My Name Is Sunny... *Contest Entry*

Love is nothing but pain, sorrow, and lies. It's true, at least it has always been that way for me. I should introduce myself before I continue. My name is Sunny, bad name for a girl who is surrounded by darkness, eh? Yeah, I thought so too. Why the hell my parents named me that, I will never know. Maybe they wanted to torture me even from the time I was born. Anyways... So where should I begin? Oh yes, my parents.1

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I remember a quote I once heard on Moulin Rouge; “The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” Well, I certainly have yet to learn that. My parents, nor anyone else has ever shown me love. I tried so hard to make them want me. I wasn't perfect enough though. Once she came along, she ruined everything. My sister was this insanely perfect creature. Ever since she was born they gave that stupid brat all of the attention, leaving me out in the cold.3

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As she got older things became even worse... Much worse. It was all about, Melanie. They seemed to worship the ground that little bitch walked on. Me, I was left ignored. I became depressed, suicidal and just down right fed up with life and everything in it. My grades went downhill fast as I slipped into an oblivion of darkness. I changed, fast. No one even seemed to notice though. It was like my parents turned a blind eye to what was happening.5

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So tell me, if your kid started to dress in all black, dyed her pretty blonde hair the deepest shade of darkness and then start locking herself in her room all day. Wouldn't you be worried? Yeah, well, maybe most parents would, but mine... They didn't care. They didn't even notice me. Not until Annabelle came along. When I met Annabelle, my whole life changed. In the blink of an eye I became lost in my thoughts, unable to escape the abyss. The sweet abyss by the name of, Annabelle.7

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Annabelle transferred to my school in the middle of my senior year. She was like an angel, sent down from heaven. I couldn't take my eyes off of her the day she walked into class. She had long, flowing, fiery red hair. She was wearing a short black skirt with a a pale yellow blouse. Her curves made me weak in the knees. I was thankful I was sitting down, because she was sending electrifying waves through my body at warp sped. I couldn't explain it, but one look at her and I was hers. She could have commanded me to do anything, and I would have. 9

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I had always known I was a lesbian. I never tried to hide that fact, I just never admitted to it either. I was ecstatic when Annabelle took the seat next to mine. I smiled over at her as I opened up my history book. She smiled back. I could have died happy that day. After class I introduced myself and from that moment on, we were inseparable. Annabelle and I, became the best of friends. For once I had someone in my life I could trust, someone who cared about me. Weeks went by, months, our friendship grew and blossomed. I had never felt so alive in my whole entire, measly, little life.11

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I will never forget that day at the park. We had been sitting on a bench talking when out of no where, she kissed me. Every fiber of my being shuddered when our lips met. She tasted so sweet, like fresh cut strawberries, ripe and ready for the taking. I wanted to be with her so bad. It had started to pour down rain, our clothes was soaked, but we didn't care. The clothes clung to us both like a wet blanket. We giggled as we made our way to her car, to the very cozy back seat. 13

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I was breathless with ecstasy after we had made love. We laid in each others arms for what seemed like an eternity, just holding each other. She was mine, all mine, and I would never let her go after this, ever. It was late that night when I finally made it home. I stood on the front porch as I kissed my new found lover. They must have been waiting up on me, because they were out the door like a lightening bolt. My dad grabbed my wrist and forced me into the house. I heard my mom outside yelling at Annabelle to leave, calling her names, saying she was a no count homo.15

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The tears poured down my face as I screamed her name out. My dad slammed me against the wall. He hit me over and over telling me to shut up. He called me a slut, tramp, faggott, every degrading word he could find to spit out of his venomous mouth. I heard the screeching of Annabelle's tires from outside, and I knew she was gone. My mom came back in and proceeded to yell at me. I told them I didn't care what the hell they thought, I loved her, I loved Annabelle!17

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Dad backhanded me so hard, I hit the ground. My mouth was bleeding. The blood mixed with my tears. For the first time in my life, they noticed me. They noticed me, because I was happy, and they hated it. I tried to get back up out of the floor and he pushed me back down. He ripped my clothes off, while my mom stood there, watching. He told me he was going to show me just what a real man felt like. I tried to push him off, I tried so hard. How could I, someone a mere 120 lbs push off a 250 lb grown man?19

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I cried out and begged him not to, but he didn't listen. He didn't care. She didn't care. No one did. She stood there the whole damn time!! She let him do it to me!! She let my own father, rape me. I can even remember her laughing, the bitch thought it was funny. She said I deserved it because of what I was. When he finished they dragged me to the tub. They wanted to wash away all the evidence so nothing could be proven. All of the noise had woken Melanie. I couldn't believe my eyes when the bathroom door opened and she was standing there. Standing there with a gun.21

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It was at that moment, I realized how cruel it had been of me to be jealous of her, to hate her. Oh god, the look in her eyes. I knew, I knew then why they liked her so much more than me, what they had did to her. Melanie's eyes were full of hate, rage. Gun shots rang out. I hugged my knees tight to my body, trying to block out the screams. My fathers body fell into the tub. The water that once was clear turned a deep shade of crimson red. I heard another thud then I felt arms around me. Melanie had dropped the gun and was now holding me in her arms. 23

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I regretted every single bad thing I had ever thought about her, did to her. She helped me get out of the tub and wrapped a towel around me. I was hysterical. At that point I couldn't even speak. Melanie took me to my room and helped me put some clothes on. We held each other and cried for the longest time. A quote by Ghandi kept echoing in my mind; “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” God, how true that had became for me, for us. Melanie told me every sick, disgusting, perverted thing that they did to her. I apologized for how I had treated her, for how mean I had always been. I never understood, until that day, just how much pain she had went through. 25

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I knew we had to get out of there. Police would never believe us. I gave Melanie, Annabelle's number, and she called her. Annabelle packed some things of her own and rushed straight over. Melanie and I both packed up some of our belongings and went outside to wait on Annabelle. When she arrived Melanie and I took one final look at the house. One final look at the place all of our pain stemmed from. I reached down and picked a crimson red rose from the flower gardens. I had loved those roses. They were the only things I had ever loved about this place. I held the bloom in my hand for the longest time. Annabelle came over and wrapped her arms so tight around me. She loved me, I knew she loved me. I could feel it when she took me into her loving arms.27

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At that moment, I knew everything would be ok. I knew my past was gone and we were all about to make a new beginning for ourselves and we did. We left that place and never returned. The police have yet to find us. I hear there are alerts out all over the state, but they will never find us, not now, not ever. Mexico has turned out to be a breath of fresh air for us all. Annabelle every day tells me that if I were to ever turn black with depression again she would bring the bleach to brighten me back up. She makes me laugh every single day. 29

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Things have now changed for us all. I even dyed my hair back to it's natural color. The black just doesn't fit me anymore. Melanie has enrolled in school here. She is dating now and I have become quite protective over my little sister. The guys adore her down here, and who wouldn't she has became quite a young lady. I try not to think of the past now. It's to painful. I want to be happy, I want to live my life and be free of all of the past burdens. I had to go to counseling for quite awhile, but I am doing better now and I owe it all to Annabelle.