Chapter 1

A Date Gone Wrong

I woke up to a scratching sound at the front door. I stiffly turned and reached for my cell phone. I silently grumbled as the flash of light from my phone glared towards my eyes. My sisters Ashlyn and Riley, who I unhappily have to share my bedroom with, stirred at the glare from my phone.
“Ar-Ard Ardens, wh-what are you doing?” Riley mumbled, her eyes barely open, attempting to look over towards me.
“Nothing, Riley. Just…go back to sleep please?”
She nodded her head slowly as she laid her head back down on her pillow. Riley always had a faint snore when she slept. Well, I used to never know about her snoring or even Ashlyn’s major sleep talking problem until they moved into my room two years ago.
Riley, one of my many siblings, is my annoying but warm-hearted five year old sister.
She always loves to get into people’s business, and always has trouble keeping her mouth shut. So, basically, she’s a normal, regular little girl that always gets herself into a huge mess. She used to have beautiful blonde hair, just like me and my mother, but then she decided to dye a small portion of her hair red and purple. I think her hair does look cute that way, but Mom wasn’t exactly thrilled with the surprise of the highlights. Riley is about average height and weight of any normal five year old. Her favorite color is red and purple (hence the color of her highlighted hair), and she absolutely loves sports. She has decided to start softball and soccer this year. At her age, her team members use a tee to hit the ball off of, but my sister is already learning how to swing with a metal bat. You could say she’s very successful when it comes to sports.
I moved my curly blond hair away from my face and faintly looked at the screen. When I finally saw the time, I rolled my eyes. It was 11:30 at night. After a lame attempt of falling back asleep, I tried laying flat on my back, now holding my phone below my chest. I checked a few minutes later, looking underneath my covers so that I wouldn’t wake up anyone. The time was now 11:54pm. I was so tired and wiped out. Why couldn’t I go back to sleep? I have midterms on Monday and I also needed to get enough sleep before the softball championship game tomorrow…

I heard the scratching again.

Oh, just great, I thought. Ashlyn probably just locked the Crystal in between the front door and the screen. Crystal was our family’s nine year old tabby, who only loves to be pampered when she says so. I suddenly felt something rub against my hand, and a faint purr crossed my ear. It was Crystal. Maybe she wasn’t the one scratching the door…
“Come here precious,” I said in a soothing voice.
She came up onto my stomach, and began to purr. Crystal was the fattest out of all three of our cats. She had to it least weigh fifteen pounds. I could’ve used her as my personal lift-weight if I wanted to. Our other two cats, Theo and Anthony, (you’d think my Mom would name my brothers those unique names, but I guess that was her decision and not mine) are the basic trouble makers in the house, besides Ashlyn and Riley.

I heard the scratching once more.

Okay. That was definitely not Crystal. Theo was cuddling in Ashlyn’s arms, and Anthony always stayed in Frankie and Danielle’s room, so who, or what, was making that scratching noise?
I nearly jumped out of bed, as well as my cat, when my phone began to ring. Crystal looked at the glow of light and gave out a frightful hiss. “Oh ssh! You’re going to wake everyone up!” I pushed Crystal onto the floor, and she trotted out of the room like nothing had even scared her. My phone was still going off. It was J.D., my boyfriend. Why was he calling at this time of night?
“Hello?” I whispered in confusion.
“Hey babe.” He said in a quiet voice.
I blushed at his comment, and then continued my conversation with him.
“Um, hi. Not that I don’t love to hear your voice, but it’s almost twelve in the morning.”
“I know,” he paused.
I heart the scratching at the door yet again.
“Hold on a sec, J.D.” There was no answer, so I got up from my bed.
“Ardens! M-mommy says that you’re not aloud to be on the phone when it’s bedtime! I’m telling Mamma!” Ashlyn said in a “haha-I-told-you-so” sort of voice.
“Just go to sleep Ashlyn, and stop being a no-it-all.” Maybe that wasn’t the right words to tell a five year old child. She began to cry.
