The last time when James and I came down to Santa Monica Beach, it began raining. We ran across the sand until we came to the Santa Monica Pier and just stood underneath it until it had stopped raining. It felt weird coming down here because I hadn’t stepped onto the beach for two years.
The beach was crowded and it felt as half of the population of LA was all down here to keep cool from the hot summer’s sun. I almost couldn’t get a park. James and I walked down the beach in silence until we reach the pier and stood under it. It felt cooler under it.
I stood near a pole and rest my back against it, watching the waves wash up onto shore. It felt relaxing being here. Above us we could hear footsteps as people walked across the pier, as well as people nearby chatting.
“So, do you want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
Truthfully I didn’t want to tell him anything because I knew for sure I would burst into tears and I won’t ever stop. I don’t want to ever lose James as a friend. Ever.
I forced myself to look at him where he was standing in front of me, looking concern. I inhaled and then quickly exhaled. “Daniel came into the café to tell me that my parents are furious with me because I worked out of the house to come to work. Mom was supposed to drive me. And now that you’re out on parole, Mom and Dad has decided to…” I paused as I bit my lip. I could feel the tears swelling in my eyes.
“Ellie?”
“My parents want to move away so I’m nowhere near you.”
I turned away from him. I couldn’t look at him at all.
“Are you going to go with them?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, biting down my lip. “I’m trying to think how I can still stay here with you.”
My lip trembled as the tears flowed down my face. I felt James’ hand on my cheek as he wiped the tears. I turned to face him. Our eyes locked together. We stared at each other. I then wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. I cried into his chest and felt his arms wrapping around me. He kissed the top of my head.
We stood like that for awhile without saying anything.
“Come on,” James said after awhile, pulling away from me. “Let’s go do something to keep our minds off everything.”
I wiped my eyes. “Like what?”
His eyes drifted up at the pier and then looked back up at me. “Want to go to the pier?”
I smiled. James always knew how to keep my mind off things. “Yeah. That sounds good.”
“We can eat a while lot of junk, and then ride the rollercoaster until we throw up.” He threw me a huge grin where I could see that he was trying not to laugh.
I punched him hard in the arm. “No! There is no way we are doing that.”
“Why not? It will be funny.”
“Funny? More like disgusting.”
He put an arm around me. “I’m only joking.”
“I know.”
We walked towards the entry of Santa Monica Pier. The first thing James wanted to do was get something to eat. We both ordered a hot dog, sitting down to eat it. Once eaten, we played some games. We didn’t win any prizes, but we sure had fun. It took my mind off everything that had happen at the café. When we played all the games, James suggested we ride the rollercoaster.
“Okay, but just as long as we don’t have to throw up,” I told him.
He promised me we weren’t. We stood in line. When it was our turn to get on the ride, James grabbed my hand and dragged me to the front of the first carriage.
I shook my head. “No. There is no way that I’m going to sit right at the front.”
“Come on. The front is awesome.”
“But I don’t like the front.”
“Oh come on, you big wuss.”
James made me sit in the carriage first, so I did and he sat down beside me. We were strapped down and then waited until everyone behind us was strapped in as well.
Truthfully I wasn’t a fan of rollercoasters and James knew it. I didn’t like how they went too fast and I hated it when they went around the loop or upside down, fearing that you will fall straight out of it. Thankfully the coaster here was small and it didn’t go upside down.
The ride started moving and I gripped the rail in front of me tightly. James put his hand over mine. I stared at it before looking up at him.
“It’s okay, Ellie,” he said. “I’m right here and I will make sure you won’t fall out.”
I smiled at him and then turned to face the front. The ride started out slow and then spread up as it went around corners fast. My ears were deafen from the screams of other people around me. I screamed at the top of my lungs, gripping hold of the bar so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. James’ hand was no longer gripping my hand as he enjoyed every moment of the ride.
I was glad once the ride was over. I could have kissed the ground if I wanted to know that my feet were safely on the ground. My voice box was now killing me from all of the screaming that I did.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” James asked me as we climbed out of the carriage together.
I poked my tongue out at him. He pretended to look hurt when I did it. I almost thought he was serious, but when he started laughing when I apologised to him then I knew he was playing with me. It was good to see that he was back to his old self after everything that has happened. It brought back memories of all the jokes he plays on me. You would never have thought he was a prankster since most of the time he is quiet.
