R-r-rahh! Rah! Yeah! Woooooooo…
When Robert's fist beelined to my chin, I thought I'd heard a flash-bang—blood escaped my mouth and nose, and my body felt like surrendering. My stance wavered for a second before I slowly put my fists back up, revving for another strike. My iron gaze remained strong on him, watching his every move, as did he. I dashed. And I hit.
Ooooh!
I wiped blood off my nose and took shaky breaths. I relaxed my arms and grinned; watching him on his knees was so much fun. My eyes fluidly tracked his every move as he kneeled: his short breaths, the way his fingers twitched, but most of all, how the sweat dripped from his face. Seeing his pretty boy eyes and sharp jawline reduced to pants and gasps was so satisfying. Moreover, his emo-boy bush haircut had long since been abandoned, and I could see his complete despair clearly. I shivered as a tingle ran up my spine and let out a slight chuckle. After one last glance at Robert, I turned and looked at the crowd all around me, searching for her—and there I saw it: silky black hair with highlights of red, fierce aqua eyes that denied any entry, and makeup done so stylishly most would call it overkill. But to me, it all added up to pure bliss, not to mention the group of other talkative, chewing-gum-obnoxiously girls surrounding her. As my eyes locked on to hers, the world slowly fell silent. The sound of rambunctious, sweaty teenagers had evaporated, and the only sound I could hear was my breath. I observed her take her little gasps of air, ever so calmly, then look back at her friends and giggle, ever so cutely, then face back towards the action, ever so intensely. But her attention wasn't directed to me; no, it was to him. Him.
Rah!! Robert! Robert! Robert!
The horde's chants became ever so clear to me as I faced Robert, who had already entirely arisen and was prepared with his fists guarded.
With a smirk, I said to him, "Being nice to me, huh? Little Robert?"
He spit on the floor and replied gruffly, "No sane person picks a fight with me for no reason. I had to respect your courage. Now, I'll wrap this up."
Woah!!
The crowd's frenzied state pissed me off. I clicked my tongue and readied my stance. It was time for round three. As the two of us made our approaches, the mob went mute. After a few seconds, he made his attack, aimed right at my throat. I narrowly ducked his flying fist and jabbed his face, the blood splattering to the rubber below. He rubbed his nose and left a glob of spit on the floor. He exhaled slowly before grunting and kicking me in the gut. I groaned, nearly stumbling to the floor. An elbow came crashing down on my back.
Oof!
He watched me bent on the floor, holding my gut and coughing. I winced as the throbbing grew more intense. Why was I on the ground now, offering myself to this bastard? I should be up, telling him how dumb and out of fashion he is. Hell, I should tell him to back off. I raised my head, and within a split second, he gripped my head and began bashing it with his knee. It was almost as if he was waiting. With every bash, I felt a bone in my nose crack or pop out of place. With every bash, I felt a little bit of life drain out of me. When he was satisfied, he threw my head back down roughly and raised his arms. He roared out words to the crowd that were inaudible to me. After all, I was shaking and on the verge of tears like some bitch. The back of my palm was sprawled over my eyes, and my other arm was limp with exhaustion. This felt so lame. Was I, I, really like this right now? No possible way I was going to let this whore have his way. Not with my Serena. Not with the girl that saved my life that day. The day I was going to end it all. I slammed my fist on the rubber padding of the boxing arena, to no response. I slammed once more; no response. I pushed myself up and tried to yell–
"Don't worry, we heard you the first time."
Slam!
Gack!
At that moment, I watched the basement ceiling shift sharply to the left, then freeze—just as my body crashed against the concrete floor.
Thump!
I yelped as the pain from hitting the concrete ground struck my back. I tried to gulp but couldn't; the blood ascending my throat wouldn't let me. It wanted out. I rolled to my side and covered my mouth, desperately trying to avoid what happened next. But I couldn't. I vomited blood and stomach acid all over the ground. I coughed out chunks of the food I'd eaten an hour ago and stared at them in horror. My chest felt so tight, not just from the uncontrolled regurgitation but also from the fact I'd done it here. When I looked up, the perfect girl was standing there, with a face of pure disgust and terror. She tiptoed away from me, guarding her perfect face with her pretty little purse and complaining to her friends. As I ripped my eyes away from her, I heard all of the whispers from the crowd.
"Wow, that was a hard hit."
"Is he gonna be ok?"
"Idiot asked for it."
"Who in their right mind messes with the Robber?"
"Stupid."
"Deserved."
Before I could shout to those asshats and tell them the truth, I saw Robert's shadow loom over me. I looked up at him. He brushed his head with his hands and offered his right hand.
