Treat You Better

Chapter Ten: What if it was Me?

"You can't let him make you into his type." He stated with a shrug. "Remember what I asked about if you found someone else? If you found someone better than Hale?"

How could I forget? I nodded and waited for him to speak.

He seemed to think deeply about his next statement before doing the exact same thing Hale did earlier: reach out to tuck my hair behind my ear. Only this time I was tempted to lean into his touch.

I closed my eyes as I tried to focus on whatever it was we were talking about.

"What if...?"

"Violet!" a voice called from next to us and I nearly jumped to the sky, thinking it was Hale.
But it was Dad, it was 10 pm already.

"Hale?" He asked, squinting at Angelo as we stepped into the light.

"Not in a million years" Angelo murmured and I smiled.

"Not Hale, hi Dad." I greeted.

"You look amazing!" Dad said staring at me in wonder once he got a good look at me.

"He's right" Angelo nodded.

"I'm leaving, tell Hale my dad came please?" I said, turning to leave.

"I don't get to meet this young man?" Dad asked as we started to walk down to the gate.

"Not today, Dad" I said but Angelo suddenly pulled me back to him while my dad kept on walking.

"I didn't say I was done, Violet" He said, staring down at me.

"What were you going to say?" I asked, his hand was warm on my bare shoulder and it made me shiver. I didn't realize how cold it was tonight.

"What if that person was me?" He asked.

My mind was blank for a long moment but he waited.
"Y-you?" I finally asked, a shy smile creeping up my face and turning into a flustered giggle.

He must have taken it as me laughing at him because he rolled his eyes.
"I know I'm not your ideal guy, Kid but..."

"...You think you could be better than Hale" I finished for him, blushing.

"Believe me, the bar isn't very high." He deadpanned.

I gave up on being the ideal girlfriend for a second and suddenly hugged him.

The guy was too stunned to speak.

I moved back almost as fast as I hugged him and shrugged.
"I doubt it actually, but thanks for the offer" I said and ran after my dad knowing he definitely took that as a challenge.

(╭☞•́⍛•̀)╭☞

I lost my balance and fell backwards into the shelves of cleaning supplies.

"I warned you!" Hale said, towering over me as I tried to get up. I just needed to get to the door.

Somehow, I'd gotten myself trapped in the Janitor's closet with a very angry Hale first thing on a Monday morning.

"I'm sorry." I tried to say, I'd say anything to get me out of here but he dragged me up roughly by the shoulder and grabbed my hair.

"You like it huh? When he flatters you with all those compliments and tells you things you like to hear? I bet you feel real special" he said in a low voice, tightening his grip so that it felt like my scalp was falling off. "He's lying, don't you get it? All he does is lie that's who he is!"

"You're hurting me" I squeaked, fighting tears as I tried to pry his fingers away, "you're hurting me, please..."

"I bet you like how he keeps staring. I told him to stop, you're my girl. I used to look up to that idiot but he's nothing, I'm better than him. He's just an orphan from New York!"

I squealed when he suddenly let me go so I stumbled backwards towards the wall, my knees quaking from fear.
Orphan? Angelo?
I didn't care, I just wanted to leave but I'd have to get past Hale first.

"He's literally the reason they are dead, he ran to us because we're the only family he has. If my mom wasn't so kind, he'd be out on the streets as a criminal... That is the guy I'm warning you about."

I nodded quickly and took a step back when he took one forward. "Please stay back, I won't talk to him I promise"

He didn't step back and I nearly collapsed from fear when he reached up to my face and cupped my jaw.
"Never again?" He asked.

I nodded once more, shutting my eyes tight.

"Stop acting like I'm a monster" Hale stressed, forcing my face towards his. "I don't want you in any trap he's spinning, Violet. I care for you, I love you"

He loved me? If this was what love was, I hated it, I hated him.
He forced a kiss to my lips before walking out.

The moment he left, I scrubbed my mouth with the back of my hand, feeling like I'd just touched my lips to a toilet.

I tried not to cry but ended up with a splitting headache.

After fixing a few things in the closet so it didn't look like someone got molested in there, I set off for my second class of the day.

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