She saw a castle.
But it wasn't your typical princess in a fairytale castle. It was surrounded by darkness and not in the literal sense. She could almost feel it.
The subtle wind tickled the back of her neck, but that wasn't why she was shivering.
She stood at the tall iron gates, bags in her hands with her heart heavy. It was almost like she knew she would eventually have to go inside, but it was the last thing she wanted to do.
She felt a tear trickle down her face as she took a step forward and the gates opened before her.
As she was about to step inside she felt someone's hand on her elbow. The touch was so familiar and yet she couldn't figure out who it was.
"Please don't ..." The voice was barely a whisper but she could still sense the pain in it, the hurt it was laced with.
She wanted to turn around and see who the voice belonged to, but as she slowly began to look over her shoulder her vision blackened and they were gone.
Justice woke up with a start.
"What the hell was that ..." she whispered to herself.
She sighed and threw her head back against the pillow. This was the first time she'd had a dream like that which was confusing enough on it's own, but what was really baffling her was that Angel wasn't in it.
She vowed to ask him why that day when she got to college.
Speaking of college, it was turning into a nightmare.
Max had gone on holiday for a week and Angel followed justice EVERYWHERE. If she went to sit out the fields, he'd sit on the fields. If she wanted to hide out in the library, he'd follow her and ask who they were hiding from. She knew he was doing it because he enjoyed winding her up but she couldn't help but react to him. It had gotten so much worse when she'd found out that Sephora and Angel were now a "thing". So wherever Angel went, she followed too. And so did her crew.
The very thought of it had Justice slamming down her shower gel after she'd used it to lather herself up. It wouldn't have been so bad if Sephora wasn't constantly making little comments towards her. The girl angered her. There was no real reason for her to be a bitch but she did it anyway.
"Sorry J!"
The door burst open and Justice almost slipped in the tub when she jumped screaming. Yanking back the shower curtain she poked her head around to see who had violated her so early in the morning.
"Melody," she said narrowing her eyes at her sister. "There's a bathroom downstairs. Why are you using the toilet in here?!"
"Yeah well that beast is in there isn't he. As much as I'm sure he would've LOVED me to walk in on him, I'm not in the mood for more drama today."
Justice regarded her for a minute taking in the girl who she hadn't seen for weeks on end. Melody did this often. you would think she was apart of the circus the way she did her disappearing acts. The girl looked tired and worn out and from the looks of it, she'd done a very poor job of trying to cover a black eye with make up.
Sighing, Justice let go of the curtain and stepped back under the hot water.
"So who blacked your eye this time?" She asked casually.
She heard Melody huff in the background. "Ugh. Just some girl. I don't think she liked the fact that we were sharing her boyfriend."
"And how did she find out?"
"Well when it's happening right under your roof, it's kinda hard not to notice."
Justice sighed. She was always sighing in melody's presence. "Why are you like this Mel?"
"We can't all be like you," She said flushing. She stomped over to the sink and started washing her hands, ignoring the squeals of justice as the shower ran cold. "We can't all be little miss perfect."
"Oh shut up Melody. How did this become about me? And what are you even doing here? No place left to stay?"
"I told you. She found out. Hence why I'm here and not there."
"Mum know you're here?"
"Yes. Tried to welcome me with open arms last night. Only she stunk of booze and ending up stumbling over before she could even reach me. "
"It's always a fun time with that woman."
Justice had tried to ignore the fact that her mother had been drunk almost everyday within the last month.
She'd quickly learnt that there was nothing she could about it. Other than making sure she didn't pass out and choke on her own vomit, there was nothing she could do.
When she'd get home from college or work she'd quickly grab something to eat, if she hadn't eaten already and lock herself in her room. The only time she'd leave was when the noise downstairs had subsided and even then it was only to check if her mother was alive. Stephan had stopped staying over there at night so Justice had to be the one to tuck her in but he'd obviously stayed last night ...
She stayed catching up with melody for a little while - well, not really catching up. More like listening to the antics Melody had gotten up to while she was gone and chastising her for them. After that justice had threw on a sweater and a pair of jeans and attempted to scrape her thick hair into a bun on the top of her head. She threw on her beloved Docs and grabbed her bag before scrambling downstairs.
