03

CHAPTERS 03

My pillow is now soaking wet with my tears. I can’t bear living with Tuck anymore.

I can’t even count how many bruises he has created on my body.

But what am I going to do out there ? Where will I live ?

How am I going to afford a living ? I’m just a teenager who is still finishing high school.

How will such a little money I gain from my part-time job be able to help me own a shelter ?

I grip my pillow, my chest tightening as I remember that Mom had been working hard her entire life to save money for my future, including my college.

If only I knew where she kept it.

Tuck has been trying to find it too. He has used violence against me to make me speak, but how can I tell him when I don’t even know about it either ?

I’ve made a vow to myself that when that day finally comes, when I find it, I will disappear from his sight. I’ll be gone from here.

The morning sun comes through my bedroom window as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Just like any other day, I’m getting ready for school.

Most of my friends hate Monday, but I can’t wait for it. School is the place where I can escape from Tuck and this house.

I glance at my wristwatch. The class won’t start until two and a half hours later, but I can’t wait that long. The earlier, the better.

A sigh leaves my lips as I put the final touch for my look. My glasses. The initial reason why I’m wearing it is to avoid Tuck’s rage, to make the effect of these sky blue eyes less dramatic for him, but then it becomes a habit.

I don’t know when it started, but my glasses and I have become inseparable.

With my bangs hanging low above my eyebrows, my unstylish brown hair falling on my shoulder, and these thick glasses, I look nothing less like a bookworm. I actually am, and that’s why I chose to work part-time in a book store.

Please, Monday. Be good to me today.

I can’t help but utter that pray silently in my heart, hoping to encounter something good today. I’m already fed up with my messed-up life.

I wait at the bus stop, holding the straps of my backpack. When it finally arrives, people start to hop in, and I follow them.

The bus is quite packed today, as usual. But since I come earlier, it’s not as bad as it will be an hour later.

Making my way through the bus corridor, I find out that all the seats are already taken. I have no choice but to keep standing, holding onto the handle.

It’s when I look outside the window that something catches my attention.

A familiar figure walks into this bus. I immediately recognize him because he attends the same school. And he’s very popular.

Jake Spencer. The football team’s captain. The guy that most of the girls in my high school drool over.

I’ve seen him plenty of times, most often at lunch break, during which he usually sits at the popular table with his football buddies and some girls from the cheer team.

It’s not like I’m purposely looking for him, but his picture-perfect existence is just too eyecatching for my eyes to avoid.

Now, even as I watch him hopping into the bus from such a distance, I can see how his masculinity can intimidate other guys and how his messy blonde hair fits his dark blue eyes perfectly.

I quickly look away when the bus starts to move. Damn. I doubt that he recognizes me, so it will be awkward if he catches me gawking at him.

While I’m staring outside the bus window, I can’t help but wonder why Jake Spencer is even taking this bus.

Isn’t he like…super rich ?

Why didn’t he bring his car to school as usual ? I’ve noticed it before that he has a shiny toy. I don’t know about cars, but his is just as intimidating as the owner.

The sound of cellphone ringing echoes, and when I hear him pick it up, I can sense that he’s standing not so far away from me even though my back is facing him.

« Shit. Coach is going to yell at me, isn’t he ? » he groans, speaking on the phone. « My car is broken, dammit. I’ll be there in no time, Matt. » With that said, he hangs up.

Oh. So, he’s coming early for football practice. And there’s a problem with his car.

It’s funny how I could get my answer just like that. Like magic. It’s not like I’m in a fiction book or Korean drama.

I sigh, involuntary wondering when I’ll ever get my own car.

If I had one and Mom were still here, I would take her to various places. Fun places. A sad smile tugs at my lips as I think about that.

The ride to school continues with nothing unusual happening. Right. I’m sure of that, until I feel something weird is happening.

My heart beats twice as I feel a hand caressing my thigh. I shudder. I can also feel the heavy breath of the middle-aged man standing behind me.

Pervert.

Geez. Doesn’t this shameful human being have anything else to do other than targeting young girls to molest ?

I start to hate myself for wearing this skirt today – I just want to start my Monday by wearing something pretty.

And it’s not like I’m wearing a mini skirt. It’s knee-length, and from the way it looks, I doubt that it can even arouse any of the guys in my high school.

A lot of other girls wear something way prettier and sexier.

Closing my eyes in frustration, I hold my breath as I feel the man’s rough skin continues caressing my thigh. A gasp almost escapes from my mouth when his hand goes up higher under my skirt.

Quickly, I move away, but there’s not much space for me to escape him, and he easily traps me again. Oh, God, has no other single soul in this bus noticed what’s happening ?

No, they clearly haven’t, have they ? All of them are too occupied in their morning routines.

The man suddenly grabs my ass fully with his hands, making me yelp. I suddenly decide to just scream for help, but before I can do so, I hear the man groaning in pain.

What ?