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"And that will include our class for today." Ms. Hallow, the literature teacher, concluded while shutting her classic novel just as the bell rang. "Remember to pick your homework assignments from my table before leaving." Her voice was drowned out by the sound of scraping chairs and bursting chatter as students stood eagerly to get the day over and done with.
Ameena quickly stuffed her books into her backpack and stood.
"Hello!" A chirpy voice echoed in her ear as a familiar hand slid into the crook of hers linking them. Ameena didn't have to turn her face to know who it was, picking two homework off the table she handed one of the copies to Stacy with a smile.
"What's up Stace?" As much as she tried, her voice could never hit the high overexcited notes like Stacy's did. Or look hyperactive most of the time.
"Nothing," Stacy sung with a bounce to her step she tugged Ameena out of the classroom and down the hall, her long blonde ponytail swinging back and forth in a 'swish swish' manner.
Ameena stopped by her locker and opened it balancing her backpack on her knee in order to change the books.
"So..." Stacy began leaning on the locker opposite her, she dropped her voice into a whisper. "Where's Alex?"
"Dunno, probably in track?" She lied through her teeth. In truth, Alex had texted her bright and early in the morning about how he wasn't going to be in school.
Skipping as always, she didn't always approve of it. It started off small, once a week or certain classes. But after some time he started to skip consecutive days, or weeks in a row. She had tried to get him to talk about the reasons as to why he was suddenly avoiding school, or whatever was going on at home but he did what he always did. He smiled with a flippant shrug and changed the topic smoothly.
It was frustrating in all honesty, he was missing a lot in school. Although, that didn't seem to affect his grades because his parents managed to hire for him a tutor at home. But she knew her frustration mostly came from the fact that they didn't spend as much time as they would when he was in school. Now they mostly spent it together in the evening and weekends, not that she would ever bring it up with him. It would just make her sound selfish.
So she did what she always did best; sucked it up and moved on.
Stacy made a noncommittal noise at the back of her throat. "I doubt he's in school."
"Oh?" Ameena shut her locker swinging her backpack over her shoulder. She didn't want to talk about him. At least not to Stacy who clearly had a big crush on him. "You should call him then."
Stacy looked up, then away as she chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully, "Maybe..." The nervous look on her face dissolved into a wide beam. "Did you finish math homework?"
Ameena nodded, "I'll give you when we get to-" Her voice trailed off as a small crowd appeared in front of them blocking the path. Ameena cautiously approached the chattering crowd that seemed to formed a C shape around whatever was happening at the center.
The sound of a body hitting metal followed by a grunt caught her attention. Craning her neck over the heads to catch a proper glimpse, she tip toed moving closer to the crowd. A flash of red hair appeared before disappearing then brown curly hair.
Grunting, Ameena used her elbows to push people aside as she approached the front of the crowd.
Jacob, the school's renowned A-grade asshole, was sitting astride Marcus's chest, a student Ameena had only caught glimpses of in the school hallway. She didn't really know him, but Jacob was a whole other story. He was a tall, beefy, loud, extroverted human with a brain the size of a walnut. Anything that came out of his mouth was either stupidity, insults or spit. Jacob's existence was Ameena's biggest pet peeve.
Despite his built structure, they had bad blood and she was never afraid to call him out for the shitty person he was. And he wasn't afraid to throw insults her way. If they had a relationship, it would be based on physical and verbal altercations.
"Fagot," Jacob taunted, bunching Marcus's collar in his fist lifting him off the ground. Marcus looked scared as shit.
"Are the rumors true that you like dick hmm?" Marcus only clenched his jaw gritting his teeth as Jacob slammed him on the locker painfully. "Do you like it when a boy sticks it up your ass?"
This was another plain example as to why she hated his guts and would've preferred if his mother had swallowed.
He was the prime spawn and indication of growth gone horribly wrong and not only that, to make it worse, he was a racist and a homophobic little cunt.
Imagine all those traits in one sad excuse of a human who had more brawn than brains.
And what angered Ameena more was the teens that stood around, gossiping as they took videos with their cameras already coming up with hashtags for their new Instagram videos. If they had more humanity and a tad bit of sympathy or even a smidge of courage they would've been able to stop it. But no, somehow taking a video of a guy being bullied seemed more interesting.
It was revolting.
Imagine if Marcus suddenly lost his will to live.
Imagine if he wanted revenge, and found it in a pistol that his parents had somewhere.
Another cause of school shootings because they saw the bullying daily, and did nothing to stop it.
