*unedited*

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I woke suddenly as it felt like I was falling even though I wasn't. I looked over to my window to see it was already quite bright out. It felt like I had just fallen asleep. I stretched my limbs out and swung my legs out of bed. Standing up, I walked over to my bathroom and saw how horrible I looked.

The left side of my face was turning greenish black and the cut on my forehead had scabbed over. I looked at the light purple hand print wrapping around my neck, making me shudder thinking about the man in the ally way. He reminded me of my dad so much. Too much.

My hair was a rats nest from tossing and turning all night and I had bags under my eyes. All in all I looked horrible. I walked into my closet and looked for what clothes I was going to wear. I finally decided on some light blue skinny jeans and a blue undershirt type tank top with a black hoodie over it.

I picked up my phone and panicked as I saw the time. It was already almost noon. i almost went to go and just run downstairs and out the door but decided that one, I couldn't go out like this without somebody calling the cops to inform them that they though somebody escaped from an insane asylum and two, I was already hours late for school. I figured I would just get ready real quick and then go in and say I had a doctors appointment and forgot to call or something.

I went into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. I washed my hair and scrubbed my body with my strawberry vanilla body wash before stepping out with a towel wrapped around my torso. I brushed my hair and teeth before I blow dried my hair.

My eyes widened as I heard the front door open. I quickly got dressed and crept over to the stairs. I heard the stove click on as I got to the bottom. I peaked around the corner to see... my mom?

"Mom?" I asked.

"Zoe." she said with a smirk. Her lips quickly dropped when she saw my face..

"What did you get your self into now?" she questioned motioning to my bruised cheek.

"I uh fell and my face hit my table, I'm okay though." I said with a small nervous smile. She rolled her eyes with a bored look on her face. I was starving but didn't want to be late for school.

"I thought you weren't coming back for two months..." I trailed off.

"I'm only staying here for a week to grab some stuff before I go back to Africa for a while." See my mom lives in Africa with her boyfriend that studies all over the world. She's always gone but its usually only for a couple months at the most before she stops back here. The only reason she could afford to come back at all is because her boyfriend is loaded. They have an account set up for me that has money transferred into it every month. At least they even do that. I wish it were out of the kindness of my mother's heart but I vividly remember her telling me that it was only because she didn't want to go through the drama of social services taking me away.

"Oh ok. How long is a while?" I asked trying to hide my emotions. She would see it as a weakness. She always hated it when I cried when I was younger.

"About a year." My eyes widened and mouth dropped open slightly. She looked over and raised an eyebrow.

"Problem?" I looked down.

"I've got to get to school mom, I'll see you later." I said quietly and spun around.

"You do not walk away from me girl." She yelled as she grabbed my arm and spun me around to slap me across my already bruised cheek.

"and why the hell aren't you at school already?" she yelled. I grabbed my face as tears prickled my eyes.

"I- uh i didnt- uh" i triedto form a sentence but my mouth wouldnt work properly. she went to reach for me again but i dosged her and swept my bag up.

"just get out of here, youre useless." she spat. I stepped back and practically started running to the door.

I tried to fight it but a couple hot tears slipped down my face. I heard her calling me names and yelling at me but I just shut her voice out. I closed the door and started the walk. You would think I would get used to her being gone but it still hurts knowing that nobody will ever be there for you. Even though she hated me it still hurts.

I see how disappointed she is whenever she looks at me. My dad was abusive and disappeared one year ago. She was the only one I could lean on but instead of comforting me, she shut me off. She went way for months at a time, leaving me at a babysitters house or at one of her friends house but eventually when I got old enough, she would just leave me at home alone.

She started turning into my dad too, she was never home but when she was she would abuse me physically but mostly verbally. I didn't even notice while I was crying, but I guess I started walking to my favorite cafe that was a little closer to my house then my school was. My tears cleared up before I walked into the friendly atmosphere.

I ordered a hot tea and sat down in the corner booth thinking. I couldn't dig up any motivation to leave and go to school. I sat at the cafe for about an hour and a half trying to read and sip on my tea. I couldn't concentrate, usually reading would always keep my mind off things but it just wasn't working. I took the last sip of my tea and closed my book. I stared blankly ahead of me as I walked out of the cafe and tried not to break down again.

I walked around for about another hour before I came to the building that I was at with Zack last night. I gazed up to the very top and sighed already knowing that I was going to climb to the top. I walked around to the side and started to make my way up the cold metal rungs. The temperature was dropping fast and the wind was already starting to pick up again.

I climbed up the handles and flung my school bag up to the top. I stood up and took a deep breath that turned shaky towards the end. My fingers and face were already numb from walking around for so long. My chest tightened and I knew I couldn't pretend everything was okay and ignore it anymore. I walked over to the edge of the building and sat down. I stared ahead for a few seconds but as soon as i let myself think, everything came out.

I sat on that ledge in the freezing cold and I cried. I cried so hard that I ended up having a panic attack. I was hyperventilating and sobbing for who knows how long. I cried for my mom, I cried for my dad, I cried for me. I didn't want to go home ever again. Maybe I could stay at a friends house for the week but I remembered that the only friend I had was Jules and she was still away for a little while longer.

I never cry but when you hold it in for so long, sometimes you just have to let it all out. I have nobody. This would be the longest she had ever gone away for. Even though I should be glad that she's not there to hurt me, it still means that I'll be alone for another year.

She would probably forget about me and move in permanently with her boyfriend in Africa, or keep traveling around the world with him. Maybe she will be happy and get over my father. Even thinking of him and what he did to us leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I stayed on that roof for a very long time. I didn't have my phone so I had no idea what time it was, but the sun had just dipped under the horizon.

Another wave of silent tears came and all you could hear after a while was my ragged breathing and sniffling. I had moved down so I was leaning up against the short ledge around the edges of the building. I closed my eyes an the wind blew against my numb skin. I knew it wasn't smart to stay up here. I knew there was a good chance i could get frostbite or hypothermia. I knew some terrible stuff could happen but I didn't care. I was too tired to care.

I heard foot steps nearing me right as I drifted out of consciousness.

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Depends on if you guys want it! Comment and tell me what you think and if I should continue this story!