"Hey, who you texting?" Maribelle asked playfully as she wrapped her arms around Alex's shoulders from behind.
"My friend Denise." He replied, and Maribelle nodded, giving him a small kiss on his cheek.
"Mmm. What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing, really, she asked me how the tour was going." He said shortly, and Maribelle nodded again. "I told her it was boring here and the girls were all ugly."
Maribelle playfully smacked his chest and he chuckled. "Dick." She mumbled, and he turned around in mock surprise.
"Belle! That is not ladylike language!" he said in a girl voice, and Maribelle laughed.
Alex stared at Maribelle's face, causing her to get self conscious and hide her face in her hair. "You're beautiful."
"No I'm not." She mumbled, and Alex looked at her in confusion.
"What are you talking about? You're gorgeous." He said, then gave her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to blush.
"Why are you so nice to me?" she asked, and Alex looked at her in confusion once more.
"Because we're together. Isn't that how it's supposed to be?" he asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Maribelle merely shrugged. "What brought this on?"
Again, Maribelle shrugged, and Alex, very confused, picked her face up by her chin forcing her to look at him.
"Belle, what's wrong?" he asked, for Maribelle was forming tears in her eyes, and Alex was starting to get very worried.
"Why are you so nice and sweet to me, huh?! What's in it for you?!" Maribelle snapped, standing up, and Alex just sat there in shock.
"Wh-what are you talking about??" Alex asked, and Maribelle leaned on a wall on the far side of the room.
"What?? You think I'm gonna give it up to you just because you're so sweet?? Think again, buddy!" she yelled, and Alex stood up and walked over to her.
"Belle, what are you talking about?" Alex repeated, with more urgency. He was anxious to know why Maribelle was acting so strange.
"When are you gonna change?" Maribelle asked softly.
"Change? For what?" Alex asked, and Maribelle held her sides.
"Change! Go from the sweet, perfect boyfriend to the disgusting bastard that men are! When are you going to do that? Just let me know now!"
"Belle, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Alex yelled, getting frustrated.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! When are you gonna turn into an absolute dickhead?!"
"I'm not gonna turn into a dickhead!"
"Yes you are, I know you are!" Maribelle screamed, and when Alex tried to walk over to her, she ran to the other side of the room, to the door, and ran out.
"Belle! Maribelle!" he yelled, but Maribelle ignored him and ran straight to her best friend's room.
When Jennifer and Justin heard the rapid, hard knocks on the door, they both looked at each other in worry.
"Who do you think it could be?" Jennifer asked, getting up, but Justin stopped her.
"No, I'll get it." Justin said, and went over to the door. Jennifer followed close behind him as he unlocked and opened the door. "Belle, what's wrong??" Jennifer practically shoved Justin out of the way to look at her friend, then gasped.
"Belle, what's the matter, what happened??" she cried, but Maribelle merely wrapped her arms around Jennifer in a hug, who immediately returned it and shut the door.
"I hate men." Maribelle sobbed miserably, and Jennifer started rubbing her back reassuringly.
"What happened?" she asked softly, and suddenly there was another series of hard, rapid knocks on the door, and Maribelle grabbed Jennifer's wrist and led her to the bathroom, then fell to the floor in emotion.
"Me and Alex got in an argument, and I guess it was my fault, but... I don't know." Maribelle said quietly, and grabbed toilet paper from the roll to wipe her tears. "I just didn't know how to handle it. I keep waiting for him to change. For him to become... a monster, I don't know. But he hasn't yet and it's frustrating."
Jennifer looked at her friend in understanding. "You gotta tell him, Belle. Otherwise he's not gonna know how to treat you. Or how to react to your sudden i-hate-the-male-species phases." She said, and Maribelle nodded.
"How do I tell him, though? I was supposed to already have been over this already! But every time Alex kisses me, it all comes rushing back." Maribelle replied, a fresh stream of tears falling from her eyes. Jennifer nodded and rested her friend's head on her shoulder.
"Do you want me to help you tell the story?" she offered, and Maribelle nodded. "Okay, come on. The sooner the better."
They both stood, then Jennifer opened the bathroom door, where Justin was sitting with Alex, Celeste, and Austin on the bed. She pulled up two chairs from the corner of the room and both her and Maribelle sat on them.
"I'm gonna tell you a story." Maribelle sniffled. "It's my story."
Jennifer pat her best friend's hand in reassurance, and Maribelle took a deep breath.
"A few years ago, I went out with this boy, right? His name was John, and he was probably the sweetest guy I'd ever met at the time.
Well, one day he just... hit me. And then he didn't stop. He just kept hitting me, and hitting me, and he wouldn't stop..." Maribelle choked on her words as the memory of that first time he laid his hands on her flooded her mind in poison. Jennifer pat her hand again and continued the story, tears forming in her own eyes at her friend's pain.
"It went on for about four months. He wouldn't let her break up with him, every time she tried he..." Jennifer took a deep breath to calm herself, for her voice had started shaking. She blinked away the tears and continued. "Well... one day, we all went to a party, me, Jeremy, Belle, and John. I helped Belle cover the black eye he'd given her the day before, and we were gonna take her away from him that night. Jeremy hated him with such a hot passion he could've killed him.
We were having a great time. I was able to get Belle away from him, and we were going to leave, when he found us. Jeremy was in the car, and John hit me and took Belle away..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He hit you too??" Justin demanded, and Jennifer nodded. White-hot anger surged through Justin then, at the merethought of someone putting their hands on Jennifer.
"He led me to a room, and told me if I ever tried to leave again he... he'd kill me," Maribelle said, finding her voice again, Jennifer wiped her eyes as the two girls held each other's hand so tight they were losing circulation. "And I believed he would have too. If Jeremy hadn't walked in the room."
At that, the two girls laughed. "Walked isn't a good term for it. More like 'he busted the door down, literally, and started beating the crap out of John.'" Jennifer cut in, and Maribelle gave a weak giggle again.
"But he didn't get in in time, because John had... he had... he..." Maribelle leaned into Jennifer's shoulder again, her sobs rocking her whole body. Jennifer pet her hair back reassuringly, and mouthed the words he raped her to the group, tears falling from her own eyes.
A few moments had passed before the group could register Jennifer's words, then they all stood up to engulf Maribelle in a hug. Alex stood her up and pulled her to the corner.
"Belle," he choked out, and pulled Maribelle's face up to look at him by her chin. "You have to believe me... I will never put my hands on you, ever. I'll never be like him, I swear."
Maribelle hid her face in Alex's chest and cried some more. Alex started rocking her slightly from side to side, just as Justin picked Jennifer up and gave her a light kiss on her forehead. Austin hugged Celeste, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"If you ever turn out like that, I'll kill you." Celeste said, and Austin chuckled lightly.
"I won't, I promise." He said, and placed his lips lightly on hers.
"You promise you won't change on me?" Maribelle asked miserably.
"I hope I die if I ever hurt you like that." Alex answered, and tears sprang into Maribelle's eyes again, but she was smiling. In response, she looked up at Alex and mashed their lips together.
"Well now that the emotional rollercoaster that is our lives is over, what do you say we all go out for some lunch?" Justin asked, and everyone laughed and left the room to go get ready. "And you," he said once they were all gone, and wrapped both arms around Jennifer's waist. "How come you never told me that happened to her?"
Jennifer shrugged. "You never asked." She said simply, then laughed at his exasperated expression. "Come on, you big baby."
Justin gave her a puppy dog look and she smiled. "What?" she asked.
"Give me a kiss," he whined, and Jennifer giggled as she lightly placed her lips onto his.