“One! Two! Three! Four!”, the coach shouted to their cheerleaders.

“Five, seven, six, eight,” Heather and Jenny whispered to each other. It was an inside joke they made when Heather got her wisdom teeth out. She tried counting to ten but messed up when counting and Jenny never let go of it.

“Ladies, please! Focus!” the coach shouted from the bleachers towards Heather and Jenny. 

“My bad!”

“Yeah, c’mon Heather. Be better! You’re 18 and I’m better than you.” Jenny said cockily.

“Oh shut up.” with a little giggle under her breath.

After practice was over, Jenny ran to Heather, “That was an amazing stunt! You’re just lucky I caught you on time.”

“Oh yeah, thanks a lot.” she looked out on the football field with the coach holding two thumbs up. “Do you think he saw me?”

“Does it matter? Heather, he is a grown man! It’s disgusting!”

Heather just stared at the coach. It was obvious she liked him. A typical love story where the cheerleader falls in love with the football player with a twist. It was the football coach.

“Heather, really? You’re gross.”

“I am not. I just have a thing for older men.”

“He’s gonna catch a case, I’m calling it now.”

“Right.”

“Well, I better get going. Still have some packing to do before leaving this weekend.”

“How fast can you pack?”

“Why? Is Ms. Heather Keener the new packing police or something?”

“Well, I was just wondering because if you do pack fast, you could maybe come out with some friends.”

“Yeah! That sounds amazing!” Jenny looked at Heather’s arms, “Bruises already?”

Heather’s eyes widened, “I’m clumsy, okay?”

“Whatever you say. Where are you guys going?”

“Just downtown at the Central Bar.”

“Alright, sounds good. I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, bye.” Heather walked behind the bleachers, where she met James.

James Monroe, the football coach. He was very short with a bald head. You could tell he was trying to grow out a mustache. “You’re bruises are showing. I thought you put makeup on them this morning?”

“Yeah, sorry. My sweat wiped it off.”

“Well, go get some waterproof makeup, we can’t risk anything.”

“Don’’t worry, I just tell them that I’m an emic and get bruises easily.”

“Oh yeah, because that makes perfect sense from someone who is very active.”

“I know right?”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh, right. Anyways, ready to go?” 

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Heather and James were not only dating undercover, but they were living together. 

Heather and James' relationship was not the best, nor was the healthiest. He was very abusive to her. When James drank, he drank a lot, causing him to lash out at Heather for no reason. He got quite violent most times. Her scars and bruises weren’t caused from bumping into objects, they were from James. Even though she was getting hurt, she wouldn't get out of the relationship. She thought that she could change him and his motives. That was the problem with Heather. She saw the good in everybody. So, the abusive relationship continued. 

When they got home, Heather started getting ready. She showered, picked out an outfit, and did her makeup.

“Where do you think you’re going?” James asked with a bottle in his hand.

“I’m going out with some friends. Wanna come?”

“No, I don’t wanna go public yet.”

“Don’t listen to what others say. It’s not like their opinion matters.”

“I said that I don’t want to go!” James smashed his beer on the wall.

“Okay, sorry.”

“Be home by 11 o’clock, understand?”

“Sure,” Heather started walking for the door until James stopped right in front of her.

“You need a ride?”

“No, you don’t want to go public. Plus, you’ve been drinking.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t give you a ride.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what it means.”

“So what? You’re gonna walk wearing that?”

“Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing?”

“Because it looks like you’re just asking for it. You’re gonna get cat-called without a doubt.”

“A piece of clothing is not consent!”

“Don’t worry about it toots. Just say you have a boyfriend, they always respect the man in the relationship.”

“You are unbelievable!” Heather walked out shutting the door behind her.

James was mad, yet sad at the same time. He didn’t mean to hurt Heather and make her mad. He just wanted her to look out. So, he did what he would always do when he felt other than being calm, he started drinking.

As he was waiting for Heather to come home, he drank another beer, and another one. Another hour, another bottle opened. 

When Heather finally got downtown, she saw Jenny. “Heather where have you been?”

“Oh, just out for a walk haha,” she laughed nervously, “can I get a drink?”

“Yeah, let me get you something. Be right back.”

