Her Savior

Chapter 2

*Harper’s POV*

I sat up in a jolt with the suffocating feeling of water on my face. I quickly wiped my face and looked to see Tyler standing next to my bed with an empty bucket.

“Wake up, b***h. Dad wants breakfast on the table in twenty minutes.” He sneered and stomped out of the room before I could even say anything.

I wiped the tears flowing down my cheeks and tried to relax my breathing before getting up and drying off. Tyler never used to be like this. I reminisced back to when we used to be really close, as I changed my bandage on my back, threw clothes on, and rushed downstairs to make breakfast.

Tyler was the perfect older brother when I was younger, always watching out for me and there to protect me when someone tried messing with me. What a joke now. We spent so many nights watching scary movies together—it was kind of our thing to watch the latest horror film together on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn. Those nights seemed so distant anymore. I don’t remember the last time I did anything that I truly enjoyed.

I pushed my thoughts aside as I began working on eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I kept my eyes on the clock, knowing the twenty-minute timeline was not an empty threat. The last thing I wanted to do was to make dad angry. I don’t think my back could take another beating right now. I shivered at the thought, trying to brush it off as I finished plating the food with two minutes to spare. I rushed to the dining room where my dad and Tyler were waiting to be served. I bowed my head as I put the plates down in front of each of them.

I stood there quietly with my head down until dad dismissed me with a wave of his hand. I left to clean up the kitchen.

“Harper.” My dad calls. I rushed back to the dining room, wondering what I did wrong. Oh god, are the eggs not runny enough? Is the bacon too done? Are the pancakes not fluffy enough?

I went to where he was seated and bowed my head. “Yes-s sir?” I responded, terrified of what might come next.

He leaned up and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, pulling me closer to him.

“It would be wise to remember a beer with all my meals.”

“Yes, sir. I’m s-sorry. It won’t happen again.” I said, terrified.

He pushed me to the floor by my collar, but I quickly got up and began to exit for his beer.

“And bring me some more damn syrup!” He yelled from the dining room. I brought the beer and syrup to the table and sat them in front of him. I bowed my head and moved towards the kitchen.

After cleaning up the rest of the kitchen, I grabbed my bag and headed out the door to make the long walk to school. It’s about a 3-mile walk, but I’ve pretty much perfected the timing and usually manage to arrive right before the first bell rings. As the school came into view, I noticed a very familiar white Ford F150 driving past me and I knew that it was Tyler. Dad recently got it for him as a present for some athletic scholarship money he received.

Me, on the other hand, I don’t have a car anymore. I lost it in the accident, plus dad said the world would be safer if I wasn’t behind the wheel anymore, so he refused to let me have another one. I felt a wave of sadness wash over me as I remembered the accident. I shook my head, trying to brush it off. I didn’t want to think about it—I can’t think about it.

I kept my head down, walking through the front door of the school. As I made my way to my locker, I heard snickering and whispering around me and I knew it was directed at me. Everyone knew about the accident and Tyler pretty much had the whole school against me. I wished I could just move away and start over somewhere else. My mom was the only one I would care about leaving, and now she is gone. The deep sadness returned, and I tried to disregard it.

Lost in my own thoughts, I accidentally bumped into someone. “I’m sorry,” I said as I moved back, out of their way. Before I had another second to understand what was happening, I was being shoved up against the lockers by my throat. Behind the assault is none other than my brother’s best friend and my number one tormentor.

Great. The rush of pain in my back made me want to scream out, but I held it in by biting my lip, letting a few tears escape down my face as he held me in place.

“Watch where you’re going, killer.” Cole said angrily through gritted teeth.

“I-I’m really s-sorry. I didn’t mean t-“ he cut me off by squeezing my throat tighter, preventing me from breathing. I brought my hands up to his, trying to get him to release me, but he didn’t budge.

“Run into me again, and you will regret it,” he spouted, causing me to nod in understanding, hoping he would let me go. Tyler pulled him back by the shoulder. “Cole, let’s just go.” My vision became blurry and I knew I was close to fading into darkness when Cole finally let go, causing me to fall to my knees. I desperately gasped for air, feeling life slowly come back into my lungs.

Cole leaned down, grabbing me hard by the hair, pulling my head back to look at him. “Your days are numbered, b***h,” Cole spat in my face, forcefully let go, and exited down the hall with his arms around Bianca. He was followed by Tyler and Talia and a few others, all not bothering to give me another glance as I made my way to my feet and continued to my locker. I wiped the saliva off of my face with my sleeve and grabbed my books and made my way to History class, knowing I was now going to be late.

