Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As Liz approached the office, she filed through her thoughts to try and figure out why someone would be there to see her. Did she do something wrong? "No," she thought, "I haven't done anything worth seeing the principal over, unless it's about me being late. I'll explain that to him and I'm sure he'll let me go back to class."

She looked through the window into the office before entering, just to make sure no one would be there to see her. When she instead saw her ex-step-dad and her mother standing there together, Liz became overwhelmed with anxiety. She hadn't seen him in months.. maybe a year. There's no reason he should be back, he apologized the last time he saw her and she refused to accept the apology.

"Why is he here," she thought, "Is he back to destroy what little self confidence I have left?"

[FLASHBACK]

Throughout her childhood, Liz was told that she was never good enough, no matter how hard she tried. Once she thought she thought she had met expectation, she was once again told she wasn't good enough for her family; she kept raising the standards of herself to unrealistic levels. All of this happened because her step-father.. well, ex-step-father never saw the bright side in life. He had beaten Liz when she was a child, especially when he felt she had done a bad job at something.

[BACK TO PRESENT]

Liz turned the handle of the door and walked through. Her mother turned and met Liz's eyes with a smile painted across her face. "Liz," she started.

"Mom, why is he here," Liz blurted out. Robert turned to see a tear running down Liz's cheek. Her mother smiled and said, "Liz, Robert and I are happy to announce..." Liz's heart started beating harder every second she was in the room. "We're getting remarried. We can be a family again, isn't that amazing Liz," her mother asked excitedly.

Liz's heart skipped a beat. She was completely torn apart by this news. Liz's mother knew that Robert used to beat her daughter but acted like it didn't happen. Who wants to admit that their child is being abused by someone you love?

Sarah, Liz's mother, was unsure of what to say or do. She tried to hug Liz but instead, Liz backed off and said, "Oh.. That was unexpected, but cool. Nice to see you again." She was basically lying through her teeth. Liz was furious, but she couldn't show her mother that. She had to figure out a way to escape being abused again; Robert was never going to change his ways. 

After school, Liz went home and went straight to her room. She had to figure out what to do. She knew perfectly well that if she stayed, she would never escape his clutch. An idea popped into her head.

"I know what I'm going to do," she whispered to herself, "I know how to escape all of this... I'm going to run away."