Torn (Torn Series) Page 0,43

a lot faster than she did Drakes since there was a lot less detail to it. She applied the bandage and handed me a sheet with aftercare instructions.

“This will explain everything you need to know. If you have any problems, my phone number is on the bottom.”

I stood up and threw my arms around her.

“Thank you so much for this.”

She froze at first, then hugged me back gently.

“You’re very welcome.”

I pulled back and looked at Drake with a huge grin on my face. I walked over to him and threw my arms around his neck as well.

“And thank you for making me do this, I never would have been able to do it by myself.”

He smiled as I pulled back, “Sure thing sunshine. Let me pay her and we can get out of here.”

My eyes widened, “No, you don’t have to pay for it, I’ve got it. Actually, I’ll pay for both, since I made you get one too.”

“I know I don’t have to, I want to,” he turned to Katelynn, “How much do I owe you?”

She shook her head, “Nothing, this one’s on me.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, now get out of here before I change my mind.”

Drake hugged her briefly before putting his hand on the small of my back and leading us out of the shop to his car.

Chapter Ten

Demons

Drake took me back to his house where we hung out for the rest of the afternoon, watching TV and talking about school, his band, and anything else we could think of as we sat together on his couch. It felt nice to spend time with him, just the two of us. After a couple hours I asked if I could take my bandage off to look at the tattoo. He nodded and helped me peel it off slowly.

When it was uncovered I felt tears start to sting my eyes. Those two little words represented everything that was my past, all the pain, the fear.

I looked up at Drake through my tears, “Thank you so much, you don’t know what this means to me.”

He raised his hand to my face and wiped my tears away

“No thanks are necessary, I’m just glad I could do something for you. Will you tell me what it means?”

I looked at him confused, “I already did, it means never loved.”

“I know what the words mean, but I want to know the meaning behind it.”

I looked down at my wrist as my tears started flowing faster, “I told you before that my mother wasn’t the best.”

He nodded as I continued.

“She had me too young, and she resented me for it. She had to grow up to raise me. She managed to stop using drugs while she was pregnant and stayed sober for a while after, but she relapsed and went back to her partying ways. From the time I was little, she would either take me to parties with her and leave me there by myself or she’d just leave me alone at home for days at a time, and when she did come home she was usually stoned or drunk. I tried to stay out of her way, but she’d always find me and she was so angry. She would scream at me about how I ruined everything, how I ruined her life and she wished I was never born. It escalated a few times and she beat me. If she brought a boyfriend home with her, they would usually beat me too. There was this one guy, John, that she brought home when I was thirteen. Instead of beating me like the others, he just sat and watched my mother hit me. I was relieved that he wouldn’t hurt me too. That night, after my mother passed out, he came into my room. He wasn’t drunk or even stoned from what I could tell, but he crawled into bed with me and he started…”I bit back a sob, “He started trying to touch me. I woke up and realized what was happening so I started screaming.”

I stopped and took a deep breath, but he spoke before I could.

“Chloe, did he hurt you? Did he rape you?”

I shook my head, “No, my screams must have woken up my mother and she came to see what was going on. She took one look at us in my bed and started screaming at me, calling me a whore. She didn’t even say anything to him, but he stood up and left as she started beating me. The next