Ameena was boiling.
"You fucking Pussy!"
Everyone stopped, the hallway plunged into silence as everyone looked around, eyes zeroing at her. Those who stood beside her moved creating a halo circle, suddenly afraid that the bully would turn to them.
See, they were afraid to become the target. They would rather watch and take a video while a person's life was being ruined, than cry and grieve later on when it was too late.
They were no better than Jacob.
The pin drop silence continued as Jacob's grip on Marcus loosened. Marcus fell to the floor thankfully but quickly scrambled to his feet and ran away without chancing a single glance back.
Jacob's hand fell to his side yet he didn't turn around, like cattle, everyone took a step back, the big bad wolf was angry.
"Your dick must me so tiny and microscopic for you to pick on someone noticeably smaller than you for their sexuality," if she was a cartoon, steam would be emitting from her ears, she was internally imaging herself smashing his head into the locker.
Let's see how he'd like it.
The fucker laughed, laughed. Ameena felt her hands clench, "Who let you off the cotton field," everyone gasped but she was expecting it, he knew jabs like those seeped into her skin.
She was only one in the fifteen percent of poc (person of color) students in this school.
Of course racist pigs like him weren't too hard to come by.
"Your mother did you little shit," her fingers were just itching to leave dent in his jaw. Why couldn't God do everyone a favor and make shits like him colorblind at birth.
"My mother wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole bitch."
Oh right, the parents, it was the parents fault. How could she forget they were the reason of his poisoned mind.
"I'm sure she permanently rammed it up in your ass already, a shame she forgot to take your head from up there first."
Ameena allowed herself to bask in his reaction to her comeback, the way his beady eyes squinted into a glare, beefy hands curling into fists at his side.
People thought she was walking on thin ice with Jacob, but to her Jacob was far from scary. If anything, his tall and beefy posture only made him sadder. If you took a moment to properly get a good look of him, Jacob's face was more of an overgrown baby, with plump soft cheeks and a bulb nose.
The turd was probably getting a lack of love at home, what better way that to take it out on the smallest person he could find.
Pathetic.
A part of her always imagined what he would look like if his permanent scowl was replaced with a cheerful smile, and the word vomit in his mouth replaced with rainbows.
"Someone needs to put your black ass in place." He was slowly approaching her, his tall wide build intimidating to everyone but her. Instead, Ameena raised her chin meeting his dark gaze with an equally furious one.
"Is your ass jealous of all that shit that comes out of your mouth?"
A low murmur passed through the crowd as people teetered closer to the ongoing brawl, silently praying they'd break out into a fight, she didn't even have to guess.
Where were those teachers now.
A muscle in Jacob's cheek jumped as he stared down at her, "Think you can talk to me like that?" the corner of his mouth quirked upwards.
"Your white boyfriend ain't here to protect your ass. So maybe I'll consider forgiving you if you get down on your hands and knees where you belong," his voice dropped into a whisper, "and suck like the good nigger slut you ar—"
He didn't get to finish, she lunged at him, hands outstretched ready to rip the eyeballs out of his sockets. It was enough to catch Jacob off guard as they both tumbled to the ground. She couldn't take it it anymore, her fingernails attacked his face planting long gashes that he was sure to remember her by.
Students were crowding around, cheering them on, fists pumping the air but all Ameena could hear was the rush of blood in her ears as she punched Jacob square in the chin, another and another in his jaw and eye.
He snarled like the little animal he was, "Crazy bitch!" She barely recognized the impacts of his fist in her sides at her ribs, she was running on adrenaline the only thing she could thing of was one less motherfucker on the earth as she punched him in his throat.
Despite Jacob being bigger than her physically, she made up for her flaws with quick punches, slashing and clawing at whatever open skin was visible. She was mad with rage, striking him till her fingers and knuckles ached from the impact. Jacob managed to evade her fist which sent it into the ground beside his head, this time she felt the bones in her knuckles tremble, while coughing he then managed to drive a forceful punch into her solar plexus, knocking the breath from her body
She felt blood pool in her mouth, first her ribs now her gut.
Ameena slumped and tried rolling away but he grabbed a handful of her hair yanking her directly underneath him as he straddled her torso pressing down on her.
She struggled, forcefully landing another punch into his nose before he caught her arm. She could hear the raucous shouting from students around her.
Welcome to the 21st century, she thought solemnly, where capable teens would rather watch and video a brutal physical altercation than do anything to stop it when they can.
"You bitch!" He screamed as blood dripped from his nose and the deep gashes on his face, she was proud to say she did him good, the dark colorful bruise was already forming on his eye.
