Justin: hey
Me: hi
Justin: u in school?
Me: yeah you?
Justin: yeah
Justin: I didn't hear from u yesterday
Me: I wanted to give you time with your friends especially after what happened Saturday night
Justin: I understand. i wanted to give u space too
Justin: but fr I'm sorry. ik how it looked so I want to make sure u know it really was. Ik we aren't together but i respect u and really like u. since im tryna build something here with u, no other girl has my attention. hailey I do not ever want to hurt u. i wanna be ok with u. no games.
Me: ik me too. it was all just a misunderstanding. i shouldn't have just assumed you were doing something. and we aren't together so you can do what you want so I overreacted I guess
Justin: but that's the thing , together or not I'm not gonna do anything stupid bc u are the one I want
Me: I want us to be okay
Me: im sorry
Justin: so do I
Justin: will u still come over after school?
Me: I'll be there
Justin: good
_____
The second I put my phone down, the bell rang for the next period. Thank god. I grabbed my stuff and got out of there. I'm going to stop at my locker too since it's so close to this class. I turned the corner and instantly looked up to see Lucas at my locker. What the fuck? It looks like he is trying to fit a paper into the slots of my locker. I started to walk faster.
"What are you doing?" I asked him as I got closer. He turned around quickly.
"Oh hey Hailey. Uh I was just dropping a letter off to you." He stuttered. Talking to him giving me anxiety. I feel so sick to my stomach.
"Why?" I asked him.
"There are just a few things I had to say" He told me.
"You don't think you said enough? There's nothing else to say, Lucas" I snapped at him.
"I wasn't myself. Please just read this. I'm not trying to lie and win you back. I understand we are over. I just want to you read it please." He said and I shook my head.
"No. I won't. Why won't you just stop?" I asked him.
"I just have to explain something. So that you know I wasn't in my right mind. You didn't deserve that" He told me.
"You have to be kidding me" I heard Jaden's voice then all the sudden Lucas got slammed against the lockers. Jaden grabbed him by his shirt. Lucas looked scared, but he was trying to hide it.
"Yo Jaden!" I heard Justins voice now.
"Come on bro" I heard Travis too. I looked over and see them rush over.
"You bothering her again? Huh?" Jaden pulled Lucas forward then slammed him harder against the lockers. "Here to make her cry again? To make her feel like shit again? Don't you think she had enough of your abuse?" Jaden yelled at him.
"Jaden stop please" I begged him. Everyone was looking.
"Jaden let him go" Justin said to him. Jaden didn't say anything as he let go of Lucas. He didn't move or break eye contact. "Hey dickhead" Justin said getting Lucas' attention. He looked over at Justin but then Justin took me by surprise by grabbing Lucas by his hair and slamming his head against the locker. "Try to talk to her again and I swear we will make your life a living hell" Justin threatened him. Not going to lie, that was hot.
"You're a bitch" Travis said to Lucas.
"Get out of my face" Jaden said as he still didn't move.
"Fuck you all. I'm not scared of you" Lucas snapped at them.
"You will be if you don't stop" Jaden said back.
"Good luck getting a job with all those hands tattoos and neck tattoos. Loser" Lucas said and I knew that was going to continue this fight.
"What is wrong with you?" I snapped at him. He's disgusting.
"Just wait, bro. When I'm famous and getting money and being so successful, your head will spin. You're gonna wish you weren't such a fuck up" Jaden said back to him.
"Boys!" I heard the principal yell. Fuck. I looked over to see her walking over quickly. "Again with you four?" She yelled at them. She looked over at me now. "In my office now. All of you" She said looking at me then the boys. We all started to follow her in silence. I kept my head down. I knew everyone in the halls were looking. I felt everyone's eyes. I just want to go home.
Thankfully, the office wasn't far. We walked into the main office and she turned to us.
"Boys sit down. Ms. Cameron with me" she said then opened the door to her office. She allowed me to walk in first and once I did, I felt myself shaking. I hate this shit. She let out a sigh as I sat down. "Okay" she mumbled as she shut the door.
I want to throw up. I didn't ask for this. As much as I love when the guys stick up for me, look where this leads us. Last time the boys got suspended.
"The last time those boys got into a fight was because of you? Correct?" She asked me as she crossed her arms and sitting down in her chair. I nodded. "Lucas had done something to you and your friends were defending you?" She asked me.
"Yes" I answered quietly.
"Can you explain to me what's going on? Why is this an ongoing problem with them? Are they still holding what happened against him?" She asked me three different questions at once. I know I'm going to get irritated fast.
