Ten

“That I never wanted to hurt you.” Daniel finished, with a breath being released from his lips.  I let my expectant shoulders drop and I my eyes wandered down to the paper my hands were gripped on. “Daniel, listen...what went on between us was really special. Really it was. But if had let myself cave into your abuse any longer, you probably would have ended up killing me.” Daniel’s mouth was left agape after that statement. It took him several minutes to respond.

His face looked sympathetic and child-like, “Chelsea, babe, it wasn’t that bad was it? I didn’t really hurt you, did I? This is all a sick joke, right?” Even before he had finished the first question, I was shaking my head. “No, this isn’t a joke.” I reached down for my sleeve and pulled it up to my shoulder and showed him my purpled skin. He gasped and as he reached to gently prod at my skin, his eyes quivered, seeming to fill with tears that never came.

“Daniel?” I whispered, my voice cracking. He looked so frightened, like he actually hadn’t known what he was doing. Maybe I made a mistake...“OW!” My voice screamed out. I hadn’t realized that Daniel’s hands were firmly twisted around my arm, and his face was in shock. “What the hell, Daniel, that hurts! Let go!” I was still shouting a little bit, but I honestly didn’t care. He let go and looked at our classmates. They were all staring at us, wide-eyed and confused.

My mind screamed for me to say something, but I was at a loss. I side glanced at Daniel. He was just as tongue tied as me. “So, I think we should each look up information about who was in the war at that period of time.” I improvised and turned my head to him, to take the glare of the other students off my face. All of their eyes moved over to peer at Daniel. “Uhm, yeah.” He managed to say back.

Eventually they lost interest and looked away, even though some of them would periodically look back to make sure we were still working together okay. Daniel, however, acted like nothing had happened. And when we had 30 minutes of class left he turned to look at me and continued with our conversation like there had been no interruption at all.

“Did I really do that to you? All of those?” I nodded without looking up at his face. I didn’t want to see that childish expression again. But my mind gave in of course and forced my eyes to look at him. “Yes. All of them. And thats just on that one arm. See the ones on my face? Yeah, those too.” I said this with a straight face and no emotion at all. It was the only way I could stop myself from breaking down and just crying right there and then.

Daniel, however, changed the subject. “Steve.” Was all he said, and my body went tense. What did he want with Steve? “What about him?” I asked, timid and cautious. “He will pay for taking my girl from me.” I lurched my head back a bit and stared at him in agony. How could he say such a thing. “Daniel, how dare you assume that Steve stole me from you. He had nothing to do with it. It was all your fault.” Before I knew it, Daniel had grabbed my arm and his other arm was placed directly over my mouth. I looked over to the teacher’s desk, and Mr. Barnes wasn’t there!

We were in the back of the room, and everyone else was facing forward, their faces deep into their books. No one would notice....Daniel leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “If I can’t have you. No one can.” Nausea rolled over me and tears began to form in my eyes. The way he said those words made them seem so much more like a threat than saying ‘I’m going to kill you’.

Daniel’s hand was still clamped over my mouth, but he slowly released me and ungripped his hand from around my arm. I darted my eyes toward where he had grabbed me and there were four purple marks where his fingers had laid upon my skin. My sob broke out and everyone turned to see what was happening.

Tears were streaming down my face harder than I could possibly control. And Daniel sat there reading his social studies book like some kind of oblivious moron. I let everything out there and then. My sobs got quicker and became short little hiccups until I thought I was going blind. It was like I lived in a world of water, and everyone had blurred around me. Nothing was straight, and my head felt like someone had stabbed it with a screwdriver.

Was I insane? Maybe I was dreaming. No, the thud and ache of my heart seemed way too real for me to be dreaming. I recognized Mr. Barnes’s footsteps running into the classroom and telling everyone to get out of the way. His voice got nearer. “Chelsea, can you hear me?” “Yes, Mr. Barnes. Yes, I can hear you.” A voice replied. Was that my voice? It felt like someone else was in this body of mine. Like I had no voice at all. And this other person was in here, speaking for me.

“Someone take her to the nurse. I’m sure she’s fine. Probably just a little tired.” He was wrong. I was not just a little tired. I was in pain. It was like I could feel every bruise and scratch on my skin and the pain had formed together and rushed to the center of my body. My heart.

Soon, I felt arms around me and I was floating. No longer dealing with the forms of gravity. A voice I thought I recognized said, “Geez, what a drama queen.” The other person that had replaced me spoke for me, “I hate you.” And then I connected with gravity again. I hit the floor harder than I had expected to. And I heard footsteps fading. Who was it who had been caring me? Had they just dropped me and left me there?

I opened my eyes slowly and the light made me close them tight again. “Hello?” A lady’s voice asked. Once again, the replacement responded, “I need help.” It said. Did I? Did I need help? Or could nothing help me in my condition? 
--—————————A Couple Hours Later————————————————
I couldn’t even remember what had happened or going through the rest of the school day. Had I spent it in the clinic? The hospital? The memory seemed so blurry, I must have been out for most of it. Now, I was walking home and kicking a pebble on the concrete. Hadn’t I driven to school? Was my car still at the school? It hurt trying to remember. Maybe I had a concussion…

I heard a car drive up and slow down next to me, I turned my head to look at it and noticed Daniel sitting in the driver’s seat. I rolled my eyes and began walking faster. “Babe, hey don’t walk away from me!” “Leave me alone, Daniel!” I yelled back. I heard the car come to a stop and a door opening. Daniel’s familiar footsteps lined up with mine easily and he began to talk. “Sorry about dropping you on the floor today, you were just really pissing me off.” I stopped mid step. “That was you?? You dropped me on the floor? Geez, Daniel, I think I have a fricken concussion and all you say is you’re sorry??” Daniel looked down at his feet and heaved his shoulders. “Yeah, well I wanted to make it up to you.” His spirit bounced back and he got the courage to look me in the eyes.

“No, thats okay. Apology accepted. Bye.” I quickened my pace again and Daniel chuckled, “Chelsea, baby, you can’t do that, you see? Haven’t you figured it out by now that if I can’t have you. No one can?” “Why do you keep saying that?” I yelled at him, anger boiling in me. And then I noticed it. On Daniel’s hands was bright red paint. “Why do you have red paint on your hands?” I asked. He smiled, “Oh, babe, its not paint.”