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TW; please read the introduction that states what kinds of themes are discussed in this book, take care

Alette's POV

It had been a whole week and a half since I walked out of his home. I hadn't heard from him since. Not that I had expected to hear from him.

But I missed him.

And then I got upset at myself for missing him because of how unkind he had been that day. Sure I might have gotten on his nerves and pestered him, and then showed up to his work and home unannounced, but I thought that he reciprocated the sentiment. He called me his girl, he called me an angel, he called me beautiful; was all that a lie? Most likely. But he had taken time out of his day to come pick me up or spend time with me, and I had done the same. So then why did he get angry and lash out on me?

And why did it hurt so darn bad?

It had taken me a few days to not completely burst into tears at the way he had changed his mannerisms towards me so quickly; going from caring to mean in the snap of a finger.

I missed him, but I knew that I didn't deserve to be treated that way. A few years ago, I would have blamed myself, but I knew that this wasn't entirely fault.

Even with all this positive talk, I couldn't completely get rid of the voice in the back of my head that blamed me for everything. Blamed me for driving people away, blamed me for not being able to keep a friend, for being so high-maintenance that he couldn't stay.

Why didn't he stay?

I huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of my eyes. It was no use letting my thoughts go to a place that I knew would leave me feeling worse than ever.

A butterfly landed on my knee and I smiled softly, it was the little things. I picked some lint off of my thick brown top, that I had paired with a beige flower print calf length skirt.

I was sitting on my porch, waiting for Josephine to pick me up so we could take a tour of the campus. I saw her white car pull up and I bounced up onto my feet.

I ran to her car and sat inside, buckling my seatbelt.

"Hi cupcake!"

"Hi Jojo, I love your outfit," I beamed at her. She was wearing a bright orange romper and had her hair up in a bun, looking as flawless as ever.

"And I love your gorgeous face," she made a kissy face at me and started driving to the University.

We made small talk on the ride there until she cleared her throat and looked at me while we were stopped at a red light.

"Faye, I can tell there's something bothering you you know?" she said solemnly.

My eyes widened and I looked at my lap.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you girly," she said gently.

I looked out of the window hesitating, not knowing what to say. I swallowed, "There's this boy," I started, and she sucked in a breath of anticipation, "Um...Jojo I've never liked a boy before so I don't know how this works but..." my lip wobbled and I finally looked at her, my eyes glossy with tears, "He got mad and raised his voice at me, and it made me so upset and scared me."

She parked the car in the big parking lot and turned to me, her eyes flashing, "He did what now? Because I'm about ready to kick him where the sun don't shine."

I laughed softly, and we sat for a while in the car while as I explained to her, briefly, what had happened between us. She was fuming by the end of the conversation.

"I wish I had asked you sooner cupcake, so that you didn't have to go through that alone, what an idiot," she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I just don't want to think about it honestly, because it makes me upset," I told her defeated.

I guess this is why I had never had a crush on a boy before, because it sucked. Would not recommend.

Josephine gave me a bright smile, "Well, then lets go and think about other things, like the fact that we have a whole campus to tour!" she wiggled her eyebrows at me and I wiped my eyes.

We got out of the car and she looked at me, "You ready Faye?"

I nodded apprehensively, crossing my fingers that it wasn't too busy today. We started the tour at the parking lot, where Josephine complained about how darn expensive the parking was, and we continued all across the campus. It was huge.

Jojo pointed at all of the different buildings where the lecture halls were, the best places to study, the gym, the library, and the best places to get coffee.

It was beyond overwhelming, but at the same time, it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would.

"Shall we go and get a late lunch?" she asked, pointing to a little a café close to the library. I nodded and we walked into the brightly lit café; it looked cosy and there were a handful of students sitting on their laptops, reading books, having lunch, or just talking.

We went up to the counter and ordered our food, Josephine grabbed a chicken salad and an iced tea, and I got a sandwich and an iced coffee.

An iced coffee with lots of caramel, one of the best things ever perhaps.

We sat down at the table and started eating.

"So Faye, do you think you want to take some in-person classes now?" Josephine asked, taking a bite.

I contemplated, looking around, "It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be honestly," I took a sip of my coffee, "I think I can do it."

She squealed and I turned red, telling her to shush, but I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

Her eyes widened, "Wait Faye! Your birthday is coming up!"

My own eyes mirrored hers, I had completely forgotten. My 22nd birthday was in a few weeks.

