Shattered

Frank decided to keep the conversation light for the rest of the trip to school. He didn't want abuse to be on her mind as she walked through the corridors for the first time. Frank parked in the student carpark. He spotted Ray's car so he knew his friends had already arrived.

They entered through the main front doors together. Frank had obviously not considered the reaction Evie would get from all the other students. As they walked through the hall there were so many double-takes he thought half the school would have whiplash by the end of the day. Clearly they were all wondering who this girl was and what she was doing with Frank. Frank wasn't unpopular but he certainly wasn't a contender for Homecoming King.

They went to the office and got Evies class schedule. Frank introduced her and found that she had more confidence speaking with the ladies at the desk. But when the headmaster came to introduce himself, Frank could see her eyes drop and her avoidance of eye contact with him. It was just as his mother had told him. Evie was afraid of men.

Frank quickly showed her around and took her to her first class, jokingly telling her to have a good day and make friends as if he was her father dropping her at kindergarten. That at least got a smirk from her.

"Class we have a new student today. This is Evie. Please make her welcome. Take a seat, Evie." Mrs Moore said.

Evie looked for a spare seat and tried to ignore the blatent staring of her new classmates, especially the boys. She spotted Mikey near the back of the room and silently thanked god there was a spare desk next to his. He waved her over.

"Right here Evie." Mikey said motioning to the desk beside him as she approached. He offered a warm smile and it made her feel at ease instead of the nervousness she usually felt when someone smiled at her.

"Hi Mikey." She said taking her seat. She looked around the room. All eyes were still on her. She was used to this. This is the way people in boring old suburbia reacted to a new person.

The teacher took very little interest in the students so Mikey helped update Evie on what they were studying and where they were at in the lesson.

The morning was uneventful. By lunchtime, about 30 people had tried to talk to Evie already. She responded politely to everyone, but was definitely unsure of herself. She walked from her most recent class (which unfortunately didn't have Mikey in it) to the cafeteria. The room was enormous. She looked around at the countless tables for a familiar face but couldn't find one.

Three boys approached her, smiling. "Hey new girl. Evie is it?" One asked her. They were wearing football jerseys. Bad sign.

"Hi. Yeah I'm Evie." She responded. The three introduced themselves and made quick small talk about how she was settling in. The one named Grant offered to take her to where they were sitting to have lunch with them, but just in time she spotted Frank waving to her. Her face lit up. "Frank." She said to herself and ignored the boys around her. Too relieved by seeing her foster brother to be polite. She went to walk away but stopped herself, turning to Grant and his friends saying "It was really nice to meet you."

"Uh, you too." Grant said, a confused but amused look on his face as Evie walked away.

Evie approached the table Frank, Gerard and Ray were sitting at and sat down without delay. She let out a sigh which sounded like she'd been holding her breath all day.

Mikey then approached the table looked down at her. "You're already here. I was looking through the hallways for you."

Evie looked at him, the slightest hint of concern on her face. "I'm sorry."

Mikey and Frank both frowned at her nervous reaction. "It's ok" Mikey reassured her. "I just didn't think you'd know where you were going."

"I followed the masses." Evie smiled, relieved that Mikey wasn't actually annoyed at her.

Frank and Evie went to get their trays served together. At this point he didn't want her to have to do anything alone for fear of her being approached by more members of the football team.

*****

Linda and Steve were still at work when Frank and Evie got home. Frank went to dump his stuff upstairs and came back down to turn on the TV. By the time he got back down, Evie was already doing the dishes at the kitchen sink. He stood in the doorway watching her.

"You don't have to do that you know?" He told her calmly.

Evie looked over her shoulder at him. "I want to... Is it ok?"

Frank's brow furrowed. "Well yeah its ok, I mean, if you want to."

"Cleaning relaxes me." She told him and something about the way she said it made Frank actually believe her.

"You're crazy." He told her as he got a soda from the fridge. "Well anyway, I have to go return some DVD's I borrowed from Ray." Then he put on what he thought was a funny, angry, deep voice and said "You better have this place looking perfect when I get back."

Evie froze at hearing that statement, her hands perfectly still in the sink full of water. He saw her chest move as she breathed heavily but said nothing.

'Fuck. Stupid.' Frank thought to himself, then sighed. "That was just a joke sweetie." He said softly, but her face was completely vacant and she didn't react at all. He stepped closer to her. "Evie?"

Evie was huddled on the tattered linoleum floor of the kitchen, too afraid to look up, knowing he was moments away from kicking her again. She'd already received one boot to the ribs and she knew there'd be a gigantic bruise there come morning. He stepped slowly around the room, angry, intimidating, threatening, and she could feel his eyes on her.

"I told you, didn't I bitch? I told you I wanted this dump looking spotless when I got home. You haven't even finished you worthless whore."

"I'm sorry." She whimpered, but that just earned her another kick to the side and she curled up into a ball, trying to hide her head in her arms.

"You're sorry? You fucking will be slut." She looked up just enough to see his legs as they stepped closer, then his hands reaching down, undoing his belt.

"I'm sorry. Don't hurt me." She whimpered quietly, covering her head with her wet hands. Wait, wet hands? When did her hands get wet? Someone was touching her. She flinched and cowered, waiting for pain. But pain didn't come. She waited to instead be groped. But groping didn't come. She was totally confused, disoriented. She could faintly hear someone saying something, could still feel hands on her, but they were gentle hands. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. And why were her hands wet?

Evie opened her eyes that had been tightly clenched shut. At the same time she could see, she could hear. Someone was saying her name.

"Evie? Sweetie?" A familiar voice spoke to her. She slowly looked up. It was Frank. It was only Frank.

Evie looked around herself, her senses coming back. Somehow she'd gone from standing at the sink doing the dishes, to sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest, her head in her hands that were still wet from the dishwater. She looked up at Frank, frightened. Frank had a look of immense concern plastered on his face.

"Evie?" He said softly.

"Frank?" She breathed, making sure he was real. He had his hands on her, but they were gentle. He was always gentle. So gentle. "I'm sorry." She whimpered out.

Frank pulled her to himself, crashing her into his chest. "You're safe. It's just me, Frank." He breathed out, so relieved that whatever had just happened to her in her mind was over.

"Frank doesn't hurt me." She whispered almost silently to herself.

She said it so quietly that Frank wasn't supposed to hear it, but he did. He felt his heart tear at her words. She was reassuring herself that she was safe. "Frank doesn't hurt you." He repeated.

Notes

Should I write more of this story?