(Not Today)
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Melanie pov
Morning has come. The clock on the wall indicates 7 AM. And I still haven't got any sleep at all. How could I? With Derek curling behind me, caging me.
He's now outside the room, probably taking a shower after locking the door so that I can't go anywhere. I look around, hugging my knees on the bed. There's no other way out besides the door. There's no window where I can see sunlight coming through. This is like a prison, making me feel like I have a claustrophobic even though it's never in my record.
Derek opens the door, making me startled. He's only wearing shorts, a towel around his neck, his hair still wet. He glances at me, making me look down in fear before he reaches for his clothes inside the closet. The moment I look back up at him, he's already dressed in a pair of jeans and a green polo shirt.
My heart leaps as I'm hoping that he'll be leaving soon. There must be something that I can do while he's away.
He grabs his backpack and slings it across his shoulder before leaning down to me, making me retreat and push my back against the wall.
"I hate leaving you, since I want to be with you all day." He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear, and I shudder. "But I guess I have no choice. I have to make sure I can afford a living for our future. You're mine, Melanie. You're going to be here every day. Together with me. Today, tomorrow, and the day after until forever."
Again, his words make me sick. I look away as he keeps staring at me.
"Now, isn't this a proper time for a kiss before I leave?" he whispers, and my heart skips a beat.
Fear begins to fill my insides again. I don't want to kiss him, but if I don't, I'm afraid that he'll do something even worse. He grips my chin, and my lips tremble as his face draws closer. When his lips almost graze mine, I look away so that his lips touch my cheek instead. To my horror, he grabs my hair and pushes my head onto the wall. I wince in pain from the sudden smack. There's a ringing in my ear, and my head starts to spin.
"You bìtch," he hisses. "I ask for one fvcking kiss." He jumps onto the bed and corners me against the wall.
"No!" I cry, pushing and kicking him in every direction, panic engulfing me. "Let me go!" I scream, tears now streaming down my face.
"Why are you crying!?" he shouts, his voice filled with a mixture of rage and frustration.
I'm shaking. And for a while, the only sounds that fill the room are my sobbing and his ragged breathing.
"I guess we have to do it my way, huh?" he asks, the coldness in his voice sending chills through my body.
Slowly, I turn my head to look at him. A horrible feeling stirs inside me as I watch him take out his phone.
He looks at me and smirks. "You should have noted what I said to you before. Do you think you can have a life without me?"
My heart thumps louder in my chest.
"You might have noticed it earlier if you'd paid attention. Have you ever wondered why I'm good at programming?" he asks with a sly smirk on his face, and my eyes widen. I remember Stacey commented about that while we were doing assignments together. "I'm very good at information technology," he whispers, staring at me like he's enjoying the fear skating all over my face. "I have all the contacts of each and every student in our university. It's not so difficult when you could break into their e-learning system."
My breath catches in my throat, and more tears fill my eyes.
"I think it's about time that the whole university sees your nude pictures," he deadpans, and I shake my head in disbelief. But it's too late. I watch as he presses a button on his phone before he looks up at me with mischief in his eyes. "Done."
My heart sinks, so low, and it seems like the world around me has really crumbled, until everything I can feel is only darkness. "No," I choke in tears, covering my mouth with my hand.
It's done. He's done it. He's just ruined my future.
My life. My dignity. Now, all the eyes in Boston University can roam every exposed skin of mine and every single curve on my body in those nude photos where I lie uncovered on the bed, assaulted. Those disgusting photos that I wouldn't even want to look at anymore.
"From now on, just be a good girl and wait for me to come back," Derek says, and once he closes the door and locks it, my sobs break even more.
I cry until I wonder how I can still have any tears left. I cry, and I cry, until I stop short as adrenaline rushes through me.
This is the time when I have to do something, while he's probably going to college. Abruptly, I snap my head around, my body still shaking, but I have to focus. I have to find a way to get out of here.
The first thing that comes to my mind is my phone. A terrible thought crosses my mind as I assume that he would have brought it along with him, but I can't lose hope. If only he left it behind. If only it's somewhere in this room.
I look through the shelves on the desk. Every drawer. Inside his closet. Under the mattress. But still, I can't find it.
Frustrated, I scream and topple the books lying on the desk. I'm panting. This can't be happening.
Then I stare at the chair standing at the corner of the room. It looks like a dresser chair, different from the one standing behind the desk. It reminds me of my piano bench, where it can be opened, and I used to store a few important things inside it, such as keys.
Not every person would be thinking the same way as I do, but I decide to give it a chance. I rush to the chair and open it the way I used to open my piano bench. And then, I freeze on the spot.
There inside it, I see my phone. My heart thuds, and I almost burst into tears again, knowing that this is my only hope.
My hand is shaking when I take my phone and turn it on. Please, please, please. I hope that the power is still there, that it hasn't completely run out of battery. Once the screen flashes, I let out a sigh of relief. But it has only less than 10 percent of the battery, and panic starts to build up inside me again. I have to be quick.
I hope that Derek doesn't install any camera or CCTV here, because if he does, I'm dèad. I look through my phone, amazed that I haven't dropped it yet due to how hard my hand is trembling. There are tens and tens of missed calls from Jake and Vaughn. I frown, wondering why Vaughn even called me. As far as I remember, he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore.
Quickly, I dial Jake's number. I swear that I can even hear my own heartbeat as I wait for him to pick up the call. When he finally does, I feel like my tears are exploding.
"Melanie," his frantic voice fills my ear. "Jesus, Mel—" he cries, and I can sense that he's going crazy over there. He must have seen my nude pictures too.
"J-Jake," I stutter. "C-can you come to get me? I-I don't know where I am, but-" I finally break down in tears. "I can't stay with this guy—"
"Who the fvck—" he stops his sentence, and I hear him panting. He's struggling to keep sane. He needs to focus to help me. "Okay, Mel. I-I need you to send me your location, okay?" He can barely speak like a calm person. At this moment, it's not only me who's mentally ruined.
I quickly nod even though he can't even see me. Praying to God that my phone battery still has enough lifetime, I send my location to Jake. "Done," I say.
"Wait for me. Don't do anything reckless. Is he—" But then the call goes dead.
I stare at my phone, but I can only see a black screen. The only thing that can connect me to the outside world is dead, and I feel my heart drop again.
But now, the darkness doesn't consume me. There's a light coming through it.
Jake is coming for me.