Ashlyn is twins with Riley, and she has the complete opposite behavior and personality than Riley. Ashlyn always listens when she is told to do something, and never argues. She has straight, brown hair and loves all animals. She’s sort of like one of those weird kids you see on the playground, trying to save just a few dozens ants from being trampled on by little kid’s feet. She’s only five years old and she’s already worrying about the environment and all that caboodle. Ashlyn’s favorite colors are lime green and turquoise blue (just like me), and only thinks of cheerleading as her sport. You could say she is very flexible, and my Mom will be watching her very close when she gets to be my age. The only three things that Ashlyn and Riley have in common, besides being twins, is that they both are about the same height and weight, and they both have the most beautiful grey eyes. Their eyes are the color of a full moon. That’s a pretty rare color for eyes.
“Oh please don’t cry Ashlyn!” I complained.
She turned away from me and cuddled her arms around Theo as he began to purr. I could hear her slightly pout in silence, as I got up to head down stairs. I paused at the door and looked back at Ashlyn. She was looking over at me, but then quickly looked away, acting as if she had never moved and I hadn’t seen her. I smiled and gave out a little giggle, and decided to walk back over to her to compromise this conflict.
“Hey, what do you say to a little ice cream, just you and me, tomorrow after the game? Does that sound good to you?” I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t.
As I walked out of the room, I heard a faint voice say, “Okay, but if you break your promise, I’m telling Mom.”
I smiled as our lazy Australian Shepherd, Toby, our Golden Retriever, Max, and our little Beagle, Molly, slept at the bottom of the stairwell. I walked slowly down the stairs, trying not to skip a step. The last step creaked, and Max popped his cute little head up in a sort of I’ll-kill-you-but-please-don’t-hurt-me look. “It’s alright, Max. It’s just me. Now please just go back to sleep boy.” I bent down and scratched his ear, and he gave me a look of satisfaction. I then suddenly realized I still had J.D. on hold. I walked towards the front door, as I began to speak into my cell phone.
“Hey, sorry about that. I had to get Ashlyn back to bed, thanks to your random phone call. And I could’ve sworn I heard a sound coming from-”
I cut myself off.
“Outside.”
I opened my front door, and there was J.D. standing on my doorstep with a bundle of flowers, a beautifully wrapped little box, his guitar, and a shy smile on his face waiting for my expression. He’d been wearing a tuxedo with a golden colored tie. He looked so cute.
J.D. has been my boyfriend for almost two years, and he has been the greatest thing that has happened to me. I’ve known J.D. since 2nd grade, and he has been my best friend ever since. He has beautiful emo-looking black hair, even though his personality doesn’t fit his looks. He’s about six feet tall, and has a gorgeous figure. He loves to sing, and he’s amazingly talented at dancing. It won’t surprise me if he wants to become a choreographer, singer, or an actor after he graduates high school. He is seventeen years old (only one year older than me), and he is a straight A student. He told me that none of his relationships had become as serious as ours-and I definitely agreed. I also never had a boyfriend before J.D. And yet, J.D. still doesn’t believe me because, according to him, “I’m too pretty to be available”.
First off, what was he doing here, and at twelve o’clock in the morning? He slid his hands into the front pocket of his black slacks, and looked at me with a side smile.
“Nice look, baby. Why don’t you dress like that every day?” He teased.
I had just noticed I was dressed in my lime green and turquoise blue pj pants, along with my white spaghetti strap tang top. I gave out a nervous laugh, and noticed that I still had my cell phone up to my ear.
J.D. lifted his phone to his ear once more, never leaving my eyes, and gently said “You look cute tonight, Ardens…” He looked me up and down as I stupidly talked back into the phone saying “Hold on, let me change,”.
I shook my head, and walked my way back up to my room. I slipped on a cute bottom of short shorts, quickly put on my “30 Seconds to Mars” hoodie I received from J.D. on our first year anniversary, then ran to the kitchen to get a flashlight. If I decided to turn the porch light on, my Mom would wake up, and that wouldn’t be good. When I came back out, J.D. was sitting on the front step, playing with his fingers. I grabbed him from behind, and wrapped my arms around him.
“Hey! Come here you!”
He grabbed me and sat me on his lap.
“What are you-? How are you-?” I stuttered.
He placed his arms on my hips, and began to kiss my neck.
