to prevent myself from crying but my tears overcame me anyway. My dad's demeanor softened immediately but I rejected his comfort as he placed a hand on my shoulder, shoving it off of me. I crossed my arms and let my tears streak down my face.
"Why are you being like this, Amore?" Dad asked, his voice still calm as he sat down in a chair next to me. I didn't reply and my dad sighed, rubbing in between his eyebrows as if I was causing him the biggest headache. "I was scared, you know? That day he kidnapped you."
I avoided eye contact with him as he continued talking. I'd managed to force that memory in the back of my brain, trying not to relive that night.
"He could've seriously hurt you," my dad continued. "He has hurt you. I don't want you to end up dead."
The comment was sharp and unexpected. Jay could never...he would never. Although he'd threatened to in the past, I couldn't imagine Jay actually killing me. He loved me. He said it all the time. He said it yesterday.
I shook my head, trying to convince myself that what my dad had just said was the most outrageous thing in the world.
"Is that what you want, to end up dead?" My dad asked.
I abruptly stood up, the chair scraping on the floor and nearly falling backwards.
"Just stop it," I snapped. I grabbed my backpack from the floor and put it over my shoulders, my hands shaking.
"Stop what? Giving you a reality check?" My dad's patience with me was wearing thin once again, as the conversation progressed.
I wiped my face with the sleeve of my sweater. Everyone was just making this worse and they didn't understand that. I had everything under control. Jay and I were headed in the right direction again and now I just felt like we were back to square one.
"Sweetheart, please, I love you," my dad said. He stood up and walked over to me. "I just want you safe." He wrapped me in a hug and I stood there limply, crying into his shirt. He wanted me to be safe but what he'd done had jeopardized that.
I hadn't heard a word from Jay so far nor had I seen him on campus as the day went by. I even kept an eye out for his sister. Any sign to show me he was here.
Once lunch came around, my nerves had only gotten worse. As I stood in line, I couldn't help but think about the first time I interacted with Jay in this very spot. How he'd paid for my lunch. He wasn't always so mean. He had a heart and he cared about me. I didn't want to be like everyone else, only seeing the bad. Jay deserved the benefit of the doubt.
I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned around a part of me hoping it was Jay but another part of me was relieved when I saw it was just Kendra.
She smiled but it faltered when I stared back at her.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Everyone was always asking me that and I was tired of giving the same answer. I was never okay.
"Um, yeah," I mumbled.
"Do you want to sit together?" Kendra asked.
I glanced over at the table me, Kendra, Chantel and Yasmine all used to sit at together. Chantel and Yasmine were sitting at the table talking to each other not aware of Kendra and I having a conversation. I was already feeling anxious about running into Jay now I was anxious about reconnecting with my old friends.
"We miss you," Kendra said as if sensing my hesitancy.
Kendra I could believe, but I didn't know if Chantel had the same sentiments. I wanted to hold a grudge against them for not being around after the incident but I didn't want to be a hypocrite. If I could forgive Jay then I could make up with them as well.
"Sure," I said. I paid for my lunch and waited for Kendra to pay for hers before following her to the table.
"Look who decided to join us," Kendra said with excitement as we approached the table.
Chantel and Yasmine looked up at me, Chantel giving me an awkward smile while Yasmine got out of her seat to give me a surprising enthusiastic hug.
"The gangs all here," Yasmine said sitting back down.
I took my sets next to Kendra and unwrapped my spork set, not knowing what to say or do.
"We were just talking about prom," Yasmine said. "We're thinking of going dress shopping soon if you want to come."
"Oh, yeah, sure," I said, knowing full well that was something I didn't want to do.
"Are you gonna have a date or what?" Chantel asked in her same old nosey tone.
I caught Yasmine nudging her with her elbow and Chantel gave her an innocent look. Kendra looked at me also curious to my answer.
"Are you going to have a date?" I asked back. "I know you're not over my brother yet but he hasn't mentioned taking you."
"Ooh," Yasmine covered her mouth dramatically, looking at Chantel for her reaction.
Surprisingly, she laughed.
"I forgot you're just as much of a bitch as me," she said. Her tone was playful making some of the tension I felt go away. "To answer your question, though, I have some options lined up, you can tell Chris that."
