*A few minutes earlier*
"So, you and Sarah are a couple, right?"
One of the girls asked him desperately.
"No way! Sarah is definitely dating Oscar"
Another stated
"I think Mike is a better match for her"
Zaccai nearly chokes on her words.
"What makes you ship Sarah and Mike?"
Zaccai struggled to ask though laughter
"I don't know, they'd make a cute couple."
Mike, who was standing behind Zaccai and his fans with Mrs Barlowe and Tess, glared at the clueless girl
"That's... Interesting"
Zaccai comments
I can't wait to see Sarah's reaction when I tell her.
He thought to himself. As if on cue, his phone rings.
*Incoming call*
💥SARAH 😈❤...
Is she already bored? LoL
"Is that your girlfriend?"
One of the fan girls asked, disheartened.
"I wish..."
He Whispers under his breath.
"huh?"
"Nothing! I uhm.. gotta take this, it's sarah."
He stammered, trying to cover up his previous statement
"Oh my gosh! Please tell her to come back!"
"we want to meet her!"
"Has she already left?"
The overlapping questions overwhelmed Zaccai.
"Hey ladies, I promise I'll ask Sarah if she can come back to meet y'all but I need to pick up the call first."
"Okay..."
They all say in unison
"cool."
He pick up the call, wearing a smug smile, ready to tease Sarah to his hearts content
"Bored already?"
He starts. However, there was no reply, just a series of crackling sounds
Did she drop her phone?
He asked himself feeling a bit uneasy.
"Sarah?"
Still no reply, but the next thing he heard shook him to the core.
"Now, where were we?"
"THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! LEAVE ME ALONE?"
Zaccai's heart stopped after hearing Sarah yell. His body froze but his demeanor had completely changed.
"Zac? You good? What's wrong?"
Mrs Barlowe asks once she noticed how terrified Zaccai looked.
"It's too bad you're such a ***tch because you are extremely hot."
His heart began to race, but not out of fear, out of pure rage.
"You're disgusting!".
"Let's see if you'll still think so in a few minutes."
And just like that, He snapped. Any restraint he had, gone in an instant. Before he could even think, his legs took off fueled completely by desperation and adrenaline.
"Zaccai!"
Mrs Barlowe cried, but all he could hear was the echo of Sarah's distressed yelling.
Sarah's in Trouble, someone is hurting her. I need to save her! I have to protect her!
He chanted in his head. Everyone was caught off guard but only Mrs Barlowe followed him. The rest stood and watched as the two of the disappeared from view.
*Now*
My eyes feel heavy, I don't want to open them... Wait, why am I asleep? and why does my bed feel so weird? Am I moving? What's going on?
I have no choice but to open my eyes and light immediately invades my pupils the second my eyelids rise. I blink a few times to focus my vision.
"Heey...You're awake."
A familiar voice softly sounds
"Am I on the bus?"
I finally manage to ask but my voice is raspy for some reason and my throat hurts.
"Yeah, we're going back to the hotel."
Wait a minute...
"What the-"
I quickly lift myself off the person I am laying on and that's when a sharp piercing pain activates in my waist and back
"ah!"
I flinch, trying my very best to hide how much pain I'm actually in.
"Dude, you're hurt, don't get up so fast."
Zaccai advises.
That's right, my memories are rushing back. Those three morons from Amton high, they... Those B****rds! How dare they!
"Sarah?"
I turn to face Zaccai, about to tell him I'm fine, but notice the anger hiding behind his concerned expression. He's furious...
"Why do you look like that?"
I ask, intending to switch the focus of his thoughts.
"What do you mean?"
"You look like you're plotting murder, stop it, it's weird."
A faint smile forms on his face and he Snickers.
"Am I that easy to read?"
I sit myself properly and notice the other three people I hadn't acknowledged.
"Sarah! You're awake!"
Mrs Barlowe exclaims. Tess and Mike are being uncharacteristically quiet.
"We are almost at the hospital. Don't worry."
"Hospital? What do you mean?"
Zaccai and Mrs Barlowe exchange confused expressions
"S... Sarah, those boys hurt you pretty badly... you need to get checked out."
She explains
"No."
