Page 29 of Hidden Truths

I want to laugh because these two are so fucking predictable. Neither one of them know what’s going on around them and truly believe their crazy delusions. They should make the best of friends along with my cousin since they’re all the fucking same. Though it is kind of surprising that Collette’s not here with them at all.

“I don’t have anything to do with the guys and don’t see them at all. Karmen doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I don’t stalk them and want nothing to do with them,” I say, my voice shaking as fear fills me with the look I’m being given by this girl. It’s one that would kill me if her eyes were able to actually make it happen. I’ve never seen a look so evil on one person’s face. Not even Karmen or Collette. There’s something seriously wrong with this girl.

“You wanna talk back to me? Are you fucking serious right now?” the girl shrieks, her voice echoing off the bathroom walls and making my head hurt with the loudness of it. I wince out of reflex and don’t see her attack coming.

Grabbing my hair, the girl pulls my head back while spinning my body and slams my face down into the edge of the sink. Pain immediately radiates through my head and the crunch of my nose is audible as Marianna shrieks and yells obscenities at me. Karmen remains in the background for now cheering her on. Slamming my head once more into the sink, I’m then tossed to the floor at Marianna’s feet. Karmen joins her and they start kicking the hell out of me. The spiked heels of their shoes feel as if they’re puncturing holes in my body. I don’t know if that’s the case, but it’s how it feels to me.

Karmen bends down and pulls my hair in order to pick my head up from the nasty bathroom floor.

“You’ll learn one fucking way or another to leave the fucking guys alone. They don’t want you and will never fucking want you. You’re a piece of shit and it’s time you realize where you fucking belong in life,” Karmen screams in my face, spittle hitting me in the face and making me gag because it’s her and she’s such a vile person.

I would try to defend myself, but there’s no way in hell I can even think about talking right now since Marianna slammed my face into the sink twice already. Blood covers my face and the pain isn’t letting up at all.

“And if you even think about getting near Kash, I’ll gut you in the courtyard so everyone can see what the fuck happens when you cross me. It’s time for you to leave the guys alone and that includes Brock. He’ll be mine as well,” Marianna adds in as she drops to her knees at my side and proceeds to repeatedly punch me in the side.

Both girls continue to spew nonsense about me leaving the guys alone and it’s fucking nonsense. Other than the two times I’ve talked to Kash about what he found, I haven’t had a conversation with him or anything. Fallon and Dash are the only other two that I’ve seen since they came with Kash to the study room here in the library the last time I spoke with him. None of that was my fault and if I could’ve gotten away with not talking to them at all, I would’ve done so. Well, I guess the last time was my fault since Brock got Kash for me so I could talk to him.

The hits and kicks continue to happen. I don’t know how long this continues on for as the girls beat the hell out of me. I can barely hear from their hits and the screaming and shrieking echoing off the walls of the bathroom. I can’t move even as they stand up, both of them breathing heavy from the attack against me. One of them spits on me before they turn and leave me lying on the bathroom floor.

After several minutes of me laying still on the floor to make sure they don’t return to continue beating on me, I try to push myself up. I’m in so much pain that I can’t get up on my own as I collapse back against the floor once more. My cheek bounces off the cold, nasty tiles and I close my eyes the rest of the way. Tears slide down my face and land on the floor under my head. My hair is a matted mess based on the way it pulls my scalp tight and hurts along with everything else on my body. I’m sure them digging their fingers into it more than once didn’t help the situation any. If anything, it only served to tangle the strands even more than they already were.

“Arabella!” I hear Brock’s frantic voice as the door of the bathroom slams open and someone else yelling that he can’t come in here since it’s the ladies room. “Arabella, what the fuck happened to you? Who did this?”

I can’t even answer him as he tries to help me stand from the floor. Again, I almost collapse. The only reason I don’t is because Brock holds me up. In seconds, I’m lifted into his arms. He leaves the bathroom almost slipping in the blood covering the floor beneath his feet. There’s a gasp from the side of him as he carries me from the bathroom and somewhere else. I can’t even open my eyes to see where he’s taking me. Hell, I can’t open my mouth to argue and tell him I just want to get cleaned up so I can go about my day. Brock isn’t going to let that happen. I know he’ll have me checked out in the infirmary where they’ll ask all sorts of questions I won’t answer. Karmen and this new girl will get what’s coming to them, but it won’t be because I told on them at school.

“What the fuck happened to my Song Bird?” I hear Kash’s voice suddenly and it makes me jump slightly in Brock’s arms.

He’s carrying me as if I weigh nothing at all. I’ve never been in the arms of anyone before. Not since I was a baby and my dad held me. I can’t even say my mother held me because there’s no evidence or memory of her holding me at all.

“I don’t know what happened or who did this shit. She told me she was goin’ to the bathroom when we were in our study room at the library. When she didn’t come back after a long time, I went to make sure she was okay. I found her on the fuckin’ bathroom floor covered in blood. There’s blood everywhere in there. Whoever beat the shit out of her didn’t’ leave any surface untouched. Includin’ the sink if the blood is any indication,” Brock answers and I don’t need to see his face to know how angry he is. It’s clear in the tone of his voice and how he answers Kash’s questions.

“Fuck! This isn’t supposed to happen at all. We need to do better about takin’ care of her,” Kash states, devastation mixed with anger filling his voice.

