© Jojo B 2016
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*N.E.V* The Seven Deadly Simpson Brothers
14
(Picture is Walter)
Walter stopped coming to school that first day.
A whole week had passed now, and it was Monday again. I had not seen Walter once in all that time and I didn't blame him, but I was hurting just as much as he was. I didn't want to stop seeing him, but I knew it was what I needed - the right thing to do. I still liked him, I still thought about him almost every second of every day, and I still thought about giving up and taking him back.
If he even wanted me back, that was.
"Coral, you should eat more," Hayley nudged my hand.
I took a bite of my apple, just to stop her going on about how little I was eating lately, and looked across the canteen at the triplets.
"I have to give his jumper back," I said blankly.
"Who's jumper?" Hayley frowned at me.
"Severn's," I replied. "I still have his jumper that he let me borrow last week."
"Oh," Hayley hesitated.
"Do you think he'll talk to me?" I sighed, meeting her brown eyed gaze.
"There's no reason why not to," she shrugged.
"He won't even look at me," I let my shoulders sink. "None of them."
"I'm sure that's not true, you're over thinking things."
I wasn't. Not one of the triplets would catch my eye for more than a second whenever they saw me. Or course they had reason to be mad, I had basically criticized their way of life. It hurt me more to imagine how Walter would act towards me if he and I ever crossed paths again. I put my apple down.
"Coral," Hayley looked at me, appalled. "Please."
"I'm not in the mood," I shook my head. "I don't feel well Hayley, I think I'm going to go and see the nurse and hopefully go home."
"I'll take you," Hayley said, concern all over her face.
"Thanks," I sent her a weak smile and got up from my seat.
We cleared our trays and Hayley walked with me to the infirmary, giving my hand a squeeze before she left. The school nurse told me to have a seat and I had a cup of water while I waited to see her or one of the other assistant nurses. My stomach was cramping and I felt hot and tingly. I knew eating would make it feel better, but I didn't have an appetite and I couldn't stomach anything.
"Coral?" the school nurse called me into her little private room.
I followed her in and sat down, looking at my lap.
"How can I help you today?" she asked me. "Not feeling too well?"
"No," I shook my head, wrapping my arms round my middle. "I've got bad cramps and I can't concentrate in class."
"Oh poppet," the nurse gave me a sympathetic look. "Would you like some painkillers?"
"Sure," I replied, hoping she'd let me lie down for a while and maybe go home early.
I took the tablets and luckily she did allow me to sleep in one of the beds, drawing the blue paper curtain around me. I tried to get as comfortable as possible in the thin, papery bed and I closed my eyes, not really expecting to fall asleep but hoping to daze out and not think about Walter.
I frowned slightly when I felt the air around me shift and tried to remember if there was a window above me. My eyes flew open when I heard the curtain being drawn back and I was shocked to see Eli Simpson standing there. He was slightly frowning, which I had come to understand was his normal resting face, and his dark blond hair was pushed up and out of his emerald eyes. I opened my mouth but words wouldn't come out. I had no idea what to say.
"You sick?" Eli was the first to speak.
My first thought was to ask him about Walter. If he was okay, what he was up to, if he was still hurting as much as I was. Anything.
"You can't be in here," I said instead. "This is the girl's section, if someone catches you in here we'll both get – "
"Oh please," Eli cut me off with a roll of his eyes. "Pin it on me, you won't get in trouble."
I shut my mouth and just looked up at him, waiting for him to explain why he was even here.
"Are you sick?" Eli only asked me again, looking at me with those green eyes.
"I..I don't know," I swallowed. "I don't feel well, but I don't think I have anything like a bug."
"Okay well that makes the answer a yes," Eli responded. "Not feeling well is the same as being si – "
"Eli why are you here?" I interrupted. "Aren't you mad at me, like Walter and the others are?"
Eli's face remained straight, "Why should I be? I'm not Walter or the others."
I was a little confused but I was certain he was being honest and it made me feel a bit more relaxed that he wasn't angry at me too.
"Are you sick?" I asked him, sitting up in the bed.
"No," Eli answered. "I'm just cutting class, told them I had a headache. I could go home but there are some interesting looking drugs here that I like the look of."
I frowned at him, "What?"
"Relax," Eli smirked. "They won't even notice they're gone."
"Eli," I stared at him, expecting him to smile and say he was joking, but he didn't.
"Stop looking at me like that, it's free," Eli said in the end. "And how much harm can morphine do anyway?"
"Okay, okay," I said, waving my hands at him to try and get him to stop saying those things, just in case someone was listening.
Eli smirked wider and crossed his arms and I smiled faintly at him, knowing it was the wrong thing to do. I was meant to be staying away from these brothers.
"Well, um...I think I'm gonna go back to bed now," I said to him.
"Oh, yeah," he unfolded his arms and went to leave.
"Whatever you're doing, don't get caught," I told him, hiding another smile.