"This isn't the time to be stubborn Gordon, you're clearly hurt."
Zaccai demands
"I am not going to a freaking hospital, let's just please go back to the hotel."
"But Sarah-"
"-Please!"
My assertive yet desperate tone silences them.
"Fine..."
Zaccai reluctantly agrees
"Okay..."
Mrs Barlowe agrees too.
I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to.
"We tried calling your parents but they're not picking up."
Mrs Barlowe lets out.
"Tried calling Ace too... but he didn't pick up either. I left him a bunch of messages but i haven't told him what exactly happened yet."
Zaccai adds.
"Oh... I think mom and dad are on a business trip, they mentioned something about traveling to Georgia on tuesday, they should be coming home tomorrow."
My attempt to avoid the elephant topic in the room, while extremely obvious, works.
"oh... What about you're brother?"
"I'll call him when we get to the hotel."
"Okay, at least get some rest though..."
Mrs Barlowe insists. I want to say I'm fine but I get the feeling I've pushed my stubbornness to the limit today.
"Fine."
I lay my head back on the seat and fold my my arms across my chest; slowly to avoid stressing my injuries. The chairs in the bus are pretty big so it's actually pretty comfortable.
"You're going to sleep like that?"
I close my eyes and take a deep breath before answering him.
"I'm resting, not sleeping."
Odd enough, he does not reply. Usually he would say something like ' you know that's not healthy, you should sleep on my lap instead. To avoid hurting your neck of course, no other reason'
I guess he's still thinking about it after all, but there's no point, he already saved me and those guys are long gone.
___
We get to the hotel and Zaccai walks with me to my room as Mrs Barlowe tries to contact Amton highs teacher.
"Okay, you've walked me to my room... you can leave now..."
I point out but Zaccai just stands beside me, waiting for me to open the door.
"I don't want to leave you alone."
His genuine concern and serious tone make it hard for me to argue.
"Well, I doubt anyone's going to hurt me in my room plus nothing that happened today changes anything between us, I still find you annoying and would rather wear a hornet nest than let you in my room."
I said hard... not impossible
"If nothing has changed then you know as well as I do that I'm going to stick by you no matter how many insults you throw at me. Also, I'm not concerned about anyone hurting you, I'm worried about you. You haven't said a word about what happened."
"What do you want me to say, you saw what happened."
"Sarah-"
"- you already saved me, whatever happened happened and nothing will erase it, there's no point talking about it. I'd rather just forget, Kay?"
He takes a deep breath and locks his eye focus on me.
"Fine... I can tell there's no changing your mind. I'll leave."
He walks away but something about the way he said that makes me feel uneasy. It doesn't feel like he's mad at me but he is not his usual Zaccai self. He's angry, and he's trying to hide it. It's not like he's doing a bad job of consealing his anger but I've spent enough time with him to sense even the slightest changes in his behavior. I know he's mad on my behalf, but there's nothing he can do, getting angry will just cause more problems.
I get into my hotel room and shut the door behind me, finally letting down my guard and setting my frustration free. I search for Ace's number before plopping down on the bed and waiting for him to pick it up.
"Sarah!"
His childish excitement soothes my mood a little.
"Hey bro..."
"... You okay? What's wrong?"
I hate that question.
"Honestly, I'm not okay but I don't want to talk about it right now. I can't spend another day here, could you pick me up tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah, of course I can! Are you hurt ? I can come right now if you don't feel safe."
"I need to be alone for now but thanks anyway."
"Sarah... How bad is it? Did Zaccai do something? Or was it Audrey and her friends?"
"How do you even know about Audrey?"
"I came to your school once and she DMed me, said she was from your school and y'all were friends. I didn't believe her for obvious reasons and I had a feeling she is one of the girls giving you a hard time. I also saw from her page that she's the dance team captain."
"Oh... How did she even find your account?"
"I'm guessing she went to yours and since you tagged me in a couple photos-"
"- you mean you posted for me and tagged yourself"
"The details of the tagging don't matter, the point is, that's how she found my account."
"Well, you're right, we're not friends. And yes, she is one of the nuisances I have to occasionally deal with but she's pretty harmless if you're me."
