"You've got some nerve, Chienne." Noelle spat, squeezing my face with her perfectly manicured nails. She had called me by that same word before, behind my back of course, and being the diligent student I am, I looked it up and found it actually meant Bitch. Wow, Chienne sounded much sweeter.
I remain silent. No reason to waste my breath replying to these girls. Noelle let go and stepped back as Vivienne moved to her spot. What are they, a group of circus acts? Coming in one after the other.
"Who do you think you are?" She asks with pent-up anger.
"Amelia Brooke," I reply poker-faced. "I didn't know you had amnesia."
A slap to my right. That is what I get for being a smart alec. It stings but I keep my expression neutral.
"Are you even human? Show some kind of emotion. You are always emotionless. That crappy poker face of yours is irritating." Vivienne yells aloud forgetting she was bullying a girl in an unused restroom which wasn't far from the one being used now.
Let's hope she gets caught. Amen!
"Just because you're an American, and look slightly Joli than the rest of us, doesn't mean you have the right to wrap your fingers around every guy in school." She continues while moving her face close to mine.
Wow, she's wearing fake eyelashes. And is that an acne scar I see beneath all that makeup?
"So, you think I'm pretty? Thank you." I say monotonously. I've been taught to appreciate compliments and thank them.
I might have pulled the last string. Vivienne is beyond pissed. She raises her hand to slap me once more.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Everyone turned around in shock. I've been hearing this voice frequently, I didn't have to see the face to know who it was. However, I am slightly surprised.
Adrien stood at the entrance in all his glory with an unpleased look on his face.
"V-Vice Prez." Vivienne stammers. She lowers her hand and drops it to her side clenching her super short, super tight skirt.
"We were... um, we were just,"
"Stop with the excuses and get the hell out of here." He snapped. The whole group scattered and rushed out without another word.
He has his arms folded, looking at me intently.
"I get a minute late and find you missing." He says sighing, running his fingers through his dark locks making it messier.
"Yeah well, sorry Dad," I reply arrogantly.
Shaking his head, he turns and leaves. When he notices I hadn't moved an inch, he grumbles and walks inside grabbing my arm and pulling me after him. Since when did I become a puppet to the French kids?
He takes us to our hideout. That's what I call it, whereas he says its 'The secret base'. What's the difference?
I notice my lunchbox lying next to his. The break was almost over but he hadn't started eating.
"Hey... Hey!" he was walking away. The hell?
"I'll be back. Don't move!" he says with a glare and walks away.
Sighing I sit down, hugging my legs close together. I was never this miserable. I've never been so hopeless and pitiable. Look at me now! I'm being bullied at some school far away from my home country. Tears begin to well up, but I forced them back trying my best not to let them fall.
“Ow!” something very cold is pressed on my face. It was Adrien. He was holding something in his hand.
“Press this on your cheek. Its red.” And he hands me the cloth which seems to be filled with ice cubes. It’s not a surprise. I hadn’t gotten a tan in months and my complexion is slightly paler now. A light tap on my skin and you’d have the privilege of seeing red marks.
Sniffling, I sit up straight and press the cloth on my cheek, welcoming the coldness.
“What’s wrong?” he asks not looking at me. He grabs his lunchbox and pries the lid open. It’s a French egg and bacon sandwich today. Of course, he had his side dish of rolled omelet.
“What?” I ask him clearly not having understood what he meant.
“You seem like your about to cry.” He says and finally looks at me. His face is as arrogant as ever but his deep exotic green eyes had a hint of worry in them throwing me off guard. Curse him for having such mesmerizing eyes.
Calm down, Amelia. Don’t be swayed. Remain poker-faced. Remain neutral.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m fine.” And I bite into my sandwich. I want to moan at the deliciousness but refrain from doing so. Adrien keeps watching me for a while and then turns his face away. We eat in silence and soon the bell rings signaling the end of lunch break. His omelet was left uneaten.
“Did you mess with these today as well?” Adrien questions me pointing to the omelet. I give him a nod. Usually, he’d look annoyed and dump them into my lunchbox and walk away fuming. But today, even though I told him I had added sugar to his spicy omelet, he just got to his feet and started walking away while shoving the omelet into his mouth one after the other leaving me behind dumbfound.
What just happened?
CHAPTER THREE
Hiding behind a cluster of thick bushes, I cry my heart out. The tears wouldn't stop. It's been over two months since I moved to France but the nightmares continue haunting me. I'm far away from where it happened. Far away from everyone dear to me. So why? Why do I still feel so hopeless? A sob escaped my lips.
The school is lively as ever with the upcoming festival, yet here I am miserable and crying in my own world.
