Acceptence, Rejection

Jess was doing her homework on her queen sized bed. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun being held together by her pencil. She chewed on the pen she had in her hand. She groaned this homework was really starting to piss her off. She jumped when she heard her window creak open. She looked at it and saw her boyfriend climbing in from the window. His brown hair was in his face, even though he had tried to make it stay in the low ponytail he was wearing. She giggled and beckoned him in. He sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. He rested his head on her shoulder and looked at the paper she was writing and made a face.

“Ew, why the need to do homework when I’m here?” He whispered in her ear and hugged her tighter.  She rolled her blue eyes at him and closed the book. “Better,” he laughed and pulled her into his lap. She leaned against his chest and looked up at him.

“What’s with your good mood today?” She asked him as he pulled them both to lie on the bed. She pulled the pencil out of her hair and the bun broke apart. Her hair lay around them. She turned around so she was facing him. He was still smiling and out of nowhere he came down and kissed her lips. She hadn’t expected that at all. “Thanks for cutting me off,” she joked, she hadn’t really minded. He did it again. This tie it was more powerful and when he came up for air Jess was breathing heavily. She only then noticed a sparkle in his eyes. He lay on top of her and kissed her again. “What are you doing?” she asked and pushed on him, she got out from under him. “Stop it,” she narrowed her eyes as she said the last thing. She saw his lips move in protest but no sound came out. She got up and straightened her tank top and dusted off her sweats. Craig sat up but he looked at his hands.

“Sorry,” he muttered with his head still down. “Don’t you ever want to…” he asked and looked up at her. Jess’s eyes were still narrowed, and her arms were crossed in front of her chest. His head hung down in shame again, and he stood up. “I’ll just…go.” He said and snuck out the window. Jess sat back down on her bed and tried to write her essay. Her head was spinning and she gave up on her failed attempt. She sat crossed leg on her bed and thought about what he had basically been asking. She couldn’t believe what he had been saying, but she couldn’t help but thought she should of said ‘yes’. The sigh that slipped out was of frustration. She fell back against her bed and stared at the plain ceiling. Jess decided she wasn’t going to get any answers this late at night. She pulled the covers to her neck and fell into a peaceful dream.

--                                                                                                                 

The next day she walked with her friends to school. Danni talked about her little brother and Jess patiently listened to her story. When they reached the school Danni saw her boyfriend and called out bye as she ran to his car. Jess rolled her eyes and fixed her backpack on her shoulder. She saw Craig and sucked in a breath as he walked towards her. She tried turning away and going to the other entrance but he reached her before she could start to find another.  He smiled softly and kissed her cheek.

“I’m sorry for last night. I was out of line,” he said in her ear and he twirled a strand of her golden locks between his fingers. Jess thought about it for a while and looked at him, trying to see if he was just saying that. After some inspection, she decided he actually meant it. She smiled at him and nodded and turned back to the school and turned back towards the school. His arm was around her they got shoulders and her arm was around his waist. When they got to school they went to their separate ways. She landed in Calculus, which made it hard for her to concentrate. She drew their name in hearts and smiled until the teacher called on her. She studied the equation and surprisingly gave the right answer. When she got out of class she went to her locker and opened it. A note the size of a sticky note floated to the ground. She bent over and picked it up and looked at it. Meet me in the janitors closet ~Craig. It said. She didn’t see anything wrong with that so she grabbed her next period books and went to the closet. She met Craig there and his face lit up in happiness. He stepped closer to her and kissed her once and quick. She nodded knowing what he was doing. They went farther into the closet and kissed again, this time lower and deeper. Until the principle came in. Mr. Dimadit chewed them out for a few minutes until he realized he was talking to teenagers. Jess straightened her shirt, which had somehow been rumpled while they kissed and looked up at him. He shrugged and kissed her cheek, he walked down the hall to his next class. She walked away when he disappeared around a corner. Her next class was English, something she could finally concentrate on.  She groaned along with the rest of the class as papers were passed out. It’d take Jess two minutes before she’d get bored and start doodling again. Like usual, she was right. She finished the paper and had it turned in with two minutes of time. She never bothered with double-checking in English; she always got 100% on everything. She grabbed her day planner and started doodling little things. What caught her attention was a little note on the inside of the cover. It read ‘I’ll see you after school. Getting checked out for Doctor’s appointment today. Love you ~Craig.’ She smiled and tucked the note back inside and her eyes darted to the clock overhead. Her smile faded as she realized she had six more hours of waiting. She held back a groan and visibly bit her lip.