He goes silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Sarah... I know you said you don't want to talk about it now but I'm really worried here. You sound so dull, like you want to cry but..."
I'm not even sure how to answer. I refrain from speaking because I can feel my throat close up.
"Sarah? You still there?"
"Yeah... I'm still here."
My voice cracks, completely giving me away.
"Sis...What happened?"
"It's not Zaccai if that's what you're thinking..."
"Then who?"
I don't want to tell him but at the same time I do. Ace can get extremely violent and irrational when he's angry; contrary to his yellow peppy self. The first time he found out I was being bullied, we were in the same school and he beat the guys and girls involved then reported himself to the principal. He got into so much trouble and it was my fault, so I never really told him about anyone bullying me since then. I also over emphasize the fact that I don't care so that he doesn't feel the need to protect me; no need to protect something that can't be hurt right? I mean, it used to bother me a little when I was in grade and middle school, but I never cared to be nice to people so expecting them to be nice to me wouldn't have made sense. I was only bothered by the fact that they sought me out just to be mean and I avoided interacting with them because they were annoying. Anyway, over time, not caring became less of an act until it wasn't.
"Can we talk about this tomorrow, i really just want to sleep right now, it's been a long day."
"Okay, I'll be there by eight to pick you up. I'll come with dad's chopper."
"Really, the chopper?"
"Yeah... I just got my P.P.L. so..."
"Whatever, as long as I'm taken home."
"Goodnight sis"
"Night."
I end the call and fall back on the bed. The events after our performance replay in my head as I search for signs about those boys being dangerous.
"I guess karma caught up to me..."
I text Mrs Barlowe and inform her Ace will be picking me up, and thanks to my overly organized mother, all my stuff is already in my suitcase so all that's left is for me to shower, change out of these cloths and put on the ones i'll be wearing tomorrow since i'm sure i won't have the energy to do any of that in the morning.
____
With my packed bags, I march out of my room still wearing my pink bunny onesie and giant white fluffy shoes. I reach the checkout desk and find Mrs Barlowe waiting there for me.
"Morning Sarah."
"Hey Mrs Barlowe, why are you here?"
"I'm here to see you off obviously. But I was sure Zac would want to see you off too, did he forget you're leaving? Should we call him?"
"No, he didn't forget. I didn't tell him. He would've insisted on coming too and i know Ace would've encouraged him to come. But he deserves to be at the award ceremony, it's his first one."
"Is... is that... compassion? From Mrs Sarah Beverly Gordon? For Zaccai?"
"No... I just didn't know a nice way of saying he's a nuisance who won't leave me alone."
The attendant behind the desk clears his throat to remind us of his presence.
"Oh, sorry dude... I'd like to check out."
I hand him my key card and he types something into his desk top
"Name?"
"Sarah M Gordon. The booking is under Jake Gordon."
He nods and continues typing.
"Reason for your early check out?"
"Something came up and I need to go home."
He types a little more then presses the bell on the desk. A tall man in a red uniform shows up shortly after.
"May I assist you with your bags?"
I'm not really into the ideas of being left alone with a guy right now but my bag is kinda heavy...
"Sure... Will you escort us out Mrs Barlowe?"
"Yes, of course. I'll escort you."
I start to walk towards the elevator but the two don't follow.
"did you forget something in the room ma'am?"
What's he talking about?
"Don't we need to use the elevator to access the helipad?"
They are both staring at me like I'm a ghost or something... Did I not explain the part about me being picked up by helicopter?
"Helipad?"
I guess not. Mrs Barlowe seems shocked too.
"Oh, right... My brother is picking me up by chopper... is that a problem? Did we need to fill out some kind of paperwork?"
The attendant and the concierge exchange an expression I can't read clearly; maybe confusion? Shock?
"Isn't your brother just a year older than you?"
Mrs Barlowe breaks the silence
"yeah, he's 17, old enough for a PPL if that's what you're concerned about."
"Oh..."
They're staring is making me uncomfortable. Are they not used to guests coming by helicopter?
"so... are we going, or?"
"Right!"
The concierge rushes to press the buttons by the elevator door and Mrs Barlowe and I follow close behind.