The school holds a festival, a month before the year-end exams with various events to be enjoyed by the students and the general public. Every single girl and boy in school was busy with preparations. Even lazy bone Adrien seems to be in a tight spot with kids running up and down asking him for his assistance. Ninnon would be looking for me right about now. I'm sure of it. But no way in hell am I going to let anyone see me in this broken downstate.
I hear the swaying of leaves behind me, but ignore it knowing its only due to the breeze. or so I thought.
"Are you crying?" A deep voice asked me from above. Shocked I lift my head and find Ethan Beckham looking down at me, curiosity burning in his eyes.
Scrambling to my feet, I turn the opposite direction wiping away the tears in a hurry.
Shit shit shit! This wasn't supposed to happen.
Damn it.
"So you do have feelings." He continues. This is the very first time we've spoken since I transferred. Unlike the other kids with their sloppy way of talking in English, Ethan was speaking very fluently. He did not have that typical French accent where sentences sound monotonous and more often than not the pronunciation of some words ends up being warped. He almost sounded like a true American, and within me, I somehow felt a deep sense of relief. I almost felt homesick. What's with me?
Once I made sure my face was all dried up, I turn around to face him. Crossing my arms I stare at him with an unreadable expression. He was a good 5'9 at least while I was only 5'4. I had to strain my neck to get a proper glimpse of his well-featured face.
"What are you doing here?" I demand.
Since when did the bush belong to me?
"I'm hiding."
"Let me guess. Vivienne?" I state as a matter of fact. He nods.
"And her crew." He says with a sigh.
We remain silent. I stare into the distance. I see girls lifting boards, most probably for their stall while a couple of guys kept cheering them on.
"You haven't told me yet what the tears were for."
I look back at him.
"Since when were you and I best buds, that I have to tell you everything?" I ask rudely. He only gives a shrug.
"You always seemed like a girl with no emotions, so seeing you cry like that was quite a surprise. Did Adrien reject you?"
To this, I stare at him in disbelief.
"What!?" I scoff. "Adrien? Why the hell would you even think that? Like hell, I'd end up having feelings for that heartless jerk. Don't screw around with such jokes Ethan."
I can't believe he would even think of such a thing!
"Well, we've never had a conversation before. So yeah."
Dusting my skirt, I turn to leave but then he grabs hold of my arm. Looking back, I notice him staring at me.
"What?" I snap.
"You’re not thinking of going back to class looking like that right?" he postulates. When I just stare back at him confused, he lets go of my hand and pulls out his phone switching it unlock. Then he turns the screen to me, the camera on hold.
God am I in an ugly mess.
My hair, jinxies know how it became a tangled mess. I was only leaning on the bush. How is this even possible? My face was a whole new term of 'wreckage'. I'm using the eyeliner aunt Felicity lent to me and it's not waterproof. My earlier train of tears had washed the whole thing off and my cheeks were splattered with black. Shirt crumbled, dirt stain on the skirt, why the hell is this guy even continuing talking to a fashion monster like me!?
He let out a light chuckle as he puts his phone away, leaving me even more astounded.
Grumbling, I sit down on the ground once more. Ethan crouched down beside me. We didn't say anything to each other. I kept hoping Ninnon will come to rescue me. Even Pierre sounded acceptable.
I hugged my knees close to my chest, burying my face in it.
"My mom." He started, making me jump slightly in surprise. "She left home when I was only ten."
I kept my gaze on him wondering where this is leading to.
"She left with another man overnight without a word to my dad. I... I saw her leave the house from my bedroom. She saw me peering through the curtain yet she just turned and got into a man's car and drove off." He continued his voice hardening.
"Why?" I asked not able to hold back my curiosity. "Was it because of something your Dad did?"
He gave me a solemn nod.
"Dad and she used to argue a lot back then. But he never once raised his hand to her. Nights filled with endless yelling from their room. Only after she left did Dad tell me that coming from a wealthy family, Mom only ran away with Dad with hopes he'd give her a better life. Dad was going through some difficulties financially and she was infuriated that he wouldn't give her what she wanted. And so she left."
This might have happened when he was just a kid, but it still hurt him. Having to see his mother go away with another man. His expression proved it all. The pain was etched on his face.
Why was he saying me all this? I bet no one else knows about it. Why me? Why the sudden need to have a heart-to-heart?
"That's why I've never liked any girl. Why I never trust them. If a mother can so easily walk away from her husband and son, what's to say a girl can't? After all, aren't we guys needed only for face and wealth?" He ran his fingers through his hair looking hard at the ground.
Unwillingly I place a hand on top of his which was resting on his knee. He looked at me strangely.
"That's not true. Apart from face and wealth, there are girls out there who wholeheartedly fall in love with guys even if they're the worst shit on earth, knowing very well they'll be ruined"
I know it so well from experience.
