Song: One Drink Away
Artiste: Cher Lloyd
The photo above is Sean Charlton.
Enjoy!
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Red.
It was the most prominent thing in my vision.
And if this wasn't real life, I would have mistaken the heat running through my veins as the feeling of my blood boiling.
How dare she?
The feeling that was coursing throughout every inch of my body was eccentric and unfamiliar. The last time I was this angry was on the night that my dad had grounded me.
And knowing that my emotions were circuiting into overdrive was concerning. It terrified me being under the compulsion of these strong feelings and not knowing what might happen next.
Delving into my long, comfy pajamas and going over chemistry and physics notes while sitting on my window seat with a comfy blanket sounded like the ideal luxury.
I missed the time when my self control was still intact. When I wasn't easily led astray by the vehemence of my imposing feelings.
But I couldn't help it.
I stormed into the school with an angry scowl plastered to my face. And as I made my way throughout the hallway, I glimpsed onlookers who were either gathered in small groups or standing by themselves in front of their lockers.
Some shot death glares my way. Some seemed curious and some whispered in their companion's ear.
Unfortunately, I heard some of their words as I meandered past them with clenched fists.
"Did you see Bella's post?" A girl exclaimed. Her attempt at whispering was a huge fail and I could hear her every word.
"Yeah. I saw it last night. She is such a homewrecker." The other girl sneered.
The first girl scoffed and was not the least bit caring with her next words.
"Doesn't she know that Sean is dating Bella again. They're the perfect match?"
"Like who does she think she is?" Girl number two concluded.
There were other harsh remarks and if it were any other day, I would have cowered from their hate speech and would have been overcome by anxiety and possibly, a bad case of depression before delving into an unhealthy amount of schoolwork as a coping mechanism.
But today was different.
I couldn't focus on the whispers.
No.
My goal was much more important than that.
I blocked out my surroundings and persisted perfervidly with my quest.
I didn't know where I was going but it seemed like luck was on my side when I turned the corner and was immediately met by my goal.
Wham!
Time sped up momentarily and my breathing was a series of ragged pants. My knuckles ached in protest as it hit the combination of warm skin and hard bone.
"You bitch!" My oppressor screeched as the back of her head slammed into the locker with brute force.
I watched as her hair flew upwards as a result of her head's sharp movement. It caused a temporary show of long, dark threads floating in mid-air.
"Bella, how dare you?!" I demanded. "How could you stoop so low?"
Rage blinded my vision and I glimpsed Bella's friends-who were a few inches too close to me on my left-back away warily.
She whipped her head in my direction. The daggers she sent were sharp and pointed. But they weren't strong enough to impale the bull raging inside me.
"How dare you?" She sneers and before I can register it, her long, slender hands shoot out to connect with my cheek.
My eyes widened as I braced the surprise impact.
But it never came.
In fact, a large arm appeared in front of me. The fingers on the muscular arm were familiar and they wrapped tightly around Bella's baleful wrist.
When I glanced upwards, I was met by a pair of angry mocha brown eyes.
"D-Dontae?" Bella sputtered.
He broke contact with my surprised hazel eyes to face the girl who was nothing but a menace to society.
"How dare you raise your hand on her." He gritted.
The anger bubbling off him was almost tangible and from the corner of my eyes, I could see a crowd forming to watch what I suppose is free entertainment.
I stood silently, suddenly scared. I rubbed my arm and looked down apprehensively.
The previous events of yesterday rushed to the forefront of my mind.
His anger which was alien to me...
The hatred in his beautiful brown eyes.
"She hit me!" Bella yelled.
I bit my lip and lifted my head, returning attention to Bella. The anger that was temporarily exchanged for something more vulnerable came back with full force and I clenched and unclenched my fists.
Her eyes were widened temperamentally and her voice took on a nasal tone as she addressed the fuming Dontae.
"I was only returning the favor!".
She ripped her wrist from his warning grip before glaring at me.
"If you want to be angry at anyone, you should be angry at her because she started it!"
Bella lurched for me again, almost smacking me right in the face with her fist and this time I was ready. My body dodged her attack and I leaped forward with one hand balled into a tight, steady fist to give her another well deserved thump across the face.
But Dontae grabbed me. His arms snaked around my abdomen as he lifted and pulled me towards his stomach, effectively creating a few feet distance between the ill-mannered girl and I.
"Let me go!" I hollered hysterically, thrashing wildly in his arms.
Curtains of loose, dark curls crashed in my eyes in a recurring motion from my violent actions and my fingers stretched forwards, folding aggressively. I grabbed for my opponent's hair, face, blouse, anything within close reach.
"Come here you narcissistic pig!" I screamed.
It surprised me that the principal hadn't popped out from around a corner of the hallways as yet as a result of Bella and I's screaming match and the large crowd's incessant chant of 'fight!' as they watched the uncivilized, caveman behavior from a small distance.
I noticed her jaw beginning to turn a slight pink as it began its early stages of bruising.
I felt my body being dragged away from the unfortunate scene and through the bodies of excited teenagers. I thrashed and shouted incoherent phrases that were foreign to my ears in Dontae's captivity as he forced me away from the scene. But Bella's last words were still audible amongst my hysterics.
"This is not over you slut. You just started a war!"
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"Dontae let me go!" I thrashed about wildly in his arms like there was a colony of fire ants nipping my skin.
We had just entered an empty classroom and Dontae unwrapped his arms from my body. Abiding by my angry demand in a not-so-gentle manner before shutting the door behind him.
I spun to face him with a prominent scowl etched onto my face. But before I could get a word in, his eyes narrowed into thin slits and with exaggerated hand movements above his head, he stunned me with a deep groan.
"Are you insane Vannessa?!" He boomed.
"Why did you hit Bella Fletcher in her face?"
"You know what she did Dontae! She's the one that took that picture and posted it for the whole world to see."
My arms folded hotly over my chest. "She's trying to sabotage Sean and I's relationship. She's a dirty, vindictive, narcissistic little witch and I can't stand her!"
"But that doesn't mean you should go and start a boxing match in the middle of the school's hallway, Vannessa." His voice was low, but his anger was still decipherable.
"Dammit what's wrong with you these days?"
"She deserved it." I was unrelenting as I glared at him.
He exhaled deeply and audibly.
"Well you shouldn't have been so reckless."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"This isn't you Nessie. You're changing too fast and I can't keep up with you. Didn't you think about the consequences of starting a fight in school?" He asked, this time his anger subsided and I could see something in those beautiful eyes.
Was it... care?
"What if your dad found out about this? You're still grounded from that stunt you pulled. Remember? What do you think he'll do if he finds out that you're getting into fights, huh?"
I pursed my lips.
Crap. I didn't think of that.
I'm sure my dad would ground me for the rest of my lifetime if he ever found out.
"Look," Dontae mumbled, his tone taking on a weary edge.
"I know that all this change might be too much for you, but you need to get it together Nessie. Before things get out of control."
I was silent as I took in his words.
He continued.
"And I think that now that you and Sean are finally a thing, maybe now you should try focusing on not losing who you are."
And without awaiting my response, he flung the door open and left. Wading through the busybody crowd of people.
Teenagers began piling into the classroom, passing me to get to their seats. My eyebrows furrowed together bewilderedly and I stared after Dontae's figure until he was no longer visible.