I opened my eyes, and realized Carter wasn't on top of me anymore. Sitting up, a bit too quickly, I saw Carl, Julio's friend coming over to me. I gave him a confused look as he bent down in front of me. My vision was slightly blurred from the tears and the room felt like it was spinning from the panic that had risen in my chest.
"Amelia, are you alright?" he asked me, concern weaving its way into his voice.
I nodded slightly and stood uneasily. Carl stood up with me and held onto my arm for support. I used the back of my hand and wiped the tears from my eyes, making my vision a lot clearer. I guess now I felt a little bit calmer because I wasn't in any immediate danger. I actually trusted Carl for some strange reason. I smiled thankfully at him and was about to say something when I heard a choked sound.
"Get her out of here," a voice said from behind me.
I froze. Julio. It was Julio. I turned around and saw him holding Carter by the throat against the wall. Anger shined in his eyes as the muscles in his arm flexed. I felt kind of light headed but regained myself. I could tell he had no problem in taking Carter out, but I just didn't want Julio to get mixed up in this. He already had me taking up half his bedroom, he didn't need any more of me in his life.
I pulled myself away from Carl's loose grip and made my way to Julio. He looked at me furiously. I swallowed the scary feeling in my body and maintained eye contact. It really was the scariest thing to have an angry Julio on your hands.
"Julio, let him go. Please. He's not even worth it. I don't want you to get mixed up in this mess. Please," I said, looking him in the eyes.
His eyes didn't show anything but anger. We stayed there staring into each others eyes for what felt like an eternity. Finally without looking away from my eyes, Julio let go of his tight grip and Carter dropped to the floor, attempting to suck in as much air as possible. Before I could say anything, Julio took off.
I looked at Carl, and the two of us practically ran after him, leaving Carter on his own. That pig deserved a good beating, but Julio shouldn't have to waste his time on him.
"Julio," we called at the same time, trying to raise our voices over the booming speakers which now played 'Where have you been' by Rihanna.
He was out the front door in a matter of seconds. Carl and I followed him. Carl however was stopped by someone, I glanced back and gave him a worried look and turned back to him. His helpless look proved to me though that he wasn't going anywhere any time soon. I decided to leave him and continued after Julio on my own.
He was nowhere in the front yard which was now littered with plastic cups and drunk people puking in the bushes. I scrunched my nose in disgust and made my way to the footpath. I could just make out his tense figure in the dark. I slipped out of my heels and holding them in one hand, I ran after Julio.
"Julio! Julio, wait," I called out to him.
He just kept walking, so, running as fast as I could, I caught up to him and grabbed his arm. His skin felt so warm and I felt a little jolt of electricity run through my hand, up my arm and disappear in my chest. His muscles tensed under my light grip.
"What?" he growled, and though his voice was pretty low, it sent shivers up and down my spine. It forced me back a little, until I came into contact with the brick wall behind me. There was a clatter as my shoes slipped from my grip and dropped to the ground. I forced the part of me that was screaming to run into the back of my mind and remained where I was.
Julio turned so that his whole body faced me. It was so dark outside but somehow I could still make out his dark eyes glaring at me. I took a shaky breath and let my hand drop from where it was on his arm.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," I whispered, too afraid to speak properly.
Julio didn't say anything, just stood there staring at me. After a few seconds passed between us, he turned and walked away. I watched his back as he kept walking, not even looking back to see if I followed him again or not. I inhaled and leaned my head against the brick wall behind me, looking up at the stars.
What do I do now Mum? I silently asked. I hoped that she was watching over me. It made me feel a little better knowing if she was still looking out for me.
~~
I slammed my locker door shut. I could tell that almost everyone had a hangover from the party last night. I wander who the genius was that threw a party on a Tuesday night when school's on in the morning. So far I had managed to avoid Carter or any of his friends. Sadly though, Julio had avoided me.
It was lunch time and I made my way to the cafeteria. I had no idea where I was going to sit. Santana had an excursion today, Carter was off the list and the girls who were my friends turned their backs on me. I looked around the place and saw someone waving to me. I smiled at Carl and made my way to his table.
"Hey Amelia," he said casually.
"Hi," I replied, taking a seat.
He sat with three other friends. I recognized them from my physics class. Though I knew I had a few classes with some of them. Alex was the polite one. He had amazing green eyes and dark hair. His jaw was quite defined and his tan was almost as amazing as Julio's. He was also in my maths class.
Hector was the shortest in the group. He had black hair and blonde tips on the end of it. His eyes were of a blue tinge. We shared English as well as biology. The third was the quietest. His name was Rafael. His hair was slightly red and his eyes were a nice hazel. He seemed to be a lot paler than the rest and he was also quite skinnier.
They were actually quite interesting to sit with. Alex picked on Hector for getting busted by his Ma and in the end getting grounded. I laughed with them for some time, before they fell silent. I turned my head and watched Julio walk into the cafeteria. I swallowed and looked back at the boys.
"Well, I better go," I said, getting ready to stand.
Carl grabbed my arm and Alex smiled warmly.
"Don't be ridiculous," Hector told me.
I sat, unsure of what to do. We all waited quietly for Julio to arrive at our table. When he did, he sat and didn't even acknowledge my existence. I looked up at the rest of the boys and they just shrugged in reply.
"What's up with you?" Hector asked, taking a bite out of the red apple in front of him.
Julio barely even looked at him as he replied; "Nothing."
Everyone then went back into an awkward silence. The minutes ticked by uncomfortably before finally the bell went. I smiled and said bye to the boys and made my way to get my books. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could; Julio's presence was making me more and more nervous by the second, so it was no surprise that I was the only one in the hallway.
I grabbed for my History books and closing my locker, jumped back when Carter's face came into sight, too close for my liking.
"What do you want?" I asked.
I didn't feel any fear. I just felt annoyance. How could I be so stupid to think he was the same? Of course he wasn't. I was just too blind to see it. Julio saw it though and he tried to warn me, but I was just too stubborn to listen to him. Either way, we were at school now, so it's not like Carter can try anything on me now.
"Hey babe. I just wanted to apologize for what happened last night, I was seriously drunk," he said, trying to sound convincing with his 'sincere' apology.
"Right," I said, walking away.
He grabbed my arm and pushed me into the lockers.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, you bi-"
His words were cut off as a fist connected with his cheek. I turned my head to see who that fist belonged to and was astounded when it was Julio's. A smile came across my face as Carter sat on the floor in shock.
"When will you learn your lesson?" Julio growled out loud before picking him up by the collar. I was so shocked at how easily he did it. He definitely was superman, and at this moment he was my hero.
He slammed his fist into Carter's face once more. This time it connected with his nose. Blood began to flow freely as Julio let him go, as though he were disgusted. I don't know what came over me, but at that moment I threw myself at Julio, wrapping my arms around his neck and placing a small kiss on his cheek.
"Thank-you," I whispered into his ear before taking off to class.
JULIO'S POV
She kissed me. It was all I could think of. It may have been the tiniest peck on my cheek but she'd never shown such affection towards me. I touched my cheek where her lips left a tingling, electrical feeling. I smiled smugly to myself before finally zoning into what the teacher in my biology class was talking about.