I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. As far as I knew, Chris was not worried about her. Even if he was giving me the silent treatment at the moment, I knew my brother. Chantel had her chance with him and she blew it.
The conversation shifted from prom, to the latest breakups and rumors going around. I didn't completely miss these baseless conversations the four us would have during lunch, but I couldn't deny it brought me a bit of happiness being in the loop again. It also helped temporarily distract me from the brewing problems going on in my private life.
However I couldn't completely ignore them.
"Why you looking so miserable, girl?" Chantel asked all of a sudden, bringing the attention of the table to me.
"I'm not," I said, shrugging my shoulders awkwardly. I glanced at her cheer sweatshirt and decided to switch subjects. "So, how's cheer going? Anything new happening?"
"Nope, but how come you never came back on the team?" Kendra asked. "I know you were suspended but coach thought you would stay."
I didn't know how to answer the question honestly. I'm sure they knew or at least suspected the reason. Jay had played a major factor in me leaving the team. Even after we broke up I didn't have the guts to ask for my spot back.
"You should come to practice after school," Kendra continued. "I'm sure coach wouldn't mind."
"I don't know about that," I mumbled.
I didn't want to admit it to them but I didn't necessarily have the confidence to be cheering. Not to mention I'm sure I was rusty, I hadn't done any physical activity for months.
"Just come, you seem like you need something to do," Kendra said gently.
I didn't reply, swallowing a bit of my food even though I hardly could taste what I was eating.
"She's right, you too depressed for me," Chantel said with a stank face.
I wanted to be offended by her comment but she was right. I felt like I'd been bringing the mood down for a lot of people in my life. It wouldn't hurt to push aside all of the turmoil going on and exchange it for just a moment of normalcy and happiness. This could be good for me.
***
I was nervous walking into the dance room where winter cheer practice was held after getting dressed in the locker rooms, even though I had Kendra by my side. We'd just finished getting ready for practice. A few of my teammates greeted me while others stared with a mixture of different emotions. I walked with Kendra towards the assistant cheer coach, Stephanie who was leading the practice today.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" She said playfully as I approached.
"How are you?" I asked, trying to sound casual even though my body was shaking at being around all these people from my past.
"I'm good, Miss Amore, where have you been? You doing okay?" Something told me she knew the answer to both those questions as she gave me a comforting side hug.
"I'm just ready to finish the year," I said, pulling away from her. "I missed cheering."
Coach Stephanie smiled.
"Well, your spot was never taken, you were one of our best, Amore," she said. "We've missed you. I'm not going to take it easy though so I hope you've been keeping active."
"Oh I have , don't worry," I lied.
"Good, get ready for stretches we'll be starting soon."
I nodded and walked over to Kendra who was sitting on the floor with Yasmine. Chantel was too busy giving unsolicited advice to a junior cheerleader on her back handspring.
I paid attention to all the girly chatter around me, the laughter, the fun. Slowly, I found myself relaxing. Eventually, the team started warm ups, then we practiced a few cheers before using the final hour of practice to go over the next basketball game's half time routine. They'd already completed most of the counts and dance moves so I made a few mistakes as I tried to catch on but the more we practiced the easier it became to follow along. I wasn't as rusty as I thought but I had to admit there were parts of my body that couldn't move the same due to a past injury I'd gotten from Jay. Other than that, I was having much more fun during practice than I expected. I was glad I'd come.
I was sweaty and out of breath when practice ended and also disappointed. Why hadn't I realized how much cheering meant to me? How much fun I had dancing, being active, and doing something other than being with Jay all the time.
"Wanna go get pizza with us?" Kendra asked as we headed back to the locker room.
"Sure," I said smiling.
As Kendra continued into the locker room my phone buzzed in my hand. I looked down at it and my heart started racing when I saw it was Jay calling me.
"Hello?" I said answering the phone.
"Can you meet me by the parking lot?" Jay asked. "I want to talk to you." His tone was calm.
"Uh, yeah right now?"
"Yeah."
"Okay..I'll be there in a little."
Jay hung up without saying anything else and I crossed my arms as I started heading in the direction of the student parking lot. Jay was standing by a wall waiting for me.
