Remember

Chapter 1: Don't forget to tell me

Chapter 1: Don't forget to tell me

Emma's P.O.V:

I managed to make it into the hall, sighing as I leaned against the nearby wall for support to prevent me from doubling over in pain. I chuckled a little as earlier events replayed itself in my head.

I guess I really pissed him off.

I narrowed my eyes at the recent memory before taking a deep breath and stared blankly at the wall. There was nothing peculiar to look at really.

Why did I do something so stupid?

Really what was I staring at? The wall was always white.

...Was I crazy?

There were a couple cracks here and there but that can easily be fixed with some putty.

...Am I just dumb?

I just realized the wall isn't all that white could be an off white?

...Did I want the attention? As if I didn't get enough of that

"Just shut up Cathy, I don't need you to tell me how I can and can't raise my child" I heard him yell from the kitchen snapping me out of my reverie.

I guess the wall really isn't that good of a distraction

I flinched at how harsh his voice sounded. He always chose to use a mixture of both anger and disgust in his tone when the conversation was about me. Their argument was a very heated one. Their insults flew across the room carelessly the intention of each one to be much harsher than the last.

"But Rick you can't hit her like that! She's only thirteen..... Damn it, that's child abuse!" mom yelled back at him.

"Thirteen? She's that old? f**k I should have killed her for the crap she just pulled."

I shuddered at that last comment, the thought of an actual murder happening in this house isn't entirely improbable.

"Rick please you have to see where I'm coming from with this, last time you broke her arm. You- you have a problem"

Tears began to stream down my cheeks once I was reminded of that unpleasant incident.

I wonder if the wall got hurt the last time he slammed me in to it.

I smirked a little despite my feelings. I guess I shouldn't have mouthed off the way I did last time. Sliding my hand beneath my blouse I winced when my hand came in contact with the tender spot on my stomach.

I wonder if his shoe left a mark there.

"Me? I'm the one with the problem?"

"Yes," mom replied firmly.

He then chuckled, "You're pathetic. You know that?"

"I'm not pathetic, you're the pathetic person here as far as I'm concerned, using your own daughter as a punching bag. How can you call yourself a man after doing that?"

There was a brief silence before I heard it, my mom crying out in pain. I held my cheek knowing far too well how one of his blows felt. My mother was quiet for a while and it was becoming very difficult for me to just sit there and not check on her. I had to get up, I needed to make sure she was okay but I was too scared. This was the first time dad had ever hit her. Guess he got bored of us, huh wall?

I heard my dad sigh, "She got what she deserved Cathy if I don't punish her now how will she ever learn?"

There was another moment of silence until my mom replied in a harsh whisper, "she's just a little girl".

"I don't need this" my dad growled I could hear his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and I quickly got off the ground. I watched as he walked up the stairs towards me. He glared at me and I looked him in the eye giving him my full attention as anything but that would be considered I'll mannered. He reached out to me and I flinched away from him.

He then chuckled, "Damn right you should be scared."

I looked away from him and tried my best to steady my uneven breathing. "Dad I'm really-"

"Shut up" he mumbled before he brushed pass me making sure to slam his door once he entered his room.

Well wall it would seem that we are safe for now.

I slowly collapsed onto the floor of the hall way, trying my best to regain my nerve so that I would be able to make it to my room.

"Emma?" I quickly looked up from the ground and watched as my mom climbed up the stairs toward me. She looked me over like she always did after dad got angry to make sure that I wasn't hurt anywhere. "You okay?" I gave her a sheepish smile before nodding my head. She smiled at me and lowered her head a little, that's when I noticed it. I tilted her head upward with my hand to further inspect her face. "It's not as bad as it looks." She joked.

"Not as bad as it looks? Mom your face looks like someone took a baseball bat to your cheek." I gently stroked her marred face before engulfing her in my arms.

We stayed like that for a while until I broke the silence.

"Why do we stay?" I mumbled.

"Emma you have to understand that your dad's a good man he's just a little sick that's all"

I stared at her before giving her a half smile. "He just hit you,"

"I know"

She almost choked out her response. Holding on to her shoulders I stared at her, tilting my head from left to right trying to figure her out.

Finally I cracked a smile

"Okay then."

"Emma calm down"

I slowly released her from my hold before giving her a curt nod. Walking away from her I held on to the wall for a little support. I slowly made my way to my room collapsing back ways on the bed when I arrived. I then turned around on my back so that I was laying down upward. I rubbed my stomach rhythmically between staring at the ceiling and humming.... it still hurt like a b***h.

"Emma?"

I turned onto my side and saw that my mom was standing in my door way. I rolled my eyes before returning to my original position which was laying on my back. She entered my room and sat on the edge of my bed. "I brought an ice pack," She stated. I didn't answer her instead I continued to stare at my ceiling. "Does it still hurt?"

