Look how pretty she is when she falls down →
It wasn’t as if Jaxx particularly favored the days of the week to begin with, however waiting until next Thursday was truly hell on earth. The days between seemed to drag and drag, especially when she’d see Amelia at school, catching the girl brushing her hair over her shoulder as she chatted to her mini-me’s in the cafeteria, it was only when Jaxx felt her breath actually catch one of the times she caught the action that she knew she needed to come to her senses. She just had to wait a few more days then she could have Amelia all to herself again, to kiss her, touch her, make her blush and hopefully make her moan. Truly it was all that was getting Jaxx through the week were the thoughts of having Amelia in her arms once more.
Groaning as her alarm went off Jaxx dug around her bed, reaching for her phone to quickly shut it off only to instantly grin as she noticed the date. Thursday. Fucking finally.
Bringing up her text conversation with Amelia she quickly ran her fingers against the buttons.
“Sup Sleepin’ Beauty. I’ll see you after school.”
Was it still lame to put an x or an o? It totally was and she wasn’t that lame, no way in hell. Even if she really wanted to.
Rolling off of her mattress and on to the floor Jaxx groaned a little to herself as she stood up, stretching her arms over her head and wincing as her ribs stretched. They were getting better but still not a hundred percent yet. But getting there, another thing she truly credited to Amelia.
Making her way into the kitchen once her teeth were brushed and she’d gotten dressed Jaxx was just about to scrounge around in the cupboards for something to eat when she heard her phone go off, instantly pulling it out of her pocket she smiled a little to herself as she noticed the rose and crown lighting up the screen, meaning Amelia had replied.
“Little early for your Johns dont you think?” Came her fathers voice from the kitchen table.
Rolling her eyes Jaxx went to reply to the text, only getting a few letters typed before her phone was quickly knocked out of her hand and on to the ground.
“Focus up when someone’s talking to you.”
Shaking her head and sighing a little Jaxx bent down to grab her phone, just as she went to close her fingers around it her fingers soon found themselves squished under the toe of her father’s boot.
“Fuu…alright I’m listening,” she panted, attempting to pull her hand away only to wince as her father put more pressure on to her hand before he moved his foot. Cradling her hand to her chest Jaxx sighed a little to herself as she glanced at her already red fingers.
“I’m really not in the mood for this, I’m going to school.” she commented, using her own foot to kick her phone away from the table and her father before she bent down to grab it, making sure to stand up quickly this time.
“Who are you talking to?” her father demanded, giving Jaxx a look that made her feel like he could see right through her.
“Uh huh, you expect me to believe you have those?”
“I don’t expect you to ever believe anything I say,” Jaxx replied with a shrug.
“No,” Came the instant reply as she went to shove the device into her pocket. The moment her phone was away was the same moment her father forcefully stood up from his chair, swallowing thickly Jaxx went to back up only to end up smacking into the fridge.
“Just a friend huh? What are you hiding.” He demanded, getting closer.
“Nothing, it’s just none of your damn business.”
Clearly this was the wrong thing to say as soon her father was lunging at her, shoving her up against the fridge and trying to snatch her phone back.
“Fuck off! It’s mine,” She exclaimed, attempting to shove him off, which she managed to for a moment and within those split few seconds Jaxx took the opportunity to swing out and connect her fist directly with her father’s face.
Looking wide eyed as it connected what she had done all signs started flashing ‘abort!!” in her head as she went to scramble out the back door, only to have her father grab the back of her jacket and forcefully tug her back into the kitchen. Using his hold on her to his advantage as he shoved her up against the fridge, keeping a strong hand against her back to hold her in place while the other roughly pinned her head against the fridge door.
“Now that wasn’t very smart was it? Considering we’ve both seen you can’t even win a fight, that was pretty damn stupid of you.”
Attempting to struggle against his hold Jaxx groaned as he took the hand holding her head to pull it back and push it against the door once more.
“You come at me again, I’m gonna hurt you bad. You understand me?”
“Y-Yeah…” she mumbled, stumbling into the kitchen chairs as her father shoved her towards them.