"Hey," I said. I kept my distance and looked around to see if anyone was around to witness this. Jay had a restraint order now so if anyone saw us talking it would be risky.
Jay looked me up and down, eyeing my outfit I'd worn to cheer practice one that I'd borrowed from Kendra. I subconsciously pulled down my shorts and waited for Jay to say something.
"What's all this?" he asked gesturing towards my outfit.
"I went to a cheer practice," I said.
Jay didn't say anything as he walked closer to me.
"I got your little restraining order this morning," he said. "You don't want to be with me no more? I thought we were gonna work things out."
"It wasn't me," I said immediately. "My dad-."
"Your dad is starting to piss me off. Why you letting everybody come between us? Do you really want this or are you playing with me?" Jay was staring very darkly at me making me nervous.
"I-I'm..." I stammered and struggled to get a sentence out.
We heard voices approaching and we both looked. Kendra raised an eyebrow when she saw me and Jay standing together.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Why wouldn't she be?" Jay asked.
Kendra ignored him and kept her eye contact on me.
"You ready to go?" She asked.
"Yes," I said without thinking.
Kendra nodded and started walking to her car and she looked over her shoulder at me. I saw Chantel and Yasmin walking to Chantel's car as well and I looked at Jay who was mugging all three of them.
"Why you hanging with those bitches again?" Jay asked.
"They're my friends," I said. "Can you just calm down and let me explain."
"You just want to be around everybody else but me, right?"
"Of course not. I love you."
Jay looked hard at me and I felt him stroke my cheek.
"Say it again," he said.
"I love you, Jay," I repeated.
"Good."
I knew everyone was waiting on me but I didn't want to get Jay jealous. But I seemed to be keeping him calm.
"Jay, I have to go," I said gently.
Jay took a deep breath then took a step back from me, glancing over at Kendra's car. Chantel and Yasmine were standing by the driver side talking to her.
"Go then," he said.
I quickly walked towards Kendra's car and all the girls looked up at me.
"What was that about?" Kendra asked.
"You fucking with him again?" Chantel asked.
"No..." I fidgeted with my fingers. "It's just hard for him to get over me, you guys know how he is."
"Mm, it's giving stalker," Yasmine said unsurely.
"Look, can you guys just keep this between us? I don't want anyone at school talking about me."
All three of them looked at each other.
"Whatever, I got you," Chantel said already walking back to her car.
Yasmine looked worried but she nodded her head yes before following Chantel. Kendra didn't say anything when I got in the passenger side of her car.
"Everything good, Kenz?" I asked.
She cleared her throat and nodded.
"Yeah," she said. She started up her car and drove off. "We just want to support you. So whatever you wanna do, I got your back."
"Thank you." I smiled at her, relieved I didn't have to explain myself.
***
When I got home later that evening I saw Darius's car in my driveway and I prepared myself for an awkward encounter. As I was walking into my house, Darius apparently was on his way out.
"Hey," he said in surprise.
"Hi," I said. He stepped to the side to let me in and I walked inside. I could feel him staring at me before I turned around to face him. I hope I didn't look like crap I had yet to shower or change my clothes.
"Where have you been?" Darius asked.
"I went to cheer practice after school," I said. I got warm when I saw Darius smile, his eyes lighting up.
"That's good, did you have fun?"
"Yeah I did." I bit my bottom lip and couldn't help but smile back. His reaction was the complete opposite of Jay's.
"You gonna cheer for me at the game tomorrow?"
"I don't know about all that."
"You better."
"We'll see," I said.
"Let me take you to school tomorrow, like I used to," Darius said.
Before I could say anything I heard the roar of a familiar engine going down my street. Darius was still standing by the doorway and blocking my view of the street but I knew it was Jay's car.
"You should go," I said quickly.
"Oh," Darius said. "Alright then."
I felt bad watching him leave and walk to his car but I immediately closed the front door, peering out of the window to make sure Darius got into his car okay.
"What are you doing?" Chris asked from behind me.
I stepped away from the blinds and turned around trying to look natural.
"Nothing," I said.
Chris scoffed and walked to the kitchen. He sat on a stool and had a bowl of chips in front of him. I sat down on the stool next to him and stole a chip.