___
The deafening sound of the helicopter propeller grows louder as it fans heavy wind at us, making it almost impossible to remain grounded.
"SIS!"
Ace exclaims, running out of the chopper towards me after successfully landing it.
"He-"
Before I can finish my greeting, Ace wraps himself around me.
"Can't breathe..."
He releases me but my shoulders remain in his hands.
"Are you Okay? Do we need to go to the hospital first?"
"Let's just go, I'll tell you everything when we get back."
"Mom and Dad called, they're really worried but won't tell me what's up. They received a call from Mrs Barlowe, I'm assuming she told them what's going on."
I turn to Mrs Barlowe and glare but there is not even a hint of regret or guilt on her, so I just turn back to face Ace.
"Let's go.."
I instruct and proceed marching toward the chopper. I wave goodbye to Mrs Barlowe and the concierge without turning back around as Ace follows behind with my luggage
"What should I tell Zaccai and the others!"
Mrs Barlowe calls. I stop in my tracks and briefly think of how Zaccai will react when he realizes I left. He'll be fine, I mean... it's not like he'll never see me again. I turn to face her with a plain expression.
"That i went home, what else is there to tell?"
She frowns slightly at me as if to say ' you know that's not what i meant' but i don't really know what else she wants from me...
"And that I'll be fine..."
I add before proceeding to walk and board the chopper with Ace. I'm finally going back home.
___
"Well, we're home! I've even given you special class treatment and brought your luggage all the way into your room."
Ace announces as I fall on my treasured bed.
"You want a gold star sticker or something?"
Ace hasn't fired back with a sarcastic comment meaning, despite his friendly tone, he is serious and still waiting for me to tell him what happened. I sit up and open my eyes to see him standing anxiously beside my luggage.
"Okay...Fine... I'll tell you."
I pat on my bed and he sits down beside me.
"Well?"
He asks impatiently.
How do I even begin? I guess by telling him to be as calm as possible. I can't have him lose it right now because there isn't anything he can do about it.
"Okay, first, I need you to remain calm no matter what i say..."
He looks away to consider the condition before turning back to face me.
"What if I promise not to lose it?"
"Okay, I'll take it."
Usually I'd be more resistant about telling him but I feel like I'm going to explode and Ace is the person I trust the most. I may not tell him everything but he knows me better than anyone.
"Well... on the last day of performances. After Dalton and I performed our duet... We left the stage and some Zaccai fan girls surrounded us. Three guys from Amton High approached me while Zaccai was dealing with his girls and one of them asked me on a date..."
"Really? And you've never even interacted with him before?"
"Yeah... but he is... or was a fan of mine... Anyway, I said no like any sane person would do and left to wait for everyone in the parking lot because of the mixture of Zaccai's fan girls screaming and the weird guys I just needed to leave. But i mistakenly assumed these guys were only slightly insane... They followed me outside and confronted me..."
The atmosphere of the room is now cold and tense following my last statement. I know he is doing his best to keep himself in check for my sake but I can tell he has already figured out the rest to some extent and is not happy about it.
"What did they do?"
Ace's eerie tone makes me consider fearing for my assaulters lives for a split second.
"Ace..."
I plead before allowing myself to continue. He takes a deep breath and the tension lifts a little
"I'm fine, go ahead."
I take a deep breath myself, preparing to explain the part I dread recalling.
"Well... they confronted me but I didn't give it much thought and basically told them to back off. Chester, the one who asked me out, was getting uncomfortably close to me, talking about how I ' disrespected him', how ' I'm lucky he doesn't hit girls', but instead they offer a 'different' kind of 'punishment'. I called him out for being an assaulter and that's when he grabbed my neck."
The memories are fresh. It feels like I'm back there, in that moment, watching it all go down again, not a single thing out of place. My hands are trembling again but I have to remain as calm as possible to keep Ace calm. I pause to relax myself before continuing.
"I managed to catch him off guard and knock him down but they were all strong, i couldn't take them all on by myself, even with all my training, so i ran. Unfortunately for me, they weren't just strong but fast too. They caught up. I broke one of their noses but when one went down another just pooped up and grabbed me... It was nothing like self defense training. I escaped again and called Zaccai but they knocked my phone away before he picked up. That's when..."
