Jason and I listen as Conner throws open cabinets, growling every time we're not there.
I turn my phone on and lower the brightness, then open my notes app and type something out.
I'll distract him while you sneak out. No arguing. That's how this is going.
Jason takes my phone and types out a quick response before passing it back to me.
No that isn't how it's going. Either we both escape or we both hide until he leaves.
I angrily write a reply and slide my phone back to Jason.
I'll crawl to the end of this row of seats then stand and distract him. You WILL leave.
I snatch my phone back as Jason begins his response, then quietly turn around and army crawl to the end of the row.
"Over here," I call, standing and leaning on a chair. Conner spins and glares at me. As he stomps towards me, I back up until he's way past the row Jason was hiding in.
My back hits the front wall of the theater and Conner's arm hits my throat.
"Hi," I say. Conner hisses and slams his other hand over my mouth, driving my head against the wall.
"What the fuck did you hear?" Conner shouts. I lick the hand over my mouth, and he moves it about two inches away.
"I heard you playing guitar and singing," I reply. "You're very good, by the way."
The hand finds its spot over my mouth and my head finds its spot against the wall.
"Did Jason hear?"
I shake my head and watch as Jason exits the room, pausing at the door for just a few moments before leaving.
"Where is he?" Conner demands. I shrug. His knee meets my stomach and I feel the urge to double over.
"I don't know," I mumble, my voice muffled by Conner's hand. "I heard you stop so I ran away. He followed me down the stairs and then disappeared. I found this room by total chance."
“Who else was with you?”
“Just Jason.”
Conner yanks both of his hands off of me and takes a step back. “You’re a lucky bitch.”
“Yeah, I don’t feel very lucky.”
“You’re lucky because I’m not going to beat you mercilessly.” Conner pulls back a fist and hits my nose square on. “I’ll beat you with mercy.”
“You know what?” Conner drives a knee into my stomach. “I do- ugh- feel lucky.”
Conner continues to hit me until I slide to the floor, blood trickling down my left arm.
“Thanks for that.” I flash Conner a quick thumbs-up and a half-smile. Conner scoffs before turning and stalking away.
“Don’t ever eavesdrop on me again,” Conner orders before leaving the room. Moments later Jason sprints in, his focus solely on me and not on the fact that his brother has taken to standing in the doorway.
“Jesus,” Jason breathes, fingering a bruise on my cheek. “He went too far.”
“Actually, he restrained himself.” I smile at Jason, then immediately press my lips together as blood drips into my mouth. “I seem to be bleeding.”
“Oh really!”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Jason freezes, his hand centimeters away from my left wrist.
“Haven’t you done enough?” I ask, leaning over and glaring at Conner. “Seriously, dude. Do you want everyone here to know that you beat your brother? That you beat some girl you’ve never had a proper conversation with? Get out before you get caught.”
Conner reaches over Jason’s shoulder and grabs my chin in his hand, squeezing it hard enough to make me flinch.
“You don’t tell me what to do,” he growls. His arm just barely brushes Jason’s shoulder but it makes Jason scared to all hell.
“Can’t order you around, blah blah blah.” I glare at Conner, wrenching his hand off my chin. “Are we done?”
Conner shoves Jason aside and slams my head into the wall. My vision blurs for a few moments, then clears up.
“We’re done when I say we’re done,” Conner hisses. “You lied to me.”
“Oh what-fucking-ever!” I kick at Conner’s chest, making him fall flat on his ass. “C’mon, Jason.”
I stand up and brush my shorts off, then offer a hand out to Jason, who accepts it and stands. I usher him past his brother, shoving Conner’s hand away with my foot when he tries to grab Jason’s ankle.
“Thanks.” Jason smiles at me once we’re out of the theater.
“I have been wanting to do that for so long.” I can’t help it. A grin spreads across my face as the image of Conner on the ground burns itself into my brain.