"You still mad at me?" I asked.
Chris smacked his lips when I ate his chip and shook his head.
"Nah guess not," he said. "I ain't mean to call you an idiot."
I shrugged.
"I've been called worse," I muttered. "Besides, you were right."
"No I wasn't," Chris said. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I just be wanting to protect you and do as much as I can."
"I appreciate that."
"Yeah, so I hope you haven't seen or spoken to Jay. Dad told me about the restraining order."
I stood up deciding now was the time to exit from the conversation.
"I'm going to go take a shower," I said.
"Amore, you haven't right?" Chris asked. "And don't lie you know I can always tell."
"If you can tell then don't ask."
"Are you serious?"
"He came to see me today but I told him I had to go. He didn't get mad or nothing."
Chris suddenly got up from his chair and walked past me.
"Where are you going?" I asked. My brother didn't answer me as he put his shoes on. "Chris?"
Chris ignored me and walked out the house, slamming the door. My heart started racing. What had I done now.
My dad got home later that night after I'd showered and tried to settle into bed. Chris had been gone for an hour at this point and I'd tried calling him but he wouldn't answer.
"Where's your brother?" My dad asked from my bedroom door.
"I don't know," I said.
At that moment there was a hard knock on the front door. Dad looked at me before walking to go answer the door. I immediately got out of bed and followed. When he opened the door we were both shocked to see two police officers and my brother standing on the porch. My brother looked sweaty and like he had a bunch of adrenaline pumping in him. He also had a small cut on the side of his head that was bleeding.
"What happened?" My dad exclaimed.
"Are you his father?" One of the officers asked.
"Yes, what's going on? Chris what did you do?"
"I'm Officer Mike. Your son trespassed onto someone's property and instigated a fight with your daughter's ex boyfriend."
My dad looked furious.
"Sir, can we talk outside?" Officer Mike asked. "Your sons not under arrest."
"Chris go inside," my dad snapped.
Chris walked inside with his head high but with an angry look on his face. He looked at me but I didn't bother asking him what happened. I chose to stay and overhear the conversation between my dad and the officers.
"Mr. Fox, I understand you recently filed a restraining order against Jayden Washington but that doesn't give your son the right to come onto his property and start problems," Mike said.
"I apologize, I had no idea he was even over there," my dad said. "I tell both of my children to stay away from that family especially Jay. He abused my daughter which is why-."
Officer Mike held up a hand to stop my dad from talking.
"Look, just keep your son away," he said. "Mrs. Washington was kind enough to let your son off with a warning and no charges will be pressed. Next time he might not be so lucky."
My dad nodded curtly.
"Understood," he said. "Have a good night officers."
I quickly made my way to the living room where Chris was sitting on the couch looking pissed.
"Chris, what happened?" I asked.
"Yeah, I want to know the same thing," my dad's voice drifted into the room as he walked over to the couch. He motioned for me to sit down next to Chris.
"What am I going to do with you two?" My dad asked. "Can I just get a little bit of maturity from the both of you? Some respect? We're already dealing with so much with Jay. Chris, why would you do something so stupid?"
If Chris told my dad the real reason why I would be even worse trouble than him. I looked at Chris from the corner of my eye but he had his attention on my dad.
"I just wanted to make sure he stayed away from Amore," Chris said.
I relaxed and glanced at him. My dad looked from him to me and shook his head.
"Both of you please just stay out of trouble for the rest of the semester," he sighed. "I love you both, you guys need to let me handle all of this okay?"
"Okay," Chris and I both mumbled.
"Go to your rooms, I'll think about your punishments."
I didn't know why I was being punished. I wondered if my dad suspected I'd been the cause of Chris even going over to Jay's house.
We stood up from the couch and I watched Chris angrily walk out.
"Just to let you know I went to cheer practice today and there's a game tomorrow I want to go," I said. I hoped making myself look good by telling him about my extracurricular activities would help him go easy on me. Although my dad looked both surprised and happy about what I just told him, he still pursed his lips.
"Goodnight, amore," he said.
"Goodnight." I sighed and walked towards my room but of course made a stop at Chris's room. I knocked softly and he let me in.
"You doing okay?" I asked.
