The rest of Saturday passed quickly as I spent majority of it with my two amigos, and Sunday was filled with lots of food as well as games and movies so it was great.
At the end of Sunday, I felt a little more relaxed than I had previously, so that was also a good thing.
Also, the bruising had finally vanished and the pain was nearly gone, however there was still a feeling of unevenness and stress pulling at the strings of my mind.
After all that happened on Saturday, I wasn't sure what to think. I highly doubted that James would let me get away with talking like that to him, and after what Ash and I did, I felt quite uneasy about the whole thing in general.
It wasn't every day that you kiss your bully of five years, and especially not when he's a straight guy.
Yeah right, he's as straight as my hair after I spent five hours curling it. He's as straight as a bendy ruler. He's as straight as a cooked piece of spaghetti. He's as strai-
You get my point.
That wasn't my main concern though.
I was afraid James would do something to get back at me for shouting, and I knew that if he tried to, he would undoubtedly succeed.
Everything had been too serious recently, and I was thinking about if I had decided to listen to Harry and Lila about not going to the party, non of this mess would have happened in the first place.
However, that's not how life works.
It doesn't play nice.
And neither do the people.
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"You seem quiet, what's up?" Harry asked softly as we made our way towards our first period, History.
Lila had already left due to her not being in the same class as us, and that made me even more on edge. I knew Cole was in this class, and I needed as much support as this poor kid could get.
"Yeah I'm fine." I replied shakily, a small, fake smile on my lips.
Harry raised an eyebrow before stopping me by the door, giving me an unamused expression. "Spill, now."
I sighed, mildly annoyed that he couldn't just drop the subject, but then I felt glad that he actually cared. However, just as I was about to start talking, someone grabbed the sleeve of my sweatshirt and dragged me off and away from the classroom I was about to enter.
"Woah there!" I shouted as I stumbled backwards, tripping over my own feet and almost hitting seven students, two lockers and a handful of other things along the way.
"Follow me." A voice hissed before releasing me and slipping into a classroom which was mainly used for storage.
Or, y'know, other stuff.
I followed them inside, bewildered about who they were and why they randomly stole me away from one of the classes that I actually like.
Lets say I almost choked and died when I saw who it was.
"Cole? Why the hell did you drag me over here?" My eyes were wide and I leant back against the wall, arms crossed half out of defence and half because it comforted me.
"Okay, Riv. I know you won't believe me and that's understandable, and you probably don't want anything to do with me either, but something strange is going on and I just want to say that I-"
His breathless ranting was cut short when the door flew open and slammed against the wall.
Books and various pieces of science and maths equipment clattered to the floor, some of it shattering while other items just skidded along the glazed tiles.
"Well look who it is. Why'd you bring him in here huh Cole? Giving him a good scare for me?"
I couldn't believe the words that left his lips.
I hadn't heard him speak in such a way since detention, and quite frankly, it scared me.
"W-what? Oh yeah, 'course." Cole replied to the pair of tall boys with a different tone to the one he was using with me only moments earlier.
Speaking of, I wonder what vital information he was trying to tell me.
"How kind of you, but we're here now and we have him right where we want him."
Light shon into the dark room through a slightly open window, but the blinds were pulled down over the rest. Yet that small sliver of illumination that managed to break through was directly over Ashs' face, revealing one half of his features while the others were overcast with shadows.
I felt threatened as he stalked towards me with James right behind, but Cole stepped in front of me and gave them a hard glare.
"Don't you think we should let him off? He didn't do anything and it hasn't been long since James almost-"
They cut him off again, and anger sparked in my soul as they did.
"Shut the fuck up, Miker. Get to your class." James snarled, hand held into a fist as he towered over Cole who proceeded to give me a look of worry and questioning.
I nodded curtly and seconds later he exited the room, leaving me with the other two.
Why am I being threatened so much recently?
It's ridiculous.
Ash licked his lips as he approached me, and I suddenly felt as if I was staring into the eyes of a wolf. They seemed wild, like he had lost all sanity, but I couldn't let that stop me.
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-back the fuck up." I sassed, stepping forward and looking up directly into the green-tinted pools of untamed waters.
"You might be able to tell him what to do along with every other one of your little minions, but you don't own me."
I spoke with anger, determination and strength, but above all of this, the most shocking thing was his response.
He blinked twice, taking in what I said, before a laugh erupted from deep with in his chest. He shook from the power of the echoing sound, tears gathering at the edges of his glistening eyes.
However, like a switch had been flicked, the humorous tone vanishing just as quick as it came.
"I own everyone in this damn school, and I can do whatever the hell I want with them." The tip of his nose was mere centimetres away from mine, and his minty breath fanned over my slightly parted lips.
"Keep telling yourself that you overly narcissistic idiot, now I'm getting out of here." I slipped around him under James' arm as he tried to stop me, swiftly making my way out of the room.
