Valentine’s Day came and went. It was on a Monday this year and I picked up a shift before and after school, so Zack and I didn’t get to celebrate. Or, at least, I thought we weren’t. I mean, were we even serious enough to celebrate it? According to Zack, we were. He met me at work that morning with a small bouquet of red roses and sunflowers, I had told him months before that sunflowers were my favourite. Later that day at school he surprised me with a box of chocolates. I thought after that our Valentine’s day was over but, again, he surprised me.

“Another present?” I asked him as he came into the café with a small gift bag.

He shrugged and approached the bar, leaning over it to kiss me. There were only a few other people in the café and they weren’t paying us any attention. “Open it.”

“You really shouldn’t have,” I told him. “I didn’t get you anything.”

He grinned. “That’s okay, I’ll settle for a super heavy make-out session later tonight.”

“Oh, you will, huh?” I giggled.

He nodded, leaning over to kiss me again. “Yes. Now, open it.”

I smiled, shook my head and then did as I was told. Inside the small gift bag was a jewelry gift box. Inside the gift box was a necklace. It was simple, just a silver chain with a small silver heart charm. “Oh, Zack, I love it.”

“Michelle helped me pick it out,” he told me. “I’m not very good at this type of thing.”

“You did great,” I assured him, and turned so he could put the necklace on me.

It was March now, and getting warmer out. College applications had been sent out, even Zack's. Zack has been busy with the band, sending out demos and trying to book as many shows they possibly could. Baseball season had also started for Zack. His first game is today, and even though I know nothing of baseball, I had to attend. And man, I’m glad I did; Zack looked damn good in his uniform.

I worked on my homework as the game went on. Zack hit a home run near the end of the game and I loved the way the crowd cheered for him as he ran. God, I loved him. I loved seeing him happy, I loved seeing him succeed. I loved him. It was way too early in our relationship but I knew it was true. I loved every part of him.

After winning the game, Zack ran right up to me and I jumped into his arms. I kissed him and he set me down. I wanted to tell him I loved him, but the words didn’t come out. I swallowed them back down, it was okay that he didn’t know. He didn’t need to know right now, hell, I didn’t even know if he felt the same way.

We went out to eat to celebrate, Zack changed out of his sexy baseball uniform but still looked damn good in his Metallica t-shirt and jeans. While we talked, I realized that I could stay. After my birthday in August, I could stay instead of leaving like I’ve always planned. I would be in college and living on campus, so I would be away from Eli anyways. And most of my schools I had picked out weren’t even in California. I could stay, I could stay with Zack, Zack could move with me.

I didn’t have to disappear.
I could stay.

Zack walked me home and kissed me goodnight. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, okay?
I nodded. “Okay. I might be late I picked up a shift in the morning and Parker is always late, so…”

Zack cocked his head to the side. “You’ve got to stop working so much.”

“Oh, okay,” I laugh, “You’re literally either working, practicing with the band, at baseball practice or school.”

“Not true!” he retorts. “I went to dinner with you tonight and I’m studying with you whenever you’re not working.”

I grin. “Because you’re a good boyfriend.”

“Mm,” Zack kisses me. “Yes, I am. I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I grin as Zack turns on his heel to leave and I go inside.

As soon as I enter the house I hear the arguing. Gena is in the bedroom with Eli and she’s upset over something. The door is closed but I hesitate at it for a moment, listening and trying to decide if I should intervene. After a couple of seconds, I decide against it and go to my own bedroom, locking it behind me.

Five minutes later the screaming becomes even more distracting. “I just want to go out, Eli! I don’t understand why that’s such a big deal!” Gena yelled.

Eli retorted with, “We go out all the fucking time, Gena. I’m tired. I work long hours. I don’t spend my days at the mall like you do!”

“We do not go out! We didn’t even go out on Valentine’s Day! And I do not spend my days at the mall! I go to school, too, I’ve been stressing over college applications, so fuck you!”
There was a smacking sound, followed by a whimper and a thud.

I was off my bed and unlocking my door in less than a second. I ran across the hall and swung open Eli’s bedroom door. Gena was on the floor, her lip was bloody and she was attempting to shield herself from his fists.

“Eli, stop!” I yelled, running into him at full force, attempting to knock him off of her. I was successful, but not for long. Eli easily threw me off him and crawled back on top of Gena, this
time his hand wrapped around her throat.

I was up and threw myself back on top of him before Gena passed out. This time, Eli turned his aggression to me. He was on his feet and had me pinned to the wall before I had time to move out of the way. Gena was crying and coughing and pulling herself up from the floor. She was already bruising.

“Gena, go!” I yell, “Go now!”

I didn’t have to tell her again. She disappeared and Eli’s grip tightened on me. “You fucking bitch.” He spat in my face and then wrapped his hand around my throat. Before I could fight him off me, he was raising his clenched fist and I saw it flying towards my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

The impact was loud. I heard my bones crunch under the weight of Eli’s fist but I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t feel any pain, I didn’t feel any blood. I opened my eyes and saw Eli’s fist buried in the wall next to my head. I exhaled a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

“Next time,” he says calmly, “I won’t miss.”

