Tara's POV
The stress of my school day makes me collapse in my bed right after I get my Tylenol. As I lie there, I hear bits and pieces of Eli's conversation with my mom.
"You lied to Tara," I hear Eli say. My heart drops to my stomach. I haven't seen Kyle in forever, but he's the only person that I ever want to be around all the time. If he isn't actually coming home, I don't know what I'm going to do.
"I didn't," my mom protests. I shut my eyes and block out the voices. Kyle's one of the few people who I could really use right now. My thoughts stop when my bed dips with the weight of a body.
"Is my mom lying about Kyle?" I ask quietly. Eli lays down next to me and sighs.
"No, I got proof," he whispers. I immediately feel better. Kyle will be here soon. He probably even got the first ticket home when Mom called him.
"So, he's coming?" I ask again, just as a reassurance to myself.
"Yes," Eli says.
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When I wake up the next morning, Eli is sleeping next to me. I didn't expect him to spend the night.
"Eli," I mutter, and I whack his forehead. He groans and rolls over, pulling me with him. I giggle as we roll over into more blankets. I bury my face in his neck and laugh as he shakes us. He smells really good too.
"Go away," he mumbles when I smack him again.
"We're gonna be late for school," I exclaim. Eli groans again and opens his eyes.
"I don't wanna go either," I say with a sigh. "Tom is going to kill you."
"I fell asleep," Eli protests. My response is interrupted by the sound of my door opening. I sit up quickly and see Tom in the doorway.
"Tara." Tom's voice is cold and his eyes narrow to slits.
"Tom," I say, holding my hands out in an act to calm him.
"Get up," he demands. Eli moves his arm from around my waist but I don't move. I stay seated in between the two in case Tom decides to attack.
"Who are you?" Tom asks, his arms crossed.
"Eli," Eli states, blankly.
He doesn't seem too frightened by Tom, even though Tom looked like he could kill someone. Tom's hands curl into fists and he advances forward, but I throw my hand out and push him back, briskly. He glowers at me before he turns to the door.
"Mom!" Tom yells. I don't know how my mom would react with Eli staying the night. I know for a fact that she doesn't know, especially because I didn't know until I woke up this morning.
"Tara, get out from under the covers," Tom says. I sigh and sit up just as my mom appears in the doorway.
"Mom, did you know about this?" Tom asks, crossing his arms and flashing me a dirty smirk. My mom looks in my room and meets my eyes. As she notices Eli, a small smile tugs on her lips.
"Hello, Eli," she says. Tom opens his mouth in shock, clearly at a loss for words.
"But...Mom," Eli says in exasperation. My mom waves him away.
"You should be at school in 20 minutes," she tells us. I jump out of bed and pull Eli up with me.
"Tom, loan Eli some clothes please?" My mom asks.
"Are you serious? You're kidding me!" Tom exclaims as she walks away.
"You heard me," I hear her reply. Tom glares at both of us one more time before walking away.
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I'm done getting ready with ten minutes to spare. I head downstairs and walk into Eli and my mom having a conversation. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and hurry to put my shoes on.
"School starts in ten minutes, come on," I say to Eli after he doesn't move from the table. He stands, hands me a piece of toast, and we head outside to his car.
"You'll watch out for me, right?" I ask him when we're half way to school. Eli's only in a few of my classes but at least I won't be alone. If today is anything like tomorrow, I don't know how I'll get through the door.
"Of course. If anyone says anything, tell me," Eli says. We pull into the parking lot and there's a lot of kids standing outside. Eli gets out of his car and opens my door for me. When I step outside, I immediately feel all eyes in the courtyard turn to me. Eli grabs my hand and I squeeze it.
"She looks scared. Do you he think he raped her too?" I hear a girl near me ask. I feel the awful pit in my stomach return as more and more people begin whispering.
"I didn't," Eli growls. He squeezes my hand tightly and quickens his pace, dragging me along inside the school.
"Everybody is talking about me," I whimper as Eli pulls me closer to him. We stop at my locker and he shields me from the kids walking by. I tuck into his side when I hear people still whispering.
"Let's get to class," Eli says.
//////////////////////////////////////////////
I somehow got through the entire school day without anything extreme happening. I had social studies, the class I was in now, and study hall left, before I could go home and sit safely in my room.