I'm unable to form words that describe what happened next. It was all so fast and so aggressive I guess my brain didn't do a great job of keeping up.
"Two of them pinned me to the wall and Chester... he..."
The words force themselves out before I can prepare myself. My entire body is trembling. I can still hear their rotten voices, feel their sandpaper skin on mine, see the malice darkening their eyes. It's all too fresh and talking about it is like jumping into the red sea after being mauled by hyenas and surviving just enough to feel the pain.
Ace wraps his arms around me and lays my head on his chest. The key to the floodgates.
"If... if Zaccai didn't come when he did... they... Chester would've..."
I squeeze a piece of Aces shirt in my fist, frustrated by how hopeless and weak I feel. I've never felt fear so intense in my life, at the same time, I've never been as enraged as I am right now.
"I will kill them..."
His already deep voice tone has dropped at least three octaves and I can sense the hostility.
"You can't..."
I start. Usually I'd want to stop him from hurting them but the huge sadistic side of me wants them to suffer, to tremble like I did.
"...They need to live and suffer for what they did."
___
I wake up to the continuous chiming of my phone's notification tone. I reach for my phone and, despite me setting my screen's brightness level at low, I'm nearly blinded by my phone's home screen after I unlock it.
"The heck? It's already five P.M.? I slept through an entire day?!!!"
I whisper yell to myself. My room is still dark because of the heavy silk curtains but for me to have slept through the entire day? Yikes. Maybe the messages are from Zaccai or Mrs Barlowe telling me we won.
27 missed calls
100+ new messages
10 voicemails
Uh... I guess I'll start with the messages. Probably Just Zaccai checking on me
Unknown Number
Hey, just checking in on you. This is Hope btw!
I don't know what went down yesterday but Mrs Barlow, Zac and Mike are acting weird and no one's telling us why you left. But I hope you're good. I know I'm probably one of the last people you'd want checking in on you but we really are worried.
I hope nothing happened between you and Zac, he's acting really strange.
We won! AHHH! You won every category you participated in and both you and Oscar won the MVP award. Zaccai got first place in everything too!
Pick up! Please!!! Or call Zac, now!!
Unknown Number
Hey, it's Oscar, got your number from the dance club group. Just wondering if you're alright?
Yoh, congrats on winning the MVP award
Is Zaccai oka?, did you guys fight or something?
Zaccai was detained at the station. I don't mean to pry but did some guys from Amston high do something to you?
Unknown Number
You're such a drama Queen, no one cares that you left btw.
Zaccai's in trouble thanks to you! You're a horrible influence. F***ing Jinx
Stay away from him! You're nothing but trouble.
Unknown Number
I'm sorry, I didn't know they'd go this far... It was supposed to be a prank. They told me you'd be fine. I'll cooperate and tell you everything I know.
Unknown Number
Ugh, good riddance you freaking jerk. The air around here is so much cleaner lol.
How dare you drag Zac into your mess! After he defended you! Freaking sadistic psycho.
What the heck is going on? Zaccai being detained? Maybe there's an explanation in that voicemails.
Voicemail (1)
Hey Sarah, It's Oscar. Mrs Barlowe just told us you left. Hope you're okay. I know this might sound odd but I was looking forward to talking to you more. I used to be intimidated by you but you're actually really cool. Anyway... Uhm... feel better! See you in school
Voicemail (2)
S...sarah? It's Hope. Look, I'm super freaked out right now, Zaccai acting crazy. Mrs Barlowe's trying to calm him down but he started a fight with some random dudes... I think he's-
I will end the three of you!
LET ME GO OSCAR!
Zac! What are you doing?
Zac...dude calm down.
I SAID LET GO!!
Zac plea-
It cut off? What the heck happened after I left? Why's Zaccai in jail? I go through the rest of the voicemails but none explain what exactly happened. I spot Zaccai's contact at the bottom of my voicemail list. He sent it yesterday.
Voicemail {Stalker🙄}
Hey Sarah... I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you today. I know you're probably asleep by now but, I just want you to know that they're going to pay, I promise. I'm going to kill them.