#9. Life…

I'm paralyzed with fear, with my heart trembling in tremendous fear and pain. I slowly back away from them.

I was wrong about him this whole time. They were all just the same.

Justin creases his eyebrows in confusion as he notices me backing away from him. "Reina, are you okay?"

Tears pour down my face and I'm shuddering terrible. He comes closer and I scream.

"You're all the same. Miles put you up to this, didn't he? You just want to take advantage of me." I scream louder, more tears streaming down my face.

Chris turns to Justin, astonished, "Dude, what's wrong with her?"

Justin ignores him and keeps coming closer to me. "Look Reina, I don't know what I've done wrong but I'm sorry if I did. So calm down and breathe."

Chris amused, takes a seat, watching us with intense interest.

I fall to the ground, on my knees. "Please. Don't. Don't come closer, I swear I'll give you everything you want. Just please don't touch me."

Justin startled at my current condition, looks at me, hurt and confusion branding his eyes and then he seems to understand what's happening.

Falling to his knees, he inches closer and I swear he starts crying. Seeing him cry, I'm taken aback for a second.

"Reina. I swear I'll make them pay for everything they've done to you." He swears, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Dude, are you crying?" Chris laughs in disbelief. "Oh, you got to be kidding me."

Seeing, I let my guard down, Justin inches closer, until he is holding me in his arms. Hugging me tight.

"I would never do that to you. I only called you here, so you could meet Chris." He explains, breathing heavily.

"Are you really seeing a therapist?" He whispers, into my ear, rubbing circles around my back trying to calm me down.

I remain silent, knowing there was no way I could lie in this state.

"Oh Reina." He sighs "It hurts me so much that you've been hurt this bad. You need professional help. I would never intentionally hurt you. You keep on acting this way because you're burying everything instead of resolving them."

He pulls away from the hug and looks me in the eye, still on his knees "I swear. I'll help you in any way I can. You have to make those jerks pay for what they did to you." He grits his teeth and I can see pure anger in his eyes.

He places his hands on my cheeks, "Baby steps, Okay? We'll get through this together."

I'm silent, tears just stream down my face.

"Thank you." I manage to say, without choking on my spit.

He says nothing and pulls me into a hug. This time I return his hug and he continuously pats my head.

"Yup. Definitely showing this to your kids." Chris tucks his phone back in his pocket, making us realize he recorded everything.

"We should go eat." Chris walks out the door, with us following him.

As soon as we get to the cafeteria, Justin pulls off his hoodie and gives it to me.

I glance at up at him, confused. "You should wear that, your eyes are red. It'll help hide it." He explains

I send him a grateful look and put on his hoodie. Walking into the cafeteria, we line up for our food, the hoodie doing a good job hiding my face.

Everyone keeps staring at us and whispering among themselves. Chris stops in front of me and takes my food from my hands.

"If your hands keep on shaking like that, your food might end on the floor." He explains, helping me carry my plate to one of the tables.

***

"Why are you so scared of your mum?" I ask him.

School was over and we were both in detention. Mr. Clifford had left to go answer a call, looking grumpy as usual.

He turns to me, slightly startled, as he was deep in thoughts. "Hmm?"

"Your mum. Who is she?" I ask, changing the question.

He looks like his contemplating whether he should or shouldn't tell me and then he sighs "She's the principal." He sighs

Oh.

"You don't have to look so shocked." He says and I realize my facial expression gave my thoughts away.

"Care to elaborate." I dare to cross the lines a bit further.

He stares at me for a while and sighs twice. I had never seen him this disturbed or troubled. The principal seems like a nice lady.

"Fine. But you owe me. Let's meet at the bus stop by 12 noon on Saturday." He says and I stare at him dumbfounded. "You can bring Jade. Chris will come also."

I'm about to question him when he speaks up. "She had me when she was a freshman in college. Dad and Mum got married but they divorced later on. I've always lived in Canada. I was born there and lived there till I was 16. Dad won custody over me, so I had no choice but to live with him there. Mum moved back to the U.S." He starts explaining.

He pauses for a while, before he continues, "Mom wasn't in her right mind, which is one of the reasons she lost custody over I and my sister. But Dad, was way worse. He fooled everyone around him, myself and the court."

He swallows hard and I hear his voice crack "H-he-"

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me now." I stop him "After all, I haven't even told you anything about me."

"No-" He's about to say something but is interrupted by Mr. Grumpy.

"Nice story, both of you. You're dismissed." He says, packing up his things to leave. "Justin, your mum said you should walk home, she left early because she had to take care of something."

We both stare at him dumbfounded.

"You'll have to sleep in here, if you keep staring at me and don't get going." He deadpans, standing at the doorway, waiting for us to leave.

We slowly get up and make our way outside the classroom, still shocked by his words and actions.

He leaves after locking the classroom.

"Are you walking home?" Justin asks, reminding me, he was still present.

"No my Dad's picking me up." I reply.

"Oh." He says feeling a bit disappointed. "See you tomorrow then. Remember you owe me on Saturday. Not showing up is not an option."

"What?" I feign shock, "Are you asking me out already?"

He chuckles "Maybe. You're getting bolder. I like it."

We both go off in different directions. Going back to our separate lives.

***

Hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months very soon.

I lay on their barely breathing. "Just kill me already. How long are you going to keep me here?"

I place my hand on my stomach, because the pain I feel after being kicked in the stomach is too intense to endure.

I cough up blood, which scares me for a bit. I realize maybe I don't want to die. Maybe there was still a little part of me, that wanted to survive all this.