"I'm good," Chris said as he took some clothes out of his drawer.
"You got hurt?"
"Nah. I did most of the hurting."
My stomach sunk. I hated the idea of Jay being hurt. I always felt bad.
"I just punched him a few times that's all," Chris said when he saw the expression on my face. "I could've done worse but his mom came out, called the cops."
"You think he's going to leave me alone now?"
"Who knows. I wasn't even going to fight with him but I didn't like how he was talking about you. He's not a good guy, Amore. He calls you his bitch. He has no respect for you."
I stayed quiet.
Chris wasn't telling me anything new and this entire incident made me feel sick. I wanted this all to be over with already.
***
Darius showed up to my house the next morning ready to take me to school. He was wearing all black and the way he was looking at me gave me goosebumps.
"Good morning," I said.
"Morning," Darius said. He pulled me in for a hug then we got in the car. I did a scan of my neighborhood making sure Jay wasn't around. He always seemed to be lurking somewhere. Thankfully I didn't see him anywhere and calmed down as Darius pulled off.
As I put my seatbelt on I noticed the seats looked different.
"This a new car?" I asked finally realizing.
Darius kind of laughed and glanced at me.
"No somebody slashed the tires on my car last night," he said. "Pretty sure we already know who did it."
"Oh," I said.
I thought about how Jay had been in my neighborhood when Darius was leaving my house. He always had a way of butting into my life even if it meant making other peoples lives miserable just for being around me.
"This my brother's car. I really wanted to take you to school today." Darius reached over and grabbed my hand. "I don't care what happens to me or my shit, I just care about you. I've been thinking about you. I've been wanting to ask you to prom."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. I want you to be my girl again to be honest but I know you told me you not ready for all that right now so I'll respect it."
We looked at each other but I looked away. When we pulled into the parking lot of the school he turned off the engine.
"Thanks for the ride," I said.
"You're welcome."
I smiled before getting out of the car and making my way towards the school building. I tried to get through each period without thinking too much about everything that was stressing me out.
I was thankful when I eventually reached fourth period meaning the day would be ending soon. I couldn't wait to graduate. At this point I was just going through the motions and not retaining any information from my classes.
During my teachers boring lecture I decided to take a trip to the restroom to pass a little time. I spent some extra time fixing myself in the mirror just in case I ran into Darius during lunch later. When I stepped out of the restroom I ran into someone else instead.
"Jay, what are you doing here?" I asked.
I wasn't sure if he was still enrolled in school but I hadn't seen him on campus in days other than when he saw me after cheer practice.
Jay looked down at me and I observed his demeanor. He looked drunk.
"What do you mean what I'm doing here, why you always asking me that?" Jay asked with an annoyed expression. "You don't like me around?" He put his face close to mine and I backed up a little.
"Why are you drinking and so early?" I asked. "I hope you didn't drive here like this, you could get in trouble."
"Stop acting like you give a shit. All you care about is your other boyfriend Darius."
I tensed up and shook my head.
"You should go home," I said using a gentle tone.
Jays eyes suddenly got dark.
"And you should shut the fuck up," he said.
I took a deep breath, still trying to keep things calm even though I didn't have a good feeling about this encounter. "I have to go back to class. Maybe after school I can see you, maybe a little bit before the game."
"Didn't I tell you you're not going to that shit," Jay said.
I didn't say anything. Jay shoved my shoulder and I barely kept my balance.
"Didn't I?" Jay repeated.
"Why are you being like this?" I asked.
No matter what I did or what I said Jay always found a reason to get mad at me. I tried so hard to prove to him I was faithful, loyal, truly in love with him yet every time his behavior only seemed to get worse. This cycle was getting exhausting.
"You're not going to that fucking game," Jay said. "Do I have to fuck your face up to make you understand that?"
"I can't do this anymore," I said. I attempted to push past him but he pushed me hard against the wall.
"Can't do what? You want to leave me again?"
When I didn't say anything this only made Jay angrier.
"When are you going to understand that's never going to happen. No one else is ever going to be with you why can't your dumbass ever see that?"
I looked at him sharply when he called me a dumbass. I was tired of being ridiculed.
