XLVII- Far From Over

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"Good morning." Shawn says as I open my eyes.

I smile, "Morning."

"How do you feel?"

"A little sore, but okay." He opens his mouth to say something but my phone rings. I stand up and look for it in my sweats. Once I locate it I groan, "It's my mom."

Shawn sits up, "You should answer it."

I do as he says, putting the phone up to my ear, "Livia, where are you?"

"I'm at Becca's." I lie, reaching down to put my clothes back on.

"You said you'd be home."

I sigh, "I know, I'm headed your way now." We say goodbye and I hang up. "I have to go home."

Shawn nods, "School starts back up in two days."

I finish putting my clothes on and watch as Shawn does the same. "I don't know if I can do it."

Shawn comes up to me and places his hands on my shoulders, "I'll be with you as much as I can."

"At a distance though." I add.

His shoulders drop, "Yeah, at a distance."

I reach up and kiss him quickly, "I'll see you at school Mr. Morgan." He smiles at me, kissing me one more time before I really have to leave.

The whole way home is spent reminiscing about what happened last night. I can't help but touch my neck where his lips were masking any pain I felt.

"Danny, she's home!" I hear my mom yell when I enter the house. I walk into the kitchen where coffee is already made and help myself to it. They both rush to the kitchen and stare at me intently.

"What?" I ask.

"We just got off the phone with Logan Cooper, he said he's transferring Dean to a school in California. He's going to live with his mom for the rest of the semester." I'm shocked that his dad would do that but it must be a good compromise from pressing charges.

"Oh." I say.

"We agreed that it's what's best." My mom says but my dad doesn't seem like the plan. I know he wanted him in jail for what he did to me but this is the best way. He just needs help.

I take my coffee with me and begin walking upstairs but my mom stops me, "There's more." I turn to give them my undivided attention, "We tried to stay a few days but we got called in for a job in Nevada."

"When are you leaving?" I ask.

"The third, our flight is early." That always means that they'll be gone before I wake up in the morning. It's also the day school starts back up and I have to deal with the whole school knowing all about me.

My parents look worried that I'm going to overreact or get mad, but at this point there's nothing I can do. "Have a safe trip." I say, surprising them and walking up to my room. When I shut my door I lean against it and close my eyes. I know I'm going to have to see everyone today, to let them know how I'm doing but the truth is I don't know. I feel relieved that Dean is leaving but where's the closure? I feel upset that my parents are going back to work after they find out about everything. Mostly I feel like the semester is only half way through and yet everything is far from over.

I push off of the door, walk over to my bed, and set my mug down on the nightstand. I pull my phone out to check the messages. I have several from Dean, most of them apologizing and the rest promising to come back for me after graduation. I shake my head. I don't understand how he could still think I'd want to be with him after everything. I suppose we never officially broke up but I figured he'd take the whole town knowing as a hint.

My phone buzzes and it's Dean calling me. I wait for what feels like the longest time. It continues to ring but I'm not sure if I should pick it up. The easy answer would be no, to leave him to rot in California. However, if I don't answer him then I'll never know if he'll stop trying to see me again. So I answer, "Hello." I say, my voice is shaky.

He sighs, "Liv, thank God, we need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you." It's a lie, I have plenty to say. I want him to finally know just how over we are.

"Please." He begs, "I can't leave without seeing you first."

If he shows up to my house my dad will kill him for sure. "I don't know."

"Look, I'm not leaving for another week. Just think about it."

"Okay." I say, "I'll think about it." I hang up and toss my phone on the bed.

It's still early but I feel so tired so I crawl into bed and close my eyes. I'm not sure if I'll have a dream about Shawn or a nightmare about Dean.



"Hey sweetie, wake up." My mom says as she moves my hair behind my ear.

I open my eyes, "What time is it?"

"It's almost two." I sit up and wipe the sleep from my eyes. I didn't expect to be asleep for that long. "Your friends are here to see you." I check my phone, noticing all of the missed calls from both Becca and Jenny. "Your father and I are going to the store, we'll be gone for about an hour." She says, standing up and walking out of my room. I appreciate her giving us some privacy to talk about everything.

