Page 288 of No Need to Run
In what we could be.
Who we could marry.
Who we could align with.
Who would benefit them.
I let out a shaky breath, picturing his face for the first time in years.
The one I forced myself to forget.
Anthony.
My stomach twists.
My hands curl into fists.
He was supposed to be perfect. Polished. Connected. Safe.
He wasn’t.
He never kept his hands to himself.
Never stopped inflicting pain on me.
I told my parents.
They told me to be more careful. More polite and less provoking.
I learned quickly that no one was coming to save me.
So I saved myself.
While he was at football practice every afternoon, I snuck off to take self-defense classes on campus.
I learned how to fight.
More importantly, I learned how to protect myself.
I made Callie come with me.
She complained at first. But when she saw the bruises I couldn’t hide and the horrors deep in my eyes that no one else noticed, she stopped complaining.
Because she understood it. Felt it.
My jaw tightens as the memory of that fateful night surfaces.
But I clench my fists and squeeze my eyes closed, fighting it.
No.
Not now.
When it passes, I lift my head slowly, staring out through the windshield. The tears slow, then stop.
“You okay?” Callie asks, her voice soft.
I look at my younger sister.