“I missed you” he whispered into my ear.
“How could you miss me silly,” I kissed him on the cheek. “I live right across the street from you.”
J.D. stopped, two centimeters away from my lips, and said gently “I miss you anytime you’re not in my arms. Happy second year anniversary, Ardens. I couldn’t wait until your softball game tomorrow to tell you this.”
I was so overwhelmed. I looked down at my phone. It was 11:59. I looked up into his deep sea blue eyes and replied, “You’re early. It’s 11:59”.
“Well, I can go home and come back when it’s past 12 if you really want me to.” He began to lift me off of him when I grabbed his tie, and pulled him towards me. “No, no. You’re staying here-with me.” I focused on his eyes, and pulled him close.
He smiled.
“Okay. I’ll stay, just for you.”
He kept his eyes on mine, and moved in closer towards me. He gently pressed his hands on my cheeks, which were still red in astonishment, and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.
“So I have some presents for you,” he said shyly.
“Oh is that so.” I smiled, as I looked down at the gifts that I now knew were mine now.
“But, I thought we could go down to Village Green Park, place a blanket onto the grass, and have a little picnic. I brought a few midnight snacks if you’d like them.”
J.D. was also an amazing cook. Thinking his code for “a little midnight snack” was an entire buffet of sushi, calamari, and a lot of other difficult foods that I would never be caught dead making. Me and kitchen utensils, measuring cups, and electric outlets don’t exactly get along…
“Oh really? Well, what if I want to look at the stars, or something else?” I said in a sarcastic but convincing voice.
“Oh, well, if you want to. But I thought we could just-”
He looked a little uncomfortable, which made me giggle and give up on my little scheme.
“I was just kidding, J.D. You’re so sweet.”
I gave him a hug and said,
“Of course we can.”
Green Tree Village was about two minutes away from our houses, so there was no trouble getting there. I grabbed the picnic basket along with his guitar and began to head over to the park, while he grabbed a few other items from the front of his car. When I heard the car door slam behind me and I stopped so he could catch up.
“So, where should we sit?”
He pointed toward the baseball field, and I followed. He placed his favorite On Ice of Grass, We’ll Still Kick Your Ass Steelers blanket onto the dry grass of the outfield.
This park was humungous with its “Children Ages 1-4” and “Children Ages 5-12” separate parks located at the front of the park. For the children in the younger ages, there were two swing sets with four swings on each set, two tinny tiny toddler-type slides, at least a dozen of teeter-totters, a sandbox, and two little water fountains, capable for the little toddlers to reach. The ground of that little park was the type or rubber that was easy to run on and probably wouldn’t as bad to fall on as it would to fall on cement.
The older children’s playground was about the same, except that they had monkey bars, bigger slides, and different swings, along a little seal that squirted water from its nose like a sprinkler. Along with these two parks, there was a basketball court at the farthest side of the park, two baseball fields, two new tennis courts, and about four little pavilions for adults to sit and socialize with people while their children played. There were two main parking lots right split in the middle of the entire park. A concession stand was located by the tennis courts. I began to wonder about what it would be like to have children of my own with J.D. And have the one I love next to my side every night.
J.D. interrupted my train of thought. “You okay, Ards?” I was so deep in thought that, when I looked back towards J.D., the entire picnic was already out and prepared. He had two plates full of pasta, side salads, sushi (like I had imagined), an empty jar, and one tray full of at least a dozen brownies. I smiled as I walked over to J.D.
Right when I sat down, J.D. wrapped his right arm around my shoulder and gently whispered into the night “I made us an entire meal. I hope you were prepared to eat.” He handed me a plate full of food as I said, “You came to my doorstep out of no where-at midnight-and you expect me to be prepared for a four course meal?” I giggled and began to eat. Damn was he an amazing cook! I mean, it felt as if my mouth was swarming with the sweetest tastes. Not one bite of my entire meal tasted dry or questionable; basically my midnight snack didn’t taste like our school food.
After I finished about half of all the food, including the mouth-watering brownies he made, I laid my back onto the blanket and gazed up at the stars. J.D. lay down next to me, but apparently decided to keep his eyes on me instead of the stars. After feeling watched for a while, I finally gave up on trying to concentrate on the stars. Besides, like I really just wanted to look at the stars while my boyfriend is lying right beside me. I decided to close my eyes and smell the newly cut grass that was tickling my ankles.