I remember it being Halloween. My parents were out at a party and so was Daniel. I was at home. There was a school dance for Halloween but I wasn’t interested in attending it. Alicia got extremely mad at me for not attending. I just wasn’t interested in school dances. I had been to them, but they just seem lame to me. I was home alone when the doorbell rang. I answered the door, expecting to see kids dressed up in costumes for trick and treating. But it wasn’t children trick and treating. Instead it was a person standing there dressed as a zombie. I screamed, thinking it was some kind of axe murderer or something even though he didn’t have a weapon on him.
I almost called the police when James took off the mask to reveal himself. He thought it would be fun to scare me, but didn’t realise I would take the prank seriously and call the police. Now when I look back at it I guess it’s kind of funny of the way I acted. But I swear I would have killed him when he offered to make some snacks. He claimed to have cut his hand off with the knife. At first I thought he was serious, not even understanding how the hell he had chopped his hand off with a knife that wasn’t even sharp enough to cut through bone. It turned out to be a fake hand and I so wanted to kill him for it.
But I have to say you would never expect that James had a difficult life under his smile. He hides his personal life about his dad and puts a brave smile on his face, pretending there’s nothing wrong even though he is secretly dying inside. I’m trying to force myself to be like James and put a smile on my face, pretending that what people say about James doesn’t hurt me when secretly it does.
“So what would you like to do now?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Anywhere but home.”
“I don’t want to go home either.” James took my hand. “Come on. Let’s head to the pizza place.”
James took my hand as we walked towards the exit of the pier. Suddenly we were grabbed from behind, forcing us to let go of each other. I panic and immediately thought of what he did to me two years ago. The images flooded through my mind and struggled to escape from his grip so he couldn’t do the same thing he did to me. I wanted to scream but I didn’t want to cause a scene. Each time I struggle against him he would grip onto my arm tighter, digging his nails through my clothing and into my skin.
He dragged us through the car park, dragging us until we got to his car. Without letting us go, he demanded James to open up the door. Mr Waters shoved him inside and then the same thing to me. He slammed the door behind me. I sat there frozen in fear. No. I don’t want any of this to happen again.
James reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing my hand tightly. “It’s okay, Ellie. I won’t let him do anything to you this time.”
I wanted to believe him but I knew James couldn’t promise me anything. I couldn’t even think at that moment as the images ran through my head, my screams being unheard. What did I do to deserve this?
Mr Waters climbed into the car and started it, backing out of the car park. He didn’t say anything to us or tell us where he was taking us. All I know is he is going to do something horrible to me, just like he promised James he would the other day when I hid under James’ bed.
I couldn’t breathe as he drove around, taking us to an unknown place. I didn’t even want to think about what he was going to do. Half of me was just hoping he would take us home even if I could have drove home myself, but I knew deep down inside that wasn’t going to happen.
He pulled into a parking lot of some park. It was abandon and no other person was around. It scared me how there was no one because I knew Mr Waters could do whatever he wanted to do to me and James.
Mr Waters unbuckle his seat belt and turned to us with this evil look in his eyes. He grabbed James and pulled him towards him. “I thought I told you to stay away from her, you prick.”
“There is nothing wrong with me seeing her, Dad.”
Mr Waters didn’t like what he had said and slammed James’ head into the back of the passenger street beside his dad. He then pulled James into the front seat and climbed into the back seat with me. My heart began racing and I knew that this whole thing will happen again. I quickly scooted over to the door and tried to open it but it was lock. Mr Waters grabbed me and pushed me down onto the back seat. Tears filled my eyes as the nightmare that I thought was over was now happening a second time.
“Where are you going, Ellie?” he said. “Don’t you want to see your punishment when I told you both to stay away from each other? I guess you really want James to be back in jail again.”
I didn’t answer him. I was too frightened to move my mouth.
“Dad, don’t do this to her.” James pushed his dad but Mr Waters punched him in the face.
“You’re going back to jail, James,” he smirked.
I watched as Mr Waters unbuckled his belt. I closed my eyes. Please just tell me that this is a nightmare and when I wake up I will still be at Santa Monica Pier with James.
I opened my eyes and stared up at Mr Waters. He was so proud at what he was about to do. But before he could touch me, James suddenly yelled at him.
“Don’t you dare touch her or I will shoot you,” he replied.
I turned to James to see he was holding a small hand gun in his hands. I didn’t even know where he got it from and didn’t even know he was carrying a gun.
James’ dad just laughed. “You won’t shoot me.”
“Yes, I will. Let her go.”
“If you pull the trigger, you will just go back to prison.”
“Not if I told them what you were about to do to Ellie.”
Mr Waters stared at James and then lash out at him. I sat up quickly, leaning my back up against the door. He grabbed the gun and wracked the end of it in James’ face. I screamed.