Noticing my clenched fist Ethan turns his hand around and gives a gentle squeeze to mine. He keeps staring, waiting for me to go on. Sighing I look at my skirt, playing with a stone by my feet.
“I killed my best friend.” I whisper taking Ethan by surprise. His stare could have burnt a hole in my face. There was ruffling behind the bush but then silence followed.
"Her name was Sarah." My chest felt tight. like there was a sudden block in my oxygen supply.
Just mentioning her name out aloud made it difficult to breathe.
"Was?" he noticed I referred to her in the past tense.
I give him a solemn nod.
"She was my best friend. I've known her since we were in diapers. Our moms were good friends and eventually, we ended up being always together. Sarah, Ryan and I were a team. We were always together. Always." I take a deep breath before continuing.
"When we entered High school, we had a group of six friends including me. But Sarah always had the most important spot in my life. There was this guy who was in my Algebra class. Noah." I spat out his name venomously. I pry my hands out of Ethan's and clench both mines together, the knuckles turning white.
"He was the worst playboy a girl, no the world would ever come across. He slept with girls left and right. He broke girls so easily. He was such a horny imbecile. My poor Sarah fell for the ass." I let out a sob.
Why am I crying once again? In front of Ethan too.
"Even though she very well knew what type of person he is, she couldn't stop her eyes from following him around. I warned her. I pleaded with her. But in the end, she caught his eye. She spent hours on the phone talking to him. She walked to class with him. Ate with him in the cafeteria. She was like some lost puppy who had found its rightful owner. Before long, he had asked to meet her outside of school at his place when his parents were to be out of town."
I threw the stone which I had been playing with, with such force I didn't care if it hit someone on the face.
"She kept saying how nervous she was. I begged her to not go. Then I got mad at her and she left after yelling at me to mind my own business. She is my business, Ethan. Knowing something would happen, it’s only natural I'd want to stop her. I didn't want to see her crumble down in a mess. She said she was different to him. That he actually liked her back. Bullshit!" I pause to take a deep breath.
“That night my friends and I had a campfire in Ryan's backyard. I left my phone back at my house on purpose. Even though I had a bad feeling, and felt like Sarah might call, I deliberately left my phone behind. and... and she did call. She did." My voice, a whisper at the very end. I was mumbling to myself as of now. I was repeating the whole scenario to myself.
Thinking back to what had happened, I broke out crying. Not the light sobs but full out crying. Ethan was taken back by surprise but he recovered and pulled me close, hushing me. I cried on his shoulder not bothering how embarrassing I must be looking. All my efforts to maintaining a neutral life in France was torn apart. Here I am crying on a guy's shoulder about my past.
"You can stop. Amelia, you need not go on. Calm down, Amelia." He said in a soothing voice. I could do anything but calm myself down. Ethan rubbed my shoulder in a comforting manner. I shut my eyes tight, forcing the bad memories to go away.
Finally taking a deep breath I sit up and look at him. I'm determined to end what I started. He was kind enough to share his painful past with me. It's only fair I do the same.
"That night, Noah was on drugs. He was always warned by the school to put a stop to his drug addiction, and he did or so we thought. But the night Sarah went over, he was high. Sarah was well aware that she'd sleep with him but in the state he was, it wasn't sex but rape. He forced himself on her when she kept pushing him away. That's when she started calling me for help. Me being the bitch I am, leaving my phone behind in anger wasn't able to go to her aid and save her from that monster."
Once again I shut my eyes, my breath was ragged making breathing difficult for me.
"Amelia," Ethan started but I raised my hand to make him stop.
"The next morning, I was called by the cops. They didn't tell me what was going on. Ryan accompanied me when the police car pulled up at my house driveway. I wasn't taken to the police station though but the hospital. I was so clueless. Until I saw Sarah's parents and younger brother, Tony bawling their eyes out in front of a stretcher. T-The body was covered revealing only a scarred face."
The memories came flooding in.
Sarah laid motionless on the stretcher. My legs felt like it was tied to a boulder. Each step I took towards her felt restrained and painful. I remember staring at her face blankly. My hand moved on its own, taking off the sheet. She was in a hospital gown. There were bruise
s all over. Scratches and scrapes. A deep gash on her throat.
Noah had confessed, it was Sarah who broke the window glass and cut herself before throwing herself out of the window of his bedroom which was on the third floor. Neighbors had called the police in the morning when they found a naked girl lying dead. The doctor informed us that she had been penetrated multiple times and thus would most definitely lead to pregnancy since protection had not been used. He felt this was most likely the reason she decided to suicide.
Where I Belong Page 2
