Hello everyone! Here is the first chapter of my new story... It's on the short side, but it will do for now. Congratulations to the girls who got parts! Comment and let me know what you think please!!!! <3 emily
ONE.
Joe and Crystal were dating for nearly a year when they returned to Crystal’s old town. Her family had relocated to a condo in rural New Jersey when both of her parents got demanding jobs in New York City almost a year prior to when Crystal met Joe. Crystal’s parents were rarely around, both working extra hours at their jobs to make ends meet. She was only a senior in high school, but she lived more independently than most 20-somethings. She knew how to spend money wisely, a lesson she learned because her family never had much to spend, and after school, she worked at a small restaurant located in the center of her development. Most of the people Crystal knew or went to school with lived in large houses, most living within the same development as her. Crystal, however, lived in a very small condo; a condo that was part of the “cheap” section of her town’s large development. The children of the wealthy families in the development would refer to the section she lived in as “the ghetto of The Hills.” Driving past her old condo brought back one overwhelming memory- the memory of her ex-boyfriend. Chris and Crystal met, and began dating, at the start of their senior year of high school. The relationship was strong and they supported each other through many difficult times. Crystal loved him, and she was sure he loved her back. About ten months into their relationship, however, things between them took a bad turn.
Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes was all it took for nearly a year of hard work to be thrown away. Twenty minutes was all it took for Crystal’s heart to be shattered. Chris’s eyes were ablaze with anger. The way he looked at her was with shear hate; a fuming fire could be seen in his eyes. He inched closer to her. She stepped back, fearful of what he was going to do, her back slamming against the living room wall. Chris kept moving forward knowing he had Crystal trapped. He came so close to her that she could feel the trace of his hot breath across her face. “You’re a dirty, little *CENSORED* Crystal,” he spat his words into her ear. “You really thought you could talk to Zack, my best friend, without me finding out? Who do you think you are?” Without giving Crystal a chance to explain, his palm smashed across her face. Tears began to sting her eyes, but she tried to blink them back so Chris wouldn’t think he had power over her. He balled his right hand into a fist and propelled it towards her face. She fell to the ground to avoid his blow, his fist crashing into the wall next to where her head was. She pulled her knees to her chest, her whole body trembling. His foot met her side, the force pushing her over and causing her head to slam into the wall. She stared at the wall next to her and tried to drown out the names he was spitting at her. After a myriad of names and shoves, he became bored with her and walked out of apartment, slamming her front door. She remained in the corner of the living room until the sound of his car driving away reassured her she was safe. She held onto the wall as she slowly stood up and made her way over to the door to lock it.
That was on a Monday. She went to school that Tuesday, not wanting Chris to think he was successful in bringing her down. That afternoon, while she was working on her homework, Chris barged into her condo and an event similar to Monday’s occurred. He beat her again on Wednesday. Crystal, like most teenaged girls would be, was scared to tell anyone. Her parents were away on a two-week business trip, so she was home alone all week. After Chris left on Wednesday, she convinced herself she needed to leave. She went online, booked a flight to Savannah, Georgia, and reserved a room at a hotel in the center of the city. She did not care that the last minute flight would cost her over $600, nearly half of what she had saved; she needed to get out of reach of Chris before he killed her.
Right after school on Thursday, she drove to Newark Airport. Her new life was beginning again. After a week of abuse and pain with no one to turn to, she was going to start over. As she waited to board the plane, she called Chris and left a message on his cell phone. “I’m leaving, Chris. We’re done. Our relationship is over. I never want to see you again or hear from you. Don’t call me after you hear this message. Just delete my number from your contact list and move on as if I never existed. Because that’s what I’m going to do. You don’t exist to me anymore- ever since that first slap on Monday, you haven’t meant a thing to me. Good-bye.” She shut her phone, ending the call. Before getting into the boarding line, she tossed the cell phone into a nearby trashcan. Her life was about to start over and the first step was to get a new, untraceable cell phone.
Joe leaned over the center console of Crystal’s car to place a kiss on her cheek. “You know he is never going to hurt you again, right? I’m here with you now. I’ll protect you. You don’t have to worry,” Joe spoke to her with love and concern in his voice.
“I love you, Joe,” she said, taking her eyes off the road for a second. She turned back to looking at the road, taking in the familiar sight of the cookie cutter McMansions separated by only 30 or so feet of grass. Not much had changed in the development during the year she was away. Annoying boys with ratty hair still darted from each other’s houses, not looking before running into the street. Little girls set up lemonade stands on their small front lawns or had tea party picnics with their overpriced Build-a-Bear animals. A young couple walked down the sidewalk, a toddler giggling in her mother’s arms. Joe liked the feel the neighborhood gave off; it reminded him of the area of Wyckoff that he lived in, the only difference being the size of the houses. “I hated these people,” Crystal interrupted his thoughts. “All they cared about is how much money and stuff you had. They made my life a living hell.” She made a right turn and, after a quarter of a mile, the houses changed drastically. “Now this, this is where I lived. The people with little money who work too much for their own good live here. But they weren’t much better to me.” Crystal noticed that not much had changed in the ‘ghetto’ either. Lawns were slightly more overgrown and cars were a bit more beat-up than when she lived there. Pink flamingoes, grumpy lawn gnomes, and plastic deer decorated many front lawns. Joe smiled at the change in scenery, remembering the few people on his street in Wyckoff that had a passion for decorating their lawns with odd creatures. As Crystal drove, the houses got progressively smaller and closer together. Soon, there was no space between the houses. This section of the development was just as busy with people as in the previous section, Joe noticed. Crystal pulled into one of the driveways and parked the car. “And this lovely place was where I lived,” she said sarcastically as she and Joe stepped out of the car.
“It looks like it has a lot of charm,” Joe said, trying to ease Crystal’s nerves.
She snorted as she took Joe’s hand in hers, “I guess it would’ve had charm if a family lived in it, not just a teenaged girl.” They walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Crystal didn’t feel at home when she lived there, so why would now be any different? She bounced on her toes anxiously as she waited for the door to open for the first time in a year. Joe looked down at Crystal, getting lost thinking about her beauty. The sound of the front door unlocking and a slight hand squeeze from Crystal brought him out of the trance he had fallen into.
“Oh, Tommy, look who decided to show up! It’s Crystal,” the woman who answered the door called back into the house. Crystal took a deep breath, trying to control herself from saying anything bad to her mother before leading Joe inside.