"No."

"Em-"

"Mom just stop,"

She then sighed before placing the ice pack she had in her hand next to me on the bed. "I know you don't understand why I'm like this, why I allow him to do what he does-Its just that he-I can't really explain it, but Emma you have to underst-"

"Mom!" I interrupted "just stop"

"I really am sorry Emma," was the last thing she said before exiting my room that night. I mentally slapped myself when the thought of forgiving her had actually crossed my mind. The words 'I really am sorry Emma' kept on ringing in my ears. I scoffed at how foolish it was for me to even consider that she was really sorry. "I guess she really does need some help," I mumbled to myself after arguing with my inner thoughts for quite some time. I mean what could she possibly do? You can't blame her for being terrified.

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"He did this to you?" Sean mumbled in disbelief before running his fingertips gently over the bruise I got yesterday. I nodded my head in silence before pulling my shirt back down, I took my seat next to him on the bench at the back of our school before he narrowed his eyes at me "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I then shrugged. "This isn't the first time he hit me you know, you shouldn't always look this surprised when you see another one of my bruises,"

There was brief silence coming from him followed by a disapproving glare.

The wall never stares at me that way

"You know what he's doing is wrong, so stop acting like its normal"

I looked at him and he glared daggers at me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered shifting my eyes downward and away from him. I hated when he was mad at me. We were both quiet for a while and the atmosphere was beginning to get way too tense for both of our comfort. I finally worked up the nerve to look at him and that's when he shook his head and wrapped his arm around me the look he had before had soften and was replaced with a gentle smile.

"It's not your fault your dad's doing this to you so don't apologize" I gave him a smile in return and leaned into him. He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders and giving me a brief hug. I looked up at him and smirked at the fact that he was blushing, he was such a guy. I sighed at how warm being in his arms felt, it felt safe and I never wanted to leave, pretty soon my eyelids were beginning to get heavier. He then started to laugh. "Tired?" he asked while arching an eyebrow.

I cleared my throat before I eased out of his hold on me and ran my hand through my hair. "My dad has been really pissed lately more than usual actually," I let out a shaky breath before I continued. Sean arched an eyebrow at me when I didn't say anything after that. "C-can I stay over your house tonight," I finally spat out.

"Sure you know you can always come over, it wouldn't be the first time you did"

"I know I just....don't like bugging you like this all the time"

"You're not bugging me in any way Emma, okay".

I nodded my head and then smiled at him, he was about to say something until the bell interrupted. We both sighed in unison and stood up.

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Sean and I both walked towards our next class in silence. "Did you do your homework last night?" He asked absentmindedly I glared at him and he immediately clamped his mouth shut. "Sorry," he mumbled. I nodded my head already dismissing his blunder and continued walking to class. It was always the same lately my dad hits me too hard my mom has to nurse me back to health so that I can at least stand up straight, then she covers some of my bruises with her make up. I can't believe she would do that though, he's hurting me and all she's doing is covering it up. I felt the tears starting to sting my eyes and I immediately blinked them back, I can't think like that now. I released a shaky breath in attempt to calm myself down. When we arrived Sean and I took our usual seats at the back of the class.

"You okay?" Sean asked once we sat down. I nodded my head avoiding eye contact with him. He stared at me for a while and broke his gaze once our teacher arrived.

"Alright take out your homework everyone," my math teacher instructed before walking through the class. I slowly slid further down in my seat once he arrived in front of my desk. "Ah miss Sanders why am I not surprised?" my teacher reprimanded staring down at me. I cleared my throat uncomfortably before looking away from him I refused to keep eye contact with this guy.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"You're sorry? This is the third time in two weeks young lady," he scolded.

"Look, I said I was sorry"

He then sighed while shaking his head "Alright, Emma I'm going to have to speak to your parents about this okay, you can't keep missing assignments like this you'll fall behind everyone. Bring them here tomorrow. There was a slight murmur if whispering that filled the class. I gave him an incredulous look before I attempted to reason with him.

Surely he was a mad man

"Ok I'll bring them," I mumbled. He then quirked an eyebrow at me before crossing his arms

"Alright then bring them here tomorrow after school".

I nodded my head in understanding before running a hand through my hair. My dad is definitely going to hurt me when I tell him this.

Right, I probably shouldn't

I then noticed my teacher staring at me with his brows furrowed. I slowly moved my hands from my hair and gave him a confused look. It was soon after I realized that he was staring at some old bruises on my arm. You had to be up close to see them, and he unfortunately just had to see them.

I quickly pulled down the sleeves of my shirt in an attempt to hide them. He cleared his throat uncomfortably in response before walking away from my desk.

Yeah that's right pretend you didn't notice. Better to be seen and not heard.

