2016-2017 Write Eye flip book

will kill him, me, and everyone who gossips or hears about it if I ever tell anyone. Yet everyday he yanks me by my hair and forces me to go to this sorry excuse for a school. He knows I won’t have the guts to tell anyone. And sadly, he’s right. I have never fought back in my life. I have never done anything that I was afraid to do, and I have never stood up to my dad. Why? , you might ask; it’s because I don’t know how, because I'm weak. “Hey, are you gonna stand there staring at those binders forever?” Jordan asks. “Sorry, I was thinking about stuff,” I say, shaking my head. “I know, you always make that face when you’re thinking,” Jordan says plainly. “Wow, I must look beautiful when I make that face,” I chuckle coldly. Jordan laughs nervously next to me. It’s a strange sound. The last time I heard a noise exactly like that was the day before yesterday, when my dad had one of his personal business meetings with people from his work. My dad is a decent businessman. You’d never realize that he abuses his 15-year-old daughter daily unless you’ve seen my scars and bruises embezzled on my body. He had his boss over at our house one day. My dad never tells me anything, so I didn’t know the man was over at the house. I came downstairs to ask if I could walk over to Jordan’s house to work on a school project when his boss caught sight of me. I had a big bruise above my eye, scratches across my arm, and nasty gashes all over my face. I was just going to ask until my eyes met his. In those eyes of his, I saw shock, curiosity, and worry. I just stood there with my mouth agape. I glanced at my dad, and what was left of my world and my hope, all crumpled down and was blown away by a wind. I had never seen him that livid before.

You’re Safe

Elise Ao

Part I

“If you fight back and get hit, it hurts a little while; if you don’t fight back it will hurt forever.” -Joel Siegel “Erren, you come in like this everyday. Why can’t you just tell me what happened?” “Jordan, you're lucky I even talk to you. I barely even glance at anyone, and here I am at my locker talking to you. Plus, I told you, it’s my dog. He just doesn’t know how to control himself, and he just attacks sometimes, that’s all,” I respond with annoyance. “Yeah, sure it is,” Jordan mumbles back. I feel a stab of guilt as I lie to him. Jordan is the only one that didn’t push me too hard, physically and mentally. I just can’t tell him though ‒ it’s too hard. My dad

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