"Okay class, before study hall bell rings, I'm assigning partners for your social studies report," Mr. Lincoln announces. I look over at Eli with wide eyes. If I don't get Eli as my partner, I'm as good as dead. There's no one else in this class that I'm comfortable with working on anything with.
"Eli and Megan." My hopes fall to the floor along with my grade for this semester.
"Tara and Blake." I stop breathing. My heartbeat pounds in my ears. I don't look at anyone, in fear of seeing their knowing faces.
I look over at Eli slowly and his face is red with anger. He stands up abruptly; his chair skids behind him and the whole class is staring at him in moments.
"No, they're not working together," Eli says. The class is dead silent. Everyone is looking between Eli and Mr. Lincoln.
"Mr. Lincoln, I need to talk to you in the hallway," he says before Mr. Lincoln can object. He nods and they walk into the hallway. Right when the door closes behind them, the class erupts into whispers.
Someone sits in the desk next to me and I turn. Blake sits next to me and he's staring at me with a smirk on his face.
"Hey, partner," he says as he slings an arm around my shoulders. It almost burns when his arm comes in my contact with my own, and I stand up so fast that my chair falls backwards. The noise makes everyone turn towards me; I'm now the center of attention.
"Get your hand off of me," I say through gritted teeth. Blake stands up and approaches me slowly; his arms are raised defensively, as if he did nothing wrong.
"Maybe you should come over later," Blake whispers, and puts his hands on either side of my head. Somebody would've helped me if everyone wasn't terrified of Blake and if everyone wasn't on his side.
"We do need to get this report finished."
I stare down at his chest, not being able to look him in the face. I gulp audibly, and I feel a bead of sweat form on my forehead.
"What do you think?" Blake whispers, bringing his mouth even closer to my ear. His voice sends chills through my body and goosebumps cover every inch of me.
I bring my arms up quickly and shove Blake away as hard as I can. He stumbles back in shock.
"I thought you were going to jail," I exclaim as I push a desk out of the way to put distance in between him.
"My dad knows people," he smirks. "A shame, isn't it?"
I look for a place to hide as Blake advances. I push another desk in front of me and cross the classroom. Nobody says a word as they watch me run from Blake, and even if they said anything, I wouldn't hear them.
"Eli!" I scream.
"Shut up," he demands as he crashes through the desks. He grabs my wrist tightly.
"Eli!" I scream louder. The door bursts open and Eli runs in, followed by Mr. Lincoln.
Eli tears Blake away from me and pushes him into a wall, punching him repeatedly. I see blood begin to cover Eli's fist and my eyes meet Blake's face, where blood is pooling out of his nose. My eyes dart to the crowd of students chanting 'fight'.
Mr. Lincoln is yelling about police and back-up into the classroom phone as he watches the fight go on, not even bothering to break it up. I think, somehow, he knows not to break it up.
A tear slips down my cheek as Eli stops throwing punches. Blake is on the ground, moaning in pain. Mr. Lincoln says nothing as he stares at Blake, who remains still on the floor.
Eli wipes his knuckles off on the inside of his t-shirt and walks over to me slowly. His chest rises and falls with each quick intake of breath.
"Are you okay?" he whispers as I crash into his arms.
The room is silent besides Mr. Lincoln muttering something into the phone. I squeeze my eyes shut, embarrassed from being the center of attention. I know everyone is still staring at me.
"His dad knows people," I whisper so that, hopefully, nobody else could hear. Blake easily got out of jail for rape last year and he's going to get away with it again.
"I'm gonna take you to the office," Eli whispers. He leads me out of the room and the silence follows me. Conversation doesn't immediately pick up when I'm out of view of the doorway. I hear the silence as I walk the whole length of the hallway.
"Mr. Lincoln didn't stop the fight," I say.
"He was calling the police."
"Why?"
"He got away with raping you and everyone knows," Eli explains. "He's going to jail."
"What did Blake do?" Eli asks when I stay silent.
"He was really close to me," I whisper. "And he told me to come over after school to work on our project."
"He's not coming anywhere near you," Eli says. "I'll be by your side until he's in jail."
"What if he doesn't go to jail?" I ask.
"Then I guess you're stuck with me."