“I love this smell, you know? I mean the smell of new cut grass. Don’t you?” I open my eyes slowly, after realizing J.D. didn’t answer my question. J.D. was now standing right above me, looking at me with his sweet smile, glistening like a thousands suns gently saying
“Pick-a-boo”. I laughed and gave him a humorous “ha-ha very funny” look.
“Here. Let me help you up. I’m not exactly done with your surprise.”
I looked at him with curiosity, wondering what else he could possibly have for tonight’s surprise. I reached for his hand, and he pulled me vigorously towards his chest. I wasn’t exactly expecting that, so I ended up grabbing on to him for dear life.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you,” he smiled a warm smile.
“Don’t you always?” I replied, teasing him.
Our eyes stayed on each other until I began to blush and pushed my wavy hair away from my face.
“So? What else do you have planned for tonight?”
He knelt down beside the blanket, and grabbed for the empty jar.
“This jar is for catching fireflies.” He took the lid off and turned towards me, “Well? Aren’t you coming?” He kissed me on the cheek and began to walk over towards a dark part of the field. He handed me the jar and stood very still.
“You have to walk slowly to really notice the fireflies’ light. There’s one.” He caught the firefly in his hands, and placed it into the jar.
“Now place the lid on so this little critter doesn’t try to escape.” I smiled at him as he brought over five more fireflies.
“What?” He asked, now noticing I was starring at him instead of catching the fireflies. “Do you not like your surprise?” He looked concerned.
I quickly answered, “No! I just think I got a little too lucky to have a boyfriend like you.”
He plopped the fireflies into the jar and twisted the lid to close it.
“Well, I’m beginning to think the same thing, Ardens.” He winked and grabbed my left hand, and held the jar in his right hand.
We finally got back to where we had our picnic. J.D. placed the jar on the Steelers blanket and popped out a second jar from the picnic basket. “Here, Ardens. Place three of the fireflies into this jar.” I tried placing them in the jar he had handed me, but one escaped. Lesen ran after it, and caught two more in the process. “Here. Try not to lose these two, will you Ardens?” He gave a side smile, and sat down next to me on the blanket.
“Well that was fun,” I said in a cheerful tone. J.D. usually doesn’t do things like this. We were in the middle of the park, alone, where anything could happen. But we both knew nothing would happen. My Mom had me at 17, and I wasn’t ready to work at a fast-food restaurant for a living like my Mom.
“I have one more surprise for you, Ardens.” He unhitched the latches on his guitar case, and began to tune his guitar. He was now sitting in front of me, smiling as he began to understand how uncomfortable it was for someone to watch you. “I-uh, I learned how to play ‘Rhythm of Love’ for tonight. It took me about two almost three months to finally play each note perfectly. Well, considering school and all that, I figured two months to rehearse a song isn’t that bad-” He cut himself off, noticing that he was beginning to babble.
“Uh, sorry.” Then he began to play.
“It’s okay,” I replied.
“Well. I-uh, I think I’ll start.” He ran his fingers on the chords.
“Whenever you want to.” I said, trying to encourage him.

What I didn’t understand about J.D., is that he always had mixed emotions. One minute, he could be so confident in what he wanted to do or talk about, and then he would become so shy; sort of like a newborn puppy. With his gorgeous sea-blue eyes he could practically make anyone feel bad for him. I think the reason he acts this way, may be because of something involving his family. I think his father abuses him. I want to kill him-his father, I mean.
In fact, last month, I decided walk across the street to surprise J.D. at his house, and I overheard him and his Dad yelling at each other. The conversation became pretty intense. Behind me, my dogs began to bark, which made me jump in shock. I put on Max’s leash first, which was attached to the dog runner that ran across the front of my yard. Max sprung outside and began to bark toward where J.D. and his Dad were fighting. In fact, lil’ Molly, who I have never heard bark before that day, stood on our deck, growling so viciously towards his house. Toby nearly broke the dog runner as I finally got his leash attached to his collar. This really scared me, because I’d seen bruises all over J.D.’s body, but he just told me they were from falling out of bed, or burning himself on the stove. I can’t believe I actually fell for his excuses…
At this moment, I could actually see J.D. standing near his window, with his dad pointing his finger towards him.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO, DAD! I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT HER! I LOVE HER!”