--

After six more agonizing hours Jess arrived back at her house. She dropped her book bag on the floor and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie from the counter. It was chewy and warm, obviously newly baked. She licked her lips after she finished with it and got rid of the remaining chocolate on her face. Her Yorkshire terrier barked at her legs and wagged his stump of a tail at her. She bent down and picked his tiny body off the floor and headed to the couch in the living room. She knew Craig would take a while to get here, he was just like that. She pulled out the headband she had in her hair and sat down on the plush couch. Grabbing the remote, she turned on Degrassi and rolled her eyes at the characters dancing across the screen. Jess pets her dog as the doorbell rang. A smile lit up her face and she got off of the couch and set the dog back on the floor. She opened up the door and her smile dimmed a little when she saw Danni there and not Craig. Danni’s thick eyeliner was running down her puffy cheeks and her burgundy lips were trembling. Jess let her in and led her to the couch.

“What’s wrong Danni girl?” she asked sympathetically. She grabbed the cookies from the counter and passed Danni one. Danni was trembling and out of nowhere she let out a sob. Jess rubbed her back and looked at her thinking of what could have made her friend so sad. While she was comforting Danni the doorbell rang again. She got up and went to it finding Craig behind the door. “Um Craig,” she started. “Danni needs some girl time with me for a little bit,” she said apologetically. “Could you come back later?” Her voice was nervous. He nodded and walked away. She heard a ‘fine, bye then.’ From him but she didn’t know if that’s what he actually said. Her good mood seemed to drain out of her. It took all of her strength to not slam the door in his face. She stomped her dainty feet back the crying Danni. She was dabbing at her running eyeliner and blew her nose. She moved back to the couch and rubbed Danni’s back.

“What happened Danni?” She asked again still comforting her friend. Jess grabbed another cookie and passed it to Danni. Danni was trembling and she looked like a vulnerable child from the way she had her knees against her chest and she rocked slightly. She had given up on trying to get rid of the Mascara so long black streaks ran across her cheeks and one extended all the way to her neck.

“B-Brandon, h-he b-broke up with m-me!” Danni cried harder and her hair fell from the ponytail she had it in. “We w-were just l-looking at the sky w-watching the clouds r-roll by and he just…dumped me!” she screeched. Jess looked at Danni with a feeling she could not place. She thought maybe it was amazement that they had broken up after all this time. Or it could have been ticked off that he had hurt her best friend so cruelly.

--

Jess was lying on her bed with her I-Phone pressed against her ear. A slight frown danced across her face when Craig’s voicemail came on. She listened to it but right after the beep she ended the call. She set the phone down onto her bedside table carefully. She grabbed a glass of water and took a big drink of it. She narrowed her eyes as a drift wafted into the room. She wasn’t facing the window but on her side facing towards the door. She craned her neck around just in time to see Craig lay down beside her and put his arms around her. She turned herself over to see his face. She stretched uncurled from the ball she had been in and smiled.

“I thought you were mad at me, Craig.” She said softly and looked at the clock quickly. It read 10:37. She shifted slightly so that he didn’t have such a firm grip on her. She saw him shake his head a little bit viciously. The frown flashed across his face again and she rolled her eyes to hide it. She traced his lips with her fingers. He smiled at her and kissed her fingers. He came down and kissed her lips softly. I can always say no, she thought. If it gets to steamy I’ll just ask him to stop. She smiled against his lips. He kissed her again and again. She only realized what he was doing when she felt his fingers brush across her stomach. She broke the kisses and took his hand out of shirt. “What was that for?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” He said softly. He actually didn’t know why he had done that to her. He knew how she acted after he did something he wasn’t supposed to. He got the cold shoulder and every time he went to her while she was mad it was like a frigid, invisible, hand slapped him across the face. What she was doing right now was worse than that slap.

“Why don’t you ever ask?” Her words dripped with venom. She was so mad at him right now. “You have to stop doing that! This is like the 3^rd time this week!” She growled at him and she got out of his grip and sat in the bed. Her blonde hair was still in her messy ponytail. “If you don’t ask I’m NEVER going to put out.” She pointed out. “Get out of my house, Craig. Come back tomorrow if you want but I don’t want to see you for the rest of the night.” She walked out of the room and found her pet Yorkie and walked down the stairs. She heard the squeak of her window and Craig leaving.