He then turned back to me, smirking. He moved a hand up my thigh, but I quickly pushed it away before he went further. Before he could do something else to me, I heard the doors being unlock. James then yelled at me to go and to get out of here. He then jumped onto his dad so I had a chance to escape.
I opened the door and jumped out, running across the car park without looking back. I kept running down the street, ignoring the pain in my chest. I got about three or four blocks away from the park when I thought it was okay to stop and catch my breath. I sat down at a bus bench, catching my breath. The moment I caught my breath, I burst into tears as I replay what Mr Waters did in the car.
A car drove pass and I immediately thought it was Mr Waters coming to find me, but it wasn’t. I eyed each car with fear as they drove pass, hoping none of them were Mr Waters. In my head I kept trying to think of what I would do if he suddenly pulled up in front of me and demanded me to get in the car. Right now I didn’t want to know what he would have done if James hadn’t helped me to escape. Sometimes I wished that James could have stopped him before, even though we both knew there was nothing neither of us could do to prevent it. Okay, it could have. I knew James could have stopped him and I knew how terrified James was of his dad. Gosh, I couldn’t imagine what he is doing to him right this instant. He was going to be totally beaten up.
Wiping away the tears away from my face, I headed back towards the pier to get my car. My phone began ringing non-stop and I knew it was one of my parents calling me. I didn’t want to answer them because I knew they will tense the fear in my voice and would know something had happened. I couldn’t tell them I was out with James. And I definitely couldn’t tell them what Mr Waters had just done. Well, I could but he will just deny everything and say that James was the one who forced himself onto me. James will definitely go back to jail and this time he wouldn’t be able to get out at all.
My feet were aching by the time I reached Santa Monica Pier. I should have caught the bus, but I wanted to clear my head. I tried to shake away the incident, but it kept flooding my mind. I kept looking behind m to make sure Mr Waters wasn’t following me. But mostly I hope that James was alright and that his father wouldn’t hurt him too much. His face will be covered in bruises tomorrow. I also set my phone on silent because I got sick of my parents trying to call me. I couldn’t think with my phone going off every five seconds.
I grabbed a drink before getting into my car at the pier. The dryness in my throat quickly disappeared once I drank some water. I climbed into my car and sat there for a moment before starting up. A few tears appeared in my eyes as I drove and I quickly wiped them away so it couldn’t blur my vision.
When I pulled up in front of my house, I didn’t want to get out of the car at all. It was night now and no doubt once I step foot into the house, the world will come to an end.
I got out of the car. As soon as I stepped onto the porch, the door flew opened. Dad stood there with a look that could kill someone within a second.
“Where the hell have you been, Ellie?” he demanded.
I stood there without answering him, afraid to open my mouth.
Dad pulled me indoors and slammed the door shut. Mom and Daniel were sitting on the couch in the living room. Mom leaped off her seat and hurried over to me, wrapping me into a hug with a few tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Ellie, baby, thank goodness you’re alright,” she cried. “We were so worried that something happened to you. Why didn’t you answer our calls?”
“My phone was on silent,” I lied.
“Where did you go today?” Dad wanted to know. “Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to leave for work without one of us?”
I rolled my eyes. “Nothing happened to me on the way to work.”
“And how do you know if you are going to be alright?”
“You have been seeing him, have you?” Daniel suddenly said.
I stared at him wondering why he would even care if I have been seeing James. It was none of his business if I was seeing him.
Mom glanced at me with this worried look on her face while Dad’s expression was still mad.
“Is this true, Ellie?” she asked. “Have you been hanging out with James Waters?”
I shook my head at my family, refusing to answer them. They didn’t know the answer at all. I turned and headed towards the stairs.
Dad grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Hey, we aren’t finished talking to you yet.”
“Honey, why would you want to hang out with James after what he did to you?” Mom asked me.
“Maybe it’s because he didn’t do anything to me,” I answered.
“Damn it, Ellie, the bastard raped you!” Daniel said, standing up from the couch and walking over to me. “He raped you! Don’t you care about that? Why are you putting yourself into danger when around him?”
I frowned at my brother. “Why? It’s because he didn’t do anything, that’s why. You don’t even know the full story.”
“Ellie, we do know the full story,” Dad said. “He had no right to do what he did to you and you aren’t safe around him. That’s why I think it’s best we move from here so he can’t come anywhere near you.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m not moving and you can’t make me. You can forbid me from seeing James, but I’m still seeing him.”
Without saying anything else, I ran to my room with my dad yelling at me to come back, but I didn’t listen to him.