"Wow, that was a really tough fight. You had me on the sidelines for a few moments there, you know. C'mere."
I glared at him. The throbbing in my back hadn't stopped, and I, for one, was not going to trust this two-faced bastard.
"Come on. I'm being honest for once, and you don't believe me? Maybe this is why you have no friends."
Twitch!
"Why're you breathing so hard? C'mere. I'll help you calm down."
I slowly got up, hacking up a storm, and slapped away his hand. As I did, the crowd collectively gasped and murmured even faster. He glared at me, but I didn't care. I placed my hand on my knee and rested on the brick walls of the school.
I calmly said to him, "I…'m gonna pass out."
When I said that, my vision darkened, and I fell splat on the ground.
------
I woke up to the clamorous shuffling next to me. I stared at the ceiling light for a few seconds before groaning and turning to my side. There, I saw the school nurse, Ms. Holly, clumsily opening cabinet by cabinet on the wall, searching for something. I tracked her body moving up and down, her eyes scanning every opening and each medicine label. "Not this one, and not this one either…" she murmured to herself. After a few moments of thinking, she clicked her tongue and left my sight, going forward and then turning right to her office. Realizing she was gone, I turned back and sighed. The events that had perspired earlier were still haunting my mind. "Dammit…" I murmured, putting my hand over my eyes. My stomach scrunched up a bit, but as it did, I heard light snoring coming from my right. "Hm?" I peeked out the sliver of my eye and noticed Adeline sleeping soundly. The lower half of her body was sitting down on a silver chair, but the upper half was bent over on the bed, with her head tilted sideways on her arms. How long have I been here? I sat up and looked around for a clock and saw one with medical equations leading to each number. I scoffed. I wasn't that stupid. Everyone knows you don't need to know the equations to see the time; it's a damned clock. It was 3:25.
"School's already over? She's gonna be so pissed. Ugh…"
"…mm? Teech? You're awake?"
That voice was Adeline's, who was raising her head and rubbing her eyes. I watched her with apathetic eyes as she extended her arms and yawned loudly, then smacked her lips and smiled softly at me.
"How are you holding up?" She asked.
I broke eye contact. "…fine. I'm just fine," I replied sternly.
"You sure?"
"Mm."
A moment of silence then passed that would've been awkward if we were two normal friends just looking out for one another. But Adeline wasn't just a normal friend, and she wasn't just looking out for me. She was one of my childhood friends; she'd stuck around with me since I was in elementary school, the time when I would mercilessly bully others. Maybe it was when I almost broke Brandon's finger that she began to follow me. But I could never understand why—why this pretty girl was ever bothering herself with me. She was so polished, so intentional with every gesture, and yet, she chose me. Hell, she was a model for Zara. I didn't feel any attraction to her, but still, the fact remains that this was a girl distant from whichever league I was in. Whenever I would ask her why she continued to stick with me, she would say with a bright grin, "Because I want to." Still don't understand it, and never will.
Adeline took a deep breath and touched my hand. She said in a calm voice,
"I saw how hard he threw you. There's no way you're just 'fine' after that, you know."
I slowly removed my hand away from hers and hid it underneath the covers. She gave a pained smile and backed away, straightening her posture but still paying attention to me. After a few seconds, I asked her, looking down, "Why do you even still talk to me? Do…do you pity me or something?"
I noticed her body twitch as she sharply inhaled. Her hazel eyes with long, curled lashes connected to mine as she replied with silence. She continued to stare at me, even when I furrowed my brows and made gestures for her to respond. I grew tired of this 'staring contest' after a minute and urged, "Hey, answer me. Answer me, dammit." She broke eye contact and stood up wearily. She stared at her bag.
Puzzled, I asked again, "Hey. Answer me."
The sound of buzzing cicadas and wind filled the room's silence.
She remained still for a few more seconds until she picked up her backpack and flung it on her back. Wiping her eyes, she began to walk away. My eyes grew wide open. I raised my voice.
"Adeline! Where are you going? Adeline! Adeline…"
My voice lowered as she paused right at the exit door. I saw her tear-filled eyes as she took one last glance at me and slammed the door. Her fast footsteps echoed quietly beyond the door, and she quickly left. I was still in shock when Ms. Holly jogged out of her office and, with the biggest smile on her face, announced, "Found it!"
She was holding up a tiny jar of pills labeled, "Guaranteed Satisfaction: Pain killers." Her smile slowly faded as she saw me, eyes fixated on the door, confusion etched across my face, with no Adeline in sight. Her eyes flicked to the empty chair, and for a split second, something tight passed through her expression.
