**WARNING - This chapter contains sexual scenes and talks of sexual abuse. Please read with caution.**~*~“What are you talking about? We met in high school, junior year I’m pretty sure,” I said.“You really don’t remember?” he asked again, then sighed. “We actually met sophomore year, and it was this exact location that we met at, almost in the same situation as this. You were stuck in the window, and I was skateboarding by when I heard you struggling. I helped you out, you said your thanks and we introduced ourselves, then we didn’t see each other again until junior year when we were put in the same class.”I tried to remember that, but I couldn’t. It was around that year that my father had begun to become more berated with his drinking and beatings. I had become more reclused and probably shut out a lot of things.Including the first official meeting between Ace and I.“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” I asked.He shrugged. “I tried to approach you in the hall, but you always s
I was stunned. Words had escaped me. What did you say to someone who had just poured their heart out in the most heart-wrenched way?You didn’t say anything. You poured another drink, one for yourself, and one for him. That was what I did, and silently handed Ace the glass.“It happened in my room. I felt disgusted with the place for weeks, I’ve slept in the spare room ever since until you got here, and then I forced myself to face it. I can’t have you in there because there are nothing but bad memories there, and you shouldn’t be associated with anything bad in my life.”That touched my heart a little. Here I had been thinking the complete opposite, like a petty, jealous child. When in fact he had been struggling with something so horrible, no one should ever have to suffer that.“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, I never should have asked.” I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he grasped it.“No, it was a matter of time before you found out and I should’ve been hon
After my talk with Sylvia, we became closer friends, and I was finally able to say I had made a friend that wasn’t Ace, though he counted as a friend in other ways, it was nice to have another girl to talk to every now and then.She also helped me a ton with my choreography once the day of the competition arrived, I felt more than prepared and had the confidence that I could actually with this thing for once. Especially now that I had a little entourage of Ace and Sylvia to cheer me on in the crowd.Despite the loud music and everyone else cheering, I was able to hear them the loudest of all and knew exactly where they were in the crowd. It helped boost my confidence and I felt like a butterfly on stage as I floated and moved about.I just hoped I looked as graceful as I felt.Come the end, I felt I had this thing in the bag, but there were two more competitors after me before they announced the top three winners and prizes. I jumped off the stage and made my way through to the back w
Ace HuxleyIt was silent. Too silent. And she was still. Too still. It had been a whole 24 hours, and neither a sound nor shuffle from her.It was agony.“Isla, please, open your eyes.” I had begged her a thousand times, but she kept ignoring me. She wouldn’t wake up.A nurse popped her head in. “Excuse me, sir. There is someone here to see you.”“Who is it?” I asked.“He claims to be your father.”‘Fuck.’ “Thank you, I’ll be right there.” I leaned over and gave Isla one more tender kiss before I left, telling her I would be back soon.My father was in the waiting room, and he looked pissed, but I could care less. The most precious person ever was lying unconscious in the next room.He could tear me apart for all I cared.“What in the hell happened here? You were caught in a basement fire, are you stupid?” He didn’t even ask if I was okay, no look of concern at all.“I’m fine, Dad. Thanks for asking.”“Is this because of that new roommate of yours? I knew she was troubled when I saw
I woke up and felt like a freight train had run me over. My body felt heavy, and my head was filled with cotton. There was an annoying buzzing around me that wouldn't go away no matter how much I tried to stop it.I tried to move my hand but something was constricting my movement. I blinked and was met with a stark white ceiling and more beeping. I went to move my head, but it was stiff, as was the rest of my body. It felt like I hadn't moved in weeks."Isla? Isla, you're awake!" I was slugged by a heavy body and tackled to the bed."Oof, Ace, too much." I tapped out.He backed away suddenly. "Shit, my bad. I was just so relieved.""Ugh, I feel like crap. What happened?""There was a fire, you were caught on the first floor and inhaled too much smoke. You've been asleep for 2 days now," Ace said, and that was when I noticed how haggard and exhausted he looked."Have you slept at all?" I asked.He smiled and shook his head. "There's something we need to talk about. My father was here,
“So, this is where we’ll be staying?” I asked as we toured the house.The frat houses.“Do you have any better places?” Ace asked though he didn’t look happy about it either. He never even told me he was a member of a frat, but apparently, all the players on the team were, they had formed their own frat house to help with funds for the team that the school didn’t provide, like food and resources when travelling between games.It wasn’t a terrible idea; it was just the whole idea of frat houses that was terrible. The whole street was lined with them, it was one huge party central every night, which meant it was going to be impossible to get any studying done late at night. That also just meant I would be spending more time in my abandoned building now.“Are we at least sharing a room?” I asked.He scoffed. “Of course, you think I would leave you in a room here? You’re staying with me whether you like it or not.”“I was willing to get an apartment with you, so yeah, obviously.”He crack
