Define Normal

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Michelle was hyperventilating as she stared at me with unseeing eyes. Tears were leaking steadily down her cheeks and her chest was rising and falling quickly, her breathing unsteady and shallow.

“Michelle,” I said quietly, keeping my voice modulated and calming. If she didn’t relax soon she would faint. I held my hands out palms up and approached her slowly. Her eyes were darting around in panic and I could see her shaking even from a distance. “Michelle,” I said more sharply making her gaze snap to my face. Her eyes widened as she seemed to recognize me.

“You,” she whispered, her voice wobbly.

I nodded as I continued to move closer to her. She took a deeper breath and her tears seemed to be slowing down. She glanced around her again and spotted the two guys lying unconscious on the ground. “Did you do that?” she asked in a dazed voice.

“Um,” I hedged, not sure what to tell her.

Her blue eyes swung to mine again and some of the fear was gone from them. “You did, didn’t you? You moved so fast in the gym today, I’ve never seen anything like it.” She swallowed and took two quick steps to me and threw her arms around my neck, gripping tightly with slightly shaky arms. “Thank you,” she whispered and I felt wetness creep down the neck of my shirt.

I cringed at the feeling of her tears on my skin but patted her back awkwardly anyway. “No problem.” I pulled back and held her at arm’s length. She looked like she wanted to hug me again but I grabbed her wrist and started moving towards the more well-lit areas of the mall. “We have to get out of here,” I said, dragging her along.

She glanced behind us at the two guys and quickened her steps. “Yeah,” she said on a shudder as we made our way to the bench I’d been sitting on earlier. My clothes were still there thank god, I’d just dropped a fortune on them, losing them would’ve been a disaster.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Elle asked when she came out of the mall, her arms laden with shopping bags. She was staring at Michelle with her hands on her hips and a sneer on her face.

“She was just attacked,” I said, glaring at my new, insensitive friend.

“Oh,” Elle said, a hint of guilt passing across her eyes as Michelle sank down onto the bench gratefully. Her eyes were still unfocused and she was staring down at her scraped hands like she’d never seen them before.

“We should get you cleaned up,” I said, sitting beside her awkwardly as she stayed silent. If she’d yelled at me and tried to bitch slap me, I would’ve been able to handle it but this quiet, meek version of the Michelle I’d come to know and loathe, made me nervous.

“If you hadn’t been there…” she murmured, still staring at her hands, every once in a while picking a rock out of a cut.

“Stop thinking about it.” My voice was smooth and strident as I stood up and grabbed my bags in one hand and her arm in my other, hauling her up and dragging her towards Elle’s car. “The mall’s closed and unless you want to go elsewhere, you’re coming to my house.” I said the words with confidence but inside I was wondering if I should call Richard first and tell him I was having guests over. That’s what daughters did, right? They asked for things when they wanted them. Was there an instruction manual somewhere on proper daughterly behaviour?

Mentally, I snorted thinking about the distracted wave they’d given me as I’d left the house earlier. They hadn’t bothered removing their zombified gazes from whatever version of CSI they’d been watching. If I was lucky, they wouldn’t even notice that I had people over.