The last thing she wanted to do was bump into Stephan. Unfortunately she did.
As she stepped into the hallway, he stepped out of the downstairs bathroom wrapped in nothing but a towel.
He shut the door behind him and leaned up against the wall, blocking justice from leaving.
"You look nice today." He said with a smile.
"I'm late." She said in annoyance.
"I think the word you're looking for is thank you..."
"Why? I didn't ask you to compliment me. And I'm certainly not thankful for it."
Stephan boxed her into the wall within seconds. Thank god she'd positioned her school bag between them because the mere thought of his skin touching hers was enough to make her puke.
Stephan had both hands on the wall beside her head and was looking down on her with a look that made her stomach turn.
"You've got a smart mouth," He said quietly. "I wonder what else that mouth does ...."
Justice stood there silently, hoping the way her legs were shaking wasn't too obvious. Stephan raked over her body, devouring her with his eyes and she wanted nothing more than to knee him between his legs and run but it was like she was momentarily paralysed.
"If you touch me I'll scream." She whispered shakily.
She watched as he narrowed his eyes at her and prayed that he wouldn't test her. He was about to retaliate to her little threat when they heard 3 rapid taps on the door. Stephan's head snapped towards the door and using this as an opportunity, Justice pushed him in his chest and ran past him yanking the front door open.
She'd never been so happy to see Angel in her life.
"Hey," Angel saw the panic in her face and looked behind her at Stephan who was adjusting his towel.
"What-"
"Let's just go." She said brushing past him. He watched her walk down the drive then looked back at Stephan who was watching him too.
The two males sized each other up for a few seconds before Angel kissed his teeth and ran after justice.
It didn't take him long to catch up to her, she hadn't gotten that far.
"Hey, what was all that about?"
"Nothing." She said quietly. She walked on, folding her arms to shield herself from the cold.
Angel didn't say anything for a while. He knew what he wanted to ask her but he didn't want to upset her. He let her walk slightly in front of him to give her a little breathing room.
"Did he ... Touch you?"
Her eyes shifted to Angel quickly and then back to the pavement in front of her. "No."
A wave of relief washed over him and he sighed getting into step with her.
"Has he ever touched you?"
"No." She said again. "... But he wants to."
Angel suddenly felt sick. Just the thought of him doing anything to her made him want to go back there and ring the life out of him. Of course he wouldn't, it would be against the rules and they'd hang him for it. But he thought about it ...
"Who is he anyway?"
"My mum's boyfriend. He's -" She paused for a second trying to find the right word to describe him. "My mother doesn't make very good choices when it comes to men. Period, actually." She said frowning.
"Well ... As long as I'm around he's not gonna touch you." He stated.
Justice stared into his green eyes and for a second she wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe this whole thing he'd been spewing for a month, this thing about protecting her. But how? How could he protect her from someone that lived under her roof?
"Oh yeah. Because you're here to protect me right? How do you plan on stopping him from touching me?" She said walking on. "You gonna move into my house?"
"There are ways Justice. Trust me."
"What ways? Are you telling me you can see into the future or predict when he'll try to rape me?" She laughed even though it was far from funny.
Angel didn't find it funny at all. He stepped in front of her blocking her way.
"I'm telling you." He said sternly. "It isn't going to happen. Not on my watch."
She gulped and shrank back a little. She'd never seen him so serious before, it was a little ... Sexy?
No, no, no. She'd never think of Angel like that. She put her slight nervousness down to the fact that it was a change from him being a goof ball all the time and she wasn't used to it. He was still doing that strong intense stare thing he liked doing and a chill ran down her spine.
"Here," He said taking his coat off.
"No, I'm okay. Really."
"Take it." He ordered.
"Fine." He wrapped the coat around her shoulders and she shoved her arms in while he zipped it up.
"Thank you." She said awkwardly.
"No problem. At least now you've got something to cover up that hideous jumper."
Rolling her eyes, she stormed off with him laughing behind her.