The rest of the day flew by quickly and the last bell rang soon enough. I made my way outside the school where I met Sean at the gate.

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"So what are you gonna do about tomorrow?" Sean asked.

"About what"

"Hmm well let's see, about the parent's consultation our teacher wants to have with your abusive father," he replied sarcastically.

Oh how I loved when he used sarcasm.

I ignored his earlier attitude and kept my eyes on the ground "I don't know" I finally responded.

Emma you know you have to, you don't want him to...you know,"

"Why not? He already does" I mumbled as we walked through the crowd of children waiting for the bus. We didn't live that far from school so we always walked home together.

Sean looked at me and then back to road.

"Still coming over tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, just gotta stop by my place for some clothes."

"What if your dad's there? You know how he gets when you want to sleep over" Sean said a little shakily.

"That's why I always sneak my stuff over then call my mom and let her know I'm by you."

"OK" Sean responded. We both became silent as we continued to walk. I stared at the car port intensely as we approached the front lawn of my house. I released a sigh of relief when I saw that it was empty that meant no one was home. I quickly ran up to the door steps as Sean followed sluggishly behind me. I pulled the keys from my pocket and hastily opened the door.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Sean asked sarcastically as he ran up the stairs behind me. I didn't waste my time giving him the witty retort I'm sure he desired so badly. As soon as I entered my room I pulled my drawers open and grabbed a pair of pajamas and clothes for school the following day.

"Hey what's this?" I heard Sean ask. I looked over by my dresser where I saw Sean holding my most private possession. I ran over and grabbed it from him. "I um..." I didn't know how to tell Sean that this book was too private for him to read, because I practically told him everything, at least everything I could. "It’s ok, I understand" Sean said backing away towards my bed where he sat. I sighed and shoved the book into my knapsack along with my clothes. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah" I mumbled. We both left my house and continued our walk to his house.

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Later that night

Sean's P.O.V:

"Sean, don't your parents plan on coming home tonight? Emma asked worriedly. I shrugged my shoulders in response. "Don't you get worried when it gets this late and they aren't home?" She asked twiddling her fingers around.

"Emma calm down its after eight, its barely night yet."

"If you say so" Emma said crossing her legs Indian style as she sat on the bed beside me.

"Emma you know tha--" My statement was then cut short by the phone in the kitchen. I hopped off the bed and ran to the kitchen and answered it.

~Phone convo~

"Hello"

...................

"Who is this?"

......................

"Oh goodnight Mr. Sanders"

.............................

"I believe so sir"

.....................

"Sir it's not very polite to yell"

............................

"No sir"

................

"She's in the bathroom sir"

.........................

"Have a good night sir"'

~End phone convo~

"Sean?" she asked. I know she could see the annoyed expression on my face, but God the man is a damn pest.

"Yeah Emma it was your always pissed dad" I said diving unto the bed.

"What did he say?" she asked resting her hand on my shoulder. "I don't know, yelling some crap that you didn't have his permission to stay here"

"Maybe I should go home"

"Emma are you crazy? The man is already pissed. He'd just take out all his rage on you"

"I'm sure it would be nothing that I'm not used to"

Why does she talk like this? She acts as if what he does is ok and as if it doesn't hurt. She doesn't even understand how much it hurts me to hear her speak like that. I released a heavy sigh. "Are you hungry?" I asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Not really" she answered.

"OK. What do you wanna do now?" I asked, she shrugged her shoulders then began staring off into space. I furrowed my eyebrows a bit when I realized she was unresponsive for a while. "Emma?" I whispered when I saw her tears slowly streaming down her cheeks. I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders and she immediately broke down into uncontrollable sobs burring her head into my chest. Her cries were soft and muffled by the shirt I was wearing. "Emma what's wrong?" I asked but she simply cried harder.

"I wanna live with you" she said between a sob. Her statement made my breath hitch, I hugged her tighter until she calmed down.

"Let's go to sleep" I said, but she didn't budge, I sighed and laid back down on my bed so her head was resting on my chest and eventually we both drifted asleep.

Emma's P.O.V:

I felt Sean wrap his arm around my waist and my eyes immediately fluttered open, I turned around on the bed so that I was facing him then smirked when I saw that he was sleeping. I carefully pulled myself out of his hold slowly moving off his bed making sure not to wake him. I then made my way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. After getting my water I returned to Sean's room and sat on the floor next to his bed. I opened the bottle and started to slowly sip it.

"What's on your mind?" Sean mumbled making me jump a little.

"I thought you were asleep,"

"I was until I didn't feel you next to me". I gave him a sheepish smile before nodding my head in response even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Sorry for waking you," I finally said after a long pause.

"Don't worry about it," he sighed. "So what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied. I felt the bed move behind me as he shifted off of it and sat down on the ground next to me.

