A Will To Change (Hope) by Beth Rinyu Page A

I was going to face everyone tomorrow looking like this. I wasn’t quite sure which was worse…the pain or the embarrassment.
    I threw some cold water on my face, hoping that it would magically fix the situation and make me look somewhat more human. No such luck. The tube of toothpaste sitting on the shelf was a reminder that I didn’t even have a toothbrush or any of my clothes. I felt like one of those abused women who left their home in the middle of the night to escape into some underground protective ring, and I hated it. That’s not who I was. My dad always taught me to be strong and stand up for myself no matter what, and it just pissed me off that I let the bastard take away everything that I was taught. I wasn’t weak, but the girl looking back at me in the mirror told another story. I placed some toothpaste on my finger and brushed my teeth as best I could. My hair looked a mess. It was soaking wet when I had gotten out of the shower last night and had dried into one big knot. I looked around the bathroom drawers for a hair brush, without much success. I did my best to comb through the knots with my fingers, and was happy to see my trusty elastic band around my wrist. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, fixing that problem as best I could for now.
    I stepped into the hallway and made my way to the kitchen just as Will was coming through the front door. He was balancing two cups of coffee and a bag in one hand, and a vase full of flowers in the other. I hurried up and took the vase from his hand. I couldn’t contain my smile when I noticed that it contained all of the same flowers from the arrangement that he had given me the other day. “And don’t let anybody step on those!” he teased.
    “I won’t. I promise,” I said as I moved them closer to my nose, inhaling their sweet fragrance. “Thank you so much, Will…for everything. I don’t know what I would have done last night if -.”
    “Don’t thank me, Gabby. You’re my friend and I do whatever I can for my friends.”
    “Well, then, I’m very lucky to be considered one of your friends.”
    He lifted my chin up and looked at my eye. I could see the pain and disgust in his own eyes just looking at it. “I wasn’t sure how you liked your coffee so there’s creamer and sugar in the bag with the bagels.”
    “Thanks, Will. You didn’t have to do this.”
    “Will you stop thanking me? You’re starting to make me feel like I’m a nice guy or something. You know I have a reputation that I have to live up to.”
    “Okay, you’re an ass. Is that better?” I giggled.
    “That’s more like it,” he answered, flashing me his beautiful smile.
    “I can’t believe I slept this late. You should have woken me up,” I said.
    “What for? You’re off today and you were tired. Besides, I was up and out by six o’clock. I didn’t think you would have wanted me waking you up that early.”
    “Six o’clock? Where the heck did you go that early?”
    “The gym, the florist, the bagel place. You know, this new roommate of mine is high maintenance.”
    “Haha, you are so funny,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself, trying to warm up. “Did the temperature drop from yesterday?”
    “Yeah, it did. About twenty degrees,” he said. He walked off to his bedroom without saying a word, coming back out with a black hoodie. “Here, put this on,” he said, tossing it to me as he took a seat across from me at the kitchen table.
    I slipped it over my head and began to immediately warm up. I placed my hands in the pockets and smiled, breathing in his musky scent. I couldn’t help but notice his red, swollen knuckles on his left hand when he lifted up his coffee. I knew he was a lefty which meant… “Will, what did you do?” I scolded as I grabbed his hand and looked it over.
    “Hey, he started it. I just finished it.” He raised his eyebrows, very nonchalantly.
    Even though I was a little pissed at him for going against my wishes, I couldn’t