Red Hair, Black Soul (Red & Black #1)

15 | A change

"Yes." I respond honestly. There's no use in lying now.

My brother hides his face in his hands and lets out another long sigh. "God, Daira -"

"What?" I really don't get why out of all the stupid things I do, this is the one that bothers him most.

"What?" He lowers his hands and stares at me with disbelief. "His parents probably think you have your mind set on killing their son!"

I roll my eyes. No one is a bigger drama queen than my brother.

"I don't hear them complaining." I snap.

"Ada." Dad's voice is laced with warning.

"I don't to it on purpose." I object.

"Really?" Everett raises a brow. "So now you're going to tell us your hand just slipped and landed on his face by an accident?"

"No." I reply seriously. "But this one time he deserved it."

"Ada, do you even regret doing it?" Ms. Brownstone asks.

Common sense screams for me to say yes. The black-souled rebel in me tells it to shut up.

"I already told you. He deserved it. You should have heard the way he spoke to Al."

"Al?" Ms. Brownstone raises her brows. "Is he this albino friend of yours?"

"Yes."

"Is he happy with what you did?"

I blink. "What?"

"Excuse me." Mum corrects me. I ignore her.

"Does Al appreciate what you did?" Ms. Brownstone repeats her question.

Her words take me off-guard.

"I don't know." I admit. "I think so."

I didn't have the time to ask him. Right when I walked away from Jed and approached Al, the teacher stepped in and led me away to the principal's office, leaving poor Al behind.

"Do you?" Ms. Brownstone presses. "You mentioned he was a shy guy before. Do you really think that you punching somebody in his defence and gaining all the attention to you two made him happy?"

My mouth drops open but no words come out. My brows furrow and I look to the side, thinking. Frowning, I close my mouth and bite my lower lip. I didn't really think about it this way.

"Try looking at it through his eyes." Ms. Brownstone goes on. "You two seem similar. You're not overly fond of any form of attention yourself. Tell me, how would you feel if someone hit someone else because of you?"

I don't respond to this, but I know the answer. I'd be pissed off. Would probably hit the someone right back for sticking their nose into my business. But most of all, I'd just feel humiliated. Pathetic. Too weak to stand up to myself. Helpless.

I hate feeling helpless.

I close my eyes briefly and bend my head. I let my hair slide forward and shield my face behind a thick curtain of red curls. I don't like the fact that I'm hiding from them, but I just can't help it. My hair has been my private Berlin wall separating me from my family. It's hard to get rid of this habit.

"Ada?" Ms. Brownstone's voice sounds closer than before. "Is everything okay?"

I don't respond. I'm still thinking. And with each passing second, I hate myself a bit more. Not for punching Jed. It's not him I feel bad for.

It's Al.

As much as I hate to admit it, Ms. Brownstone is right. I placed him in a horrible position. I remember how red he got just talking to me. I can't even imagine what it must have felt like to him to have the attention of all of those people focused on himself. Because if there's a person in this world who hates attention even more than I do, it's Al. And today, he became the main topic of all the gossip. With me by his side.