"Well um while we were dating he uh- he hit me, blackmailed me, verbally abused me even in public" I started to tell her. I cleared my throat. I went to continue, but she started to talk.
"Do we need to go to the police then?" She asked me. I shook my head.
"No" I spoke quietly now.
"Are you sure?" She asked me.
"Yes" I spoke quietly again.
"Because I can be there for you if that is what we have to do" She assured me.
"Thank you, but no" I told her. She slowly nodded.
"Do your parents know?" She asked me and now I nodded. She nodded once more understanding.
"What started the fight in the hallway today?" She asked now.
"I found him trying to put a note, I think it was a note, in my locker so I obviously went over there to see what he was doing at my locker and he kept trying to get me to talk to him. The boys saw and just wanted him to finally leave me alone. Ever since we broke up I had to block his number because he wouldn't leave me alone." I explained to her. I took a deep breath.
"So he has harassed you?" She asked.
"Yes" I said nodding.
"Okay" she said nodding as well. She took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. "I'm going to let this slide considering everything you just told me."
"Thank you" I said and she sighed.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. If it gets worse, please know you can talk to me or the guidance counselor" she told me. I nodded.
"I know. Thank you" Without saying anything else, she stood up.
"I'm going to talk to the guys still anyway because violence is not allowed in this school. You can stick around to recoup or go back to class." She told me and I just stood up without saying anything else. I wasn't sure what else I could say. I have major anxiety. I have felt weird all day honestly even before this happened. I followed her out of the office and I saw all the guys sitting there in silence. I hated seeing them in the same room as Lucas.
The secretary quickly walked up to our principal. She glanced at me with a sad face then started to whisper something to the principal. Why did she look at me like that? I guess she knows what happened. I don't know. She walked away and the principal turned to me again.
"Hun, you have to go home. Your mom called. There's a family emergency." She told me and my heart dropped.
"W-what? Did she say what is wrong?" I asked her. She shook her head.
"I'm sorry she didn't. But go ahead, I'll tell your teachers" She told me and I nodded.
"Can I go with her?" I heard Justins voice behind me. I looked back and shook my head. He's standing now.
"No, Justin it's okay." I said back and he went to talk, but now Jaden stood up.
"Hails what if it's bad? What if you need us?" Jaden asked me.
"Don't say that" I begged him.
"I'm sorry, we just want to be there" He said back.
"If it's bad, she can call me and I will let you both leave to go be with her. Okay?" The principal asked them. They both nodded.
"I'm going now" I told them.
"Let us know." Justin said to me. I nodded then turned around and walked out. I'm so nervous. The next ten minutes to drive home are going to be the longest ten minutes of my life.
***
I felt better knowing no one had passed away, but it's about my grandma who lives in California. She is in the hospital and it's not looking good.
My parents want to fly over there. They are trying to book tickets for tomorrow. They getting one way tickets. I don't know how long I'll be there for. They told me to pack for a week or maybe two. They don't know. I'm definitely scared. We don't know if she's gonna be okay.
Right now I'm sitting in my bathroom. I'm acting like I'm using it, but really I just needed a minute to be on my own and take this in. Sabrina, Jaden, Justin, and Travis are here. In my room. Sabrina is helping me pack and the guys are here obviously to just be here for me.
I took a deep breath and then I flushed the toilet so they would think I actually went. If they even heard it. I walked out and when I did, my bedroom door opened. My mother walked in.
"I ordered pizza for you guys, it's here" she told us all. They all started to thank her. She gave a forced smile then walked out. Sabrina is sitting in the floor by my suitcase, Justin is sitting in my window seat, Travis and Jaden are sitting on my bed.
"Okay let's go" Sab said as she stood up. The boys started to get up too. I stood there as I let them walk out first, but Justin turned and faced me.
"You okay?" He asked me with a sad face. I nodded.
"I didn't think this is how the first time you being in my room would be" I joked to lighten the mood. I think I just need to take my mind off of this. He chuckled.
"Yeah I know" he said with a nod. He grabbed me by my waist and pulled me into a hug. I held onto him tightly and shut my eyes.
"Thank you for being here" I said quietly to him.
"Of course. I'm always here for you" He said back in the same tone. I felt him kiss the top of my head. "Let's go before your dad notices it's just us gone" he said as he pulled away. I giggled. He grabbed my hand and we both walked out of the room. "I don't care about the time zone. If you need anything, call me" He told me as we walked down the stairs.
"Thank you. I know" I said back. "I'm sorry to take you away from your friends. You can leave whenever. I'll be okay" I told him and he shook his head.
"Hey they understand. It's only two hours" He told me. I just nodded and he leaned over and kissed my cheek.
I'm lucky that he walked into my life.