--

Sunday she saw him again in her house. He was sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching some dumb ninja movie. She saw him pause the movie and look at her. She dropped her bag on the kitchen floor and looked at him. She felt terrible for yesterday and wanted to make it up to him. She ran up to him and kissed his cheek, then pulling him off the couch and up the stairs.

“I want to make up to you. I’ve been a real bitch this week and it’s not fair to be like that.” She started and made him sit on her desk chair. He didn’t have time to answer because she started again. “So I decided to give you what you have been wanting all week. You might not be too happy about what I have so…” She trailed off and lifted her shirt off of herself. She saw Craig look at her sadly. “Why do you look sad?” She demanded and started to take her pants down. He got up and took her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

“I look sad because you’re only doing this out of guilt. I don’t want that.” He pulled her pants back to wear they had been at before. “I want you to say yes to this when you actually want it. Guilt cannot be in this equation Jess.” He grabbed her shirt and passed it to her. Jess’s mouth was gaping. He had rejected her, after basically pushing her to say yes to him. “Night Jess, I’ll be with you tomorrow.” That was the last thing she heard from him that night. She looked down at her body and thought that maybe it had been why she had been rejected. She didn’t know, but what she did know, was that Craig had rejected her.

Death caused by a broken heart

My world shattered in those few words I read. Nothing really special about them, just a regular text sent to my crappy phone. Black letters spelled ‘It’s over’ across the lit up screen. I couldn’t look at it anymore so I slid my phone closed. The tears that were built up in my eyes finally fled. It started out slow, like a steady creek. Then, it turned into a rushing river. It kept getting worse and worse. The sobs racked my chest and I wrapped myself up in my arms to keep my chest from falling apart. I threw the phone against the wall in frustration. How could he do this to me? We had been together for so long, and then suddenly it’s just cut off. Not even the decency to tell me in person. A scream built in my throat but I knew that if I screamed my mother would hear and get involved. Instead, I slammed my fist against my mirror and grabbed all the photos of us. Pieces of glass stuck in my skin leaving bloody trails down my arms but I didn’t care. I ripped them in half and threw them on the floor. The harder I cried the harder it was to breathe and the harder it was to breathe the more I sobbed. Just an endless cycle of pain. I fell to the floor and passed out.

--

Her bloody arms didn’t seem to do the trick. The angel of death herself would think this scene was gruesome. Her tears had been stained and were red from her blood and she lay limp on the floor looking dead already. Her skin was paler, almost translucent. Eyes closed, her black hair spread around her like veil of black lace. Her head had thick, red blood seeping out and the glass on the floor cut through her jeans and into her legs. Even in this poor state she continued to cry and sob. Breath continued to evade her. Her mother heard the crash and went up the stairs to see what was going on. She knocked on her door,

“Jackie?” She put her ear to the door to listen for an answer. When no answer came she knocked again, “Jackie?” She opened the door and the scene she saw made her speechless. She fell to her knees and checked for a pulse. It was faint, but there nonetheless. A sigh of relief slipped between her lips. She called 911 and picked the glass out of Jackie’s arms and legs. The ambulance barreled down the street and barged into the house plucking her out of her mother’s arms and into the ambulance.

As they rushed her to the hospital, they took many tests on her to find out why she would not wake from her sleep. After all the tests were taken, they still couldn’t figure out why she wouldn’t awaken.

--

He frowned at the phone. Why had she not texted back? He knew it was cold the way he let her down. It was cruel and terrible. He couldn’t have done it in person though. Her big blue eyes would have seen right through him. He’d take it back like he always did and hold her close trying to ease her crying. They’d danced this dance before, and he wanted to end it now. Actually, it wasn’t that he wanted to end it, but he saw no other option. His time was spent with only her and it revolved around her. Her with eyes that made him melt, and her tiny body the way it fit right next to his. Her black hair that hung just below her shoulder blades in delicate curls, which always seemed to catch the light just right. In her bright colored shirts and black skinny jeans. He called her house, giving up on the breakup wanting her back. The ringing tone was relentless in his ears and then her pretty bell-like voice came on the answering machine.

