Fade to Black

"Curtain opens

Focus on a girl, sitting on her bed

Her legs are crossed, and she's listening to music through a pair of beat-up headphones

She's painting her nails, a deep red color

A knock on her door

She doesn't hear it

Another, louder, angrier

Still, she doesn't react

The door flies open

The girl jumps in surprise, spilling the red polish across her crisp, clean bedding

He father stomps into the room, a scowl on his face

She leans back on the bed, subconsciously trying to get farther from him

She doesn't succeed

He grabs her arm, roughly

Zoom in on her face

A single tear falls down her cheek

Fade to black."

He looks up from my notebook, looking somewhere between angry and depressed

"Kaya. Is this real?"

"What?" I ask, face smile pasted on my face "Don't be silly Jeremy, it's just a script I'm writing."

He doesn't look conviced

He just stares at the page for another second

Before all of a sudden jumping up

He grabs my sleeve, before I can even blink pulling it up over my elbow

Dark purple and blue marks glare up from my pale skin

"Shit, Kaya." He says

"Hey, it's no big deal. I'm fine, it's whatever." I explain, hoping he'd let it go

I hadn't anticipated that he would look at my arms

"Kaya, this is not okay!" He shouts

I flinch at the loud tone

He instantly softens, looking guilty

"Hey, hey it's alright. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I just-" he explains

"I know" I whisper

Trying to calm my racing heart

My body didn't know the difference between Jeremy and my father

"Kaya, you can't keep doing this" he tells me

I want to defend that I'm fine, I'm handling it

But I look up into Jeremy's eyes, full of only concern and kindness

And I decide I'm too tired to keep this up

"I need help, Jer." I admit

I didn't expect my voice to crack on the words

He opens his arms, and I practically jump into them

He holds me close, but gently, as if I'm something precious

And for the first time in a long time

I feel safe.

"Curtain opens,

Focus on a young girl, sitting on her bed

Her legs are crossed, and she's listening to music through a pair of brand new headphones

She's painting her nails, a light pink color

A knock on her door

She doesn't hear it

Another, louder

She still doesn't notice

The door opens gently

The girl jumps a little bit, then smiles

Her mother and father walk into the room

Her mom has a plate of snacks that she sets on the bed

Her dad ruffles her hair

Zoom in on her face

She's smiling

Fade to black

Focus on her parents walking into the living room,

Her father's arm around her mother's shoulders

They walk by a wedding portrait

Zoom in on the portrait

On the top of the frame it says "Love eternal"

On the bottom it says "Kaya and Jeremy"

Zoom in on her face

She's smiling

Fade to black."