I stared at her harshly as she spoke. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to try. The girl could have something seriously wrong with her and we might not know it.
“Honestly at this point, if I die from this BS, then I die from this BS. I’m surprised that I was even able to survive in the first place. I might have survived the bullshit attack, but was that necessarily a good thing?”
“Don’t say that,” Brandon finally spoke from the doorway.
“It’s the truth,” she defended. “I feel like complete shit. My body hurts and feels like it just needs to shut down. My nerves are completely shot and totally out of control, even my brain is hurting and fuzzy. I barely survived this. It’s not crazy for me to ask if it was a good thing or not. It’s not crazy for me to want the pain to be gone.”
I winced at her words. They reminded me so much of her. Brandon heard it too, by the way he looked at the ground and clenched his teeth.
“I’m sorry . . . I shouldn’t have said any of that out loud,” Aubry said after a long pause while staring at the ceiling. “I . . .”
“It’s okay,” Brandon said softly. “It’s true, like you said, and no one can fault you for speaking the truth.”
We all sat there silently for a few more minutes as we all let the heavy words just hang in the air. It had only been three or four minutes when I heard Aubry’s faint snores signaling her being asleep.
I motioned for Brandon to follow me out and closed the door.
“Shit.” I breathed out in a harsh breath as I leaned on the door for support. “Whoever did that to her purposely left her alive . . . much more and that person could’ve killed her easily.”
All of a sudden, I felt like punching something. I walked to the nearest bag and just went at it, punching and kicking until my knuckles couldn’t handle anymore. I was breathing hard, and I was still pissed at the things that had been done to her.
Just the thought of someone doing that to her, to someone so small, frail, and innocent made me see red. It made me angry beyond words.
“Feel better?” Brandon asked from beside me when I finally stopped hitting the bag.
I looked at him deviously.
“Wanna spar?” I asked with a smirk.
Chapter Eight
Forgot Where I Was
Aubry
I woke up from a deep sleep with my mind first before my body, so I just laid there unmoving. Honestly, it was the deepest sleep that I had gotten in a long, long time. I was still so freaking tired though, I could have slept for another ten years if I were allowed.
I opened my eyes when my mind finally let me. The rest of my body was still unmoving. The dimmed lights of the room created a very ominous vibe. My mind, which was still waking up, couldn’t comprehend where I was. I was trying to piece it all together, but the only thing that I kept thinking of was how unfamiliar the small room was to me.
Naturally, I did the only thing I could think of, I screamed. It hurt my ribs like hell, but I just screamed. It was my most instinctual reaction—wasn’t that just ridiculous?
Suddenly, a rough hand, seemingly coming from nowhere, covered my mouth. It wasn’t malicious or harsh. No, it was very light, and it didn’t hinder my breathing at all. It did, however, stop my screams.
Aiden was standing over me when my eyes finally focused, and I fully woke up. He looked scared, touching my face with a gentleness that I had never felt before. He was dripping in sweat, and his face was flushed, but he still looked as attractive as ever.
I just stared back at him before I finally breathed out a long pent-up breath and finally moved my body.
“S-Sorry I forgot where I was,” I said sheepishly. “When my sleep paralysis makes a visit, I tend to get a tad bit worked up . . .” I tried to sit up, but the pain stopped me in my tracks. I silently cursed in my head and laid back down.
Brandon took the melted ice packs off of me, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the coldness was gone.
Aiden looked at me sideways and frowned at my explanation. “Well . . . here take this.” He handed me two pills. “They’re prescription painkillers. Take one now and one before lunch. It should help alleviate some of the pain.”
I nodded and quickly dry swallowed one. “Damn, you really do have a bootleg doctor in the ally that gives out free oxys!” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. Neither of the boys laughed.
“That is not an oxy,” Aiden grunted.
“You didn’t even question what that was . . .” Brandon said with a frown directed at Aiden. “What if that was a cyanide pill?”
“Then I’d be dead by now.” I shrugged.
Brandon looked at me with a hard stare.
“Don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answer to!” I defended myself from his put-off look.
“It’s seven o’clock, by the way . . . I suggest you get ready to start walking to school,” Aiden stated in a bored tone and walked away.
Brandon helped me sit up in the chair and then quickly followed Aiden out the door. He looked pissed, like he had something to say to Aiden.
I stayed the hell out of their way. If they were going to fight, I did not want to be in the middle of it.
I slowly made my way to my new locker and pulled out my makeup bag. I grabbed some new clothes and was on my way to the shower when I realized that I had no shampoo or soap. As if I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough in one morning.
I gently made my way out to where the boys were. I really didn’t want to have to ask, but I also didn’t want to stink.
“Seriously? You gave her drugs!” Brandon spoke, trying to keep his voice down, but failed as it came out quite loud. Meanwhile, Aiden completely ignored his words.“You might as well become a drug dealer at this rate! Those weren’t your pills to give away. I thought we all decided that as a group we didn’t want to use those!”
I snorted. Is that what a drug dealer is to them? Someone who gives someone two small, not-even-the-good-stuff pain pills? I almost laughed out loud at that.