“It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be,” Jason murmurs. “Yeah, he got a tiny dose of his own medicine, but it didn’t- it just wasn’t- it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.”
“I’m not sure what you saw, but I saw a bully looking like the people he bullies. That was pretty damn satisfying to me.”
Jason shrugs, looking away. I stop in the middle of the hallway. “Do you think I should apologize? Or regret doing it? Because I don’t. He got what he deserved.”
“That’s true, but still! I can’t help but feel like that wasn’t- wasn’t right.”
I roll my eyes and walk towards the staff breakroom, ignoring Jason’s many attempts to talk to me.
Somehow, I manage to avoid talking to Jason for the remaining two hours I’m at the mansion. It wasn’t fun, but I did it.
And that brings me to where I currently am: at my mother’s house. With pieces of glass surrounding me.
And one stuck in my hand.
“Fuck,” I breathe, wrapping my hand in my shirt. “I cannot believe I just broke something-”
“What the hell is that?”
Fuck, he’s awake!
“It’s a bottle that I dropped,” I answer, crouching down. I unwrap my hand and transfer the glass from the floor to my shirt, cradling them so they don’t fall back on the floor.
“Clumsy bitch,” my father snarls. I stand up slowly and walk down to my room, where I let the pieces drop into a plastic bag.
I hiss as I attempt to tie the bag. Discarding the bag, I stand up and walk over to my bed, careful not to get any blood on the blanket as I sit down.
“Fucking piece of goddamn shit!” I pull lightly on the glass piece and regret it. More curse words escape my mouth as I continue to pull on it.
My phone buzzes and I sigh, the glass finally out of my hand. I pick up my phone and open it up, noticing a growing number of Discord notifications.
conconman: @azalea
conconman: @azalea
conconman: @azalea
azalea: is there something I can help you with?
azalea: no, I’m not going to tell you who she’s going to end up with. Sorry.
conconman: i
conconman: damn
I sigh. I have no idea what Conner was planning, but him not going through with it is better for both of us.
“You fucking whore!”
Oh good. My mother is home.
“The only whore here is the one downstairs!”
“Right, because you weren’t just out fucking-”
“Please shut up,” I mumble. “Jesus. Shut the fuck up.”
They continue arguing. I make a few attempts to occupy myself but my attention is always drawn back to their argument. Many four letter words are thrown around. I write down the worst lines. Someday I’ll do something with everything I’ve compiled.
My alarm shocks me awake. I sit up straight. When in the world did I fall asleep?
“Oh good, it’s quiet,” I mutter. I crack my elbow, then get out of bed and walk over to my dresser. It’s hoodie time.
“Xael!”
“Goddammit.” I roll my eyes, finish changing, and jog upstairs. A piece of a beer bottle nearly stabs the bottom of my foot at the top of the stairs. “You called?”
“I need money,” my mother slurs. You absolutely do not, under any circumstance, need more alcohol, Abigail.
“Sorry, I don’t-”
“I know you have some!” A bottle flies past my head and shatters against the wall. “Where is it?”
“I don’t have any. I’m sorry.”
“You’re a- hic- liar.”
“I need to get to school. Can we postpone this conversation until later?”
Abigail grumbles something under her breath but waves me away. I grin mentally before padding down the stairs.
“Wonder how cold it is today,” I mutter, grabbing my phone. I forgot to plug it in. Fuck.
And the answer to my question would be it’s warm enough to wear shorts but cold enough to wear hoodies.
“I’m going to fin- find th’ money!” A bottle shatters against the floor right behind me. I nod and leave the house, making sure to have my phone out of sight until I’m a few blocks away.
“Just one more year,” I mutter. “One more year. Just one.”
A truck honks and I jump out of my skin.
“Get in, it’s too cold to walk!” Jason throws a ball at me and hits the side of my head. “Come on. In you go.”
I pick up the ball and throw it right back at Jason, hitting him square in the middle of his forehead.
