“Where have you been?” he asks, standing directly behind me.
“Been busy. How have you been?” I ask, changing the subject. The cashier gives me a weird look and walks away from the register as I finish paying.
“I want to ask you out for dinner,” he states, his beautiful eyes boring into mine. I don’t want to reject him, but I feel I have to. I don’t know exactly what is going on with Kai, but I do want to see where it goes.
“I can’t, I’m sorry. Plus, I don’t even know your first name.”
He gives me a puzzled look and answers, “Tyke.”
I give him a skeptical look. I know that name, I just don’t know how.
“How about lunch tomorrow if you won’t indulge me with your presence for dinner?” He raises an eyebrow as if to challenge me. I’d still feel wrong, so I tell him again.
“Tyke, I’m sorry I can’t. Thank you for asking me though.”
“Are you seeing someone, Kristy?” he asks as I go to walk past him. I stop and turn around to face him.
“I’m not sure,” I tell him honestly, because I really don’t know if I am.
“Well, when you’re sure, and you realize, and you will realize, that he isn’t good enough for you, come and find me. I will be waiting for you.” He leaves and his words float around me like he knows what’s best for me.
I arrive at the dorm and I literally run straight into Bianca. My coffee goes directly down her top and she starts screaming and swearing. I try to apologize, but to no avail. The stare she gives me when she realizes it was me that did it is one of pure evil.
“You fucking little bitch,” she screams. I apologize again and offer to clean it up, but she slaps me so hard across the face, my vision blurs. I take a step back and slam into the wall, dropping the remainder of my coffee to the floor. I look up to her with tears brimming in my eyes and see the devil inside hers.
“You think you’re so fucking beautiful, don’t you? I see you prancing around in your little outfits. I see the men you fuck. I’m sick of it and I’m sick of you.” She grabs a fistful of hair, pulls my face down so I’m looking at her pink shoes, and uppercuts me straight in the nose. I hear it crack and scream out in pain. She lets go of my hair and I drop to the floor, curling into a fetal position to try my best to protect myself from her. Her feet connect with my abdominal area while I continue to scream. She doesn’t stop there though; she kicks me all over my body while swearing at me in the process. When I think she’s finished, I uncurl myself just enough to look up and her fist connects with my eye socket.
“Fuck off, country, and don’t come back.” I watch with my good eye as she walks away and touch my face with my free hand that isn’t holding my abdomen.
“Kristy, what on earth happened to you?” I turn my bruised face slightly to see Leanne, my roommate, looking down at me. She leans down to help me stand and I collapse against the wall. She places her arm around my stomach and I cry out in pain from her touch.
“Fuck,” she swears under her breath and moves her hand lower to my waist. She takes that as a good position, mainly because I don’t scream out in pain. She manages to get me to my bed and I collapse on it, trying to avoid hurting myself even more. “I need to call a doctor,” she says, placing an ice pack on my eye.
“No, it’s fine, nothing’s broken,” I tell her and try to give her a weak smile, but the movement makes me groan out in agony.
“Can I call someone for you?” she asks, looking lost. I can tell I’ve put her in an awkward position. I don’t blame her as we haven’t had a full conversation since I have been here.
I tell her no, and that I’ll be fine. She gets me a washcloth before she leaves and tells me to call if I need her. I lay there in pain, wondering how one person can be so evil.
“You know that no one is allowed to touch you, right?” my mother says while we have breakfast.
“Yes Momma, only you and Daddy. Daddy has already told me,” I whisper. Sometimes their questions don’t make any sense.
“No sweetie, not even Daddy. If Daddy touches you, you need to tell me,” she says, grabbing my arms and placing her face at eye level with mine.
“Daddy told me not to say anything, my lips are sealed. Scout’s honor,” I say with a salute. She shakes her head at me, grabs the home phone and takes off.
I wake with a start, breathing heavily I hear my cell beeping. I glance over at it and notice I’ve been asleep for six hours. I touch my face, feel that my eye has swollen shut and my face is severely bruised. My ribs ache with a pain like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I can barely reach my cell without screaming out in pain, and when I do, I notice I have three missed calls from Kai, as well as two messages. One message is from him and one is from Julia.