A little bit dangerous

Chapter 16 : Punishment

Max arrived in school with a black eye around her right one. Neil blew a fuse the day before because she went skateboarding after class instead of directly coming back home. It was just an excuse to exploit his anger, he didn't care half of the time to know where she was, and she had no reason to go back home in running, she would be locked in her room, even her window had a lock.

She was late, but she didn't care, she didn't sleep because of her eye and had not enough energy to run. In fact, she just didn't want, being in class was an ordeal lately, everyone decided to be an asshole apparently! Especially Alban, he was already an asshole, but he was beginning to take liberties since his father paid for the new school pitch, like if it was a shield against his bullshits. As she was late, she went to the nursery to see if they didn't have something for her eye.

- "Hi Joyce," said the redhead.

- "Hi Max, ouh, your step-father did that?" asked Joyce.

- "Yep, a normal Monday!"

- "No, nothing of this is normal, you should tell the police."

- "No! It will make things worse, just give me something for the pain, that's all I ask," answered Max, with a tone sharper than she wanted.

- "Ok, take a seat."

The redhead sat on the bed, trying to calm down, but she hated when someone was meddling in things that were none of their business, she could handle that alone, she had done this for years! Joyce palpated the eye and watched inside with a small flashlight. She hid Max's left eye and asked her if she could read the optical test -which she did- before giving her a painkiller.

- "Stay here until the end of the first period, I'll write you an excuse note, ok?"

- "Thank you," sighed Max.

The redhead laid down on the bed, looking at the ceiling, trying to think about something else, but all she was thinking about was after class, when she had to go back home with this asshole.

- "You don't miss your old job?" asked the redhead, wanting to change her mind.

- "Well, I'm not going to lie, this one is quieter than the last one, but I go back home with no bruises, so it's ok, I guess."

- "You miss it, right?"

- "Definitely, but the center is shut down, and working here allows me to be paid every month, I won't complain about it."

- "It's better like that."

- "You think?"

- "Yeah! The way those girls treated you wasn't fair, you were giving all your energy for them, and all they were doing was mocking you, slapping you, spitting on you, and punching you, you don't deserve to be treated like that. And you're a nicer nurse than the last one, she was awful!"

- "I'm happy to hear that," lightly chuckled Joyce.

Max closed her eyes and had a nap. Joyce woke her up before the bell rang, giving some time to the young girl to join her locker peacefully. The redhead went to the headmaster and gave him the excuse note, allowing her to avoid an hour of detention. The bell rang and the redhead met Bev, Lucas, and Mike who all had the same shocked expression on their faces when they saw her.

- "I don't wanna talk about it," said Max.

- "Uh...Ok. You're sure you're ok?" frowned Mike.

- "What did I just say!?"

- "Ok, sorry..."

- "So, um, Halloween? What do we do?" asked Lucas.

- "Something simple, I'm not really in the mood for a big party," told Bev.