“Ugh,” he grunted and tried her cell again. The same result as before. He closed his phone in frustration and decided to go to her house. He took his keys off the hook and climbed into his red truck. He started the car and went to her house. When he arrived at the empty house he didn’t bother ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door. The window to her room was always unlocked so he could get in during late nights. Climbing the tree, he opened the window and stared wide eyed at the scene in front of him. The dresser drawer mirror was shattered on the floor with blood splattered on it. The pictures of them ripped in half, ashes at the bottom of her trash can. He rushed to the hospital where he knew she must be.

--

I was floating inside my body. It was like I was there, but not. I couldn’t hear anything or see, but my eyes could have been closed. I’m not too sure because I can’t seem to move any part of my body. I can’t move a finger but I can tighten and loosen muscles. Instead of being useless I decided to go through my memories. I started with the first time I met Jason. He had brown hair at the time and we were in kindergarten. My hair had been pulled up into pigtails and his kept falling in his face. I had on a pink sundress and he had on a t-shirt and jeans. I thought that even with cooties he was adorable, and he really was. He wasn’t too tall but he had been bigger than me and he had piercing green eyes that make me want to melt. We started talking about little things like our paintings and our friends but we were meant for each other. Then I thought about our first kiss. It was picture day in 3^rd grade and I was ready for it. My hair was loose around my shoulders and just like in kindergarten, his hair wouldn’t cooperate. I had laughed and helped because we were best friends. He had asked for a kiss and his face had been bright red across the cheeks. I nodded and kissed him on the cheek. At the last second, he turned his head and I ended up kissing his lips. It had been sweet and sneaky, which made it just that much better.

--

Now from above the scene looked quite different than the normal hospital scene. Jackie was lying still on the paper sheets and her veins seemed to show through her skin. She still looked beautiful but it was so different than her usual look. The heartbeat meter next to her sung a steady tune that showed she was alive. Her mother sat in the chair next to the bed reading a newspaper. Both of them were still crying. The newspaper was soaked so she put it down and grabbed an old magazine. Jason was looking through the window and he sank down the glass and sat with his forehead pressed against the wall. If you listened closely you could hear him say,

“I love her, and now I’m going to lose her.” Like her mother, he was crying. He cried for his broken heart, the girl who was gone, the memories he held close, and everything else he had lost with that stupid text.

--

Jason stared at her in the bed. He had a flashback to the week before. He had snuck up to her window with a rose in his mouth. She had laughed and invited him in. It wasn’t a red rose, it was a yellow one. For a reward he had been able to hold her in bed. They didn’t do anything bad, just held each other in their arms as they slept. He sighed and looked at the pale floor. If she woke up he would take her back and never leave her again. Her mother came out and let him go in.

“I’m going for coffee. You can be with her now.” She left him there and it took him a minute to compose himself. The room was not colorful and if he had been stuck here he would have driven himself crazy. He sat in the wooden chair next to her and took one of her cool hands into his. She was so cold, like she was already dead. The heart monitor quickened and he took that as a good sign.

“Hey Jackie,” he started and looked at her. Her lips twitched into a slight smile and he beamed. He thought maybe he could help her get out of this. “It’s Jason. I wanted to tell you I’m so sorry for what I did.” The tears on her face seemed to run faster down her cheeks. “I want you back, we always went together. I love you and I’m so sorry that I would hurt you like this. Please wake up.” He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. The heart monitor beeped like crazy as he pulled away. A nurse came in and moved him to the side of her. She started pumping her heart as the beep got very low. Her eyes shot open and looked around the room for him. When she saw him, she beamed and then her blue eyes filled with tears again and she sobbed.

“I love you.” She said quietly, “Why..?” Her voice trailed off and the beep stopped altogether. He started sobbing looking down at the girl who had once been his to hold and love.

--

I had just finished the memory when I felt someone take me hand. They were strong and firm. My lips twitched slightly in a smile and I relaxed as I got my hearing back. I could hear him talk and heard the steady beat my monitor was singing. I thought it was quicker than usual but shrugged it off.

“Hey Jackie,” I loved the sound of his voice. It was perfect and all mine. “It’s Jason. I wanted to tell you I’m so sorry for what I did.” I cried harder when I remembered the text he had sent me. “I want you back, we always went together. I love you and I’m so sorry that I would hurt you like this. Please wake up.” I felt him kiss me and it felt like I was in heaven. The beeping screeched and then faltered. I woke up and shot up in bed. I looked at him and he was afraid. I could see it on his face. Then I sobbed like I had before. I felt my heart fail slowly.