They walk to college consisted of him teasing her and her trying her best not to throttle him. He seemed to find the fact that his Parka was drowning her, extremely funny.
"Well you're .... wait how tall are you?"
"6 foot. Possibly 6'1."
"Yes, well you're tall. Of course it's gonna be big on me." She said as they entered the gates.
"You look like a little eskimo." He said grinning.
"Your immaturity levels are atrocious for someone your age."
"Says the one who throws temper tantrums."
"UGH." She unzipped the coat and started shrugging it off her shoulders. "Here have your stupid coat back."
"Don't be extra Justice. Just put it back on, you'll catch a cold."
"A little cold never hurt anyone," She said looking ahead. When she saw who had spotted them she groaned. "Besides, your little girlfriend is approaching us and the last thing I want is for me to have to explain why I'm wearing your coat."
Shoving it in his arms, she walked off just as Sephora was approaching them. Sephora acted like she hadn't even seen Justice and went straight for Angel, wrapping her arms around his neck and latching her lips on to his.
"You alright?" She said when she'd finally detached her lips from his.
"Yeah, you?" He asked, though he wasn't really paying attention because he was too busy watching Devonte take Justice's bag and carry it for her.
He'd noticed that Devonte had been hovering around Justice an awful lot lately. He was going to have to have him checked out ....
"Babe did you hear what I said?"
He looked back at Sephora who turned around to see what he was looking at. When she caught on she scowled. "I wonder what it's like ... having someone's sloppy seconds. Then again, I bet she'd be happy with any kinda male attention."
"What?" Angel asked as they walked into the building.
"Well she's not exactly buff is she?"
Angel shrugged his shoulders. "A couple man seem to think so."
"Yeah? Like who? Devonte?" She snorted. "He's only trying to get back at me for dumping him."
"How could you dump him if you weren't together?" He said boringly.
"We- Whatever. That doesn't matter. I'm just stating facts here, no one likes her."
"I do. He does. And Vanessa seems to as well." He said pointing to Vanessa. She was standing with Justice and Devonte laughing and joking about something. "That makes 3 people. A lot more than none."
*****
The dreaded lunch table. Justice could see them all sitting at the table together, laughing and being rowdy and she thanked god that she hidden well today. Every now and then she watched Angel looking around for her but he didn't see her. She was hidden in a real good place.
"Remind me again, why we're hidden in the technical supply closet eating these disgustingly dry banana chips?" Max whispered behind her.
His breath tickled her neck and she waved him off her turning around to face him.
"Because Maximus. I don't want to be recruited into their little crew. I just want a lunch time to myself. Is that a crime?"
"In the tech closet though?"
She ignored him and continued to poke her head out. Luckily there was a huge plant pot next to the door so she could stay hidden.
"They're honestly not as bad as you make out. I've hung out with them a couple of times. I mean some of them are a bit dimwitted but they're nice people all the same."
Justice whipped around on him as if he'd just said something treacherous. "Sephora Granger isn't nice. She's incapable of being nice unless said niceness somehow benefits her evil little life."
"Ahhh. So you're hiding out because of her?" When Justice didn't answer, he carried on. "You seem to hate her so much more now that she's taken permanent residence in the lap of your boy."
"First of all. I don't care about Angel and Sephora at all. Secondly, he is NOT my boy."
"Well, Look, I can't spend my lunch in this cramped up closet." He said trying to climb over her.
"Ah-Max where are- OW!"
He clambered over her and walked out the door in direction of the canteen. She was actually going to kill him. Realising there was nothing she could do about it, she followed him out chuntering under her breath. She made the mistake of looking over at the table and wished she hadn't.
Angel watched as she crept out of the store room and his eyes widened. What was she doing in there with him??
"Wow, so them two have got it like that yeah?" One boy called Femi said with a raised eyebrow. Angel quickly snapped his head around and pretended he hadn't seen.
"Everyone knows they're doing a thing." Michelle said filing her nails. "You honestly think a boy and girl can spend that much time together and not be fucking?"
"You don't necessarily know that 'chelle." Vanessa gave her a look.
