"Avery Holmes, will you go to homecoming with me?" Jake asked, his hair that usually stuck up in the back all slicked down, a dandelion weed extended out towards me. I giggled, Jake was someone who was always cheesy and yet adorable at the same time.
I was so afraid about not being asked to homecoming. I don't even know why, but something about being asked just gave me confidence in myself. So when he asked, I didn't hesitate to say yes. And then he kissed my cheek and told me that his mom would pick me up in his minivan.
I didn't even care that I'd be showing up in a minivan, because Jake Yoder would be my date. Girls would see me with him and immediately hate me because I had my claim on him, which shouldn't have made me giddy but it did.
That was the beginning.
"Look, Aimee, you need to wear a shirt." I sighed, glaring down my three year old daughter. She was almost as stubborn as me, which made it incredibly difficult to even do the simplest things with her. She shook her head vigorously in protest.
"But how come daddy gets to go to bed without a shirt?" Aimee pouted. She still was yet to understand why boys could go around without shirts and why girls couldn't. I tried and tried again to tell her, but every morning she'd come to wake me up without a shirt. Whenever I told her no, she'd always have the same excuse; "But I'm too hot in my shirt!"
I shook my head, giving up because it was already way past Aimee's bedtime. Jake still wasn't home yet, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. It could mean one of two things; he was hanging out with friends, or he was drinking with friends. I hoped that it would be the latter but that was highly doubt-able.
I crawled into Aimee's bed beside her and wrapped my arms around her. The tiny bed creaked and groaned like always, and Aimee laughed like always. She thought it was probably the funniest thing in the world how her bed 'was talking'. I never told her that her father was too cheap to buy her a good, sturdy bed.
"I love you to the moon." Aimee whispers, kissing my cheek and burrowing her face in my chest.
"I love you to the moon and back." I say, laying back on the pillow.
To most people, we looked like a regular, happy family.
But we definitely were not.
"It'll be fun!" Jake whined, pulling on my wrist. I groaned and shook my head, trying to get free of him. The Tigers, our school football team, had just won another game; keeping us undefeated. There was going to be a huge after party at someone's house, and I knew that my mom would be furious if I went.
Jake had gone from a sweet boyfriend to an overcontrolling monster.
"Seriously, I'm tired." I lied, even adding a fake yawn to make it sound believe able. He rolled his eyes and walked me to his beat up Chevy that smelled like Doritos. I sighed, relieved that I wouldn't be pressured into going to this party. He knew that I hated parties.
"You're a baby." He growled, putting his keys into the ignition. I frowned and kept my eyes trained on random objects outside of the window when I felt his arms wrap around my waist, his lips at my neck. "You don't want me to be upset, do you? It's one little party, Ave."
I shook my head again.
"Jake, seriously." I warned, my tone suddenly becoming more stern than I meant it to be. "I don't want to go okay? We can go back to my house and watch a movie or something!" I tried to sound enthusiastic, hoping to get his mind off of why he was mad. He only shook his head and dug his nails into my skin.
I felt my eyes burned as I pulled away, Jake had never been like this before.
"We're going to the party." He commanded. "Right, babe?"
"Right." I said, feeling ashamed as I gave it.
Jake got home at around two.
I had only stayed with Aimee until she felt asleep, which was relatively quick. The rest of my night was being a nervous wreck, waiting for him, and watching old reruns of Wife Swap, basically the only thing that was on television.
His car pulled up in the parking lot of the apartment he lived in, and I examined various bruises on my arms. They were all made by him when he was in his angry, drunken state of mind, and I just prayed to God that he wouldn't be that way to night for the sake of Aimee and I's safety.
When he did come home, I had the house nice and cleaned up and some water and an Advil for him on the counter to take in the morning when he was hungover after a night at the bar with friends, where he always escaped to every single night.
