It was strange, but in a short amount of time, she was becoming close with Elle. They understood each other as outcasts along with their suffering. The semester was almost up, and it was time for Christmas break. Chloe was going to really miss Elle, yet she wasn’t going to miss school. However, she wasn’t sure what was better at this point: her home life or school life.

Walking to their last class of the day, Chloe kept her head down. She walked closer to Elle than ever, letting Elle guide her through the hallways so she could keep her head down. Since the picture had showed up in Elle’s locker, they didn’t waste time in the hallways, and they were beginning to wonder if they were acting paranoid.

“Freak!” someone yelled out as she passed.

So the name-calling hadn’t stopped, but at least they weren’t too worried about their safety.

Reaching the science classroom, they took their seats in the back.

“Our science project is due before Christmas break. If we don’t finish it today in class, then we will need to finish it up outside of school,” Elle told her in a worried voice.

“Okay,” she agreed, nervous about where this was going.

“Good. If we don’t finish it, then we can finish it up at your house. Tomorrow sound okay?”

No…

“W-Why can’t we do it at yours?”

Elle cleared her voice. “I’m sure you heard about my dad. My parents don’t really want company right now …”

Of course she knew what had happened to her dad. Cassandra had blabbed about it to the entire school at the beginning of the year.

“Come on, Chloe; it’ll be fun. We should make it a sleepover!”

Instantly, she felt backed into a corner. The last word she would use to describe her house was fun. She knew Elle was taking the opportunity to help her come back out of her shell, to make her feel normal again. And while she wanted to desperately, her house wasn’t the ideal place to do so. Nevertheless, it didn’t sound like Elle’s was, either. And since Elle was the one with a good excuse, she was screwed.

What am I supposed to say? My dad is now an alcoholic because he can’t handle what happened to me any better than I can? Realizing her back had now hit the corner, her last hope was talking to her mother to keep her father controlled. If anything, the last thing they wanted was their appearance damaged.

“I-I’ll ask my parents if you can come over, then.”

“Awesome! Do you live in the little white house now?” Elle’s eyes lit up.

She shook her head. “No, we won’t move until January when my father gets sworn in.”

Brrring.

The teacher stood from her desk. “All right, students, let’s get to work. This is the last day you can work on your project in class, so make it count.”

Chloe quickly went to work. She was going to work her ass off until the bell rang. That way, Elle wouldn’t have to come over.

There is no way I am not going to finish this project.

* * *

Brrring.

She did not finish their project.

* * *

“Mom, Elle will be here any minute. Where are you?” she whispered into the phone.

“I’m running late at the office. I’ll be home in an hour.”

That was all Chloe heard before the beep came through the phone, telling her that her mother had hung up.

Crap!

She was about to do that exact same thing in her pants as she watched her dad pick up his bottle to fill up his cup again. Her mother had advised her that she was a failure in the first place since she hadn’t finished it at school. Then she had advised her to finish it up at Elle’s, but when Chloe had explained Elle’s situation, her mother had no longer cared.

Her mother had quickly realized Elle didn’t come from money since she couldn’t recall the last name of Buchanan having any real standing in Kansas City, Missouri. In turn, she couldn’t give two shits what she thought about her family. However, her mother had promised her that she would keep Maxwell contained. Clearly, that was low on her to-do list.

Ding.

Just don’t answer it. Maybe she will go away.

Ding.

“Are you … going to ans-s-swer the damn … door?” Maxwell started going toward the door himself.

Chloe quickly got up and passed him. “I can get—”

“I can get it myself!” He put his hand on Chloe as she passed him, pushing her forcefully out of the way.

Opening her mouth to scream as his hand made contact with her arm, only her breath came out as she fell to the floor.

All of a sudden, she could feel the rough hands holding her down while she tried to scream and fight them off her as she lay on the cold table.

The sound of the door opening and the cold air of the night touching her face brought her back to the present.

“Hello, Mr. Ma—Chloe, are you okay?” Elle’s face had changed from a smile to concern as quickly as her tone did.

Staring at her face from the floor as Elle stood on the other side of the doorway, Chloe was too stunned to speak.

Maxwell took it upon himself to answer for her. “She’s fine … She tripped. Who are you …?”

I tripped. No one hurt me.

Desperately trying to shake off the fall and the memory banging at the door in her head, she began to get up to avoid raising any alarms for Elle.

“Um, I’m Elle. We are supposed to finish our science project.” Her eyes danced between father and daughter.

“Do-Don’t you r-remember?”

“No, because-s-she you didn’t tell … me.” He went back to fetch his alcohol. “Get rid of her,” he voiced to Chloe as he walked past, uncaring if the girl at the door heard.

Putting her eyes on the floor, Chloe did as she was asked. “I-I’m sorry. Now’s not a g-good time.”

Elle waited until Maxwell was no longer seen and hopefully out of earshot before she went up to Chloe, whispering, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Yes, I-I tripped.”

“Bullcrap!” Elle whispered harshly. “I’m calling my mom to come back. You can come home with me.”

“No, I’m fine!”

Elle pulled out her cell phone, not listening to Chloe’s pleas, and told her mom to come back. Once she hung up the phone, she addressed Chloe again.

“Is he the one who hurt you?”

Shaking her head, she looked back at the floor.

“And I’m supposed to believe you!”

“Yes. He’s just been drinking. T-that’s how he handles what … happened to me.”

Knowing she was telling the truth, Elle relaxed just a smudge. “You’re still coming with me.”

“N-no, really. It’s okay. I swear he’s never physically hurt me before. My falling was an accident.” I’m sure he didn’t mean to. “Mom is almost home. I don’t want to leave him alone.”

She could see the wheels turning in Elle’s head before she nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask my mom if you can come over to my house tomorrow to finish our project.”

“I thought you said your parents didn’t want company over?”

“Yeah, well, I lied,” Elle answered as she headed back out the door. “See you tomorrow.”

“Um, okay …” Chloe closed the door behind her when she saw Elle’s mom pulling back into the driveway.

Heading back into the house, she hoped that she could tiptoe up to her room unnoticed.

“Sit down, Chloe.”

Stopping in her tracks, she saw her father sitting at the dining room table. She also noticed his tone had changed to a somewhat more pleasant one. Maybe he wants to apologize…

Taking the seat in front of him, she sat down at the table.

“Does she know what really happened to you …?” He took a sip from his glass.

Chloe violently shook her head, scared of where this was heading.

“Why not? It’s written all … over the paper what really hap-p-p-pened to you.”

Staring at him, she didn’t know what to say.

He quickly reminded her, “Tell me what happened to you, Chloe.”

Wringing her hands, she began to dig her nails into her palms. “I was in a car wreck; that’s all I know. I was in a car wreck. No one hurt me.”