Femi leaned forward on his elbows. "But I heard she was bare frigid."
Angel rolled his eyes preferring not to be involved in the conversation.
"Oh please," Sephora chimed in. "She probably just likes to play like she's innocent. There's no way she could be with Devonte and be frigid."
"Wait, so who is she with? Devonte or that Max yute?" He asked scratching his head.
"Who's chatting my name?"
Devonte pulled up a chair and dapped Femi before taking a bite into his burger.
"We were just talking about Justice." Sephora smiled sourly and Devonte's eyes shot up.
"What about her?" He said mouth half full.
"She just came out of that store cupboard with Max." Rachel bit her lip waiting for his response.
He stopped chewing for a split second and then shrugged his shoulders. "So?"
"What do you mean s-"
"Have you slept with her?" Sephora asked bluntly.
Everyone on the table went silent and waited for his response. The feeling of tension lingered in the air as she glared at him from across the table. Even Angel shifted in his seat waiting for him to answer. He suddenly felt very uneasy.
"Is that any of your business?" He said kissing his teeth.
She sat back and took a sip of her drink smugly. "See? Told ya."
Femi placed his hand on his heart. "BRUV. You banged it and didn't even tell me. Is this the kind of friendship we have now?"
Devonte raised his hand to strike him but didn't. "I didn't say that I did. I said Seph needs to mind her business." He gave Sephora a dirty look.
"So you haven't beat it?" He asked.
"No man!"
Angel turned to Sephora who looked as though she'd love nothing more than to dump her drink over Devonte's head. He had an inclination that she was jealous of Justice, but the extent of it was ridiculous. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her into his side earning an eye roll from Devonte.
"So don't you wanna sleep with her?" Michelle asked him.
Devonte scratched the back on his neck uncomfortably. "She's a nice girl man, I'm just trying to get to know her." He said with a smirk.
"He hasn't even linked her outside of college yet, so I don't know how you lot thought they'd slept together."
"And how do you know that Vanessa?" Sephora shot her a look.
"I asked her, she told me." She said shrugging.
Devonte shuffled his chair towards Vanessa. "So you're her bredrin yeah? Me and you need to have a little chat."
Laughing she pushed him in his head. "Chat about what please?"
"So does she like me or nah?"
"Bruv, forget about that. You need to eliminate this Max dude before anything. Because look!" Femi pointed behind them at Justice and Max sitting at the table. They all watched as Justice reached across the table to wipe something off Max's face before sitting back and grinning at him.
Devonte shrugged his shoulders and carried on eating but Angel could see that he was slightly bothered by it. Even he'd noticed that Max and Justice had a weirdly close relationship. He was the only person who Justice seemed really close to. But she'd told Angel that they were just friends and he had to believe her right?
"I'm telling you, girls always find a way to touch boys they like." Rachel confessed pulling everyone's attention back to the table.
"Then you must like at least 100 man. Always knew you were a thot." Femi sniggered.
************
Justice couldn't help but notice that Sephora just kept staring at her in Art. Like, really staring at her.
She was sat at a desk with Angel, Rachel sat with Michelle and Vanessa sat next to Justice, which she really didn't mind but every now and again she could see Sephora staring at her out the corner of her eye and it was making her uncomfortable.
"Just ignore her." Vanessa said taking down notes off the bored.
Justice raised her eyebrows, surprised that Vanessa had even noticed. "What is her problem today?" She said picking up her pen and writing.
"Devonte likes you more than he liked her and she can't stand it." She said nonchalantly. Justice liked how blunt she was.
"H-how do you know that? That he likes me I mean?"
Vanessa shot justice an 'are you serious' look that caused both of them to start giggling.
"No but really, Devonte isn't known for taking it slowly with girls, but I guess he is with you." She leaned closer to Justice. "Sephora would never admit it, but it was his idea for them to be 'friends with benefits' not hers. She wanted him to wife her but he wasn't having it."
Justice took a peek at Sephora who gave her a dirty look and turned back to Angel.
"Why are you telling me this? Surely, she told you not to tell anyone."
"She doesn't know I know." She shrugged. "And anyway, I'm starting to question my friendship with her. She's ..."
