The Billionaire Beach Boy

SKYE

I woke up at five in the morning to get ready for school before my dad got up. I was limping after last night.

I turned the shower on. While I waited for the water to heat up, I looked into the mirror.

My nose and eyes were black and blue, my right eye bluer than the left and swollen with a small gaping gash from last night.

My ribs were covered in blue and purple bruises, and my back and legs were covered with fresh whip marks.

My left thigh had thick blue and red marks. At least it didn’t look as bad as last time.

I got in the shower and bit my lip to cover the scream from the heat against my tender flesh. I showered as quickly as possible and got out.

I always felt that the water helped to heal my beaten body, but it was still too fresh. After six years of abuse, my body had somehow learned to heal faster each time.

I dressed in a black oversized shirt and light-blue denim with my black and silver running shoes. Tying my hair in a loose bun, I decided to go without makeup.

I limped downstairs, hoping to not see Dad before I went to school, but he was already waiting for me in the kitchen.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said in a chirpy voice. Relief washed over me. I had caught the better side of him.

The soft side that actually cared but only showed once in a blue moon. I missed this side of him so much.

I saw regret swimming in his eyes as he looked at my face. I mentally rolled my eyes at him. I’d seen it too many times before.

“Hi, Dad,” I greeted back, emotionless.

I tried to sit down but couldn’t as my ass was still fresh with open gashes and bruises. I decided to stand for the time being. The tight denim was helping a lot.

I learned early on that the tighter the pants, the less it hurt. Loose pants tended to rub and irritate the skin.

He usually hurt me where I could cover it up. My back, my ass, my legs, the top of my arms but never elsewhere. But this time, he took advantage of my already bruised face.

Even with him being an abusive monster, at least he had never touched me in any sexual way.

“I am so sorry, Skye,” he sobbed out. He reached to hug me but stopped himself.

“I’m going away for a while,” he said hoarsely, trying to cover his sobbing.

I looked up to him with surprise, but also relief—a chance for my body to heal, and some time for me to relax.

“Okay, Dad. Please just be safe. I need to go, walking to school takes me a while,” I said before I grabbed an apple for the road and kissed him on the cheek.

I closed the front door behind me and let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding in.

Walking to school was a happy time for me to clear my head.

After everything that happened yesterday, I needed to be prepared for anything. I needed to find out who hurt me and why, but then I remembered his face.

He was furious and fuming, and his eyes stole my breath away before I blacked out. Why was he helping me?

“New girl!” I heard someone yell from my right side.

I looked over to see the flirt bomb, Mr. Asshat’s right-hand man, crossing the road toward me. I rolled my eyes and kept walking. I was not in the mood for this.

I felt his eyes on me and looked up at his smirking face, which soon changed to a worried expression.

“Hey, are you okay?” I felt his hand on my shoulder and winced from the pain. I turned around, trying to get his hand off my burning shoulder. He gasped in shock.

“What happened to you? My God, are you okay?” The pity and worry in his voice broke my confidence. Looking up into his worried deep-brown eyes, I gave him a small smile.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I said softly and turned to walk the rest of the way.

I heard him sigh and could still feel him walking next to me, so I stopped and challenged him with a raised eyebrow and a pout.

He smirked at me and took a step closer. I wasn’t the type to step back for any man—ever. One of the main reasons I got into those situations at home.

“You live next to me,” he said with a devilish smile, making me blush bright red. His eyes looked at my bitten lip, and he licked his lips.

I was sure he would try to kiss me before loud and irritating voices broke his concentration. He sighed and greeted the bright blonde bimbos who were walking directly toward us.

“Why are you talking to that trailer trash bitch?” one asked him. I just sidestepped them, walking away from all those weird vibes.

“Shut the fuck up, Nicky!” he growled. I heard him walking behind me again while the blondes babbled around him. I pushed myself and walked faster.

I didn’t want anything to do with them. I didn’t even want to walk near them. I reached the school grounds and saw Mona walking up to me with a bright smile that faded as she got closer.

“Skye! My God, are you okay? What happened?” she asked, giving me a tight hug.

I bit the inside of my cheek to hold in the scream of pain from the hug, but my body froze from the pain, and she noticed my stiffness.

She grabbed my wrist and started to drag me into the building. I stumbled and almost fell but luckily found my feet and followed her.

Before we got to the bathroom, Mr. Asshat rounded the corner and locked eyes with me. I saw the anger and worry in his eyes at the sight of my bruised face. His hands balled into tight fists.

His jaw clenched from trying to keep his temper at bay, but before he could say anything, I ran after Mona into the bathroom.

“What happened?” Mona asked through clenched teeth. I could feel her anger in waves around me.

I looked to my hands then back up to her pleading eyes. I needed to talk to someone, get all this shit out. So I told her everything, from my mom’s death to all the abuse at home.

By the time I was done, she was crying more than I was. Her eyes looked broken and pained. When I told her about last night and showed her my bruises, she broke down sobbing.

“You need to report this!” she said through her tears.

I remembered the last time I told my dad I was going to report him. He just shoved me into a corner, held his gun to my head, and told me if I ever told anyone, he would come after me.

He would always find me no matter where I went. I knew then and there that my dad was a bad guy, but I stayed out of fear for my life. Only one more year, then he couldn’t force me to stay anymore.

This would be my last year with him, before my freedom.

“I can’t, don’t you see? He will always get away with it,” I said with a broken voice. I looked at myself in the mirror and told myself the same thing I always did in these situations.

“Mirror mirror on the wall, I will get up after I fall. Whether I run, walk, or crawl, I’ll set my goals and achieve them all!”

Fear has two meanings.

F - Forget

E - Everything

A - And

R - Run

Or

F - Face

E - Everything

A - And

R - Rise

I kept telling myself that I was facing everything and rising, but at this moment I felt like I had failed myself. I was broken. I took a deep breath and locked eyes with Mona.

“He is going away for a while. I will be okay, I promise. Please don’t tell anyone.”

There was confusion and anger in her eyes. I turned around, took her hands, and gave her a small smile.

“I am stronger than you think, and I have a plan.” I winked at her and saw the fire return to her eyes.

She gave me a soft hug and agreed to keep this between us, but only if I would see her mom for help regarding the pain. I agreed.

We left the bathroom together and were blocked off by Mr. Asshat and his friends.

“What happened?” he said through clenched teeth. His nostrils flared, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes dared me to lie to him.

“Nothing, Princess. I’m fine,” I said in a sugary sweet voice, batting my eyelashes.

“Don’t fuck with me, Skye!” he growled, his voice deep with anger—angrier than I thought anyone could sound. I gulped hard and stared into his cold eyes.

How the hell does he know my name?

“Back the fuck off, Dracula,” Mona said from next to me, grabbing my hand and dragging me away from them. I laughed as I watched his red, angry face disappear into the crowd.

“Bye, Princess!” I waved and winked at him. I could hear his friends chuckling before we rounded the corner and headed to our lockers, both of us laughing and gasping for air by the time we got there.