Walking through the door caused my history teacher, Mr. Larsen, to stop his lecture and remind me that class had already started.

“Ms. Greene, you are late,” directing all attention to me.

“I’m s-sorry Mr. Larsen, it won’t happen again,” I said as I made my way to my seat.

“You know my rules, Ms. Greene. I do not accept any tardies. You owe me a twenty-minute detention after school today.” My entire body filled with dread, knowing what this meant for me later.

Everyone began to “oooooo,” at my expense.

“Yes sir” I responded in almost a whisper. Staying after school would mean I would be late getting home and that terrified me. The last time I was home late from school, I had to describe two broken ribs and an elbow fracture to the school counselor. I have gotten better at hiding my injuries since then.

I spent the rest of the class preoccupied thinking about how I could get out of this detention.

Everyone got up and began leaving at the sound of the bell. I made my way to the teacher's desk, hoping to rectify my situation.

“Mr. Larsen?” I ask.

“Yes, Ms. Greene?” he said, looking up from his desk.

“Is there any way you can make an exception for me just this once? I couldn’t get my locker open,” I lied, “and I’ve never been late before,” I begged, hoping he would change his mind and give me a break.

“Ms. Greene, if I made an exception for you, I would have to make an exception for everyone and that goes against my classroom policy. I’m sorry, but you still owe me a detention after school.”

I sighed and lowered my head in defeat.

“Is everything OK Harper?”

“Yes, sir. I’m fine.” I knew there was nothing else that could be said to change his mind, so I gave up.

“You know, it’s just a detention. . . And with it being your first one, it won’t go on your permanent record, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he reassured me, looking concerned.

Oh, it’s not the detention I was worried about, I thought to myself.

“I know sir, I’m fine. I’m just having an off-day. I’ll see you after school,” I said as I turned to leave.

I felt like someone just knocked the wind out of me. I had no choice but to accept the detention, which meant this was going to be bad for me later. I made sure to be on time for my next class. Luckily, I had no more encounters with Cole or anyone else, for that matter. I tried to keep my head down and stay out of everybody’s way.

Lunchtime couldn’t come soon enough. My stomach was grumbling so loudly in my last 3 classes that I’m sure everyone around me heard. I sat in the corner of the cafeteria, by myself, out of the way of everyone else, enjoying every single bite of my egg salad sandwich.

I shoveled almost all of my food down by the time I saw Cole and Bianca walking my way. I looked around for Tyler, Talia and the rest of the crew, but I didn’t see them. It didn’t matter. I didn’t need the whole group around to be terrified. Cole alone had that effect on me.

“Where’s the farm, little piggy?” Cole snorted, causing Bianca to laugh.

“God, did you see how fast she ate that sandwich? No wonder she’s fat,” Bianca smirked through her wicked response.

I bowed my head, choosing not to respond because I knew it wouldn’t end well for me if I did. I chose to stay quiet, praying they would just go away. Her words didn’t bother me because I knew I was far from fat. Actually, most people would think I had some sort of eating disorder because I was all skin and bones.

“Are you going to eat the rest of that?” Cole asked, pointing to what’s left of my sandwich.

I stayed quiet and twiddled my thumbs under the table, anxiously waiting for them to leave.

“Are you deaf, freak?” Cole grabbed me hard by the back of my neck, causing me to let out a soft squeal.

“No,” I whispered, trying to keep my head down.

“Then answer me when I talk to you. Show me some respect.” He squeezed my neck tighter. “Got it!?”

“Yes, I’m s-sorry.” He let go of my neck and grabbed my tray of food.

“You wouldn’t mind if I ate the rest of your food, would you? You don’t need it, right?” he asked, taunting me.

I shook my head, keeping my head down. I let the sadness wash over me, knowing that was probably all the food I would get for the day.

“What did you say?” He asked, challenging me.

“No, y-you can have it," I gave in, knowing there was nothing else I could say.

He smirked and roughly patted me on the head. “Thanks, pig,” he grabbed my tray and walked over to the middle of the cafeteria only to dump the rest of my lunch in the trash can, looking back at me to watch for my reaction, but I gave him none. He glared at me from the distance, clearly dissatisfied with my lack of reaction. He huffed before grabbing Bianca’s hand and stomped out of the cafeteria without looking back.

Only then did I let tears fall down my face before getting up to leave the cafeteria. I wiped my eyes as I headed to my next class, feeling nothing but defeat. I wasn't sure what I did to deserve all of this, but I really hoped things would turn around for me soon...