"I'm the dumbass?" I croaked. "You're the one who keeps making it worse for yourself. There's a restraining order for a reason I can call the cops right now and have them arrest you! You can't keep doing this. You have to move on!"
Jay appeared to sober up some as my voice rose but I was still unsure of what his reaction would be. Nonetheless I decided to continue my outburst suddenly feeling a bit of adrenaline.
"You do nothing but hit me, make me feel like I'm worthless and you expect me to love you or to not be afraid. Or maybe you want me to be afraid I don't know. Either way I don't feel the way I used to feel around you. You don't love me, Jay; you just want to control me and I'm not having it anymore."
It was always expected that Jay would hit me for speaking up but I tried to stand my ground and look as confident as possible. Jay on the other hand looked...sad.
"I guess I should just kill myself then," he said lowly. "No one wants me not even you."
"Don't talk like that," I said.
"It would make you happy."
"No it wouldn't!"
"I guess we won't know until I actually do it." Jay started to walk away and a knot formed in my stomach. I felt hopeless and conflicted. I didn't like the feeling I got watching Jay walk to exit the school building. I found myself following behind him.
"Jay don't hurt yourself, please," I called out to him as I followed him outside.
"It's what everyone wants," Jay replied.
"That's not true."
Jay looked at me his eyes were tearing up and he didn't look so scary anymore.
"I just want to talk to you," he said. "Make things right."
I wiped my own eyes realizing I was crying myself.
Jay grabbed my hand and stared at me, pleading with his eyes.
"Let's talk then," I said finally.
Jay smiled and started guiding me to his car.
"Let's go for a drive," he suggested. He opened the door for me to get in but I hesitated. When I looked at him Jay gave me a reassuring smile.
"It's going to be fine, we'll just go down the street and I'll park," he said.
I reluctantly got into the car and watched Jay walk to to the drivers side. I realized it had been a while since I'd been in here. Jay started the car and pulled out of the parking lot without saying anything. In fact he didn't say anything as we drove away from campus, going way farther than just "down the street".
"Where are we headed to?" I asked nervously.
When I looked at Jay his expression had got dark again and I looked out the window just then starting to realize how fast we were going.
"You should slow down," I said. When he didn't say anything I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Before I could unlock it Jay had ripped it from my hand. "Give it back!" I reached for my phone as Jay tried to simultaneously control the car and keep the phone from my reach.
My heart started racing realizing how out of control Jay was driving. I held onto the door handle as Jay pushed harder on the gas, flying past other cars.
"Jay, please slow down!" I cried. "You're going to kill us."
"Good," was all Jay said and he said it so casually.
"Please, stop. I'll be with you just stop this please." I began crying and shaking. I was in fear for my life at that point. The shaking and crying continued even when I felt the car slowing down. Getting into this car had been the worst decision and I couldn't believe I'd let Jay convince me to feel bad for him once again.
When I saw us pulling into the driveway of his house I became even more anxious.
"Jay...I can't be here," I said.
"I thought you wanted to talk," he said calmly.
I slumped into my seat, not wanting to move.
"You're going inside and I'm not going to tell you again," Jay said. He got out of the car and made his way to my side to let me out. I looked up at him before finally stepping out.
Jay appeared relaxed as he opened the front door as if this was a normal day of me coming over. When the door shut behind me I shuddered. Not to mention it was extremely cold in this house. It was quiet too. I didn't think anyone was home. This made the situation even more nerve wracking.
I followed Jay upstairs, but only halfway before realizing I could be walking up into a dangerous situation. He'd just tried to deliberately get us into a car wreck, no one knew where I was, none of this felt right. When Jay saw I stopped walking he turned to look at me. He then grabbed my arm and yanked me upstairs but I managed to release his grip. I shook my head and backed away.
"I want to go home," I said.
But maybe it was too late for me to go home. I was already here, alone with him and unsure of my fate. I didn't like the way Jay was looking at me. Without warning Jay came charging at me and he grabbed me punching the side of my face causing me to stumble backwards. I let out a scream when I realized what was happening. I felt an immediate sense of deja vu as I fell down the staircase one by one. It seemed never ending until I fell onto my back hard on the marble floor the back of my head banging on the surface. And then everything went black.