This time there was blood; my blood. I can feel it slowly oozing from the corner of my mouth. I wipe it away with the back of my hand and try to stand up. As soon as I am fully standing my head starts to violently spin. I can hear footsteps behind me. They echo loudly in this quiet, dark room. He puts his hands on my shoulders and spins me around. I’m forced to look into the eyes of someone I thought I loved. I try to look away, but then I feel a crushing blow to the side of my face. The last thing I remember is making contact with the cold, hard floor.
* * *

My name is Katilyn, but most of my friends just call me ‘Cat’. I’m 16 years old and I live in Cleveland, Ohio. Now the story of my life isn’t a pretty one. Good ole Daddy left my mom and me when I was eight. We’ve been on our own ever since. Even though Mom has raised me as a single parent, and I haven’t seen my father in over 6 years, I think my life has been pretty good. Up until recently that is. In the beginning of my sophomore year I had the biggest crush on Jimmy Anderson; and he was a senior. Every girl’s dream right? To be asked out by the oldest and hottest guy in school. Well, you could say that my dream came true, but it quickly turned into a nightmare.

Now it’s the summer of my junior year and Jimmy is starting his first semester at Ohio State soon. As I lay on my bed thinking about how our “relationship”, (if you can even call it one), will survive, my phone rings. It’s my best friend in the whole wide world, Todd Smith. Bet you thought it was a girl didn’t you?

“Hey Cat!” he said with loads of excitement in his voice.

“Hey Todd. ‘Sup dude?” I asked. I want to know why he’s so excited.

“She said ‘yes’! I can’t believe it!”

“Who said ‘yes’ Todd?” I asked him. I must really be out of the loop.

“Amy. Amy Watson! She actually said she wanted to go out with me! I asked her about 2 hours ago. It just sort of slipped out of my mouth and she didn’t even laugh!” he said into my ear. Well, shouted at the least.

“Congrats Todd. Aww, you guys make such a cute couple” was all I could manage to say. Secretly I wasn’t even a quarter as happy as he was. Honestly, I hated Amy.

I’ve known Todd from when we both started 3rd grade. We have been super close ever since. Now Amy Watson has been his crush for as long as I can remember. While I chose to become his closest friend, I left the door wide open for anyone to occupy the “girl friend” position; something I’ll never be able to fill.

“Cat? You still there?” he asked.

“Oh yeah…still here…sorry.”

“You okay?” he asked me.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Promise Cat?” he asked. God, I hate when he does that. We both know that neither one of us can lie when we ask each other if they ‘promise’. Kind of corny right?

“Not really. I just don’t want you to get hurt okay?” That was partly true, so it’s not technically lying right?

“Don’t worry I’ll be fine. I was wondering though if you wanted to go to Cedar Point with Amy and I. You can bring Jimmy too” he said.

“Sure, that’d be fun. What time do you want to meet?” I asked him.

“Like 3-ish I guess. That gives you enough time to get ready right?”

“Todd, that’s like 4 hours. I’ll have plenty of time.”

“Just making sure. I know it’s close to Halloween and you still haven’t found your pretty mask yet.” I heard giggling on the other end.

“Very funny Todd. I’ll see you soon okay?”

“Alright. Later” he said.

“Duces.” I hung up on him. Now the hard part. I don’t really want Jimmy to come, but he’ll be super mad if I don’t ask him. I open my phone again and scroll down my contacts. Here goes nothing…


“What do you want?” Crap, he’s in a bad mood.

“It’s Katilyn, Jimmy. I was wondering if you’d want to go to Cedar Point with me and a couple of friends.”

“And why would I want to go anywhere with you?”

“Because I’ll pay for your admission and a lot of cute girls will be there” I said. That’s the only way I can get him to go anywhere with me. Only if I pay for him and mention hot girls.

“Alright I guess. Who’s going?” he asked.

“Todd and Amy. They’re dating now” I said.

“Amy Watson? I’ll definitely be going. She’s a nice piece of work.”

“Be there at 3. Bye.” I hung up on him. So much for my so called “boyfriend”. If he had to choose between me and a chicken wing, the chicken wing would be picked and still be treated better than me.

I throw my phone on my bed and decide to take a shower. I let the water run until it starts to get steamy. I step into the hot water and let it run across my body. I have to be careful though, my bruises are still fresh.

* * *

I get to Cedar Point at the exact same time Todd and Amy get there. Jimmy arrives about 10 minutes after us. Yep, he’s definitely in a bad mood. You could have heard his car door slam even if you were a mile away. Todd looks over at me with a puzzled face and I just shrug my shoulders. We walk up to the entrance and wait in line to by our tickets. It’s a beautiful day. Sunny, a little breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Maybe that means something. When it’s our turn to pay all four of us go up to the counter. Before I can pull money out of my picket Todd grab my hand and pulls it back.

“No need to fear, payroll is here” he said.

“What the heck does that mean?” I asked him.

“I bought four season passes about a week ago. I figured we could use them today. You can thank me later.”

“Thanks Todd. That saves me a lot of money.”

“I know, I know. Now just take the pass and be happy” he said. Easier said than done.



“So what do you guys want to do first?” I asked.

“Let’s go on the Dragster. I heard it was really intense” said Amy.

“That sounds cool. I’m in” Todd said.

“What about you Jimmy?” I asked him.

“Yeah…sure…whatever” was all he said. I told Todd and Amy to save us a spot in line. I pulled Jimmy off to the side.

“What the heck is your problem?” I asked.

“This sucks okay? I’m stuck here with a bunch of stupid, little highschoolers. Why did you drag me along anyways?”

“Because Todd had the courtesy to see if you wanted to come. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with you anymore.”

“What did you just say?”

“I said…I wonder why I put up with an a** like yourself.” The second I said that I regretted it. He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the crowds.

“How dare you talk to me like that!” he yelled straight into my face. I pull my arm out of his grip and try to run away. He grabbed my left shoulder and threw me to the ground. I know if I scream I’ll get kicked somewhere. But it’s a chance I’m willing to take.

“TODD!! HELP!!!” I screamed as loudly and long as I could until he foot made contact with my mouth. Now I didn’t expect that one.

“Let’s see you try to stand up now” he said with a hint of boastfulness in his voice. So I did. I got up on my feet and spit the blood that was pouring into my mouth onto his face.

“I’m done here” I said.

“Oh no you’re not.” He grabbed both my shoulders and held me against the wall. Very forcefully I might add. Just as he started to raise his right hand, I saw Todd out of the corner of my eye. He was just standing there with his mouth open.

“C’mon Todd, do something” I thought to myself. As if on cue, he started to spring toward Jimmy. He jumped on his back and threw him to the ground. Finally, a little taste of his own medicine. I heard something make a crunching nose and I instantly saw blood gush from Jimmy’s nose. Todd told him to stay down or he’ll break something else.

“Are you okay Cat?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for finally doing something. Took you long enough” I said.

“Hold on I’m calling the cops” said Todd. While he spoke to the operator I was crouched next to Jimmy.

“Lets see you get up from that one” I said right into his ear. All he did was moan. “Such a wimp” I thought to myself.

So the cops came and took Jimmy away. We won’t be seeing him for a while. The ambulance came and took me to the hospital. I needed a few stitches…fun. Todd had to go pick up Amy from Cedar Point and bring her home. After he dropped her off he came back to the hospital to stay with me.

“Thanks Todd. For everything. Love you man” I said.

“No need to thank me Cat. That’s what I’m here for” he said, “Oh and Cat?”

“Yeah?”
“Love you too.”