Liora rubbed her tired eyes as she walked down the out. Everyone was discussing what had happened at the bonfire, and she felt the weight of their stares and whispers, as did Jackie.
With a frustrated huff, she exited the building and found Danny. "You know, this situation really sucks," she said, stopping beside him and looking up. "I can't even tell them to shut up because it actually happened. Ugh!"
"Yeah, the four of you seem to be the talk of the town," Danny said with a smile. "I hope it didn't affect your work day."
"It did. People keep asking as if I was going to tell them anything," Liora said. "Anyway, thanks for picking me up." She got into the car as he nodded.
"I really think they should let you have your own car with all the days you're working," Danny said, starting the engine.
"I have asked. That's all I can do," Liora said, having asked more than once. Danny nodded in understanding.
"Would you like to go to the auditorium with me?" Danny asked. Liora nodded. "Alex is going to be there," he added as they pulled into the school.
Liora had worked the first half of the day, but Katherine said she needed to attend her classes after. It was around lunchtime, so she still had a bit of time.
As Liora and Danny walked into the school and headed to the theater room, Alex greeted them. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked as he joined them. Liora looked at him, "You barely came out of your room yesterday. Jackie said you were a bit drunk," he said. Liora smiled.
"Yeah, a little more than a bit," she said as they walked down the hall. "It's been a while since I've been hung over," she added. He nodded and looked down.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Alex shook his head with a smile. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. It's just..." he started but stopped, making Liora raise her eyebrows. "Have you talked to... Cole?" he asked. She shook her head.
"No, I haven't. Why? Did something happen?" Liora asked. Alex let out a small laugh and shook his head again.
"No, it doesn't matter," he said, looking at her. "So, at the bonfire, I didn't mean to-" Liora cut him off.
"No, no, it's okay. I should thank you. Even if it wasn't exactly for me, it's good to know I have someone, you know," Liora said, smiling at him.
"You're my friend, Rory, and if it was the other way around, you would do it too," he said. "And then Jackie said something about you and Cole, and that you have been... She was just upset, and I thought if I said something, it would help?" he said. Liora nodded.
She knew that wasn't the whole story, but she was fine with what she got. As they walked down the corridors to the auditorium, Liora sat next to Alex and watched as Danny rehearsed, or whatever he was doing, when the door burst open, making Liora's eyes snap back to see Cole walking angrily down the stairs.
He looked furious.
"What the hell, Alex?" Cole said. Liora stood up and looked between them.
"Guys, no, no, okay?" Danny said as Liora took a step back. "Not in the auditorium, please," he said. Liora didn't know what was happening.
"You told Dad I was sneaking girls in?" Cole said as his eyes moved to hers before going back to Alex.
"Cole, come on, stop," Liora said as Danny grabbed him. Cole looked over at her.
"What the hell are you doing here with him?" Cole said. Liora looked at him as if he was crazy. "You were trying to get in my pants the other night, and now you're here with him?"
"What? What the heck are you talking about?" Liora said. He had gone crazy; she didn't remember doing anything like that.
"Leave her out of it; I didn't say anything," Alex said. Cole turned back to him, making Danny grab him again.
"What are you doing?" Cole asked, pushing Danny out of the way. Liora stood there, visibly shaken, as something obviously happened that she didn't know about. She watched as Alex walked closer. Danny lightly pushed him back as Liora grabbed Cole's hand.
"Cole, please come with me," she said, urgently tugging on his arm, but he didn't budge. Instead, he grabbed her wrist tightly, his fingers closing with a vice-like grip. Her immediate instinct was to free herself, so she yanked hard and twisted, and then a searing pain shot through her wrist, causing her to let out a soft hiss of discomfort. Cole, not seeming to realize it, kept going after Alex, but Liora, feeling the urgency and panic, forcefully pulled her hand away as she stepped back, her movements tinged with a mix of pain and apprehension.
"He asked," Alex said. "And I didn't say anything," he added. Liora just stood there, holding her wrist, and looked—what else could she do?
"Which is basically a yes," Cole said, still trying to get to him.