They must have heard me because they both turned and looked directly at me.
I smiled awkwardly and shifted on my feet. “So . . . well, I just realized that I don’t have any soap,” I said, trying to sound calm. “Does either one of you have any that I could borrow, please?”
Aiden frowned like he always did and made his way to his locker without even glancing at me. I followed behind him slowly, still embarrassed.
“Here,” he growled while handing me the shampoo and conditioner and an unopened bar of Dial soap.
I was taken aback by his hostility. I mean, he hadn’t been nice to me by any means, but he hadn’t been straight up hostile to me either.
“T-Thanks,” I said, hanging my head down low. I felt bad for being such a thorn in his side. “I don’t think what you did makes you a drug dealer, but if you want the pill back, I’ll give it to you. At least the one I didn’t take,” I said softly.
His eyes visibly softened at me. “No, it’s not that.” He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. “You need them anyways. It’s just that drugs in general make Brandon and I uncomfortable. Besides, Brandon just likes to push my buttons. Just keep it and take it at lunch like you’re supposed to, and do not tell anyone about it.”
I laughed quietly as I made my way into the shower. So, drugs make him uncomfortable, huh? I wonder what he’d say if he had any idea that he was training an ex-drug dealer. I had sold so many drugs to so many people. I could feel my thoughts spiraling and going down the self-deprecating path about my past.
I did what I had to do, I reminded myself. Everything I did was because I had to, not because I wanted to.
I quickly showered and felt way better than I had. Don’t get me wrong, I was still in too much pain to move, but I no longer smelled bad. I pulled out my damp hoodie and shoved it on. It was as good as it was going to get.
I made my way out to the mirror and stood there for a minute, examining my face. It was so swolle
n and bruised that I was practically unrecognizable. Maybe not for someone who knew me quite well and had seen me on numerous occasions; but for people who didn’t pay attention or had only seen me a few times, I could be someone else entirely.
I took a comb from my makeup bag, and as I combed my wet hair, Brandon stood behind me, watching closely as I did so.
“Yes?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable at his attention.
“What happened?” he asked in a small, unsure voice. He already knew that I wasn’t going to tell him, but he asked anyway.
“I pissed the wrong people off,” I stated, shrugging.
“And . . . do the pills that Aiden gave you help?” he asked.
He was still obsessing over that? I sighed and thought about it. The pain was still there; excruciating and difficult, but it had helped take some of the edge off, so that was nice.
“Yes, it did help,” I said honestly as Aiden walked past us into the shower.
“Okay, good,” Brandon said while nodding vigorously and going to take his own shower.
By the time I was finishing off my makeup, both guys were walking out of the showers and to their lockers. Brandon had on jeans with no shirt, but Aiden . . . Aiden only had a towel on that was hanging dangerously low on his hips. I couldn’t help that my traitorous eyes trailed down his body through the mirror. He caught sight of me and smirked through the mirror. I rolled my eyes at his cockiness.
“Are you really not going to give her a ride?” I heard Brandon say loudly as I packed up my things in my backpack.
“No, why would I? I’d rather let Bri sit with me at lunch than give her a ride,” Aiden said quickly, making me frown.
That was a little mean and uncalled for. What a jerk!
I looked at the time, and it was almost seven-thirty. I cleared my throat to catch their attention. “I’ll see you after school then?” I asked, looking at Aiden.
For the first time, even though he obviously had a habit of not wearing a shirt, my eyes caught sight of a long pink-white scar that almost crossed his whole chest. How had I missed that giant scar before? I felt the incessant want to reach out and touch the weird scar. Instead, I just stared into his eyes waiting for an answer.
“Yes . . . right after school,” he answered. His wet hair made his ocean blue eyes shine as they stared into my green ones. I quickly averted my gaze as I got uncomfortable and turned around abruptly, ready to leave.
“Aubry!” he called before I had gotten too far.
I stopped to listen.
“Your ribs are feeling better . . . right?”
“Yes, they are. Thank you,” I answered and then quickly walked out into the barely sprinkling rain to go to school.
Chapter Nine
Long Day
Aiden
Brandon and I walked through the school doors at eight-fifteen. We usually didn’t get to school that early; we were usually almost late, actually. However, we had to cut practice a bit short that day due to a certain little brunette.
The warmth from her horrendous bruises was still burning my fingertips. She was so hurt, and it pissed me off that I couldn’t do much for her. The fact that someone had hurt her so badly made a familiar emotion bubble up to my chest: anger.
As soon as I walked through the door, Bridget was standing there in clothes that I was sure were against the dress code. She smiled at me too cheerfully as Brandon made his way to the group that we always hung out with.
I truly thought about turning around at that moment. I really didn’t want to deal with any of that BS that day. I just wanted to be left alone.
Instead of doing what I wanted, I walked up to the group and let Bridget hug me tightly. I had to seriously restrain myself from sighing in exasperation when she wasn’t letting go of me.
“Is a hug all I get?” she whined.
I rolled my eyes and lightly pecked her on the lips just to placate her. I was tired and didn’t want to deal with her or her whining.