“GET RID OF THE PROBLEM! OR I’LL GET RID OF YOU!” He had an unforgettable raspy voice.

His dad punched him right on his left jaw and J.D. fell straight to the floor. Now Molly was pulling on her leash, barking her little voice at such a high volume, I couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation.
“Molly! Molly, be quiet!” I whispered in a harsh tone. None of my dogs would listen.
“QUIET!” All of sudden, Molly began to whimper, and ran up to my side. A minute later, my golden retriever ran over to me, with his tail between his legs. Toby still stood there, with his tail straight up, holding his stance. Now there was absolutely no noise. Nothing. I was afraid to look up where J.D. and his father were just fighting. I slowly looked up, and saw J.D. just grabbing onto the side of his bed. I guess he happened to look out his window, and saw me. I was starring up towards his window, tears gushing from my eyes. He looked at me with a passionate smile.
He suddenly swung his head over to where the entrance of his room was probably located. He stayed in that position for a couple seconds, and then swung his head back over to me. He gave me a look saying “Leave! Now!” His facial expression was horrifying. His Dad had come back into his room. He quickly jumped up from his bed, and stood face-to-face with his Dad. J.D. quickly shot a glare over to me, telling me to leave while I had the chance. His Dad must’ve noticed his son’s reaction, because he looked out the window. Straight. Towards. Me.
Now at this time, my Mom wasn’t home.
Hs father gave the most devilish smile and then shot a few looks at my dogs, in which they were whimpering now more than ever. I stood there, trying to look like I wasn’t discouraged by him.
He left J.D.’s room, and apparently began to walk out of his house because J.D. was screaming for me to go back into my own house. I did so, letting the dogs in as well. His Dad had just stopped at the front of my graveled driveway, starring me down.
“Ardens, what’s wrong? The dogs were barking. Now they’re scared shitless!” It was Frankie, my younger brother, standing with my sister, Danielle.

Jake is fourteen years old, with brown swoopy hair and the prettiest brown eyes. According to him, his hair style was “to die for”. I guess there’s nothing better than having a conceited brother in the family. I think I’ve walked in on him chewing a young girl’s tongue off about three times this month. The worst problem about this issue, all three times, they were different girls. Frankie is quarterback for Bethel Park’s high school team. For a ninth grader to become the quarterback, he has to be especially good at football. He picked number 7 for his jersey, not for luck, but because that was how many girls he had slept with. Yet again, I’ve walked in on him about four out of the seven times. I’ve asked pet stores for a choke collar for teenage boys, but none of the stores would allow me to buy one. One worker actually thought my idea would be “educational for teenage hoe-bags”, but sadly he wasn’t allowed to sell the product to me. He did, however, suggest the shock collar…
Danielle is fifteen and has beautiful red curly hair and unique brown-green splattered eyes. She loves taking voice and piano lessons, and now has a successful band, creatively named “Believers 6”, with two of her friends. She decided to take French, Spanish, and German as her electives for tenth grade because she wants to major in foreign language so that she can travel around the world, teaching English to those who can’t speak the language. She is most successful in Geometry and Biology. Danielle is considered the complete opposite of Frankie, which pretty much means that she would love to stay away from him as much as possible. But considering the circumstances over the financial problems, she has to share a room with Frankie. The only privacy between Frankie and herself is a quilt hung by a clothes line. I can’t even imagine how many times she’s probably came into her side of the room and see Frankie and a half-naked girl under her bed sheets. We don’t exactly have many rooms in this small, pathetic house. I’m pretty sure if we had the room, I wouldn’t be sharing mine with two little twin monsters.
“Nothing, it’s nothing okay?” I spoke weakly. “And watch your language, Frank. Just go play basketball or something with your sister, okay?”
“Don’t call me Frankie, Ards! Besides, Danielle couldn’t shoot a two pointer if she wanted to!” Frankie stated sarcastically.
