The Homecoming Countdown

Day 3

Alfred had started walking with me to some of my classes during school, but today he didn't show up after band like he usually does. I try not to over think what it could mean. It's possible that he has to stay late to make up something, or maybe he got into some trouble. No, the second idea is unlikely.

"Where is he?" I quietly mumble to myself.

"Are you referring to Alfred?" Vash asks me.

"Yeah. It's not like him not to show up."

"Hmm," is the only response I get from him. Vash is not a man of many words, but don't get him mad or he will be. 

Lili walks just behind us as we leave the music hallway. The three of us always walk to our next class together since they're near each other. I don't really know Lili that well, but she and Vash are almost always together, so she tends to tag along with us a lot. She gives out a little squeak that makes me, and her older brother, turn around. 

Some of the preppy girls had pushed her out of the way and into some lockers. Vash looks ready to kill them. They aren't the same ones that TPed my house, but they're part of the same group of people. One of them, I take it she's the leader, approaches me.

"So you're the famous (y/n)," she says with a sneer. "I thought you'd be prettier." Her three friends laugh along with her. "We want to talk to you." She gives you a fake smile. "Alone."

"(Y/n), you don't have to-"

"It's fine Vash," I tell my best friend. "Just take care of Lili and get to class okay? I'll be fine." Vash nods uneasily. He grabs Lili's hand, and the two of them start walking down the hall again.

"Perfect," the leader says. "Let's go to the unused staircase." The other girls surround me so I can't run off. They jostle me roughly all the way to the stairs.

The unused staircase is in a remote area of the school. It's really out of the way, so most people never use it. Some people don't even know that it exists. The only people that do use it are people trying to sneak a smoke, or, apparently, crazy preps. The bell rings to signal the start of the next class period. Great, I'd be marked tardy for this, but from the looks on the girl's faces I'd say that's the least of my worries. 

"So," the leader says when we're all in the staircase. "What makes you think that you can just take Alfred away from the rest of us?"

"I don't know why you think I'm trying to take him away," I respond and narrow my eyes. "That's not what I was ever trying to do, but it is possible Alfred just wanted some intelligent company for a change."

The leader lashes her hand out and slaps me in the face. "Don't act like you're better than us!" she shrieks. "Just answer the question!"

"I told you. I never planned on 'taking' Alfred. He's the one who followed me." I move my jaw a bit to make sure it's working fine. That slap had some power in it. 

"As if!" the leader snorts. "Stop lying to us and tell us what you're doing to get Alfred to cling to you 24/7."

"He likes my intensity best," I tell them with a smirk. "That's a direct quote by the way."

The leader slaps me again, and this time there's enough force to send me stumbling into a wall. "We've had enough of your crap! Grab her!" she instructs two of the other girls.

They grab my arms and slam my back against the wall. As they do so, the back of my head hits the wall, hard. Stars and lights float across my vision for a while, and I can't see what the leader is doing. When my vision finally clears, I'm confused and see the leader holding a curling iron she's plugged into an outlet.