Sorry for the short chapter! I am still recovering at home and doing my best to get as much writing done to catch up on the days I've missed :)~*~Ace went back inside and started hammering back drinks like his life depended on it. At the very least, his sanity did. As much as I wanted to stop him, I knew he was holding on by a thin thread after that conversation and right now he needed a distraction.I made sure to stay one step behind him in case anything happened, but by the end of the night, he looked exhausted and ready for bed. It was difficult to pull him away from the guys, but he was about to go overboard and possibly give himself alcohol poisoning.“Come on, Ace. You need to get to bed.” I struggled to haul him up the stairs as he went floppy dead weight on me.“Hey, pretty girl. You’re so pretty, where did you come from?” he slurred.I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Oh man, you’re wasted.”“Yeah, I am. Sorry, pretty girl, but I can’t sleep with you. I have my own pretty girl
I slammed the phone down and the sound woke up Ace.“Huh, what?” he mumbled.“I just had a lovely conversation…with Amber.”That had him sitting upright in bed and wide awake.“When did she call, what did she say?”I glared at him. “Did you know that she went to high school with us?”He was quiet and hung his head, silently answering my question. How long had he known? Why didn’t he tell me? I wanted to ask him, but I was afraid of the answer. Things were getting complicated, and I wasn’t sure what to believe.Did things really play out the way he said they did? Or is there more to the story? Everyone always said there are two sides to every story, but even I could admit that sometimes one side was more than enough.“What else are you hiding from me?” I asked.“Nothing, I didn’t think it mattered that you knew, she wasn’t someone you would’ve remembered. Amber was a grade below us, she never crossed paths with you.”“How the hell would you know?”He looked ashamed. “Because I made sur
I once again woke up to the familiar white walls and slow beeping sounds beside my head. It seemed like too many times I was waking up here, it almost felt like a dream. But I knew it was real when I moved my toes and fingers. My head ached as I tried to sit up, but there was a heavy weight on my chest. I saw Ace asleep on top of me, one hand holding mine. I went and gently stroked his hair, but my fingers froze when I realized something. “I remember,” I muttered out loud. Holy shit, I remembered everything! From my father kidnapping me, right down to getting bashed over the head by Amber. Ace stirred below me and groaned. “Isla?” “I’m right here.” He snapped up from the bed. “Isla! Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?” “I’m okay, Ace.” I smiled gently and caressed his cheek. He grabbed my hand and clutched it tight. “Wait…do you remember?” I nodded and gripped his hand back. “I guess that second knock to the head was all I really needed to put things back into place,” I chu
I stood in shocked silence as I watched the moment in front of me unfold. I didn’t recognize the feelings of anguish and rage that took over me until Chase placed a hand on my shoulder and brought me back to reality. “It’s not what you think, trust me. Just watch,” he said. I closed my eyes briefly then opened them to see Ace push the girl away with an irritated look on his face, then shouts at her to leave him alone. “Hey, Ace!” Chase called out. “What?” he roared back and spun around. Once our eyes connected, it felt like the world crumbled and crashed around us, until we were completely alone. No memories resurfaced, but I felt a sense of comfort I had never known in the past three months of trying to find myself. I sensed a missing part of myself nestled inside the warmth of his beautiful blue eyes. I wanted to run to him and run away from him, afraid of these overwhelming feelings that had no sentiment attached to them. Like Chase had predicted, Ace pushed the girl aside a
I was packing my bags in my room when the doorbell buzzed. “Yes?” I answered on the intercom. “Miss, there is a girl here to see you.” It had to be Sylvia. I was wondering when she would turn up. I asked Chase about her, and he vouched that she was someone I knew, but we weren’t the closest of friends before my accident and some of them even suspected her of trying to harm me in the past with a suspicious fire. At the moment my heart trusted Chase more than it trusted Sylvia, but I wanted to figure out what she was planning by hanging around me suddenly. “Let her come up,” I said. There was a knock on the door a few minutes later and I opened the door to her smiling face. Even something about that made me feel off, although it was just a harmless gesture. “Hey, how have you been feeling?” she asked, but I knew what she really meant to ask was if I had remembered anything. “I’m alright, nothing much has changed.” She looked at my bags and frowned. “Are you going somewhere?” “