"A bitch?"
A smiled spread across Vanessa's face but she didn't say anything.
"I'm having a birthday party at my house tomorrow night. You should come."
Justice gulped. Suddenly a thousand scenarios went through her head. Very bad scenarios. Bad enough to make her not want to go.
As Vanessa was inviting her, Michelle and Rachel were walking past their table.
"You're inviting her?" Rachel said shrilly. "Seph won't-"
"It's not Sephora's party." Michelle scooting to sit on the edge of the desk.
"Exactly. I can invite who I want." Vanessa side eyed Rachel who just raised her eyebrows and went over to Sephora's table.
"No doubt she's gone to give a report to the captain."
"So you're coming right? Devonte's coming." Michelle grinned.
Justice tried not to smile, but she couldn't help it. Vanessa nudged Michelle with her shoulder and they both started laughing while Justice tried to cover her burning face.
"I'd have no one to come with." She mumbled through her hands.
"Yeah, you can just get ready at mine. Come around 6ish yeah?"
Justice felt like it was really nice of Vanessa to invite her. She was beginning to like her alot, probably because she was the only one who didn't seem to care what Sephora thought and that was trait she would like in anyone. She ended up agreeing and the 3 of them (Michelle had pulled a chair over to their desk) spent the rest of the lesson discussing music playlists and other things for the party.
Home time rolled around and Justice made haste getting out of the classroom. She really didn't want Angel to walk her home because it meant hanging out with Sephora again and she really couldn't be bothered with Sephora burning a giant hole in her face with those demonic eyes.
She said goodbye to Vanessa and Michelle and speed walked down the stairs and out of the building. Max had finished earlier than her and they never walked home together anyway considering they lived in opposite directions. When she got to the front gates, Devonte was standing there with Femi and a few other boys that Justice didn't know.
"Oh you cool Justice?" He said putting his arm out as she walked past.
She leaned into him and smiled and nodded, very aware that she had four pairs of eyes on her.
"So you going to Vanessa's party?"
"Oh .. umm yeah." She replied awkwardly. "She invited me today."
"Is it?" He grinned. "So, like who you going with? Max?" She didn't miss the way Devonte's eyes shifted to Femi and back and her brows furrowed in confusion.
"No. I don't even know if he got invited or not."
She noticed that one boy in particular was staring at her harder than the others. He looked a little older than Devonte, he was taller and a little bulkier but rocked the same hairstyle as Devonte, just with tighter curls on the top.
"So what, you not gonna introduce me to your friend Devonte nah?"
Devonte made a face and rolled his eyes. "Cameron, Justice. Justice, this is my boy Cameron."
Cameron licked his lips and rubbed his hands together and Justice wasn't quite sure how to react.
"So how old are you then?" He asked.
"18."
"Rah, you're 18 already Just?"
"Yeah. It was my birthday at the end of September."
She hadn't told anyone. She never did, the only person that ever remembered was Max. He'd taken her out to eat and then took her to The Weeknd's secret concert. She loved it.
"You never mentioned this one to me before still." Justice watched as he appreciatively took in her appearance and suddenly wished she had Angel's big coat to cover her up.
"Oi, lowe it man." Devonte protested but Cameron just ignored him and stepped forward grabbing Justice's hand. The rest of his boys were laughing to themselves in the background.
"Make sure you save me a little dance at the motive you know. I'm holding you to it."
Justice just nodded and smiled again. There was no denying that Cameron was good looking but something about him made her feel funny.
"I've gotta go." She said turning back to Devonte.
"Where you going?"
"Home."
"Aight, I'll wak you for a bit if you want."
Justice shrugged and waited for him to say bye to his boys, before she waved and walked with him. Conversation came easily enough with Devonte. He was bubbly and funny, everything that Justice wasn't. He always kept it flowing so it was kind of hard for them to fall into an awkward silence.
"Your laugh is cute." He said chuckling.
Her hand went up to her mouth immediately. "It's really not. It's so goofy."
"That's why it's cute." She blushed feverishly and figured that she'd better find a way to learn how to accept compliments.