“I didn’t expect that to happen but I’ll take it.” I open the door of Jason’s truck and jump in, tossing my backpack to the floor by my feet. Jason watches silently as I close the door and buckle up, then pulls away from the curb without another word.
Well this isn’t just totally awkward.
About five minutes into the drive, I decided to speak.
“So-”
“Just-”
“No, you go first.” Jason and I gesture towards each other at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye I notice him holding back some laughter. “No, you first.” I start laughing before attempting to speak again. “You talk first.”
“Oh my God.” Jason breaks into a fit of laughter right along with me. “Xael, you first.”
“No, you go first. I need to stop laughing.”
“Yeah, that’s why you’re going first! It’ll get you to stop laughing.”
“I promise it won’t, but okay. Did Conner leave you behind this morning?”
“Nah.” Jason flips on his turn signal and looks around for cars before turning right. “He doesn’t drive me to school. Amazingly, my truck stays intact despite everything.”
“That’s kinda lucky.”
“It’s not luck. He doesn’t want to drive me to school,” Jason explains. “Too much time near a lunatic isn’t good for your health, you know?”
“It’s a miracle that you’re as healthy as you are considering how often you’re near a lunatic.”
Jason snorts. I smile back at him, then look around and notice the lack of people out.
“No one-”
“They all got rides because they aren’t idiots who walk outside during winter wearing shorts and a hoodie.”
“Should I be insulted? That didn’t feel like an insult.”
“Well it was, now be insulted.”
“Oh no.” I press a hand to my chest and fake-gasp, keeping my voice as monotonous as possible. “You wound me with your words.”
“You’re a terrible actor.”
“I know!”
“That was an insult.”
“Was it?”
“I’m never gonna pick you up again.”
“Oh well that’s just plain-old mean.”
“You could at least pretend to be insulted.”
“Meh.”
“Now that’s mean.”
“You’ll live.”
Yesterday comes up and stabs me in the brain.
Thanks brain. You ruined the mood.
“You were saying something before we decided to share a brain cell?”
“Oh yeah.” Jason drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “What was I gonna say?”
“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”
“I’m talking to myself, but thank you for your help.”
“Bleh.” I stick my tongue out at Jason, who rolls his eyes in response.
“Are you helping Sadie today?” Jason asks. I nod, clutching my seat belt.
“I generally help out on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. On the other days I leave my schedule free in case she needs help then.”
Jason pulls into the school parking lot, nodding. “Makes sense, makes sense.”
Thank God we’re here, I was out of things to talk about.
“Do you want a ride home?”
“If it isn’t a bother, yeah.” I jump out of the truck and slam the door close. “I can walk tomorrow though-”
“Nope, you’re getting a ride. No arguments.”
“I want to walk tomorrow. It isn’t gonna be that cold!”
“Xael it’s gonna be like 20 degrees. You’re getting a ride.”
“Fine,” I groan. “I’ll just leave really early.”
“I’ll be at your house really really early.”
“I’ll leave really really really early.”411Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5cvDTIZlF
“My truck will be at your house really really really really early.”
“I’m gonna-”
“Accept the ride? Great! Have a good day of school!”
Jason runs away from me before I can protest. Piece of shit.
“Right, there’s a pre-test today.” I pull out my phone and open the Quizlet app, tapping on Chapter 9 vocab. “Might as well cram.”
Ah, good. Names. Many names. Names are hard.
“Good morning, Xael!”
“Morning, Mrs. Laney.” I wave at the teacher and then notice a new student. “Good morning.”
“Hi!” The kid springs to his feet and thrusts a hand towards me. “Crayton. Nice to meet you.”
“Xael.” I shake his hand quickly before turning back to my vocab, avoiding outstretched feet on my way to my seat.
“I wouldn’t talk to her unless you want to become an outcast.”
I sigh and glance up. One of Conner’s goons had drawn the attention of Crayton and Mrs. Laney wasn’t in the room anymore.
