Chapter 20

**Next Morning**

"Sweetheart" I hear my dad call once I finished getting dressed. I walked down the stairs to him to see him cooking. "You don't have to go to school today," he states and turns to look at me. I can tell by the bags under his eyes he didn't get any sleep last night.

"It's ok, Dad. I can go to school," I say, sitting on one of the stools. He sighs slightly and starts to plate up what he is cooking. I realise it is a full breakfast once he puts it before me.

"I got you something, and I was originally going to give it to you at Christmas, but I think I'd rather give it to you now," he states, reaching the counter’s bottom shelf. He puts a black box on the counter in front of me that has a white ribbon around it.

I pull on the ribbon, and it falls off the box. "When did you buy this present?" I ask as I take the lid of the box off.

"A couple of weeks ago when you first mentioned it," he says, sipping the orange juice before him.

I remove the black tissue paper that covers my present, and my eyes widen. "No way," I nearly shout "Is this?" I ask, looking over at him in shock.

He nods slightly. "The bag from Veronica Mars season two," he states. "That is the one you wanted?" he asks. I nod. I am obsessed with TV shows from the noughties.

"OMG", I say, slowly taking it out. "It is amazing" I cooed. I smiled. "Dad, this must have cost loads."

"Not really," he states, taking a bottle of tablets from his pocket and taking 1 with a sip of orange. I frown slightly and then look back at the bag.

"Thank you," I say, looking back at him. He just smiles at me and looks down at his food. "I'll use it today," I state and start eating breakfast.

After breakfast, I went back upstairs and put on my makeup. This has become a part of my routine, I’m hoping now that I’ve told him what has been going on, I won’t have to wear make-up to cover a bruise ever again. "Do you do that every day?" I hear my father's voice sound from my doorway. I look at him from the mirror and quickly shake my head while getting more foundation on the pad.

"Like I said, it looks worse than it is," I say, reaching for my eyeliner.

"You wouldn't have to put that on if it wasn't for me," he says quietly. I sigh and finish off putting my eyeliner and mascara on. "I'm guessing you're not getting bullied at school or getting hit in the face by a ball every week," he pauses "and you're not as clumsy as you make out,"

I sigh, "No," I pause and look at him. "Please stop beating yourself up over this," I beg.

"It's better than beating you up, isn't it?" he states, walking out of my room. I sigh slightly and continue to sort my makeup out.

Once I was ready, I walked downstairs to see him sitting in the living room, his head in his hands. "Dad," I say quietly. He looks up at me and smiles slightly.

"I have an appointment at the doctor today," he states while standing up. "So I'll go during work or something," he mutters. I smile. "C'mon then," he says, picking up his car keys. I nod and follow him out to the car.

**School**

The car ride to school is silent. He doesn't say a word to me the whole car journey, but that is because all he will probably say is sorry. The car stops just outside. I turn to look at him. "Have a good day," he mutters.

"Dad," I sigh, "please stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."

"How is it not, Megan? He snaps, looking at me angrily. I look down at my lap and mutter an apology. "Sorry, I don't mean to snap at you. I'm just so angry with myself I cannot believe I hit you, and I don't even realise it," he says, now glaring at the steering wheel.

"I just wish I could turn back the clock to two years ago and ensure none of this happened. I can't even imagine the hell I have put you in," he states. "Just go to school, sweetheart," he says. I sigh and go to get out of the car when he grabs my wrist. "I want you to promise me something," he states. I sit back comfortably in the car seat. "If I hurt you again, please tell me. Ok?" I nod. "Say it, say I promise,"

"I promise you, Dad. I'll tell you if you hurt me again," I say, looking him in the eyes.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he says and hugs me tightly, kissing the top of my head. "I'm glad you've told me," he states. I smile, get out of the car and run off to meet Melanie, who is already here; surprisingly, she is usually late.

"How'd it go?" she asks as soon as I reach her.

"He says he's going to get help," I say, looking her up and down. "I like the jacket and boots," I say the word 'boots' with a small smile as I have the same pair. "Aren't you boiling in that jacket?" I ask, as it is leather.

"Nope," she says, walking into the school with me. "Am I ever?" she asks. I sigh and shake my head. "So it went good then?" she asks.

"Better than I expected," I pause. "he wouldn't stop saying sorry and beating himself up about it."

"Better than beating you up," she says once we get to my locker. I sigh at what she says as he has said the same thing.

"That's what he said this morning," I say while taking books out of my locker and putting some others in my locker.

"Oh, you got the bag then...wait, I thought he was giving it to you at Christmas?" she asks. My eyebrows rise at what she says. "Yes, I knew he got you it, but he told me he is giving you it at Christmas," she says, confused.

"Well, he gave me it this morning," I say with a slight shrug and slam my locker shut.

"Have you told Tyler?" she asks. I slowly shake my head and start to walk to homeroom. "Well, are you going to?" I shrug again, "And if you do are you going to get back together?" I shake my head.

"I think I need time alone, really," I state quietly. "Well, I think we are better not being together for now," I mutter.

"Maybe," she says and hooks her arm with mine. "Now tell me about Mr Peters. Seen as you kept avoiding that subject while you were at mine," she chirps. I chuckle and run my hand through my hair. "Ooh, you're blushing," she coos. "So you now have a thing for him?" she asks, facing me and walking backwards. I shake my head. "You do cos you're smiling," she says with a huge grin. I sigh and drag her into class with me.

We sat through registration, and I paid attention for once, which caught the teacher off guard when I immediately answered my name. Tyler is sitting next to me and keeps looking at me with a weird, suspicious look. I move my head to look at him. "What are you staring at, Tyler?" I ask.

"Why are you smiling?" he asks.

"Because my life is going to get better starting today," I state with a small smile.

"Why is that?" he asks, moving closer to me. "Did your dad kill himself? Because that would be excellent," he states. I glare at him and turn away while folding my arms.

"Piss off," I hiss and turn my attention to out the window.