Heather looked to the man right beside her, “Do you have the time?”

“Yeah, it’s 10:30”

“Shit, okay thanks.” Heather replied. There was no possible way she could walk all that way and make it home on time.

Jenny came back with two beautifully designed drinks, “Look what I have?”

“Jenny, I’m sorry. I have to go, my curfew is soon and if I’m not home by then, my mom’s gonna go mad like she always does.”

“Oh, that’s a bummer. Let me give you a ride, it’s the least I can do for inviting me.”

Heather was about to say yes, until she thought about her and James; argument earlier. There was no way he wasn't drinking. She knew how he got when he started drinking. “No, it’s okay, I have a ride.”

“With who?”

“Does it matter? I have a ride! God, why are you so controlling? You’re not my mom.”

Jenny looked up and down at Heather with a face of disappointment. 

“Jenny, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I’m just stressed about-”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not trying to cage you in. I was just trying to make sure you would be safe.”

“Shit, I don’t have time for this, I need to get home. Can we talk about this later?”

“No, because I’m leaving tonight. But I think you should do that right now.”

Heather let a tear run down her cheek. She had to be home in time because of James. So she ran as fast as she could.

It was half past 11 when James noticed that Heather had been out for longer than usual. James was pacing back and forth in front of the clock, just waiting for her to come home. “Where is she? I told her to be here at a certain time. Where is she? Is she with another guy? Where is she? Can she not follow simple rules? God, she can’t do anything right. Where the hell is she?” Although he had been drinking, he grabbed his car keys and went out driving to look for her. Swerving down the road, he found her.

“Sh*t!” Heather said.

Get in the f*cking car, now!" He slammed his hand on the car door making a loud 'bang'. He was enraged. It was as if steam was coming out of his ears. His veins were practically popping out of his head. His eyebrows were scrunched so hard. He shouted again, "What are you waiting for! Get your ass in the f*cking car right now!"

Heather just stood there. She was a bit frightened, but this happened often. 'It was just anger issues he didn't know how to cope with,' she thought to herself. She didn't think he would go out looking for her, but he did. 'He really does care about me,' she said to herself. 

She slowly walked up to the car door, opened it and sat down. Before she was able to buckle her seat-belt, James grabbed her hand so tight. If he squeezed it like that for a second longer, he could have broken her wrist. So she pulled her wrist towards herself as hard as she could, and she freed her hand. She opened the door and hopped out. She ran as fast as she could to their house. James got out of the car and chased her down. 

"James listen," she shouted behind her, "We can talk about this. Just stop!"

"What were you doing? I told you to be home by a specific time! Who were you with? Why were you walking on the side of the road?" 

"I'll  tell you everything, just please stop."

"Come here you little b*tch!" He ran faster. 

'He's never gotten this bad,' she thought to herself, 'why is he acting like this?' She became scared for her life. If he caught her, she wouldn't know if she would be alive by morning.

As James was chasing her, still drunk as a sailor, he tripped but got a hold of Heather's foot, making her trip. He climbed on top of her, held a rock in his hand. 

"Please stop James! Let me go! We can talk about this like adults! Somebody please help me!" Tears started rolling down her face.

"Shut up! Nobody can hear you. Just stop trying." 

"James, just please please please put the rock down," she sobbed, "I know you won't hurt me, so just put the rock down."

"I told you to shut up!" He held the rock above him and smashed it against Heather's head. Her body went limp. Silence. "Heather? Heather wake up! Heather! Wake up!" His eyes started watering. He killed her. "What have I done? Heather, wake up! Heather, please!" 

Her body suddenly twitched. "Heather? Are you okay? Heather! She can't be dead, I didn't hit her that hard, and she just moved!" He quickly checked for a pulse, it was there, but it was not strong. "What do I do? James, get a hold of yourself! She's not dead, okay? She's still alive. I need to get help, but no one can know about this. I just need some sort of alibi. Ha, yeah that's it, can't be that hard." He had to think quickly. He sat there giving himself a headache going through every scenario possible, but they all ended up with him in jail. Then, it came to him, "I've got it!" He carried her into the car, went home to grab a few bottles of water to sober up. He also grabbed an extra spare of clothes for the both of them. Then, drove to the ER.