“Shut up, Frankie. You couldn’t get a C let alone an A on a test if you wanted to. And grades are what you need to be trying to shoot for, smart-a**. Not shooting for more sex under the bleachers after every game.”
“Whatever. I’ll just go text my girlfriend. She’s so hot…Big boobs, you know?” Frankie said in satisfaction.
“Ew. Gross, Frankie!” Danielle said as she ran upstairs.
“You know what Mom would say right now? You can look, but you can’t touch.”
“Yea, yea, Ardens, whatever. My saying is you can touch, but you can’t look.” He spoke in sarcasm up the stairs, cell phone in his hand.
“Don’t do anything you’d regret!”
He didn’t respond. Damn it…
When I looked back over towards J.D.’s house, his Dad was gone from the driveway, and J.D. was no where to be found.


***
***
***

“What did you think?” J.D. asked as I starred at his scar on his left jaw.
“It was beautiful. You have such good talent. And thank you, by the way, for giving thought on teaching Danielle guitar lessons.” I gave a little laugh. “She told me she thought you were hot…” I kept my eyes on his scar as I talked. He noticed what I was looking at, and moved his head to look up towards the sky. I waited for him to say something, but instead I said, “I told her I agree.”
I thought that would’ve gotten his attention.
After a few moments, he looked back down at me and smiled.
“Come here.”
He placed his guitar aside. I sat on his lap, facing him, as he wrapped his arms around me. For minute or so we sat there, looking at each other. I slowly moved my eyes to his left jaw once again, to where his father had violently hit him.
J.D. lifted my chin up towards his face, so that our eyes were inches apart and gently whispered, “It’s okay to look at me, Ardens. I know how much you saw of the fight between me and my Dad… I saw you crying. I just want you to know that I will always be there for you and-” I cut him off with a long kiss that knocked him on top of the blanket. He moved my hair away from my face, and smiled sweetly.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
A smile reached my face just as fast as a frown reached in and destroyed my happiness. “If he touches you, J.D., ever again…Just-just tell me. I’ll tell my Mom, she’s a police officer. She’ll arrest him-”
“Ardens-”
“No, J.D. I won’t let him hurt you-again.”
“Ardens, please-” He began to shake his head in frustration.
“No! You just-just sat there and let him punch you! What would’ve happened if he didn’t notice me .”
“Ardens!”
“He could’ve killed you!”
“Ardens!” He pulled me on top of him. I wrapped my hands around his neck, and began to cry.
“But he didn’t. He didn’t. Will you please listen to me?” He lifted my head and kissed my forehead.
“I can defend myself, Ardens. I am perfectly capable of it, I can tell you that. It’s just, that with my Dad, it’s better to just listen than to talk. And I didn’t exactly do that, now did I?” He smiled at me with his beautiful smile. That smile always made me go crazy.
“Come here.” I whispered, urging him to kiss me some more.
I began to kiss J.D. again and again on his precious, luscious lips. His arms slowly slid down my body. I was now on the bottom as he held my hips. And then began to kiss my neck. I laid my head back, and bit my lip in satisfaction.
“You’re so gentle.” I said in a soft voice. He started to run his hands down my legs
“You legs are so soft…” He replied.
I slid his shirt off, and we both began to laugh. He fell back onto the blanket, and pulled me onto him again. I gave out a surprised squeal, and then began to kiss him again. His arms moved up my body, and so did my shirt. With a single twist of his wrist, my bra was off. It got so intense. His perfect body was just too much to bear. Then, our lips separated, and I lay there atop of J.D. We both decided to just lay there; breathless.
I began to kiss J.D. again, but I guess he took this by surprise.
“Wait. Wait-I love you, Ardens-”
“I love you too, J.D.”
“It’s-it’s actually Jordan Dean… And I mean it, Ardens. I love you too much to do these kinds of things with you…before…well, before uncontrollable things happen.”
I was so shocked that a boy would actually care about abstinence before marriage.
“You’re name’s Jordan?!” He’s never told anyone his real name before. I guess only his b****y Dad knew his real name.
He laughed. “That’s all you can say? Jordan? I love you, Ardens.”



