TARA.
I opened my eyes the next day with a throbbing headache that threatened to split my head in two.
Slowly rising from my bed, the moisture I felt between my thighs reminded me of what had transpired the previous night.
Images of what happened flashed through my mind.
The pleasure he had given me, the way his lips tasted against mine, and most of all, how gentle he had been with me.
I had expected him to be rough, in fact, beastly, but I was proven wrong.
"OMG," I muttered aloud.
What the hell had come over me though?
Had I willingly given my own body to the notorious playboy football captain?
Well, fuck it. If my now ex-boyfriend had been sharing his body with other females, this didn’t count, right?
But still... I don’t think I could go back to that school. I couldn’t face him.
I stumbled towards the bathroom and stopped in front of the large mirror.
My eyes suddenly caught sight of a bright red mark.
No, it didn’t look like a hickey, but more like an injury, and strangely, it didn’t hurt a bit.
Where had this come from?
I slowly traced it with my index finger and felt a strange sensation coming from it.
Lost in thought, I heard the angry voice of my mom:
"Tara, won’t you wake up and get ready for school, or are you planning to lie in bed all day like a dead log of wood?"
"Good morning, Mom. I’m awake already!" I yelled back.
There was no need to tell her I had been awake for a long time since she wouldn’t believe me anyway because she couldn’t see me.
I was the only child of my parents, and we lived together in a simple apartment downtown.
After getting fully dressed for school, I dashed towards the living room to grab a bite of breakfast and hurry to school.
"Good morning, Dad," I greeted with a big smile on my face and took the seat opposite him.
"Good morning, darling," my father responded fondly.
Being the only child of my parents, one would expect me to be spoiled rotten, but that wasn’t the case.
My mother was super strict, while my dad, on the other hand, was the softer parent.
"Is Cassandra not coming over to pick you up today? It’s already past the time she usually shows up," my dad noticed.
"Uhm," I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant so they wouldn’t suspect anything was amiss. "Maybe something came up."
My mother suddenly leaned closer to me and pulled down the collar of my shirt.
"What is this mark on your neck, Tara?"
My face lost color as I struggled to find the right words to say.
"Talk to me," she demanded, her voice suddenly rising.
My dad came closer to take a look at the mark, and I saw his face turn pale too.
Damn... I was in big, big trouble.
Why hadn’t my stupid self thought of putting on a high-collar blouse to cover it up?
Would they suspect that their precious daughter had slept with a boy the previous night?
"I... I have no idea," I stuttered.
They both shared a grave look before my mom turned to face me.
"Finish your meal. I am going with you to your school this morning!"
My heart stopped.
"Why? Any problem?"
"Just do as I say," my mother responded in a strict tone that silenced anything else I had to say.
The next few minutes were filled with tension-filled silence.
I could barely eat anymore and just stared blankly at my meal.
An hour later, after my parents had a heated discussion in their room, and I couldn’t pick out what was being said, my mother and I left for school.
"Wait for me here," my mother ordered as we arrived in front of the principal’s office.
Shit. I was so done for today.
The principal was a strict, no-nonsense woman who was notorious for meting out ruthless punishment, which we weren’t sure was out of discipline or just pure hatred.
My mother emerged from the office and, without looking at my face, spoke.
"Let’s go."
My brows creased in confusion.
I had expected her to come out of the office with the principal, but instead, she had come out alone and was asking me to follow her.
"Shouldn’t I be headed to class instead?" I asked cautiously.
She took a deep breath and shook her head before responding.
"You are no longer a student of this school. I’ll give you the full details at home. Let’s go."
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and nodded.
I sure wasn’t ready for the sight that awaited me when we got home.
All our luggage and belongings had been placed to one side of the living room.
Everything was cleared away, including the sofas.
"Dad, Mom. What is going on?" I demanded when I could no longer take it anymore.
There had to be something else behind all this.
"We are moving out," my mother announced in a grave tone.
I searched their faces to see any trace of a joke, but there wasn’t.
I was about to say something, but my mom spoke first, her tone gentle for the first time, which surprised me.
"Honey, your dad and I are aware that you are not young anymore and old enough to make decisions for yourself, including concerning a relationship."
"The mark on your neck..." she hesitated.
"We are not going to ask you for details of how and what transpired, but we are running away from whoever gave you that mark."
Oops, they knew.
But I still had many questions to ask. Did they know something I didn’t know about the mark? Why were they running away from him exactly?
"But, Mom-"
"Now, no more questions! We have to start moving, or else he’ll find us, and that would be another tale entirely."
I could see from the corner of my eye that my father was fighting to hold back his tears.
I nodded obediently and looked around the room for the last time.
This was the place I had lived my whole life.
"Where are we moving to?"
"Santario."
What?! Santario was over a thousand miles from here, and this definitely meant my parents were abandoning everything, including their jobs.
There had to be more behind all this, and I was going to try to find the answers.