“Kash, let’s go to the courtyard. I have a feelin’ we all know who did this shit. They’ll be runnin’ their fuckin’ mouths about it there. Brock, keep us updated as to what you find out when you get her to the infirmary. Fallon has your number from football. I’ll send you a message so you have my number. Kash will as well. Only message the two of us. We’ll let Fallon, Dash, and Braxtyn know what’s goin’ on when we see them. This isn’t news you give through a phone call or text message,” I hear Dante growl out as someone gently wipes the hair out of my face.

With my eyes closed as tight as I can keep them without causing more pain, I can’t tell who’s doing what to me. All I know is that Dante and Kash ran into Brock as he brought me out of the library. The pain consumes me so bad and I want to sink into the oblivion I know is coming. At the same time, I don’t want to leave myself so exposed and vulnerable while I’m out in public. It’s one thing to let myself pass out when I’m at Mrs. Andrews’ house. Doing the same thing here at school could mean another attack on me and no way for me to curl up and protect myself from the hits and kicks.

“I need help!” Brock calls out, his voice frantic and loud as I shrink back in pain while trying not to wince because that hurts even more. “Someone help me with her!”

“What’s going on, young man?” a woman asks, gasping when she stops next to us. “Oh my! Do you know what happened to her?”

“No. I found her like this in the bathroom of the library. I don’t know what happened or who did it. She hasn’t said a word since I rushed in and found her. Please, help her,” Brock pleads with the lady as I barely register her leading him to a bed and helping him lay me down carefully.

Finally, I let the blackness consume me and pull me completely under. I let go of feeling all the pain and hearing how upset and angry Brock is. All I want is to forget the pain for a while and not have to deal with it any longer. Maybe I should tell Kash that I can’t marry him because I’m not about to have Marianna come after me on a daily basis in order to get what she wants. It’s not worth this amount of pain and knowing nothing will ever be done to stop it from happening over and over again. For now, I let all thoughts go and simply let the blackness clear everything away once and for all.

Maria

Arabella

KASH CORNERED ME at school today. The first thing he did was make sure I’m okay after Marianna and Karmen attacked me in the bathroom at school. I look like shit and feel just as bad. My ribs are bruised, my nose is busted leaving me with two black eyes, and I’ve got bruises and small puncture wounds all over the place. This is almost worse than anything my mother or the men she’s with have ever done to me. I know at the end of the day I’ll heal from this, I just wish I wasn’t constantly healing from one injury or another. This shit sucks and I’m ready to get through one day without something terrible happening to me. To know that I’ll be left alone and safe no matter where I am. It’s not something that will be happening, but I believe there has to be a day where I won’t have to look over my shoulder and wait for the next attack to happen. That’s a day I look forward to experiencing.

Anyway, Kash told me that he’s putting everything together for our wedding and that he’d like me to wear a dress. Not a wedding dress or anything like that. He said as far as he’s concerned, I can wear a sundress and that would be perfectly fine by him. I can see where he’s coming from. My clothes aren’t exactly fit for this type of thing and even though I don’t really want to be married to anyone, I can see this as being something bigger than either one of us. He’s going to treat our marriage as the real deal and I can do the same. Even if it’s in name only and we don’t share a bed or anything else. So, after school since I don’t have to work, he’s going to introduce me to Maria and she’ll go shopping with me. I honestly don’t know if I want to go shopping with someone Kash knows. From what I’ve experienced so far, none of these people are very good and I don’t see myself having any fun at all.

Still, I agreed to go since I have the money and it would probably do me some good to be able to get Vinnie some things he needs. The money is just sitting there and it’s time I use it. So, I’ll get my brother what he needs and a dress for my wedding. I don’t know about anything else, but with us not staying at our mother’s house, I really don’t have to worry about my mother seeing anything I buy and knowing I have any money at all. The longer I can keep that shit from her, the better off I’ll be. If she knows I have a large sum of money, my mother will drain my account quicker than I can blink and buy herself all the drugs and alcohol she can get her hands on. I’m not about to let Vinnie continue to suffer because our mother is a selfish bitch so I’m going to make sure she never finds out what has happened and all the changes that will be happening in our lives.

I also plan on getting Mrs. Andrews enough food to fill her kitchen. She’s been so kind to us and has gone far beyond what she’s had to do for a couple of neighbor kids. So, if I can do something like this for the only person in town who has helped my brother and me, I’m going to do it. At least that’s the plan. I don’t know how I’ll be able to hide everything, but I’ll figure it out one way or another. It’s just going to take some time for me to be able to put a plan in place so I can figure out how to get so many groceries to the house after walking from the grocery store. I certainly won’t be using the one in the poor section of town. There’s never anything on the shelves. So, I’ll have to use a different grocery store to get everything I want to and then find a way to get it all to the house for Mrs. Andrews.

The day has flown by because I’m so damn nervous about this shopping trip with Kash’s friend. All I know about her is that she was with his older brother and they have a daughter together. She’s been raising her alone with no help from anyone but Kash. Her parents kicked her out when she told them she was pregnant and Kash’s father refuses to have anything to do with her. So he helps out in any way he can when he’s not in class, practice, training, or at a game. I know he has other things he does, but every spare second he has, it’s given to his niece and Maria. At least that’s what he told me when he asked me earlier to go shopping with her.

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