#10. Just

"That's it for today's class. Don't forget to turn in your assignment tomorrow." Mrs. Eleanor, the English teacher informs us.

Shuffling my books back in my bag, someone taps my shoulder from behind "Remember?" Jade says, reminding me, I promised to eat with her today.

I give her a small smile and nod "Sure."

Standing up from my seat, someone grabs my hand and I turn around to see who it is "Can I come too?"

I turn to look at Jade and she shrugs her shoulders "How can I say no to Mr. Loverboy here, who can't leave his girlfriend alone for five seconds."

"We're not dating!" Justin and I yell simultaneously. The whole class turns to look at us.

I mentally face palm myself and leave the class.

"I'll wait for you guys outside." I say to them before leaving.

Standing at my locker, keeping my belongings inside, I come face to face with Stella and Miles.

Fear grips me and my panic attack starts coming back.

"Finally." Miles breathes out "We get some alone time with you. What do you say Rain? Let's go back to the old days, shall we?"

Stella sends me an evil smile, which signifies she totally agrees with Miles.

Don't let them know they get to you.

I remember his words and I feel myself having a little morale to stand up to them.

Clenching my fists tightly, to the point where I feel my hands would bleed.

"Miles, leave me alone." I manage to say, still clenching my fists.

He looks very surprised "Did you just talk back to me?!" He laughs in disbelief.

Stella steps forward to slap me and I brace myself using my hands to cover my face.

I wait for her hands to collide with my face, but it never does. Slowly, I open my eyes and I see Stella crouched on the floor.

"Go get a life, will you?" Jade grabs her hair and yanks her further into the wall.

"Who are you? Get off me you, wench!" Stella screeches fighting her back.

I gasp. Jade can't get involved it would mean more trouble for her and me also.

Jade scratches her face "I know you're very insecure, but I don't see what Reina has to do with it you f**king b*tch."

Miles grabs Jade away from Stella and pushes her roughly onto the floor.

I am panicking and can't seem to think straight. If I don't do something to help Jade, she will become like me too. I can't let that happen to her. After all, she was just trying to help me.

Trembling, I open my locker and take out my water bottle. With full force, I aim it at Miles' head.

As soon as the bottle contacts the back of his head, Miles makes a 360-degree turn, or what seems like it and yells, "Who did that?"

Everyone in the hallway freezes. My feet are stuck to the ground, and I can't seem to move them. All hell lets loose when he makes eye contact with me. Stella whispers into his ear.

His wicked smile resurfaces. A smile I dread so much. A smile which has ruined my life. A smile which broke my soul into tiny fragments. A smile that had taken away what I treasured the most.

I am angry, but I can't fight. Only making eye contact with him sucks out all the breath inside me. Holding my hands to my chest tightly, I gasp for air, tears stream down my face. I am ready to be beaten to death and maybe abused to the point I don't want to exist anymore, but he never makes his way to me.

Justin grabs Miles by his collar and slams him to the locker, which I'm sure will leave a dent.

"Why the f*ck won't you let her be?!" Justin yells out angrily, red with fury.

Miles spits in his face "What is it to you, huh?" He starts laughing. "Don't tell me you want to ruin her life just like you ruined your mum's life."

That sets Justin off. The next thing I know, Miles is on the floor, with his lips cut and jaw bleeding. He looks like he might pass out any moment.

Justin grabs Miles from the floor and slams him the locker again, punching him in the jaw multiple times. Never would I think Justin could be this angry.

"You ruined her life already and you still don't seem to get it?" Justin screams. Every second that passes, his anger grows.

 His eyes burn red. He digs his hands into his pockets and holds a pen when he brings them back out.

My eyes widen in alarm. No, he can't do this, especially not because of me. I want to kill him to but doing so won't help me in anyway. Murder won't make Miles realize what he did was wrong.

Miles lets out another hysterical laugh "Do it if you can. I know you can't because you're a weakling." Miles balls out laughing.

And I swear to God the fury in Justin's eyes, multiplies by ten.

I make my way to them, so I can stop Justin. Before I do, Justin is yanked off of Miles.

I look up and I see Chris struggling to keep Justin calm. "Calm down Justin." He yells at him, stretching his hands to the back, snatching the pen away from Justine.

"The both of you." Chris points to Jade and me, "Come with me."

***

"Is he always like that when he's angry?" I ask Chris, my voice shaky and dry.

Chris shakes his head "Not really. He rarely gets angry but when he does it's hard for him to control it. Especially when it concerns people he cares about." He looks at me "I guess he cares about you a lot."

We both look at him. He's looking out the window with his back turned to us.

"I agree with him on this one." Jade says, standing behind Chris and me, whilst gazing at Justin.

I turn to her "Thank you, Jade. But you could have seriously gotten hurt."

She smiles and shrugs her shoulder "That's what friends do for one another, right?"

And for the first time, I smile at her. I was slowly letting her in. I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing. Or if it's something to be worried about.

"You should go talk to him." Stella urges me "We'll leave you both alone for now." She says dragging Chris along with her, leaving me staring at the closed door.

Taking a few steps, I'm standing beside him, near the window.

Not knowing what to say, I look up at him. His eyes are still red, but he seems to have calmed down a bit. My gaze drops down to his bleeding knuckles. He doesn't even notice.

Instinctively, I reach out to grab his hands.

He turns to me surprised as I hold his hand on mine. And his eyes soften as he stares at me. I am surprised by my actions too, but I guess my heart was speaking for itself here.

***

Escaping wasn't an option I had. If I didn't fight back, I'd probably be dead by now.

I wipe away the blood on my busted lips and forehead. I shouldn't have let them push me this far. Now I had gotten involved with drug dealers who had exploited me. They still wanted to take my life away.

I don't know where I am, what to do, neither do I know anyone here.

Even if I'd manage to escape, I was still trapped in all this.