And they call us colored, she thought bitterly.
"You'll pay for this you stupid bitch!"
Instead of replying, Ameena gurgled a mouthful of her blood that was already dripping down her chin, before raising her chin and spitting it on his face. Watching with smug satisfaction as the it landed smack on his forehead, slowly dribbling down the bridge of his nose. It was a multitude of colors on white canvas formed from shit.
She was too lost in her momentary victory to see him remove the camping flick knife.
She caught the flash of stainless steel silver just as the crowd silenced, most likely finally seeing the seriousness of the moment.
It all happened so fast, one moment she was fine and the next a searing pain shot up from her right eyelid past her brow.
• • •
"I said I'm fine." Ameena swiped at the nurse's hand for the nth time once she was done checking up on the bandage that the doctor had wrapped.
The elder nurse looked at her down at her, her lips pursing, "Are you okay child? That could've been very serious had they hadn't pulled him off you."
No, she wasn't okay, she had to sit up awkwardly not to upset the bruises on her sides, her ribs ached, her gut was more than killing her and she could not get the metallic copper taste out of her mouth and the back of her throat, but she'd never tell the nurse that.
Next thing you know they start blowing the fight out of proportion and it ends up on the news somewhere.
She smiled at the nurse and shook her head, trying to ignore the covering on her right eye, the nurse spared her another concerned glance before exiting the room leaving her alone on the stiff bed.
"I fucking hate hospitals," she frowned at the room that only smelt like antiseptic and bleach. She couldn't wait for them to release her with her mother.
Ameena reached for the painkiller tablets the nurse had left on a metallic saucer, it was for the headache as well as pain, she took it up and downed it with a glass of water.
The cut was deeper than she had initially thought, running from the top of her eyelid and across her eyebrow and stopped about halfway in her forehead. It hurt like a bitch on crack and could've blinded her if he went deeper, it was not as bad as the stitches the doctor gave her. They used as little antiseptic as possibly because of her eye and then sew the thing up.
"It would definitely leave a scar," she murdered solemnly, touching the bandage that was wrapped around her eye like a pirate's.
"Warriors do carry battle scars." She murmured again staring into the mirror placed directly on the nurse's table, running her fingers lightly over the bandage. Just then the door burst open making her jump, Alexander ran in, chest rising and falling quickly, his breath short. His eyes scanned the room before it settled on her, he breathed a sigh of relief only gasp again halfway through.
Ameena whipped around quickly and they both stared at each other in silence, he looked different today, in a neatly pressed black suit which was crinkled and surely messed up from his run. The top buttons were popped open and tie loosely hanging. Ameena couldn't think of anything proper to say at the moment so she settled for the obvious.
"Nice weather isn't it?" She grinned.
Alex didn't seem to have heard it because his eyes were roaming all over her face, darkening as he took in the large bandage wrapped over her eye and eyebrow. The temperature in the room dropped to minus forty as he slowly approached her, lips pressed into a thin line.
The last time Ameena had seen him this angry was when his older brother killed his pet bird. And even then, he didn't have such a murderous glint to his eyes. She shot up off the stiff bed, feeling slightly dizzy for a moment.
"Ameena," He only used her full name was he was dead serious. "Who did this?"
Ameena chuckled nervously reaching up to rub her other brow before wincing, "Now's not the day to go hurting people..." It was hypocritical of her but that glint in his eyes and dead serious face gave her chills.
With each step he took forward, she took one back till her back was pressed on the opposite wall. His figure looming over hers dangerously. She could tell he knew by the look in his eyes, he knew they had really bad blood so he must know that the fight was just waiting to happen. He knew the only person who could rile her up to this point was Jacob.
"I'm not going to hurt him," He said the next words deadly slow, "I'm going to murder him."
"Alex-" Ameena began reaching out for him but he spun on his heels already walking out of the room. Each step he took radiated the amount of rage that was brewing inside of him, solely directed towards one person. For the first time in her life, Ameena actually feared for Jacob. As much as she hated him
The next day Jacob never came to school.
The day after, he was found half dead, lying battered outside a bar. Shattered collarbone, five broken ribs and a broken jaw that had to be wired shut for a few days. When questioned he only told everyone he was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong side of town.
But Ameena knew the truth, she saw it in his eyes every single time she had the unfortunate of catching his glimpse, he was more than afraid of her.
They avoided each other for the rest of the whole school year, more like he avoided her like the plague.
Alex never skipped school again.