The Scars of Us by Nikki Narvaez Read Free Book Online Page A

ointment.
    “This is going to sting,” he warned.
    I flinched slightly as he gently cleaned my wounds, and once again, I was awed by how amazing he was. I don’t deserve him, but God knows I need him . I would’ve never survived everything without him.
    When he was finished, I began to clean up the mess of bloody cotton balls and glass shards on the floor while Kamden went to grab the broom. As I looked at the fragments on the floor, I thought of how much they resembled me—shattered pieces of what they once were. I didn’t want to be like that, didn’t want to be a broken shell anymore. I wasn’t going to keep letting Kaleb dominate my life—I was going to take control.
    When Kamden came back, broom in hand, I stood and faced him. “I’ll go.”
    “What?” His eyes scrunched in confusion before searching my face.
    “I’ll go with you to the hospital. I want to do everything I can to make sure he doesn’t get released.”
    “Are you sure? After that episode, I don’t thi—”
    Interrupting, I replied, “I want to. I want to take control of my life. I don’t want to be afraid to live anymore. And I want to take self-defense classes at the gym—I want to be prepared in case he does get released. I want to be able to fight back.”
    Smiling proudly, his huge grin lit up his stormy eyes. “Okay, sorella. I’ll be with you every step of the way. Anything you need.”
    Returning his smile, pride swelled within me as I hugged him. You can do this. You will do this. And with that, I took the first step to becoming whole.

 
     
     
    Shock didn’t begin to express how I felt when Kaiya walked into my self-defense class on Sunday night. Class didn’t start for another fifteen minutes, and she was the first one there. Her eyes reflected the same surprise that I felt as her body stiffened in uncertainty, like a deer right before it bolts away from danger.
    “Hey,” I greeted. “Welcome to Self-Defense.”
    “You’re the instructor?” she asked in disbelief.
    “I am,” I grinned.
    Mumbling something indiscernible, she set her gym bag down on the hardwood floor against the wall before making her way toward me. As she neared, I saw small cuts on her face, and I couldn’t explain the anger that filled me at the thought of someone hurting her.
    “What happened to your face?” I all but spat. Calm down.
    Her eyes widened, my question taking her off guard. “Why do you care?” she retorted defensively.
    Why does she have to be so stubborn? “Just tell me. It’s suspicious that you want to start my self-defense class after getting those cuts on your face.” Yeah, that’s the only reason I want to know.
    Her face relaxed as her features returned to normal. “Uh, my cat scratched me.”
    Her voice lacked confidence. I didn’t believe her for a second, but I didn’t want to press the matter. If I wanted to get closer to her, have any kind of chance with her, I needed to gain her trust. I couldn’t push her away by interrogating her, even though I really wanted to know what happened.
    “I think you need a new pet,” I joked.
    She gave me a small smile as she fidgeted nervously with her hands. But without missing a beat, she changed the subject, “I’ve never taken a class like this before. Can you tell me what to expect?”
    “Well, we start off with warming up on the bags,” I answered, gesturing to the standing punching bags along the walls of the room. “I demonstrate different combinations you can use, and you perform them on the bags. Having the foundation of knowing basic punches and kicks will help you in any situation because you can’t predict what an attacker will do. I want to give you as many tools as possible to help you defend yourself, and kickboxing is a great platform for that.
    “Then, we have an open request forum. I take requests from the class and show techniques on how to defend yourself in specific situations, which you will then practice with me or one of the other