Watching as he walked over to the counter Jaxx looked down at her hand, noticing her fingers still bruising and swollen she narrowed her gaze at them. Catching the reflective glint of something in the corner of her eye she let her gaze travel over to the drying rack on the counter, her eyes falling on the meat tenderizer in the rack. Taking a glance between the tool and the back of her father’s head everything seemed to move in an instant as before she knew it she had her fingers curled around the handle, arm raised towards her father as she moved behind him. Only he ended up catching her reflection in the glass of the cupboards before she could land a hit on him, quickly spinning around he grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her closer and landing a harsh punch to the middle of her face, causing her to drop the tenderizer. However the punches kept coming, and coming.
Jaxx found herself falling in and out of consciousness, with every hit, however the last one had her father holding her up by her shirt as her legs gave out underneath her.
“You don’t fucking listen do you? You disrespectful little bitch.” With one last hit to her face he tossed her on to the floor, her head being the first thing that hit against the linoleum tile.
“Told you not to do that.” Her father stated simply, walking out of the kitchen and leaving Jaxx in a bloody heap on the floor.
Barely able to keep her eyes open, tasting nothing but iron on her tongue as her mouth pooled with blood the last thing Jaxx could think of was the fact she didn’t fully text Amelia back before everything went black.
Slowly opening her eyes and realizing she could barely open the right one Jaxx winced as she slowly uncurled her fingers, feeling the cool tile around her she began to gain consciousness once more, the moment her vision focused and she could see the chair and table legs that was when everything came flooding back to her, what had happened, where she was, along with the throbbing pain in her face.
“A-Amelia….” Attempting to look around she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, slumping against the cupboards she pulled her phone out, noticing the time and the fact it was well into the night now. She must have passed out, for the whole damn day.
Shifting a little more to try to situate herself to type a text to Amelia she found she couldn’t focus on the screen, everything was blurry, her head was pounding, this was never going to work. For all she knew Amelia would think she’d blown her off and never want to see her again.
Of all days, why did this have to happen on a damn Thursday.
With a lot of effort Jaxx managed to use the cupboards to pull herself up into a standing position. Trying to push down the instant feeling of nausea she felt. Okay, she could do this. Taking a few minutes to steady herself at least until she could walk.
Once she found her footing Jaxx stumbled her way out the door and into the cool night air. She knew she could go to the bathroom, access the damage, clean herself up. But all she could think of right now was one thing, one person. The only place she wanted to be.
It took a long time to walk the distance and for a big part of it Jaxx had thought she was walking in the complete wrong direction until they came into view. The rose bushes.
Breathing a small sigh of relief she glanced the house over, noticing a light on in one of the upstairs rooms, what she was hoping was a bedroom. Shaking her head a little to try and focus her vision she looked over everything again with more detail this time, trying to plan out her route.
Making her way closer to the house she hooked her fingers into the lattice, instantly wincing as her swollen fingers made their discomfort known. Telling herself to toughen up she sucked in a breath as she hoisted herself up, making sure not to damage any of the rose bushes along the way as she climbed. Pushing herself onto a small side roof she sighed a little in relief, okay half way.
Cradling her head in her hands for a moment as the world started to spin once more she groaned internally. Just a little bit more.
Blinking a few times as she got her gaze to focus she noticed the window she’d been looking at was getting closer, and lucky for her there was a ledge in the siding.
Crawling across the roof she curled her fingers around the ledge, pulling herself up and quickly wedging her foot against the ledge to keep her held up. Managing to get high enough to peek into the room in question. Well it was a bedroom for sure, however an empty one.
Maybe it was Amelia’s, maybe she would come back. It was worth a shot, after all worse comes to worse the St.James parents call the cops on her, hell it would be better than going home.
Raising her hand she lightly knocked on the window, pausing for a moment to make sure neither of Amelia’s parents came into the room before she lightly knocked again.
She knew her biggest concern should have been her appearance. She could only imagine what she looked like, knowing her eye must be bruised and bloodshot, considering she could taste dried blood on her lips she was sure there was some around there still as well, and who the hell knows what else was wrong with her considering the way her head was pounding and her vision kept getting blurry at random times.
Sure she should probably be in a hospital, or a mental institution, but all she wanted right now was the girl she was praying would hear her knocking.
"Sup Sleepin’ Beauty. I’ll see you after school.”
