After he said it, Eliza's father instantly regretted his choice of words. "What?" She asked "I haven't done this before, I didn't even do this!" Her father sighed. "Nothing, I know it wasn't you. Stuff with your aunt. Just, be careful." He frowned. After he left, Eliza decided against bandaging her arm, she'd just wear a long sleeved shirt for a while. She crawled into bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light. The next day, her arm and thigh were ridiculously sore, almost as though they had been stripped of skin completely. Eliza winced as she climbed out of her bed, and limped to her wardrobe, picking out dark blue jeans and a deep sea green knitted sweater. "That should cover it." She spoke to herself quietly. She got dressed, combed through her hair, brushed her teeth and said goodbye to her father, all in the space of around 15 minutes. She walked briskly to school, eager to get in the warmth as the cold air stung her wounds like a snake's venom. "Ah-" she whispered as a gust of wind blew against her, and it wasn't long before the searing pain shot through her body. She slumped onto a fence, breathing deeply with her eyes fixed firmly to a small orange leaf on the floor. She studied it intensely. The leaf was discarded and unaccounted for by many, a minuscule scar on the enormous earth. It was halfway between the bright green colour of life and happiness, and the dull brown of death and loneliness. It had been trampled over, teared and broken, but there it lay, intact. It reminded Eliza of herself. When Eliza looked further forwards, she saw a pair of red converse shoes and followed them up to see Joel, with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?" He asked, brushing the hair out of her face. "Um, my leg hurts a lot. Walking hurts." She replied. It wasn't lying, her conscience assured her, it was with holding the entirety of the truth. Before she could protest, Joel had turned around and knelt in front of her, pulled her legs around his waist and hoisted her up into a piggy back. "Put your arms around my neck." He smiled "I'll carry you to school." Obliviously, she obeyed and slid her arms around him, but in doing so slightly pulled up her sleeve. She heard Joel gasp, but he didn't mention it further, carrying her all the way to school before setting her down on the concrete floor. What he said next took her by surprise. "You're beautiful." He stated, gazing at her arm with a pained expression. This was the guy who knocked her down before she'd even known him, gotten her into detention, snapped at her, threw her out of his house and lied to her. "Oh." Was all Eliza could bring herself to say. Joel grinned at her. "Come out with me tonight." He ordered. And, in an absence of all reason, Eliza found herself saying yes. Love is in the air
Only 3 updates to go I'm sorry if this update offends anyone slightly, but it shouldn't Later that evening, Eliza was ready. She'd curled her long brunette hair, the ringlets cascading down to her waist. She was wearing a strapless emerald green dress that went down to just above her knees and silver flats; she'd never been a fan of heels and besides, her thigh hurt. She shrugged on a black cardigan to cover her arm and tiptoed down the stairs to answer the door. In front of her stood Joel. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a tightly fitted black shirt. Eliza grinned at him absent-mindedly, her imagination running wild. Joel must have sensed this as he began chuckling at her, and locked her hand in his. "Come on, you." He smirked, leading Eliza to his car. She followed him and got into the passenger seat, the cool white leather caressing her wounds. The drive was quiet. Instead of the usual conversation on dates, they sat in blissful silence, their hands still intertwined. It was only when they pulled up outside Joel's house, that Eliza spoke up. "Why are we here?" She thought aloud, giving Joel a confused look. Joel silently got up out of his seat before walking round to Eliza's side and lifting her up, her legs snaked around his waist so as not to fall. With that, he leant forwards and crashed his lips onto hers, kissing her roughly. He pulled away slightly and whispered against her cherry red lips. "I had a better idea." He breathed softly, locking his eyes onto hers. Eliza glanced at him in amusement before hopping down onto the grass and gently grabbing his hand. "Lead the way." She smirked. He pulled her up the drive way into his house once again, and shut the door behind them. He proceeded to lead her up the stairs before stopping at the top to lean down an plant a soft kiss on Eliza's hand. "Come on." She giggled, grinning at him. Joel turned and placed his hands firmly on Eliza's waist and once again smashed his lips to her, kissing her hungrily as he walked backwards into his bedroom before sitting on the soft black silk of his bed, pulling Eliza onto his lap. Eliza was intoxicated by Joel, his fingertips sending shivers down her spine as her skin burnt up at his touch. She pulled away for air and planted soft kisses down his neck, but suddenly Joel had frozen. She glanced up at him, to see fear in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She frowned, before leaning over and softly kissing his nose. Before Eliza got a reply, Joel had a vice-like grip on her waist, and was showing no signs of release. "Ah.. um, you're hurting me!" She winced. Joel said nothing. Instead, he continued to gaze at her sadly. Just as Eliza was preparing to demand an answer, an extremely large hand was thrust in front of her face, clutching a cloth over her mouth. The smell burnt her nostrils fiercely, but at the same time made her light-headed and dazed. She looked at Joel with wide eyes as she was dragged backwards off the bed and slammed against the wall. She opened her mouth to scream, but no words came out, just muffled sounds no louder than a mouse. She tried to struggle, thrashing her arms wildly at her attacker. "C'mere son." The man holding her down boomed, his icy blue eyes piercing her soul. "Hold the girl down." Joel stood up and walked over to Eliza, slowly reached up and grabbed her arms, pinning them to the wall behind her. Tears tumbled down his pale cheeks as she slid down the wall into the spiralling darkness. The last thing she saw or heard, before everything went black, was the almost in audible whisper coming from Joel. "I'm so sorry." Well, who needs cold showers when you got that eh nearly done