She tilted her head as she asked, "Where did Adeline go?" I looked at the empty chair, the one that still held her warmth, and visualized the last moments before she had left.
"I…I don't-I don't know. She was crying."
"Crying? Why would she cry? That's…not good."
"I-I think. I don't know why she was."
A pitiful smile flashed on Ms. Holly's face as she placed the painkillers down on the counter nearby and sat down on the bed, making sure not to bother my legs. Putting her hand down, she sighed and looked at me.
She said to me, "Teech. How could you not know why she was crying?"
Furrowing her brows, she continued, "Do you know how much she cares about you? How much she worries about you? And you're going to tell me you don't know why she was crying?"
I didn't know what to say. Evading her eyes, I mumbled, "Well, guess that's her fault then."
Ms. Holly picked her hand up. "What was that, Teech?"
Gripping the sheets, I mumbled louder, "It's her fault, then."
Ms. Holly let out a light chuckle and stood up.
"Her fault?" She said softly, almost like she couldn't believe it. "You really think this is her fault?"
Veins popped out in my neck as my emotions burst, and I yelled, "Nobody asked her to care about me!!"
The shame hit me too late. I yanked the sheets up over my face as if I could hide from the words I'd just said. Noticing Ms. Holly not leaving, I slowly continued, "I-I didn't ask for her to worry about me or care about me. If she's gonna get hurt from it, then-then, it's her fault. Not mine."
Ms. Holly's perplexed expression stained itself in my mind. She let out a big, long sigh and walked to the door. Just like Adeline, she stopped right at the door and looked at me. This time, though, she said something.
"Teech Lewis. I don't know your life. I don't know much of how you live or how your parents act." Tears welled in her eyes.
"But if this, this, is how you act, I wouldn't expect our star to come back."
With that last declaration, she began to calmly close the door before, at the last seconds of it closing, slamming it. Her footsteps were steady but thunderous. And there I was, on the bed, dazed by what had just happened. I looked at the clock. It was 3:35. I laid back down, letting my frizzy brown hair settle on the pillow. It felt like more had occurred in those ten minutes than in all my life. Questions raced through my mind: Why was it so fast? Where's my time to think? Why did they both cry? Since when did Ms. Holly have such an affection for Adeline? Ah…there, I realized it.
"Oh…" I chuckled nervously.
"That was so shit."
I grinned out of pure shock. I'd forgotten Ms. Holly was Adeline's mother. How could I have done such a blunder? I covered my mouth and mumbled to myself, "Imagine hearing your daughter's best friend complain about her…well, whatever."
Suddenly, I heard a loud, muffled slam right outside the window. I couldn't care less about it; I had to get home. As I exhaled and got off the bed to pack my things, I heard a blood-curdling scream. I shook my head and looked out the window, seeing what seemed to be the faint shadow of a body facing downward. Motionless, it seemed like the body had dropped from the roof. Was I seeing this right?
I rubbed my eyes and looked once more. I whispered to myself, "The hell?" Seeing the body in full detail, my stomach churned. Surrounded by a puddle of crimson blood was a student dressed in a tank top and short pants. His face, facing my direction, was lifeless and equally bloody. His eyes lay wide open, staring at the brick wall just below the window. The blood was still pouring from his skull, a chunk of it lying right above his head, and the brain, barely visible from his lengthy, raggedy hair, was still pulsating violently. Right next to him was Ms. Gebe, the history teacher for juniors, with her mouth wide open in terror.
Her flawless, light-brown suit, which she wore every day, was splotched with vital fluid. Her face, especially, had traces of blood splattered all over. I thought for a moment.
"What the hell is happening?"
I watched Ms. Gebe quickly run away and pull out her phone, dialing a number. Shaking, she began to yell.
"He-hello!! Ye-yes-yes, something really bad happened–um, one of my students…" She gulped and looked at the corpse.
"I-I don't know who it is, oh my god, oh my god! Um–yes, yes, this is St. Boulevard High School, located on uh…uh, Pinnacle Way!! Yes, yes! Please! Come help! Come quick, quickly–barf"
I winced at Ms. Gebe's orange vomit. Barely baring to watch further, I closed the blinds to the window. I picked up my backpack, left the room, and began my solemn walk home. I walked past Ms. Gebe and took a glance–not at her, but at the body. For some reason, it felt satisfying to see someone dead, lifeless, no longer trying to struggle and resist something far more potent than they are. A sense of jealousy coursed through my veins. Maybe I could be free like them too.
Whatever.