“I love you,” I said quietly and sadly. “Why..?” I never finished that sentence. My heart failed at the last second and fell to the bed. That day, I died of a broken heart and no one will know. The doctors will be puzzled and say it was an accident. My mother would grieve and Jason would love me still

-A year later-

Jason walked up the dirt road. Gripped in his hand were a dozen roses, red, yellow, white, and pink. He’s wearing a suit and a red tie for his lost girl. He stopped and looked at the grave. ‘Jackie Mathews June 1994-October 2010 RIP’. That didn’t sum her up in the least. He sat down on the slot beside her and thunked his head against the grave.

“I want her back,” then he began to cry. He felt a whisper of wind and looked behind him. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. She was beautiful black hair that was curled in delicate ringlets and caught the light just right, blue eyes that looked like ocean waters, and thick eyelashes that were covered in blue mascara. “Jackie?” He asked quickly and looked at the girl. She sat down and smiled at him, revealing perfect white teeth.

“It’s me, Jason.” Her voice sounded like a whisper of wind. He reached out surprised he could feel her. She sat in his lap and took his hands and put them in hers.

“Why did you die?” He asked quietly and held her to him.

“I died of a heart break Jason. Your text hurt me so much that I trashed my room and went into a coma. After that I was going to ask you why you left me, but I died,” her eyes were wet again from the sadness. He was speechless, it was his fault she had died that way, so young. “I don’t blame you for anything though, but please wait for me.” He couldn’t feel her as much. She was drifting away.

“What do you mean?” Wind whirled around them as she kept fading away.

“Wait for my reincarnation, and then I’ll be yours again,” she stood up and got out of his lap. “Promise me, Jason” she begged flickering in and out of sight.

“I promise,” he said. She kissed him sealing his promise. “I love you,” he sighed as she disappeared completely and he looked at the grave again. It looked like her face carved in stone and then, it went away. “I will get her again,” he smiled wide and put his hand on the gravestone. His girl. He left the roses there and walked away slowly.

Abuse and Suicide

--Prologue--

On the floor lay multiple pills. Next to them is a dead girl. Maggie’s eyes are staring at nothing and she lays limp on the floor. The orange bottle is open in her hand and the pills must have fallen out of it. If you saw the scene from above you would say Maggie looked peaceful because of the smile on her face. You would be wrong. Maggie’s not happy with her life, or was. She’s smiling because her end is finally here and she no longer has to deal with it. Deal with the agony of her mother dying and her father beating her.

--

Maggie looked around as she treaded carefully on the worn, wooden stairs. She would be careful this time, not like yesterday. Her father had been drunk again. You could tell from the purple bruises on her arms and legs he was very dunk and not just buzzed. No one had believed her when she said her dad was abusive, but who would? From the way she acted and held herself with her head held high you would never tell. During the winter it was easy to hide her bruises and cuts. That’s why she always left for summer camp during the summer.

“What are you doing street rat?” Her father called from down below looking at her with hatred in his eyes. He was not a pleasant person in the least. He had thinning gray hair and had a large gut. Often, you would find a beer bottle gripped in his hand.

“I was just going upstairs, dad.” She was scared and it shone on her face. In reality she was very fragile compared to others. After her mother had died of childbirth her father blamed her for it. She looked down at him from the top of the stairs. “I’ll be quiet, I swear.” She whimpered as he bounded up the stairs with a deep frown on his face. He grabbed her by the hand and threw her down the stairs. She screamed as she fell to the ground with a large thud. She tried scampering away from him, like a wounded puppy, it didn’t work. She had doubted it would but had tried anyways. He kicked her while she was down and he left. After he left she slowly stood up and wiped the blood off of her arms. New bruises were forming already.

--

That last round of beating had left her with a slight limp in her right leg. When she arrived at school the next day and she limped around it no one had questioned her. Her friends talked and laughed and she pretended to do the same. This was typical. In class she got an A on her math test and she thought maybe if I show daddy this he won’t beat me tonight. Maybe not so hard at least. She had always been the optimist. She smiled slightly and rubbed her arms flinching when she rubbed a dark purple bruise.

“Do you want to come over tonight?” Asked Melissa who was walking with Maggie to the house. She had seen the bruises one day but hadn’t questioned Maggie, thinking she had fallen.

“I would, but I have homework.” She said apologetically. Maggie rolled her eyes and shifted her backpack off of her throbbing shoulder. Her red hair hung past her shoulders and whipped around in the frigid wind.