He lets go of me and pulls his fist out of the wall. There’s blood on his knuckles, but I can’t tell if it’s his or Gena’s and I don’t stick around to find out. I run to my bedroom and lock the door behind me before sliding to the floor. I was listening for Elis footsteps, expecting them but they never came.

Gena would go to the police. She would go to the police and tell them what happened, and they would believe her because she has proof. She has proof, so they would come and take him away and everything will be okay. Everything will be fine.

But the police never come and take Eli away. My alarm wakes me up and I'm sleeping on my bedroom floor. My body hurts from the awkward sleeping position, but I get up anyways and shut off the alarm. I decide to take a shower, get dressed and head to work. While at work, I decided I would corner Gena at school. I would tell her that we could go to the police together. This time, I knew which officer not to go to.

I went to school confident. I immediately began searching for Gena, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found. She’s probably at home. She looked pretty bad when she ran out of the house, so she was probably hiding until the bruising and marks went away. While I understood that, I knew I couldn’t let it happen. We had to go to the police. I decided to find Zack, tell him I wasn’t feeling good and that I was going to go home. Then, I was going to go to her house.

The group, however, found me before I could find them. When I saw Val, she was leading the group and pushing her sleeves up.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” She shrieks, sprinting up to me.

I shook my head. “What are –” Before I could finish, she swung at me, her closed fist hit me in the jaw.

“Valary!” Matt called, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her away as she swung at me again.

“You fucking psychopath! We were your friends!” She continues to tell.

What the fuck was she talking about? “Val, stop. I got this, just…go away, please. Let me take care of this.”

I looked up and saw Zack talking but when his eyes landed on me, they weren’t kind. What in the hell was going on? “You better fucking handle it, Zack,” Val told him.

“Yeah, or we will,” Michelle threatened. Matt and Brian dragged Val and Michelle away while Johnny, Leana, Lacey, and Jimmy followed looking just as pissed.

“Zack…” I started, wiping the blood from my lip, “what…what’s going on?”

“Gena’s in the hospital,” he tells me.

The hospital? Eli hurt her that bad? “Is she okay?”

Zack narrowed his eyes down at me. “Is she…is she okay? Sheridan, she has a broken nose. Two cracked ribs and a chipped tooth. She’s covered in bruises and has a fucking string of bruises around her neck. No, she’s not fine! You put her in the hospital!”

“What? No! No! That wasn’t…I didn’t! Zack, I didn’t do that! You have to believe me!” I panicked.

Zack was shaking his head. “I wish I believed you. Sheridan, I know you and Gena don’t get along. I know you have a problem with her because she’s my ex. I know you have a problem with her because she’s dating your brother. But this…this is…crazy.”

“I didn’t do this, Zack.”

“Well, Gena said you did. She told the police and hospital staff she was mugged, but she told us it was you. She said you went crazy on her last night after you got home and saw her with Eli,” his voice had softened but he still didn’t look kind.

Gena told them I did this? Why would she do this? I saved her! I put myself in danger to protect her! And for what? Why would she do this? “You honestly think I did this? You think I’m capable of this?”

Zack doesn’t reply right away. “I know you’re capable of…freaking out. I’ve seen it happen.”

“Are you talking about when I freaked out after I decided I didn’t want to have sex with you? Because that isn’t the same thing!” I’m the one yelling now.

“I know it’s not the same thing, Sheridan. And I don’t blame you for what happened. I’m just saying, I know you’re capable of freaking out.”

“I can’t believe this,” I mumble, more to myself than to Zack. The bell rings; it’s time to go to class.

“I have to go,” Zack tells me.

I shake my head, grabbing his arm. “No. No, we have to talk about this. You have to believe me. I’ll go talk to Gena, she’ll tell you the truth.”


“No! Do not go near her again, do you understand me? She said she’s not going to press charges as long as you stay away from her.”

“I didn’t do this!” I yell, “It was Eli!”

“Eli?”

“He’s abusive, Zack! He’s always hitting me and abusing me! Last night he and Gena got into a fight and he hurt her! He put her in the hospital, not me!” I was crying now.

“Sheridan, I’ve never even seen a mark on you.”

He didn’t believe me. This was the second time I’ve told someone about Eli and neither one of them believed me. “Zack…”

“I think it’s best if you don’t come around for a while…” Zack tells me.

“No…no, that’s not…I can’t…” I grab his arm as he tries to walk away from me.

“Ow,” Zack complains. “Sheridan! Ow!” He yanks his arm from my grip and I could see the indentions in his skin from my fingernails. Tiny spots of blood began to present themselves.

“I’m sorry…I…”

“I don’t want to see you again. We’re done.” He told me, this time walking off before I could even process what those words even meant.

Notes

I meant to post this earlier this week but forgot! But look she finally told Zack about what's going on! ...and then he didn't believe her! What's going to happen next? I've already for the next two chapters written so you'll find out soon enough!

In other news, i saw Avenged play last night for the third time! Amazing as always AND i caught one of Johnny's picks which just made the experience all that better! Check out my Instagram (lispofdeceit) to see some of my favourite pics I took including a picture of Zack staring right at me AND a picture Rafa took of Zack with me in the background (does that count as our first picture together bc i think it does?)

Don't forget to comment! I love hearing from you guys!

Journal entry can be found here

Title Credit: Avenged Sevenfold “Trashed and Scattered”)