Suffer In Silence

*Dakota’s POV*

I pull back, confused. “What is this?, why did y-“
“Shhh, I know”
“Know what?, what are y-“ I cover my mouth in shock as it dawns on me that he knows, as in he knows knows. But I’m not sure how much he knows… I have to find out… For now though, I lean into him, clutching his shirt and resting my head against his chest. He wraps his arms around me and tenderly kisses the top of my head.

We pull apart when Max and Jake emerge from the spare room. “Sorry guys, Mr. B isn’t here yet, doesn’t come in for another hour thanks to his kid trying to ditch school again” Max says with a laugh. I try to smile but I can even feel how fake it looks, if anyone noticed, they haven’t said anything. “I tried to call you guys to tell you to come in later, but no one answered” he continues. Suddenly both Jake and Andy start patting themselves down wildly only for neither of them to find their phones. Almost like a darkness has been lifted, I feel lighter, so when the boys exchange panicked looks with each other, I’m able to actually laugh along with Max.

*Andy’s POV*

Sitting on Sandra’s bed with both her and Jinxx, I can’t help but think back on the day Koda and I finally reconnected. It’s been several weeks since then, during which we decided to let CC and Ash in on it. We have all become hyper-aware of every time Koda acts strange - well, stranger than usual anyway - like when she; wears more foundation than she likes, wears long sleeves even when it’s too hot, and the constant excuses she comes up with to avoid taking jumpers off or talking about her home life. The frequency of all this alarms us greatly, but what scares us the most, is how well she hides it.

“I’m going to go straight to her mother to ask if she can stay over at my house this weekend so we can work on our new music project” Sandra muses thoughtfully. I look to her and nod in approval, “good idea, you could use it as a way to ‘accidentally’ see her body all covered in bruises when she changes, she’d have to tell you at least an edited version of how it happened.”

*Dakota’s POV*

“Koda!,” I look up to see Sandra half-jogging over to me, I close my book and pack it back in my bag. “Hey Sandra, what’s up?” I ask, slightly confused but intrigued at the same time. Usually, Sandra would have left by now with CC and the others. I feel a pang of jealousy, my mum has been insisting on picking me up so I don’t ‘get home so fucking late’ all the time - total bullshit, once I was half an hour late, usually it’s 10 minutes tops -. “Well!, we have that music assignment right?”
“Yeah, and?”
“Well!, I asked your mum if it’s okay so, you’re coming over to my house so we can work on it together!, it’d be heaps better that way, plus we’ve never had a sleepover before” she grins, looking at me expectantly.

I clear my throat nervously, preparing to give an excuse on why I can’t do it, when I look up. The look of disappointment and hurt in Sandra’s eyes is clear, even though she’s trying to hide it. Guilt washes over me. “Sure that sounds fun!” I fake-gush, earning a look of delight and surprise from Sandra. The fact that she’s surprised, sends a fresh wave of guilt over me.

****Time Lapse****

“I can’t believe I forgot my washing stuff” I say in exasperation. “Hey at least you remembered your phone and iPod chargers right?, we all know how you get when you’re technology-free” Sandra teases; earning herself a pillow to the face. “HA-fucking-HA, very funny Sandy-poo” I tease back. Sandra laughs and chucks the pillow back at me, then points to her bathroom. “Just use mine, there’s a bunch of spare towels and sponges and stuff there ‘cos I hate shopping for that shit so I get heaps at once, people look at me weird” she confesses mock-conspiratorially. “And before you reject, it’s the least I can do since I’m the one who spilled my drink all over your clothes.” After a few seconds, my arm still raised with a pointed finger, I give up, grab my pyjamas -a long-sleeve maroon shirt and small spider-man shorts- and head into the bathroom.

*Sanda’s POV*

I feel a bit guilty about messing with the bathroom lock, but not enough to wimp out on the plan, which is; To ‘accidentally’ walk in on Koda getting dressed, my excuse?, I didn’t hear the shower running so I figured if the door opened then she wasn’t in there anymore. What I didn’t count on, though, was what I’d see when I did ‘accidentally’ walk in on Koda. The girl was bent over, picking up her shorts from the floor, apparently having dropped them, when I walked in.

The first thing I see is the bruises, some old and yellow, some new and purple-black. Belt scars are all over her back, self-harm scars litter her body, filling her upper thighs, smaller, lighter scars can barely be seen across her lower left under-arm. Her entire upper right arm is full of thicker, deeper scars mixed with a few fresh cuts. But the worst is her weight. When she was bent over, her spine jutted out so sharply it looked like it was about to pierce the skin. Each and every one of her ribs are clearly visible, and her hip bones, they protrude so intensely that I could easily fit my closed fists in the spaces between them and her stomach. Her thighs, what’s left of them, are so thin you could almost fit a third leg in the space between them.

All I can think, is; How the hell did we not know it was this bad?, how was she able to prevent even us from seeing how thin she really is?… I let out an involuntary sob and rush forward, embracing a ghost-white Koda in a tight hug. After 5 solid minutes Koda finally relents and hugs back, now also crying, only her tears are silent. I can feel the tears dampening my shirt and find myself vowing once again, that I will save this girl, my friend, if it’s the last thing I do. I know the others will do the same, have made this same vow. I feel sick knowing that I’ll have to describe to them what I’ve seen….

Notes

FINALLY I've finished and uploaded the chapter, my internet has been so slow since we had that massave storm, I think the internet thinggy must have been damaged 'cos I'm not the only one who's internet is fucking up.

Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter, it was so hard figuring out how to write it, I don't know how many chapters are left -knowing me it's still a lot-, but we are close to the end.

Ch. Title Credit: Bleachers Against The Current Cover Ft. The Ready Set - I Wanna Get Better