“Oh, okay.” Melissa sighed and walked away toward her yellow house on the end of the block. Maggie stepped carefully up to the house. It wasn’t her home, just a house that she lived in. The wooden door creaked softly as it swung open. In the doorway stood her father. He grabbed her by the arm and flung her into the house slamming the door in the process.

“Where have you been?” He demanded at her. “If you can’t come home on time than I’ll teach you a lesson!” He slapped her across the face. She fell to the floor in pain and curled into a ball to keep her from being beaten so badly. He kicked her and she let it happen. “Maybe that will keep you from being such a bad kid!” He yelled and stomped away from her. Her blue eyes looked up to make sure he had really gone. When she decided he had, she stood up carefully and held her arm. It was broken. She went up the stairs and stood in front of her mirror. It was as tall as her. She closed the door and changed into a tank top and shorts to sleep in. She looked at herself again. It was time to call somebody, to make this stop hurting. She picked up the phone and dialed a 9 and a 1. She chewed on her split lip and pressed the last 1.

“This is 911, what is your emergency?” Said the voice on the other end of the line.

“H-hello. M-my name is Maggie C-Cole. I’m b-being b-beaten by m-my father. I-I think he b-broke m-my arm.” She stuttered terribly.

“Don’t worry, help is on the way,” the voice soothed. She hung up the phone and curled up on the bed covering her face with her hands and she sobbed. Sirens whined in the distance and then the police cars barreled down the street along with a white ambulance. The paramedics found her on the bed and put her on the long stretcher. When she was secured safely they went down the stairs carefully. Maggie looked at the police car and saw her father being cuffed with glistening, silver cuffs. As they reached the hospital they pushed her through the sterile halls. After a good while they reached a room with the numbers 122 printed on a small plaque by the door. She passed out as they worked on her arm.

--

When she woke up her arm was in a cast and only the sterile walls of her room stared back at her. She sighed in relief and tried to sit up when a pretty nurse swept into the room. She had red locks that fell well past her shoulders and startling green eyes. She exposed some little, white teeth as she smiled. Further expecting and Maggie didn’t think this lady was a nurse. She was dreaming, she had to be, this was her mother looking at her. Her name use to be Morgan before she died.

“Mom?” Maggie croaked. She sounded like a 50 year old who had smoked a pack a day all their life, and not a 13 year old girl.

“Hello sweetie,” the image smiled at her and sat in the chair beside the bed. Her slender fingers brushed over Maggie’s red curls. “I knew you were going to be beautiful when you grew up.” She complimented and put her finger under Maggie’s chin. “I’m sorry your father did this to you. I honestly thought he was a good man until well, this.” Her mother shook her head slowly and a slight frown flashed across her pretty face. The image slowly began to fade as she was beginning to wake NO! She cried in her mind. As she actually woke up she looked at her nurse and two police officers.

--                                                                                                       

She sat in the chair at the police station and looked up at the police. She had been questioned about her father. They had left a minute ago to talk it over. She looked up as the female officer came in and sat across from her. She put her hand over Maggie’s good hand and gave her a sympathetic look. Maggie’s mouth gaped; they were going to let him go and her with him!

“We don’t have any hard evidence of his abuse; we have to let him go. I’m very sorry.” The lady stood up and left Maggie in the room. She stared at the gray wall in total disbelief. The evidence was her broken arm and the bruises scattered across her body. Instead of breakdown in the tiny little questioning room she stood up and left. She was released in her father’s care.  She cringed away from him as they walked and cradled her broken arm. She got in the backseat of his car and pressed against the cold, metal door. They drove home silently. It was worse than when he screamed, you knew what was going to happen.  As the large house came into view he opened the garage door and got out of the car as it rolled into the garage. He was going to crash her and the car. She didn’t want to die so she threw herself out of the car two seconds before it slammed into the garage and crunched the front half of the car and the glass shot into the backseat. She didn’t look behind her as she ran into the house and up the stairs to her room. Gasping for air, she looked at the pills the doctor had told her to take. She took one and cowered into the far wall as his booming feet came right up to the door. The handle shook on the door, for she had locks on this door keeping it from opening.