I stared at the text message for what felt like hours in the dark of my room, the only illumination from my phone. I read the message over and over again, the number now unknown but one name kept pushing at the forefront of my mind.Ace Huxley. I couldn’t be sure it was him, something in the back of my head screamed for me to call the number, but my fingers shook and hesitated over the screen.Before I had the chance to decide, my phone lit up once more with a phone call this time. It wasn’t the same number as the text message, which prompted me to answer it.“Hello?”“Isla, it’s me, Sylvia! Are you still at the hospital? I brought some goodies for you to eat.”I bit my lip and contemplated seeing her to ask about my bag, but I had no proof it was her and if she denied it, I would just look suspicious for no reason. I don’t know this girl, or remember her at least, and until I do my gut tells me not to trust her so easily.“I’m at home right now, I’ve been put on bed rest for a coupl
I woke up in an all too familiar place, I was back in the hospital. This time I only had an IV in my hand and breathing tubes shoved up my nose – and I wasn’t alone in the room.The girl from earlier, Sylvia, was still there waiting anxiously on the chair next to the bed. She gasped and rushed over when she saw me move.“Isla, are you okay?” she asked.I stared at her for a few minutes, but no other memories flashed in my mind.“Are we friends?” I asked.“Why would you ask that? Of course, we are! What happened to you?”I wasn’t sure if I should tell her what happened. Was she really someone I knew before?“Where did we meet?” I asked.She looked confused but proceeded to tell me about the University and the dance program we are both enrolled in, the time we met in the practice rooms and the drama we both went through with a girl named Amber.“Is she the reason you’re here? Did she do something to you?”I shook my head, feeling a little more familiar with Sylvia.“I was hit by an onco
3 months later… It had been a slow process, but after a few months, I had most of my functionality back in my body. I could move more than a few steps before my legs collapsed and they no longer shook after running on the treadmill. My arms were stronger and the last of my bandages came off today. During the time I spent in the recovery ward, I met another girl around my age who suffered from the same thing as I did, total amnesia. She couldn’t even remember the accident she was in and was unable to speak her own name before two weeks of recovery. Her name is Sarah and she had been a rock the entire time I was here. I had felt so alone the first week I was there, unable to remember who I was or where I came from, the only detail I had was my only living family member tried to kill me, and I almost succeeded. He was now in jail, and I was left completely on my own, with nothing to me but my name and the clothes I arrived with. They were so f
I'm sorry everyone for not posting any new chapters! My recovery has taken a toll on me for the worst and I have been trying my best to get chapters done when I can. I hope you can enjoy this short chapter :)~*~*~We had been driving for at least a day, my hand zip tied to the door handle. Even if I get it open, I can’t take the whole door with me. My only means of escape was for him to stop somewhere.“I have to pee, shall I go here?” I asked, knowing he would say no the first time.He grunted. “So do I, we’ll pull up over here.”We got off at the next exit but to my surprise he didn’t lead us to a store – we drove straight through the forest, away from the only road. My father stopped the car and untied my hands.“Get out and go, don’t even try to escape.” He reached under his seat and pulled out a sawed off shot gun.“What the hell, that’s illegal to have!” I cried.He snickered. “You’re going to lecture me about the low now, girl? It’s a little late for that.”He was right, what
I said my goodbyes to Ace in the hospital, as hard as it was to part with him. My father was lurking outside my hospital door the minute I was discharged, there was no escaping this. If I disobeyed him and went with Ace, he would surely send guys after him and in his current condition, there was no way he could fend them off.He would be killed. That blood would be on my hands.I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. I’d rather go back to the life I’ve lived than drag him down with me. I was grown now; I could handle it and escape the first moment I got. Maybe now someone would believe me, but that was wishful thinking.“You ready to go?” my father asked.“I need to grab my things from the house first.”He shook his head. “I’m not giving you the chance to escape.”“You can wait outside; I just need to grab my clothes and personal belongings.”He grumbled but finally agreed and drove me back to the frat house. I was trying to think of ways to get myself out of this, but for right
I said my goodbyes to Ace in the hospital, as hard as it was to part with him. My father was lurking outside my hospital door the minute I was discharged, there was no escaping this. If I disobeyed him and went with Ace, he would surely send guys after him and in his current condition, there was no way he could fend them off.He would be killed. That blood would be on my hands.I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. I’d rather go back to the life I’ve lived than drag him down with me. I was grown now; I could handle it and escape the first moment I got. Maybe now someone would believe me, but that was wishful thinking.“You ready to go?” my father asked.“I need to grab my things from the house first.”He shook his head. “I’m not giving you the chance to escape.”“You can wait outside; I just need to grab my clothes and personal belongings.”He grumbled but finally agreed and drove me back to the frat house. I was trying to think of ways to get myself out of this, but for right