After a minute I hear my friends downstairs and get out of bed to join them. Luke and Becca make their way into the living room while Jenny and Jake wait for me at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey." I say as I move my hair out of my face.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Jenny asks.

They follow me into the living room as I answer her, "Well aside from the entire school knowing about Dean and I, I'm okay."

Bee sighs, "I don't understand why Hunter did that. He had to have known it would affect you."

Jake shakes his head, "Not necessarily, he probably thought you wouldn't leave him until it was too late otherwise."

"I was going to leave him when we got back from break."

Jenny nods, "It's true, that's why she told us about it."

"You should've told Jake and I." Luke adds as he looks intently at me. "We could've been there for you."

I meet his gaze, "You have no idea how confused I was when Dean became a different person. He let fear of losing me turn into anger and the only thing I wanted was for him to get professional help. I didn't tell you guys because his friends didn't need to hate him." I only told Bee and Jenny when I did because I owed them an explanation for everything.

"I'm sorry." Luke apologizes.

"Don't be, Luke."

Becca crosses her leg over the other and sits back, "So what's going to happen to Dean?"

I think back to my parents wanting to press charges and how he's leaving instead. "He's finishing his senior year in California with his mom."

"What?" Jake asks. "He threw you down in the school parking lot and they won't even do anything?"

"Calm down." Jenny tried but it's clear Jake is upset.

"Jenny, did you not see the video? He was so over protective he accused her of cheating on him with me." My cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

Jenny looks between the both of us "I saw it." She replies softly.

"Guys, I know first hand that he deserves so much worse but this isn't about revenge. If he gets help in California then his next girlfriend will never have to endure the things I did." The thought of Dean with another girl now turns my stomach into knots. Not out of jealousy but out of concern.

I know everyone cares about my wellbeing but I'm getting through this. After some time has passed I'm hoping this was all just a bad memory. If it's not then maybe I'm the one who will need therapy.

"Most girls would want their abusive ex castrated." Bee deadpans.

I almost do but I can't move on if I'm filled with anger, "I'm not most girls."

"That's an understatement." Everyone turns to see Hunter Simmons in the hallway.

I stand up, "What are you doing here?"

He points behind him, "The door was unlocked."

"So you just walk in?" I question, visibly getting upset. He ruined everything and he thinks he can just walk into my house?

"Calm down, Livia."

I take a deep breath, "What do you want?"

Hunter seems a little surprised that he got this far and takes a step closer to me, "I just wanted to say that you were right. Dean wasn't the only one in the video and I should've thought about how it would impact you. I'm really sorry." I think back to how long he's known. If it was around Halloween that he saw the video then every interaction we had after that was out of pity.

I start to think about it, "When we went to the party at your house, why did you offer us a room?"

Everyone's surprised by my question but I don't pay attention to anyone else, "In the video he was drinking and driving. I figured if I offered a room that night, he wouldn't do something that stupid."

Everything was based on that video, "What about being Mr. Morgan's TA?" He's already a TA for the front office, he didn't have to be one for Mr. Morgan.

Hunter shifts uncomfortably on his feet before answering, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay after school. Then Mr. Morgan suggested being his TA on separate days, so it didn't really work."

"He was like your guardian angel." Jenny says.

I look back at them for a minute, but don't say anything. "Listen, I know you thought you were trying to do the right thing. For that, thank you, but I'm not the one who gets to go to a new school for the rest of the year."

Hunter's jaw drops, "You're not serious? They just let him go?" Not yet, I think to myself. He doesn't leave for another week.

Luke speaks up, "Yep, just like that."

Hunter shakes his head in disbelief, "I'm so sorry, Livia. I thought he was getting what he deserved."

"I know." I say, uncrossing my arms and letting them fall to my sides.

"When school starts back I want to be there for you, maybe we can ride together?" I stare at him for a while. Why does he keep trying to help me? He doesn't even know me.

"We're all going to be there, Livia." Bee says.

"I don't need bodyguards."

"Too bad," Luke adds, "We're not letting you deal with everyone alone." I notice a hint of guilt on his face. He feels bad for not noticing sooner, they all do.

"Okay," I agree.

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