"So you're definitely coming to the party then yeah?"
"Well I have to now, don't I? I promised your friend a dance."
Devonte kissed his teeth. "Just watch out for him though."
Justice stopped walking and so did he. "Why?" She asked.
"Well it's not just a dance he wants.."
"Well that's all he's getting," She snorted. "I didn't promise him anything else."
Devonte tilted his head looking at her while she blinked up at him.
"What?" She asked shyly looking down.
"Are you with Max?" He blurted.
Her eyes shot up to see genuine curiosity in his face.
"Like ... with him?"
He nodded.
"No," Justice laughed. "Definitely not."
"Good. That would definitely fuck shit up for me."
Her laughter died out and Devonte's smile widened. "What ... do you mean?" She said slowly.
"It means, I wanna get to know you without other dude's getting in the way. I like you Justice, a lot more than I realised." He said stepping closer to her.
She ran her eyes up his body before they landed on his face. He was very close to her and she realised that he was getting a lot closer. His head was coming down at an angle and his eyes rested on her lips.
Oh god, he's gonna kiss me.
She tried to think back to the last thing she ate, praying that it wasn't anything with a particularly poignant smell.
He leant down and gently brushed his lips over hers and Justice could've swore that if her stomach burst open thousands of butterflies would tumble out and flutter around them. She was waiting for him to plant the real kiss on her when she heard him shout her.
"JUSTICE!"
"Ughhhhh." She groaned, stepping back from Devonte. She could see Angel taking a leisurely stroll towards them and cursed herself for getting distracted. If she hadn't bumped into Devonte she would've been home by now, having successfully avoided him altogether.
"It wasn't very nice of you to leave me now was it?" He said when he approached them. "You know we always walk home together."
"I was in a rush and I figured you'd want to walk with Sephora ." She said through gritted teeth.
Angel ignored her and turned to Devonte. "You good yeah?"
"Yeah, I'm nice man." He said dapping him. "Look, I've gotta go yeah? I'll see you tomorrow night."
He winked and Justice nodded then watched him run back down the street.
"So the rumours are true." Angel stepped in front her forcing him to look at her.
"What? What rumours?" She started walking again and he followed.
"That you got invited to Vanessa's thing."
"Ah! Can't imagine your girlfriend is too pleased about it. But yes, I'll be attending."
"You told me you didn't like parties." He said smirking.
"I don't."
"So why are you going?" Justice rolled her eyes and didn't answer him. "Its because of Devonte isn't it?"
"Shut up Angel."
"You want to go to the party so you can stand in dark corners and lips him up against the wall don't you?" He laughed teasingly.
She whipped around and raised her fist. "I swear! One of these days..."
He raised his hands in innocence but carried on laughing.
"So was that your first kiss?"
Sighing, she turned her back on him and carried on walking. "That wasn't a kiss. And no."
"I don't believe you. Devonte was your first kiss and you're vexed because I interrupted before you had the chance to flick up your foot and sigh into his arms."
When she ignored him yet again he stood beside her making kissing noises in her ear.
"WILL YOU MOVE." She said pushing him back. "He wasn't my first kiss! My first kiss was Max so shut up!!
"Max?"
Justice was storming off at this point but unfortunately he was right behind her. Grabbing her elbow, he stopped her and spun her round.
"What's the deal with you and Max? Truthfully?" He said narrowing his eyes.
"Why do you keep asking me that?"
"Well, you say you're friends but now you're saying you've kissed and then everyone saw you two coming out the tech closet today ... What were you-"
"Stop. Just stop. Me and Max are just friends. Nothing more. And why do you even care?"
Angel was stumped for words. Why did he care? It's not like he was the one who was trying to date her.
"I don't care. But you should, people talk."
"What? What are you talking about?" She asked as they stopped outside her house.
"Nothing. See you at the party tomorrow." He started to walk but stopped and turned around with a smirk. "Try to look buff yeah? Nobody wants to see you dressed like an Aunty."
She looked down at her attire then scowled as he sniggered. What was wrong with the way she dressed?
Stay tuned for part 2!