(Seraphina)

Laying on my bed Thursday night, I have my eyes shut. Pretending that I'm asleep helps me whenever my parents talk shit about me.

"James, we need to get her to talk. She hardly talks at school unless she has to!" my mother yells at my father.

"How can we get her to talk, Analeese?!" my father yells at my mother. I wince internally; I hated it when my parents were fighting. No love was left in their marriage. The only reason that they were still married is for my sake.

If only they knew how badly they affected my mental health as severely as being raped did the same thing.

I get a text from Emily. I look, and she asks me if I want to have a sleepover at her house. I text back, saying "yes." But I need to ask my parents.

Will they even care?

"What about your parents?" Emily texts me.

"Let me worry about them," I text her.

"Okay. Pack an overnight bag for tomorrow night. If they say 'yes,' then I'll take you to my house after school after grabbing your overnight bag. If they say 'no,' then we plan it for a different day. Or I kidnap you," texts Emily. I smile softly.

"If they say 'no,' kidnap me," I text.

"Will do," texted Emily. I got up from the bed and walked downstairs into the kitchen. My parents were drinking some alcohol: my mother drinking wine with fruit in it and my father a Lone Star beer. I cleared my throat, getting their attention.

They weren't drunk yet. I could ask my parents about the sleepover, and they'll remember answering my question.

"One of my friends invited me to her house for a sleepover tomorrow night. May I go?" I ask them quietly. After a long time of not talking to them, my voice sounds weird.

"Okay. We need your friend's address so one of us can pick you up," says my mother, but I cut her off.

"She has a car. She can drive me home," I say. They look at me, surprised that I cut my mother off. They nod, and I leave the kitchen.

I start to pack my overnight bag, putting an extra toothbrush into the bag and a bottle of toothpaste from underneath the sink in my private bathroom. I put in royal purple pajamas with purple socks to keep my feet warm. I put a comb into the bag, along with four or five hair ties. You can never be too careful with hair ties. I put the outfit that I wore to the party at the end of the summer into the bag.

The memories will be too overwhelming, but I might as well regain whatever I lost that night. My charger will be put into my backpack before I leave the house tomorrow morning. I placed an extra stick of deodorant into my bag, closing it after. "I think that's everything," I mumble before I hear my mother answer the telephone in the kitchen.

"Hello? I'm Seraphina's mom. Are you talking about the sleepover? Ah, are you her friend's dad? Of course. We'll need to talk about the time Seraphina is coming home on Saturday. Your daughter is driving her back here, from what she said. That's what your daughter said? Okay. Thank you," she said, hanging up the phone.

I thought that the person calling was the hospital calling. Speaking of the hospital, I had gotten checked for any sexually transmitted infections, and I was safe thank goodness.

On Friday, I wait outside for Emily. I have my overnight bag in hand with my charger in there. I can leave it in the trunk or the backseat while we're in school. The rain had stopped last night, and it was merely cloudy now. Pretty soon, I see her drive up. I smile and wave a bit. She signals back at me, opening the door for me. I get in and buckle the seatbelt. My mother comes out, so she can meet Emily.

"Drive now," I say in between clenched teeth. She drives away and towards the school. I had placed my overnight bag into the backseat, next to Charlotte. She was about to touch the bag, but she decided against it.

"Are you spending the night at our house, Seraphina? I wish that I could hang out with you guys, but I have a sleepover at a friend's house tonight. Maybe I can go to your house for a sleepover if my parents will let me and your parents will let you. That would be fun, wouldn't it? It probably would be. I'd love to see your bedroom! What color is it? I hope that it's pink. That is my favorite color out of every single color in the color circle. I'm sure you could tell because of my outfits. A lot of them are pink. The color is just so beautiful, isn't it?" Charlotte goes on. Pretty soon, I tune her out.

I finally notice that we stick to certain colors. Emily sticks to light shades of blue while Charlotte sticks to bright shades of pink. I stick to gray-nothing too bright and nothing too dark. Just in the middle. I've noticed Ethan Montgomery's signature color, as well. He wears deep shades of red as well as light shades of the crimson color. I lean my head against the headrest and shut my eyes.

During class, someone asks me if I was interested in him. I said "no" multiple times before the teacher told him to stop. I was in art class. The only course I enjoyed out of the entire day. The student stopped, focusing on his work.

I looked at the teacher and nodded as a "thank you." He nods back, smiling a bit. I force a small smile as I continue to paint a heart. Scars and wounds litter across the surface of the vital organ as Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia blasts through my earbuds.

I stop drawing and pull out one earbud as the teacher comes over and examines my drawing. The teacher's name is Mr. Quinn, and he is pretty cool. He gives me a thumbs-up and walks away.