I suddenly felt weak. My breath was knocked out of me.
“Jordan? J-J.D. I-I can’t breathe.” I got up off of J.D., and tried to stand, but quickly collapsed.
“Ardens? Ardens!” He picked up my head, and looked down at me with a worried look.
“You don’t feel that? You-you don’t feel…feeeeeellll…” I closed my eyes. I then heard J.D. and some other man screaming at each other. This man had a very unforgettable raspy voice.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here with her?!” the man said sternly.
“Please. For the last time, I love her. Now leave!”
“How dare you tell me to leave, Jordan.”
“DON’T EVEN THINK OF CALLING ME JORDAN. JUST GO BACK TO HELL!!!”
“Oh, I wish it was that easy. But you see, she must be marked, some how, some way.”
The man must’ve walked towards me because J.D. began to scream even louder. “NO! YOU LEAVE HER ALONE! DON’T TOUCH HER!”
I suddenly felt burning hot hands on my shoulders. Whoever it was, lifted me from the ground and harshly placed me on my knees. That heat, that excruciating feeling, jolted pain all throughout my body. My eyes widened as my I opened them to see a devilish smile looking down towards me.
It’s Jordan’s dad.
“Good morning, sweetie pie. Having fun?” He said in a creepy voice.
“Wher-Where’s J.D.! I mean, Jordan!”
“He had to go. But I’m here, pumpkin.”
“Get your hands off of me!” I scratched at him, trying to get a good grip so I could punch him on the jaw; let him see how that feels. Those words weren’t the best to say towards him. His grip on my shoulders tightened. I screamed in agony. My shoulders went numb as I began to lose consciousness. I felt as if my shoulders were on fire and no one would allow me stop, drop, and roll. It seemed like the more I moved, the stronger he got, and the weaker I became.
“Please! Please! LET GO!”
A single tear began to slowly run down my cheek. I closed my eyes even more, as I thought about J.D. What could his dad have done to him? His grip tightened once more, as my eyes began to roll to the back of my head. I saw a glance of the devil, and began to scream.
“Don’t worry Hun. I am almost done with you.” He whispered creepily into my ears.
“NO! DAD LET GO! YOU’RE KILLING HER! LET GO!”
I quickly felt a release of pain. I was barely balancing on my knees when I heard Jordan’s Dad yelling at J.D.
“What do you think you’re doing? This is my business son. What’s done is done. She is who she now is. There’s no turning back. ”
“You sick freak! She was perfectly fine with the way she was! I hate you!” Jordan yelled. He ran towards me just in time for me to fall into his arms. He moved my hair out of my face and ran his hands down my face.
“You-hate-me? You’re not my son. My son would have grown to be a strong, confident man. You-you are just a coward. You may hate me, but you’re stuck with me, for eternity. You remember that.”
“LEAVE!” Jordan screamed. His voice was pretty straight forward, and even I would have listened to him.
“You are definitely not my son. Her, on the other hand, well. She may be worth something in a few years.” He sneered.
“If you do anything to hurt her, if you even touch her ever again, I swear-”
“Don’t you DARE threaten me! You’re lucky I don’t kill you on the spot! But, I’ll let your pathetic fairy-tale continue for now. Goodbye, my son.” He vanished into the night, as ambulance sirens blared in the distance.
My senses were disappearing from me. My sight of J.D. was somewhere lost in the distance. Whether or not I wanted to remember J.D. holding me with that look of desperation on his face, I was going to keep that horrid memory forever. I felt as if I was one of those girls about to get killed in one of those horror movies, helpless and confused. I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of my breath. I could feel my taste buds, dry as ever, feeling like every crack was a never-ending blister.
“Oh, God. Oh God! Ardens! Stay with me!”
“My-my shoulders. I-I can’t feel them.” I closed my eyes.
“No! Don’t close your eyes!” The last sight I saw was J.D. starring at me with eyes full of tears.
“I’m gonna’ miss you, J.D.” I gently kissed his strong, broad hand, and then slowly closed my eyes.
“No. No, Ards! Ards, stay with me, god damn it! You’re stronger than this! I love you! Ardens! Ardens?”