"Oh, you're early." Jessi was sort of startled to see Alex already waiting for her in front of the school gate.
"I am?" he grinned.
"Let's go to the park. I have a map. It'll help with the tour."
The two friends first went to the park, then visited all the places in the vicinity. The mall, convenience stores, all different streets and different buildings. Both of them talked about various interests. Surprisingly, they had a lot in common.
After the tour, they were walking on a sidewalk peacefully. The sun was setting, birds were chirping and the road wasn't busy. Alex looked at Jessi but diverted his gaze right after. He hesitated.
"Who was that girl I saved you from?" he asked. Jessi looked back and didn't speak for a few seconds.
"Her name's Claire." She said. "People call her the queen bee because she's the most popular person in our school."
"Is she always that mean?"
"Yeah, she's sort of a bully. She can be very aggressive at times." Jessi recalled the times she spent with Claire. An ounce of guilt spawned up in her. Claire had never been aggressive, regardless of the situation. Claire did change but she never took aggression as an answer. Jessi felt bad, but in order to achieve her goal, she had to lie.
"Why is she like that?" Alex asked, totally stunned by Jessi's answer.
"It's prey late now. I think we should go back home." Jessi avoided the question and started walking in another direction. Alex thought of stopping get but didn't do it. He didn't want to make Jessi feel uncomfortable again.
His house was just a block away so he started strolling towards it. As he walked, various lingering thoughts came up in his mind.
The fact that Claire wore a full sleeved t-shirt on such a hot day, was very unsettling for him. He thought about what wrong thing Jessi had done to make Claire so mad and pissed off.
Then, when he remembered Jessi's words, and the incident, disgust and bitterness filled in his veins.
"No matter how much someone angers you, you have no right to raise your hand on them." He murmured resentfully.
•••••
Claire was sitting on her bed numbly. Ever since since she got up on the bed after getting slapped, she did nothing but just cried. She sobbed so much that there were no tears left to cry. The blood dried on her knuckles. Claire looked at it and did nothing. She kept staring at it.
Slowly, she laid down on her back and let out a long sigh. She shut her eyes. And as she did, tears trickled down her face. Everything came back to her mind. Her lips quivered. It didn't take long for her silent sobs to fill the room's quiet atmosphere. Soon after, she fell asleep. Once again, Claire had to cry herself to sleep.
The next morning, she woke up with dried tears on her face. Claire got out of the bed and walked to the attached bathroom sluggishly. Standing in front of the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Why me?" She splashed water on her face and went to take a shower.
The running water brushed her scars and slits. Some were new wounds while some were drying. The new wounds stung causing Claire to clench her jaw in order to resist the pain.
After showering, Claire wrapped a towel around her body and got out of the bathroom to dress up. She walked inside the closet and started assembling a perfect outfit to cover all her scars. As she did so, Claire's hands rummaged through her cocktail dresses and shorts. She reminisced all the times when she could wear those without carrying about her scars.
A small smile made its way up her face but soon, it disappeared. She looked at the clock and realized that she was getting late. Claire quickly took out a sweatpant and a sweatshirt which complimented each other and proceeded on getting ready for school.
Claire went out of her room, fully dressed and walked downstairs. On her way to the front door, she turned around and went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. What she saw broke her heart but she covered it and left.
She saw her parents overindulge Jay Simpson. Her brother. They were so caught up that they didn't even notice her.
Even though she despised them at times, Claire couldn't forget the fact that they were her parents. She couldn't ignore all the facilities they had given her. And so, a tiny fragment of her heart still loved them and hoped that they loved her just as much.
Before closing the door, Claire looked back and thought 'Am I that bad of a daughter?' then shut the door. A tear left her eye and she left for school.
____________