"Should we go to a club or something?" she asked wiggling her brows. I immediately shook my head at that suggestion.

She laughed, "Yeah didn't think so," she took another bite and we talked until two pretty girls walked up to out table.

"Hi Josephine!" one of them, with long straight black hair, said.

"Oh hey guys! I didn't know you had class today!" Jojo greeted back, and then turned to me, "This is Faye!"

"Hi Faye! I'm Niesha," said the girl with the pitch-black hair. She had a beautiful smile and dark brown eyes, "Nice to meet you, you're so pretty!"

"I'm Marah! Great to meet you Faye, I love your name!" piped up the other girl, who was wearing a pretty pink scarf and had green eyes, "Do you go here?"

"Hi, it's nice to meet you both," I said, shyly smiling, "I do go here, but I was doing um online classes. I'm going to start coming in person now though," I told them softly. They were both so gorgeous and seemed sweet.

"Oh cool! What's your major?" Marah asked.

"Psychology and Child Behaviour," I told them, "I want to work in child and adolescent therapy when I'm older.

"Oh no way! I'm doing a minor in psychology, let's take a class together!" Neisha said excitedly.

I beamed nodding my head; that sounded like a great idea.

"Oh shoot, we gotta go, we have to get to our next class," Marah said hurriedly, "Can I give you our numbers Faye?"

I nodded smiling brightly; did I just make new friends? I think yes.

We exchanged numbers and the two girls scurried away to their next class. Josephine and I finished our meals quickly and left the café.

"You don't have to drop me off Jojo, I can take the bus," I told her, knowing she had a research report to write.

"Oh shush, I'm going to drop of you off at the bakery for your shift, I wanna grab a cookie from there anyways," she said firmly.

I nodded and we went to her car, and drove off. I felt considerably lighter than I had before. Being around Jo, making new friends and having an overall good tour of the campus had made me feel better.

Now fingers crossed that I have a great shift too.

She parked by the bakery and I grabbed bag. We both walked inside, to the moderately busy shop. I waved at Miss Gigi, and Josephine made a beeline for the cookies.

I giggled at her, saying a quick goodbye, before going to the back and getting ready for my shift.

In the back, I found Tai, chugging a water bottle. He held up a finger and I watched in amusement as he drank the entirety of the bottle before taking a breath, and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Hey Bumblebee, excited to close tonight with your favourite friend?"

I laughed, re-tying my hair up, and putting my apron on, "I sure am Bow Tie."

"How was your campus tour? How you feelin'?" he asked, his tone getting more serious.

"It was good Tai, I um think I'm going to start going in person now," I told him.

"No way! That's so great, I'm proud of you kid," he said ruffling my hair.

"You're only two years older than me," I huffed.

"I'm older nonetheless, and also, you're like two feet tall so," Tai shrugged and then laughed.

I stuck my tongue out at him and we both walked out to the front, and got ready to work till closing time.

The shift went by without any big hiccups, and Tai and I got an early start to cleaning because of how empty the bakery was.

The sun had started setting at this point, and it was getting darker. I locked the front door quickly as Tai came with the mop.

"You wanna stack the chairs up now Bee? I just have to go change some light bulbs in the bathrooms, and then move the dough machine because it got moved today, and then I'll throw the garbage away outside. Then I'll drop you home?"

"I already did the chairs Tai, and prepped for tomorrow! I also cleaned all the counters and stuff so why don't I go do the garbage?"

Tai paused, "Uh...Bee, it's like dark outside, and you'll have to go into the back alleyway, I just wouldn't feel safe letting you do that, I'd rather not take the chance," he scratched the back of his neck.

I pouted, "But I've taken the garbage out before Tai!"

"Yes, during the daytime," he emphasized, "Look just sit tight for a little bit, and I'll go do what I need to do, and I'll come back and we can leave. We can get some fries and chicken nuggets for dinner," he bribed.

"Hmph fine," I said, crossing my arms and taking off my apron.

He smiled and walked to the bathroom.

I went to the back room and started packing my bag. Once I finished packing, I sat down on the chair and hummed looking around, until my eyes fell onto the garbage bag.

I looked around sneakily, what Tai doesn't know won't hurt him.

I decided that I would take the garbage and throw it out quickly. I didn't want him to feel like he had to do all the work just because I couldn't do something; I had already driven Aresius away by being a burden, and I didn't want it to happen to anyone else I knew.