"So Miss Emma," he started before wrapping his arm around my shoulder, "tell me, why do you insist on lying to me?"

I giggled when he did this and playfully pushed him away from me. "I'm not lying, I'm actually happy.... For once,"

He turned to me and then raised an eyebrow at me "Well I'm glad you feel that way," he mumbled. I gave him a curt nod before taking another sip of my water. "Hey Emma?"

"Hmmm?"

"Remember that time you had a crush on me?"

I immediately felt my face turn twenty different shades of red when he said this. Why would he bring that up now? I was like six when I told him that I liked him and he simply laughed in my face. "What!?" I yelped almost chocking on my water.

He chuckled when I did this and wrapped both his arms around me engulfing me in a big bear hug. "Calm down I was just trying to lighten the mood."

I cleared my throat before untangling myself from his hold.

"You're a jerk," I mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that, did you say something mean to your one and only?"

I rolled my eyes before I pushed him away from me playfully. He feigned getting hurt when I did this by flinging himself backward on the ground.

'You're an i***t"

"Oh God Emma, really it hurts you have to help me"

"Do you seriously believe that I'm going to play this dumb game with you?"

He then sat up straight "You have anything better in mind?"

"Just go to bed"

He was about to make a retort, but was interrupted by car lights shining through his window. He got up from the floor and walked over to his window. "I guess my folks are home," he announced. I turned my attention from Sean to his alarm clock on his bed side table. Twelve thirty, that's pretty late. I heard Sean sigh and he walked back over to me. "I think we should go to bed now"

"But your parents-"

"Are probably tired," he finished for me.

"Yeah but maybe we should let them know that I'm here"

He then scoffed at my last comment "Emma you and I both know that they don't give a s**t about anything I do so let's just sleep." I flinched at how off his voice suddenly sounded before nodding my head yes.

"Sorry," I mumbled suddenly feeling scared.

"Why?"

"NO reason really I just-"

"Just be quiet and come to bed," he said. His demeanor was different. He suddenly seemed cold it reminded me of my father. I felt a shiver run down my back when that thought flashed into my head.

"Sorry"

He shook his head before climbing onto his bed and I climbed in beside him.

"You okay?" Sean asked with a worried expression etched on his face once I laid next to him. I guess he most of noticed that I was feeling a little uneasy.

"Yeah,"

"Emma stop lying you're shaking right now." I bit down on my lower lip to calm myself, I didn't even notice how scared I was until he pointed it out. "Em you know you can tell me anything so just tell me"

How? How can I tell you that the reason I'm shaking like this is because being with you reminds me off being with my dad at this very moment?

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, but I couldn't. Why do I feel so scared? I clamped my eyes shut and tried my best to block out my surroundings,

Suddenly I felt Sean's hands on my shoulders and I almost freaked. I had to cover my mouth with both my hands so that my cries could be muffled. "Emma?" I blinked my eyes open and stared into Sean's' worried filled eyes. 'You okay?"

I shook my head and tried my best to steady my uneven breathing. "What should I do?" he asked.

"Please let go." I whimpered while tears started to stream down my cheeks. He quickly removed his hands from my shoulders and I continued to cry softly. What's wrong with me why do I keep thinking of my dad right now, why are all the memories of him hurting me flooding back all at once?

"Emma whatever is going through your head right now just tell me, please"

"I-I don't-he hurt me and I - it still hurts," I whimpered

"Where?"

I didn't answer instead I just started to cry harder. I felt Sean wrap his hands around me and drew closer to him. I tensed up a bit at first, but relaxed when he whispered "Don't worry I'll do my best to protect you"

It took some time, but I had finally stopped crying. Not long after I realized that Sean had drifted to sleep and I let out a heavy sigh. I gently moved away from him trying my best not to wake him before turning around so that I was laying on my back. I stared at the ceiling for a while and wiped away the tears I had on my face.

I just wish I didn't need your protection.

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The next morning I woke up to the sound of Sean's angry voice. It was muffled and distant. I slowly crawled out of his bed and exited his room. "She's not like that, God, why are you two always like this when it comes to her?"

"Son it not that we don't like her it's just."

"What? Just what?"

"She's a distraction,"

I followed the voices towards the living room and hid next to the door way.

"Excuse me?" Sean seethed

"Sean we just want the best for you," his mother reasoned.

"And what Emma's some kind of distraction that's gonna pull me down?" Sean responded sarcastically.

"No that's not what your mother and I are saying," Sean's father said.

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"Look we've heard things about her father and it seems that he's not the best parent around."

"Yeah, so,"

"Sean her father's a gambler, and he's violent and don't get me started about her mother I heard she had to sleep around to settle some of his debts--"

"What?" I interrupted. Now I get why Sean doesn't really miss his parents when they're not around. The room fell silent immediately after I entered the conversation.