Eli rolled his eyes and then smiled back, "Get better soon."
"Thanks," I said, and he was gone.
I lay back in the bed and squeezed my eyes shut, sighing deeply. Eli, of all people on this Earth, had actually been pretty decent to me, which just made the whole keeping my distance thing even harder.
***
I was kept fairly busy at work which I preferred because it made the time pass quicker, however it left me feeling even worse than I was feeling before, and the painkillers had worn off. By the time my shift was over, my vision was coming in and out of focus and my stomach was really hurting. I stumbled out the back door and right into someone's back.
I went to step past the man, trying to smother the overwhelming strong feeling of déjà vu and my knees buckled as I became a little lightheaded. The man turned around and then quickly grabbed my arm when I started to lose my balance.
"You okay?" he bent down a little so that he could look into my face.
It was Ario Santiago who I'd bumped into, and he had been talking to his cousin Carlos, the leader. I winced. I was trying to stay away from one gang, not land myself with another.
"I'm fine, thanks," I gently peeled myself out of his grip.
"You work here, right?" he narrowed his blue eyes slightly as he tried to figure out where he remembered me from.
"Yeah," I looked down. "Thanks again."
I quickly stepped away from him so that I wouldn't be asked to give any more information about myself, but it wasn't that simple.
"What's your name?" Ario fell into step with me.
I frowned and glanced behind me, seeing Carlos standing there in the dimly lit area alone. If he was planning to rob the place, I should have told the manager about it.
"Please leave me alone," I shivered, trying to walk in a straight line.
"Hey," Ario frowned at me. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"I don't know you," I murmured, keeping my gaze firmly on the ground. "Why would I believe what you say?"
"Fair enough," he replied. "I just wanna know your name though. I bet you know mine."
"I don't," I lied. "Please, leave me alone."
"Fine," he stopped walking. "But I just wanted to tell you, don't go to work on Wednesday."
That had my blood turn cold.
"Why?" I stopped to look at him in alarm. "What are you going to do?"
"I can't say," Ario spread his arms and then glanced over his shoulder. "But I wasn't supposed to tell you that. I can't stop you from telling anyone else, but keep in mind that if you do tell someone, it would only make things worse. People might get hurt."
I was finding it hard to breath. They were going to rob the place, with knives and guns. Of course people would get hurt, the customers, my colleagues. They weren't safe and I wouldn't have been until Ario had just decided to tell me that.
"I can't not tell anyone," I said to him, trying to catch my breath. "You know that."
"You're not okay," Ario stepped towards me, frowning.
"Don't touch me," I said, stiffening and stepping back.
We were alone and it was late, I wasn't exactly in Simpson territory yet but I had been heading home, stupidly letting him know I lived on the West side. I was tired and not thinking straight, come to think of it I couldn't see straight either and I didn't even notice I was falling towards Ario until he caught me in his arms.
I held onto him as tightly as I could, scared and cold. He smelt good, felt warm and was a sense of comfort. I knew nothing was making sense right now, everything was upside down and jumbled – quite like my head.
"Hey, I've got you," he said, sounding nothing like a cold-blooded gang member but more like a normal, concerned person.
"I'm okay," I tried not to shake as hard. "I've got some water in my back, please, help me get it."
I faintly thought about how this would be giving Ario the perfect opportunity to rob me, but he didn't go for my purse he rummaged around and found my water bottle instead.
"Here," Ario unscrewed it and held it to my lips.
He was gentle and I drank the rest of the water I had. It made me feel better after a few moments and I let go of Ario, expecting him to do the same as he still had one arm clamped around my body, holding me up.
"Better?" he looked at me, his lips slightly parted as he frowned in what looked like genuine concern.
"Yeah," I said, taking a step back from him. "Thank you."
"No problem," he was still frowning, unconvinced.
"I have to go," I said, and I started walking away before he would suggest that he accompany me to make sure I get home okay. Or maybe I was thinking too much of Walter.
"Don't forget what I said," Ario called after me.
Walking home was long and hard but I made it alright. During the journey I couldn't stop worrying about what Ario had said. I needed to call my manager and let him know that the Santiagos were planning something, else my conscience would never let me go if something terrible did happen. I couldn't help but also wonder why Ario had essentially saved me from potential danger, because I did in fact work Wednesdays after school and I wouldn't have had a clue about a thing. He was nicer than I'd ever thought, helping me like that.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I reached my block of flats. There on the path on several feet away stood Walter. I could have completely missed him, it was very dark and he was wearing a black hoodie drawn over his head.
I hadn't seen him in over a week and my hands started shaking. I was nervous, why was he here? Did he want to talk to me, or had he already tried buzzing my door? There was hope, hope that despite my reasons, he (like me) wanted to forget all the stuff I'd said and just start over again.
Walter's eyes bored into mine and I couldn't look away. He didn't smile.
"Walter," I breathed, but he was already gone.
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