Damaged

Chapter Two

"A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.” 
― James Allen

At eight o’clock sharp on Saturday morning, Sophie’s car horn bursts the morning outside. I quickly make sure every window is locked and every curtain is pulled before hurrying out into the hallway with my bags and locking my door. Downstairs I give Allen the concierge my spare key in case of emergencies. He wishes me a good trip and I excitedly hurry outside to where Sophie’s waiting, bouncing in excitement. “It’s finally here!” She thrills, throwing her arms around my neck. “I know!” I squeal in return. Our friends Eleanor, Lucy, Marcie and Jodie were joining us on the trip alongside Bryan, Stuart, Lee, Jack and Dante. Of course, along with Dante came his two friends Hunter and Adam, and his ‘new girl’ Beth. “So I’m confused, are Becks and Dante actually dating?” I ask Sophie en route to school where we’re meeting the other. She’s told me that Bryan went to pick up Lee and Jack before heading to school. “No,” Sophie shakes her head and turns away from the high street towards the road that leads to school through the fields and trees. “They’re not dating dating. They’re only seeing each other. Hunter and Becks are cousins, so Hunter’s kind of forcing Dante’s arm to take her out on a date, even though Dante isn’t really interested in her.”
“He’s not?”
“Anna… I don’t like that look on your face.” She’s glanced at me now several times, curious as to why I’m asking about Dante. “Oh well I’m sorry for looking like this every day.” She frowns, knowing I knew she didn’t mean it like that. “Apparently she’s into him in a really big way, but he’s only half way there.”
“Half-way?”
“Yeah, apparently, he likes her, but he’s feeling pressured by Hunter.”
“So why the Hell is he going on a fortnight’s holiday with them, then?” She shrugs. “I dunno, maybe for the fun of it? Maybe to make her see that in a fortnight she can go from liking to hating? Who knows, why don’t you ask him today?”
“I might just do that.”
“No don’t!” She panics, remembering her genius plan. “You’ve got to talk to Stuart, remember.”
“Well, I’ll be talking to the both of them, but it seems to me that Dante and I have far more things in common than Stuart and I.”
“In all honesty, I preferred the way you said ‘Stuart and I’ to ‘Dante and I’.” I throw her a look which she ignores as she pulls into the school parking lot. Bryan’s already here with Lee and Jack, and Sophie prepares to swap cars. Bryan’s got a seven seater, and so that Jodie won’t have to sit in it with the rest of the boys, Sophie and Bryan have made a deal. The girls can get the seven seater so long as they clean up afterwards. Bryan’s agreed to take most of their luggage, but, with the boys’ stuff in there too, some will have to go on the second seat in the back beside Jodie, which is the reason why I can’t go with them. (Even though there’d be plenty of room in the back of Stuart’s car as well as the trunk if I freed up a seat, but the twins ignored me as I said this.)

∞         ∞         ∞

“Dante, you remember Anna, don’t you?” A while later everyone’s arrived and packing their bags inside cars while I hang back by the sidewalk, scared of all the hustle and bustle and intimidated by the beauty of Dante and Becks and their two friends Hunter and Adam. Right now, Dante’s packing his case inside Stuart’s car on my right, and Bryan’s doing the noble thing of re-introducing us. Each time I’ve saw Dante – if for a brief hour before we’ve both gotten drunk at a party – it’s been Bryan who’s introduced us. This is what makes him such an incredible friend. This morning, Dante is even more mysterious than I remember. His height makes him slightly taller than Bryan, making him about a whole head and then some taller than me. His dark brown hair is swishy and ruffled, his dark eyes bottomless like the ocean after that oil-leak a while back. He’s wearing nothing but tight black skinny jeans, black converse and a tight black t-shirt stretched over his toned torso. It’s short sleeved and reveals his muscular forearms, his veins protruding as he packs his suitcase into the trunk of Stuart’s car beside me. I jump to my feet as Bryan says this and Dante chuckles deeply. “Of course I remember Anna, how could anyone forget Anna?” Gooseflesh flutters over my arms beneath my hoodie as he says this and Bryan winks at me before Dante turns from the trunk. “Good to see you again, Anna.” Dante says with a smirk, winking at me before walking off to help Hunter and Adam get their things inside Sophie’s car. “Ooh, you got the wink.” Bryan says, nudging me with his elbow. I frown at him and then raise an eyebrow. “What does ‘the wink’ mean?” He smirks and winks at me, making me even more confused. “You’ll figure it out soon enough.” He stalks off and I stick my tongue out at his back, shoving my hands deep inside the pockets of my hoodie. “Hi,” A high-pitched voice says on my left. I turn to find the one person from our gathering who I haven’t yet met. Becks Rachelle. This girl is the same age as Dante. She looks like an Italian model. She has long brown hair tumbling to her belly button in waves. It reminds me of the way my hair used to be before I dyed it. I cut it as well, but now it’s grown back. Thankfully. Her eyes are a piercing light blue, light topaz gemstones with evil intentions. She’s smiling a mouthful of pearly white, straight teeth and her makeup is perfectly done for half eight on a Saturday morning. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Becks Rachelle.” I pause for thought and process the fact that she pronounces her surname as Rash-Elle. I assumed it was like ‘Rachel’. “Hi, I’m Anna Metcalfe. It’s nice to meet you.” She smiles broadly and grabs me in a huge hug, frightening me half to death and freezing me on the spot. I don’t do hugs. And I mean I really don’t do hugs. I don’t hug her back, and she can tell. But that doesn’t stop her. “I know it isn’t your decision to drive with Stuart and my boyfriend, but I’d just like to make it clear that you do not make any move for Dante under any circumstances. Got it?” She hisses in my ear. “Excuse me?” I pull out of her arms, shattering the control she thought she had over me. If she thought I was gonna lay down and let her get so close to me, she really didn’t know a thing about my past. “I don’t have any intentions of making any moves for anyone thank you very much…” She simply stares at me unblinking. “And besides, last I heard, you and Dante were only seeing each other.” She folds her arms tightly across her large chest and purses her lips. “Well that won’t be for much longer. And I hope what you’re claiming about your intentions is true. Stay away from Dante…” She pauses before tossing her locks over her shoulder with a false nail. “He’s mine.” She then stalks off and I think to myself; what’s with the weirdness this morning? Obviously, the people I’m going on holiday with don’t do mornings.