I looked around the corner to make sure Tai wasn't there, but I heard his voice in the bathroom cussing out light bulbs, so I knew that this was my chance.

I grabbed the bag, went out through the back door and into the dimly lit alleyway. I could feel my heartbeat increase the moment I stepped out and got an instant bad feeling. Shrugging it of, I hurried towards the big garbage bin, and threw the bag in there. A loud clanking noise made me jump and I quickly started walking back to the door of the bakery, trying to keep my breathing in check. Maybe this was a bad idea.

I let out a sigh of relief when I finally placed my hand on the back door of the bakery, but before I could open it a hand roughly grabbed me from behind; with one hand clamped firmly on my mouth, I couldn't even scream for help. I thrashed against whoever had grabbed me, but their grip was firm.

"I've been watching you all day pretty lady," a hoarse voice whispered in my ear, "You smell so damn good."

I screamed from behind his hand and moved as much as I could to get out of his grip, but it didn't loosen. The panic overflowed through my veins and I couldn't stop the tears that escaped from my eyes.

"Shh don't make a sound, the sooner you listen to me, the sooner you can leave okay? Let me have my fun and I'll send you on your way," he spun my around to face him, his hand still on my mouth. My body was now paralyzed with fear as I looked into my attacker's bloodshot eyes. He grinned at me, his yellow teeth on display, "Now don't you make a sound when I take my hand off your mouth, you hear me? Or else," he looked down and I followed his gaze to the knife that was now in his hands. My eyes widened even further, and the tears flowed freely.

He paid me no mind, and grabbed at my chest, the knife slightly scratching at my neck.

"You're hiding a lot under these baggy clothes aren't you," he barked out a laugh in glee, "The boys are going to love a turn when I'm done with you."

He held the knife at my neck and took his hand away from my mouth. I choked back a sob and whimpered, not being able to think of what to say.

My head had gone to dark place, a place that light didn't exist, a place where I was helpless. A place where I was being taken advantage of. My mind even muddier with the memories of my past, I shook violently as he claw at my shirt, finally using the knife to cut the shirt slightly.

A noise in the alleyway made him stop his advances, he whipped his head to the side, and I gathered all that was left in me to shove him back, not failing to notice how the knife had dug into my arm.

"HELP!" I screamed, hoping that someone would come before it was too late.

A vicious look of anger overtook his features and he grabbed my harder, the knife piercing at my throat, blood on the blade. It glinted in the streetlight and my fear built up all over again.

"You bi-" he swung me around, my head hitting the brick wall and I scratched at him, trying to get away. When his grip didn't loosen and his swearing at me continued, I bit the hand that was by my mouth and he cursed even louder.

This time he retaliated by banging the handle of the heavy knife against the side of my head, and then bringing it lower to continue ripping my dress. I let out a louder sob as I heard the rip, my head pounding from the pain of the hits. He delivered a slap to my face and roughly grabbed my jaw.

"Please please please," I begged through my tears, my throat hoarse, "Please no,"

"I told you to shut up!" and that's when the knife pierced my thigh. I let out a scream in agony when the blade and his hands touched the bare skin of my leg.

"I said shut the fu-" he didn't finish his sentence as body grabbed him from behind and threw him sideways, delivering punches to his face.

Someone had come to help.

The force of him being pulled away from me, caused me to fall to the ground, where my head spun and I all I could see was blurry figures and small lights.

A pair of hard arms picked up my body, a hand supporting my head, "Alette," the voice said breathlessly, "Alette keep your eyes open, keep them open, please Alette."

I couldn't place whom it was that was talking to me, but I heard running and shouting.

The person holding me cupped my face as I blinked my eyes, trying to keep them open, but all I could see was a blurry shadow. I felt my eyes close a little more, and the grip on me tightened.

"Baby," the voice sounded desperate, "Baby please keep your eyes open, you're safe now, I won't let anything happen to you, don't leave Alette, don't leave baby."

I finally recognized the voice, but it was too late because I could feel my body getting more and more limp.

"R-r-eecie," I croaked out, before I floated away into the darkness.

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my friends please don't call alette stupid in the comments regarding the actions that she took :) it will get explained more in depth in upcoming chapters, but she very clearly states that she feels like burden and she doesn't want to drive anyone else away from her because she's incapable of doing things, she was just going out back to throw away the garbage behind the bakery, and there have been countless individuals who have made a small choice like this that led them to be in the most unfortunate situations - let's not blame her, or anyone else for that matter, thank you x

unedited.