“What do you mean? Outcast?”
“Yeah.” Conner’s goon looks over at me and sneers before turning back to Crayton. “She’s a social reject. Doesn’t fit in anywhere. And she’s gay. It’s best to stay away.”
Where in the world did that rumor come from?
“Yeah.” Crayton nods and I shrug, returning to my vocab. This, kids, is what happens when you get your hopes up even a little bit. “It is best to stay away. I’ll see you some other time.”
A chair moves. Footsteps, followed by the chair next to me moving. I glance up and see Crayton grinning at me.
“You help out Sadie, right?” he asks quietly. My eyes widen and I nod.
“How did you know?”
“I’ve seen you around the area a few times. Didn’t you guys get kittens? They were born a few months ago, right?”
“Yeah, two litters.” My brain connects the dots between Crayton and Amanda. “You’re related to Amanda!”
“I’m her nephew, yeah. It’s nice to finally put a name to your face.”
The bell rings, interrupting my train of thought.
“It’s almost class time.”
“We have a quiz today, by the way!” Mrs. Laney exclaims. I show Crayton my phone screen quickly before turning my full attention on it.
“Do you mind if we put a pin in this conversation for a bit?”
“Go ahead! I should probably study too.”
A book drops onto my table. I flinch and continue to tap through the vocab.
When the tardy bell rings I slip my phone back into my pocket and pull out my computer.
“Please take out your computers and head to classroom,” Mrs. Laney instructs. “When you’re done with the quiz, check your score then close your laptops so I know when everyone’s done.”
It doesn’t take me that long to finish the quiz. Twenty-three terms with a drop-down menu full of the answers. Five minutes, tops.
I close my computer after only about three minutes. Missed two terms, which is about what I expected.
Crayton is the next one to close his computer, just a mere minute after I do.
“Did you know some of the terms?” he whispers. I feel his eyes on me as I pull out my notebook and textbook.
“Only missed two,” I answer. “What about you?”
“I missed six.”
I nearly slap my textbook off the table in surprise. Only six?
“Was it mainly review for you, too?”
“Yeah.” Crayton rubs the back of his neck, smiling. “I’m not that good with memorization. Names and dates get all jumbled up in my head. I’m good at math, though.”
“Good job to Xael and Crayton!” Mrs. Laney tosses a Lifesaver to both Crayton and I.
“Did she get one hundred?”
“Nerd!” someone hisses. One of the guys sitting behind me, probably Lake.
“No, but she got close.”
“I want candy too,” Lake whines quietly. “Xael.”
I sigh, looking down at the candy. It’s orange.
“You’re gonna get a fist in your face if you try to take her shit.” Crayton whips around, glaring at Lake. “Don’t fucking test me.”
Woah, temper does not match the appearance, temper doesn’t match appearance!
Avoid Crayton. If he turns on me, then I’m completely and utterly fucked.
“What flavor did you get?” Crayton turns back around and holds his candy piece out to me. “I got raspberry.”
“I got orange.”
“I love orange! Can we trade?” He claps his hands together, completely ignoring the teacher talking. “Please?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you!” Crayton grabs my candy from my hand and puts his candy in its place. “I like orange a lot better than raspberry.”
I open the Lifesaver and pop it into my mouth. Greatest candy flavor ever.
Wait, no. Second greatest. The absolute greatest is blue raspberry.
“Do you think you can show me to my classes today?” Crayton pulls out his schedule and offers it to me. “Just today. I can get around by myself tomorrow, I just need to know where everything is.”
Life hates me.
All of our classes are the same. He’s in advanced math with me- I guess he wasn’t bragging earlier when he said he was good at math.
“Sure.” I give in. “Just for today.
I finally updated. Sorry for the wait!
Question of the chapter: thoughts on Crayton? Anything you think of him or what you think he's gonna do later on in the story.
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