Nothing could dim Amelia’s smile that morning, not Charlie finishing her favorite cereal before she could grab a bowl at breakfast, not Stacy’s too-nasally voice cornering her with tedious gossip when she got to school, not even the surprise pop quiz that Mr. Molina gave them in first period. Nothing could even come close because today she’d see Jaxx. Today, she’d be free. Free from expectations, free from appearances. Free to be only what she wanted to be, which was to be wrapped in her arms, lips peppering kisses on soft flesh while her hands trailed places she only dared herself to imagine when she was alone in her room sans any interruptions.
Glances around her she spared when no one minded her too much, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jaxx somewhere down the hall, tall and leather-clad with that smirk that drove her to question how she could ever have thought to resist her at all, but no such luck would she find. Instead, she checked her phone underneath desks and cafeteria tables, seeing the familiar three dots that signified ‘typing...’ but no response ever came. Only then did she allow her once too-bright smile to diminish, allowing room for a pursed lip — concentrated, nervous.
School dragged then, the long hand of the clock seeming even slower than the small, neither in any hurry to free her from boring lectures that couldn’t quite take her mind off the burning question on her mind, “Why hasn’t Jaxx replied to me?” Over and over she glanced at her response to her text that morning, wondering if it was too dull or too eager, too desperate or too easygoing. She dissected her words every which way she could, but no answers would give her as much relief as One. Fucking Reply.
Once school let out, her excitement piqued once more, if only to satiate the nervous feeling bundling deeper and deeper in her chest, something feeling... off. Not quite right. She waited where she and Jaxx agreed upon earlier in the week, rocking back and forth on her heels as cars came and went, none Jaxx’s all too familiar pick-up truck she hoped would show up any minute. But minute turned to minutes. And then half an hour. And then an hour. And halfway into the second, long when the sun began to set and her feet went sore from standing so long did she come to the conclusion that no one was coming.
The walk home that evening felt akin to a walk of shame; only, her one shame was thinking this could be different. That this would matter to Jaxx as much as it mattered to her.
Dinner was quiet, even for the St. Jameses, and Amelia hardly ate her food, pushing back and forth some peas on her plate until she could finally excuse herself and be left alone. Homework went untouched, deciding her essay could be pushed off one more day, and instead she readied herself for bed, brushing her teeth and washing her face seemingly in a trance, gaze unfocused in the mirror because she knew if she looked at herself, really, truly looked at herself, she’d unleash something that hurt too much to even think of. And once she started crying, she wasn’t sure if she’d have the will to stop. Puffy eyes and a snotty nose suited no one, let alone Amelia.
She took another passing glance at the messages on her phone she left to Jaxx as she walked down the hallway and back to her room.
"Someone’s late. It better be because you’re getting me a bouquet this time. 😉”
“Fashionably late? So not as cute as you think.”
“Hey, are we still on? It’s been, like, 30 minutes.”
“Jaxx, is everything okay?”
“You know, if you wanted to prove a point, point taken. You’re a dick.”
“If you didn’t want to hang out, you could’ve just said so. You didn’t have to stand me up like a douchebag.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.”
“Don’t talk to me ever again.”
Turning into her room, she tossed her phone on her bed, sighing, and was just about to follow suit in plopping down onto the comforter when the sudden knock at her window made her jump. Heart thumping in her chest, she couldn’t make out the dark figure she could only barely see perched at her windowsill. Her mind told her to turn on her heel and run, to wake her dad, to wake the neighbors, to call the police, to call the National Guard or whoever else the fuck would ensure whatever creep trying to make their way into her room so late at night stayed as far from her as possible.
But something pulled her forward, call it naivety or plain stupidity; she walked closer, inching forward until she was right in front of her window. And then she couldn’t get the window opened quickly enough, a frightful gasp pulled from her lungs, fingers trembling as she unlatched the window and pulled it open.
“Jaxx?!” she screamed, perhaps too loud for how quiet the rest of the house was, moving swiftly to take her arms and pull her into the room before she rocked back and fell into the unforgiving ground below her. “J-Jaxx,” quieter now, but still just as frightened, just as on-edge. Her hands hovered over her figure, every part of her purple and blue, blood marring its macabre color scheme.
They finally settled delicately on either side of her face, not quite touching her, hovering just centimeters above as she feared any amount of pressure would cause her to crumble in on herself. “Who did— How— What—” Words stammered on her tongue, tears pinching her eyes, and finally all she could say was, “What happened?”