"I'm exhausted." Jake grumbled, kicking off his shoes at the front door. I gave a small smile and focused back on my show, hoping he'd slip away into his bedroom. I had stopped sleeping there months before, most of my nights were now spent on the couch.
He wandered into the kitchen and I trailed behind like a lost puppy. He kissed my cheek sweetly and then turned to the counter. I watched as his face went from a state of peace to a state of rage.
"What the heck! I put twenty dollars on the counter when I left!" He points to the spot where I had set out his glass of water. I felt all the air in my lungs escape for a quick moment.
"Oh, it's okay!" I said timidly, rummaging around in the drawer. "I just set it over-"
He slapped me across the face, and I knew it would be another one of those sleepless nights, where the only thing that I would think of was 'Is this really my prince charming?'
I looked down at the test in my hands and shrieked, throwing it on the ground. This wasn't what I had wanted at all, and it all had started with Jake pressuring me into giving myself to him.
"No!" I said, putting my head in my hands. I wasn't even thinking clearly, and suddenly I turned around to face the toilet and vomited.
There was a knock at the door.
"Babe, open up!" Jake hollered from the outside. I tried to speak but nothing would come out, except more contents of my breakfast. The nerves were unnerving and overwhelming, my heart was sky rocketing and I thought that it might just burst.
Jake walked in and raised an eyebrow, looking down on me.
"You sick or something?" He asked bluntly. I only shook my head, not willing myself to meet his gaze. I had to tell him now or he'd get suspicious, and I knew the longer I drew it out the worse it would get.
"I'm pregnant." I blurt, closing my eyes and crying hard. I had no family to lean on, my relatives lived in Boston whereas I lived in New York. If Jake kicked me out, I don't know where I would go or who I would turn
After that night, I was in so much pain, left lying on the cold, hard bathroom floor. I held onto my stomach and shut my as as tight as they would go.
"I'm going to keep you safe, baby." I promised. And I hoped that one day, someone would tell that to me.
Jake slammed me against the kitchen counter and I yelped in pain. He smirked and started to come near me slowly, and in that time I pulled my leg back and kicked him in the shin. I heard him hiss in pain and stood up, running to Aimee's room.
His footsteps were like thunder cracking in a storm. I picked Aimee, who was slowly awakening, up in my arms and grabbed our two emergency bags under her bed. I had hid them just for this kind of situation, because a part of me knew that this was coming all along. The day where I would put my foot down.
"What was that for?!" He shouted, holding onto his leg. Aimee started to cry faintly and I rubbed her back as I tried to get through the doorway. Jake grabbed my shoulder and both Aimee and I were sent into the wall. I shielded my arms around her protectively as Jake stood there, frozen.
"You think that you can control me." I said, my voice wavering, hot angry tears spilling down my cheeks. "I've let you make me things I never wanted to do, I've been put through so much pain by you, and I'm sick of it. You've become a monster, Jake. And I can't tame you. So I'm leaving."
To my surprise, Jake didn't say a word as we left, didn't even move. It was like he was still absorbing what I had told him, finally letting it all sink in.
Aimee and I got into my car in the dead of night and drove off into the great unknown. I should have been terrified- I had nowhere to go, barely any money, no plans.
But instead I felt a great weight lifted off my shoulders, because I knew that this could be a new start for me. After all the years of endless abuse, I was escaping.
I was free.
[A/N:
Yes, I k n o w that this is a short chapter!
But I needed to give a little background intro to Avery's character, and this was too long to be a prologue. I hoped that it wasn't too sad for you all.
Also: thanks so much on all the feedback! I've been recieving beautiful banners and covers from you guys and I love them all so much. I will start putting them up soon.
In the meantime, please VOTE, FAN, AND COMMENT. REMEMBER; I GIVE A DEDICATION TO A COMMENTER WHOSE COMMENT I LIKE. BUT ALSO, I STILL NEED PEOPLE TO VOTE SO DON'T FORGET THAT.
Thanks for reading,
x Delilah