"Yeah, you're one to talk, brother of the year," Alex said. Oh, this wasn't good. Liora's eyes moved to the other people filling the room and then back.
"Telling the whole school that I cried like a bitch," he said. Liora's eyes widened.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cole said, Danny's arm still lightly holding him back.
"That's how you're gonna play it?" Alex said. "You're just going to pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about? Is it because Rory's here, trying to act all innocent now?" he said.
What the hell is going on? Liora took another step back when they started to actually get closer to each other.
"Okay, cool, then it's a good thing I have a great memory of you bawling your eyes out to Mom," Alex said, as Danny still tried to hold back Cole. "When your football dreams ended. Maybe I should start spreading that around, huh?"
Liora honestly felt bad for Danny; he was pulled into the middle of it. But Liora's mind switched when Cole got away from Danny and pushed Alex.
"I think Jordan caught it on camera!" Alex kept going as Danny looked to her and she to him.
"Stop!" Danny said.
"Cole, please!" Liora said as Danny lightly pushed Liora behind him, and Cole and Alex started to fight. Liora's hand flew to her forehead as her wrist pounded. She felt like it was getting worse and harshly felt tears in her eyes.
"Hey, it's fine," Danny said, looking back at her, his eyes lowering to where she was indeed bruising. "Are you hurt?" he asked, seeing the tears in her eyes.
"Please, stop him," Liora said, grabbing her wrist. It wasn't broken, yet it hurt like hell, but that was the last thing on her mind right now. "Cole, stop!" she said as Danny kept her in place.
"Hey, guys, stop!" Liora's head turned to see Isaac Lee and Nathan running down as Danny yelled at them for help and tried to pull them apart again.
"Guys, get off!" Danny exclaimed as Liora moved back again. "Alex, get off!" he said, struggling to pull them apart as Liora's gaze shifted up to see Jackie. Liora quickly moved to her.
"What happened? Let me see," Jackie said, pulling Liora's arm toward her. It was starting to swell and bruise. "Rory, what happened?" she asked, but Liora just shook her head, blinking her tears away.
"Hey, that's enough!" Nikhil, one of the teachers, said as he ran in. "Principal's office, now, all of you!" Finally, they stopped and looked at him.
"All of you, now!" he yelled. Liora looked at Jackie, who looked at her. Liora pulled her wrist back to her, her eyes meeting Cole's, who looked a bit surprised to see the tears in her eyes. Liora turned away.
"Rory, come on, you need to go to the nurse," Danny said, but she just walked out and went to the bathroom.
"Rory," Jackie said, walking into the bathroom as Liora turned on the cold water and put her wrist underneath it, closing her eyes. "Here," Jackie said, wrapping cold paper towels around it. The frustrating thing was that Liora had hurt this wrist before, fracturing it three, almost four, years ago. It was already weak to begin with, and it had taken her months to even be able to use it for everyday things, much less for dancing.
"I don't think it's broken or anything," Jackie said, looking at it.
"It's not broken, Jackie! But it hurts and burns!" Liora hissed. "This is stupid! Jackie, I don't know what to do! It was already weak! What if this was it? What if?"
"You need to call Katherine so you can go to the hospital," Jackie said. Liora shook her head.
"And tell her what?" Liora said, snapping her head over to her. There was no way she was going to tell what really happened.
"Um, we were out for lunch, and you were doing flips and twisted wrong when you came up or something," she said. Liora closed her eyes. "Rory, the longer you wait, the worse it could get," she said. Liora nodded as Jackie grabbed her phone.
"Hey, Katherine?" Jackie said, putting the phone on speaker. "Where are you?" she asked.
"I just got the boys. Is there something you need?" Katherine asked.
"Yeah, Rory needs to go to the hospital," Jackie blurted out.
"What? Why?" Katherine said.
"Well, she was doing some dance moves and twisted her wrist or something, and now it's all swollen and bruised," Jackie said. "I didn't know if they would see us without someone," she added.
"Okay, I'm on my way. I don't know if they will see you without us, but—" Liora cut her off.
"We're just going to walk in and see," Liora said, walking out. She was NOT happy.