I hurried down the almost completely unoccupied hall and into my class just as the bell rang.
As I came to a stop and awkwardly leant on a desk, my teacher raised an eyebrow in my direction. I quickly made up an excuse while making sure not to stutter and get myself another detention like last time.
"I went to the toilet." I spoke quickly, half skipping over to my seat from the speed of my walking, and silently sat down before taking out my book and pen.
"Fair enough." She instantly began the lecture, her monotonous voice being the only thing I would hear for the next hour apart from my own heartbeat.
Because of that, I pulled out one of the pieces of paper that I always had stored in the back of every single textbook, and began to doodle and scribble random thoughts down onto it.
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Maths.
Yay.
I was walking into my final period, which happened to be the best lesson of the day, with an uninterested expression and a heart screaming at me to run away and never return to this hell hole of a school.
However, I did kind of want a fairly decent future so I decided that staying in school would probably be the better idea for that.
But the disappointing truth doesn't end there.
We got a new seating plan and I'm now sat next to Mr Bipolar over here who either wants to make out with me or knock me out.
Like, I'm sorry but pick one my dude, not both.
I shimmied through the crowds of people before managing to sit down in my seat, and then continued to take out my blue book and whatever stuff you need for maths.
Mr Simons had already walked into the classroom when the dreaded and, in my opinion, haunted bell began to ring, signalled the beginning of lessons.
Ash however, did not walk into the class until six minutes after the bell, with bright pink lipstick stains on both his lips, neck and white, high-necked shirt.
"Ah, Ash. It's nice of you to show up. That'll be a detention until four thirty tonight in H9." He spoke in a snarky tone and I couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Following that, Ash gave me a death glare as he walked over and took the seat beside me, purposely brushing his hand along my lower back.
I shivered at the contact before shuffling as far away as I could from him, not wanting to sit any closer than necessary.
Sir had already continued with his trigonometry lecture, and I tried to pay attention as much as I could considering an idiot was sat staring at me as if his life depended on it.
"Do you mind?" I snapped in a hushed voice, turning to him abruptly and giving an unimpressed glare.
"Not at all." He smirked and continued to trace his eyes over the entirety of my body, causing me to blush from the embarrassment as well as clench my jaw out of aggravation.
"Well I do, so keep your eyes off." I turned back to face the teacher pacing around at the front of the class and attempted to ignore the burning holes being scorched into my skin, and it worked.
For about two minutes.
"You're lucky I didn't send James after you earlier." I suddenly felt a whisper next to my ear, and I jolted to the side.
"Ash, River. Please focus." Mr Simons called out to the two of us, and I nodded before looking down at the paper laid before me.
My heart was beating way faster than it should have, and I felt the breath warming my skin as he spoke again.
"You're already pretty, don't get me wrong, but you'd look even prettier with a few tears on those soft cheeks of yours."
That was the snapping point.
"What the fuck of wrong with you!" I shouted, whipping my head around to see him with slitted eyes and a snarky expression.
"River, are you okay?" Sir asked, slowly making his way over to our desk which was located at the very back of the room.
His hand swiftly made its way to my upper thigh and he squeezed it harshly, resulting in me standing, throwing the chair over in the process, and backing away.
"Get the fuck off me you psycho." I breathlessly screamed, desperation pacing my voice as the tears threatened to fall.
"River, please step outside. You too Ash." Mr Simons spoke softly to me, yet once he turned to Ash, his tone changed.
As I hurried towards the door, a sob left my lips, and I heard almost the entire class begin to whisper and snigger.
Why is it always me.
Why is it always when I think I've finally pulled myself together again.
I felt my breathing become uneven as soon as I was out the door, and I fell into one of the wooden walls after my knees buckled.
Moments later, I heard what must have been Ash and Mr Simons enter the hallway, and I tried to compose myself.
"River, are y-"
"I'm fine, sorry. Could I just go to the toilet please?" I tried to steady my voice, but it didn't particularly work.
"Yes of course, but what di-"
"Thank you." I whispered before speed walking down the hallway.
I didn't want to tell him what happened, and I didn't want to give Ash another reason to hate me.
So I decided that running away was the better option.
However, running away was never the better decision in any circumstance.
Trust me.
I mean, unless there's a bear or something. Then you might want to run.
I pushed the door open and internally sighed with relief when no one was in there, and then I walked over to one of the sinks and softly splashed water on my face.
"Pull yourself together River." I instructed harshly, glancing up and looking at my reflection in the dirty, graffiti-covered mirrors hanging over the equally disgusting sinks.
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed, thankful that the tears had finally stopped.
I took a moment to just think calming things, but as I realised how much I was struggling to keep that way, I whispered something to myself.
"I thought you meant what you said that day you liar. I thought you changed."
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I hope you enjoyed this! And that it's not too boring or anything~
Thank you sooooo much for reading, it really does mean the absolute world to me.
- Storm ð¹