“LET ME IN!” He howled behind the door and then she saw the actual door shake. He was kicking her door. In fear she ran into the bathroom and locked that door, going into the cupboard under the sink. He would ever look there for her. The door to her bedroom broke down and he screamed murderous things as he ransacked her room. Then the bathroom door was broken down and he ripped the shower curtain from the pole above it. He didn’t see her so he went to the window and when he saw it was open he thought she had snuck out. His stomping became fainter and she relaxed barely. She climbed out of the cramped cupboard and peeked her head around the open doorway. Her room was trashed; the comforter was on the floor, her clothes were ripped and were laying on top of that, her pictures were crashed on her toppled over dresser, the guitar she kept under the bed was ruined and broken, and the only thing she really cared about was broken. The picture of her mother before the day she died. She picked the glass out of the frame and carefully took the picture out. She swallowed the lump in her throat and grabbed her pocket knife from the tiny drawer in her jewelry box. She looked down at herself and opened it slowly. Her eyes took in the sharp razor blade and a sad smile spread across her face. She ran her thumb over the jagged blade and a scarlet trail fell down the side. She shook her head. I don’t want to die this way. She thought and closed the blade again. She sucked on her thumb to get the blood off of it. She carefully set the knife back down and backed away from it, disgusted from she had almost just done. She backed into the wall and she slid down onto the floor. She tangled her fingers in her hair and put her head on her knees. Maggie thought about screaming, just to get this edge off, but that would alert her father where she was. No need to get hit, again. This wasn’t going to get any better any time soon, she realized. The suicidal thoughts drifted through her mind. Do it, you know you want to! End your suffering already! It just takes one tiny motion! Do it! The thoughts screeched the words in her mind. She turned her face to the knife again and shook her head hard. She clutched the still bleeding hand to her chest. Her pale cheeks were wet and glistening under the lights. The window was open and it was the dead of night. She packed her stuff in a duffel bag and visibly chewed on her lip. She grabbed a pair of black sweats and a black hoodie. She tucked her red hair into the hoodie and put it up. She yanked on the sweats with her good hand. She slung the duffel over her shoulder and winced as it hit one of her many bruises. She ground her teeth together and she pushed the window up more. Her room was easy to sneak out of. She walked across her roof till the end and slid down from the ledge. She dangled there a few seconds to calculate her fall. She would live she decided and she let go of the roof falling into a soft drift of snow. She snuck over to Melissa’s house and slept there.

-Next Day-

Maggie stood on the driveway looking up at her large house. Her father was in the kitchen and to get to the stairs you had to pass the kitchen. She treaded around the house and found a window she could sneak through to get to the stairs. She skillfully jumped through the window making almost no noise as she hit the floor. She ran up the stairs swiftly and silently until the last one squeaked. She turned around abruptly to see it the tiny noise had affected her father. Nothing that was a good sign. She climbed over her toppled over door. She stepped into her room and set the duffel bag on her bed.  She looked at the window and the small pile of snow. She shut the window and grabbed her small blanket and wrapped herself up in it. She went into her ruined bathroom and grabbed the pills off of her sink. She read the label ‘2 a day’. She pursed her lips and grabbed two out of the container. She swallowed one, and then the other. She put the cap back on and on the side of her sink. She studied her face in the cracked mirror. Her green eyes were shifty and looked close to tears. Her red curls were messy and wild. All of her skin was decorated with black and blue bruises ranging from the size of a ping pong ball all the way up to a soup can. She didn’t look healthy with the deep bags under her eyes. Maggie wondered what her father had been like before her mother had died. She lay down on the cold, white, tile floor. She fell into a peaceful dream, and like she had wanted her mother had shown up. They talked and did what a mother and daughter would do if she weren’t dead. Too soon, she woke up from her perfect dream. She compared this dream to her reality and pounded on the wall with her fists. The comparison was so bad, she felt like crying again. The suicidal thoughts raised their ugly heads at her sadness. You saw it already Maggie. If you just take too many of those pills you will be free! Away from this ugly world and into the next! Don’t you want your mother back? You’ll have her if you just take them. Take them… She looked at the bottle on the counter and didn’t suppress her thoughts. She was too depressed to care about her own death. She grabbed 7 pills and sat back down onto the floor. She took one after another not pausing for a brake. She smiled and then began to shake. Her entire body shook but the entire time, as her body endured agony she smiled. It didn’t bother her at all. As soon as she stopped shaking the smile was still plastered on her face and died. She fell over so that her head was back on the floor. The orange bottle poured her pills onto the floor.

--                                       

Maggie died that night of a suicide. She wasn’t bullied like some, or just depressed like others. She was beaten and was killed by an overdose.