“So . . . maybe we can go do what we didn’t get to do yesterday now?” she suggested with a small smirk.
At that moment, I knew I needed to cut her loose; it wasn’t any fair to her. She was catching real feelings, and all I wanted was sex from her. I couldn’t do feelings. I was emotionally unavailable and too messed up from past transgressions and previous tragedy. It was who I was as a person.
I opened my mouth to speak; however, I was cut off by a loud clank as one of the front doors to the school slammed shut way too hard. Everyone in the main hallway looked up at the culprit.
Aubry was standing there, leaning on the door as she was breathing hard and sweating profusely. Her makeup was slightly smeared and was starting to melt off from the mist and sweat that were on her skin.
I looked at her wide-eyed and then shared a look with Brandon, who was also staring at her wide-eyed.
“Oh look, the freak decided to do exercise!” Bridget exclaimed, making everyone but me and Brandon laugh. “What? You thought you were going to be late for your favorite class, “How to be a loser 101”? You can afford to skip a day or two, you’re acing that class obviously,” she continued, making everyone laugh harder.
Aubry wasn’t paying attention to them as she was still wheezing. I didn’t even think that she heard her. I could see that every single time she breathed out, she winced in horror. I felt so bad for her.
Suddenly, Bridget—completely out of character—decided to march up towards Aubry and grab her by her hoodie. She used Aubry’s small stature and distraction to use as leverage and pushed her up against the doorframe behind her.
I knew Bridget was a bitch and a bully, but I had never seen her get physical with anyone before. Bridget pushed Aubry harder and got close to her ear, whispering something only audible to the two of them.
Brandon stood by my side as we panicked over the situation. “Her ribs, Aiden. They must be hurting like hell.”
I nodded as I looked at her pained face. She looked like she was either about to cry or she was about to throw one of those punches that I had just taught her, maybe even a little bit of both.
Honestly, Bridget would have deserved the punch, but I knew that Aubry would have gotten into monumental trouble for that. So instead, I decided to diffuse the situation.
I quickly walked up to the two girls and pulled Bridget away from Aubry. Before she could whine, complain, or ask why I was defending Aubry, I kissed her quickly, even though she had gotten much more unattractive than she had been in the past five minutes before she decided to pounce on Aubry.
She instantly gave in to me and let me drag her away. I looked at Aubry before I got her away from her though, and I was thoroughly worried about her. I saw her hair had gone messy and tangled when it had been tamed and combed before she left. Tear streaks were messing up her already-melting makeup and reddened upset face.
As soon as I got Bridget far enough away from Aubry, I pushed her back off of me, wanting her nowhere near me any longer.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Bridget cooed. She tried to attack my face again, but I quickly deflected her unwanted kisses.
“What the hell was that back there? You usually don’t even waste your time with someone like her,” I asked quickly.
She looked at me like I was crazy. “What the hell do you care?” Bridget asked defensively.
“That girl didn’t do anything to you! She didn’t even look at you. She probably hasn’t ever even talked to you before.”
Tears came from her eyes with my words. “Oh, so I’m the bad guy?!” she screamed like a banshee. “She steals my boyfriend, and I’m the bad guy. She was the one who forgot her place yesterday at lunch, wasn’t she? She was the one who sat on your lap.” She was sobbing dramatically now.
“If you’re talking about me, then let’s get one thing clear. I am not your boyfriend! I made that abundantly clear when we started this no strings attached thing. I also do not have anything to do with that freak out there. However, either way, that
doesn’t give you any right to do what you just did. You made all of us look like fools out there just now.”
“If you two aren’t doing anything together, then what the hell was that with her yesterday? Huh?” she asked, completely ignoring everything that I had just said.
“Get this through your thick skull. It is none of your business!” I told her slowly as if she was a little child.
“And that is exactly why I had to do that. You won’t claim me as your own, and you wont say ‘no’ to anything with a vagina. Therefore, I have to let everyone know that you are mine. I had to put that bitch in her place!”
I scoffed at her. “You are a fucking psychopath,” I said incredulously. I was beside myself; why did this shit always happen to me?
“And you are a disrespectful man whore, but you don’t see me complaining.” She sobbed.
“This is done. I . . . I honestly don’t know why I let it go on this long. What we were doing was simply sex, nothing more. I’m sorry that you apparently did not understand that,” I said cordially.
“Now you’re breaking up with me over her?!” she sobbed again.
“We were never together!” I sighed and got my composure back. “This has nothing to do with anyone but you . . . I told you that I only wanted a hookup from the get-go. Now, that’s done. You obviously have some self-esteem issues. Get some help. Goodbye, this is over.”
I walked out as she cried hysterically. I honestly had no idea that she was that caught up. I thought that it was just in the beginning stages, not a five-stage clinger.
***
At lunchtime, I still hadn’t gotten Aubry’s distressed face out of my mind. I hadn’t gotten that look of pain and desperation out of my psyche. I knew something pretty awful had to have happened to her for her to be that disoriented. I was worried about her, and I did not like to be worried over people.
Fighting For Life Page 8
