Carter's wounds caught up to him and he passed out after running his mouth. I took that opportunity to log into Tomasia's account on the school app, and searched for Arisa's home address. If Khaleel was going to play dirty then I had to do the same. He stole time away from me and now I was on a mission to return the favour. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he found me standing at her doorstep. It was game on.
The drive over took over fifteen minutes because of the mix-up. I thanked the associates for dropping me off and stepped out of the car. They told me to stay safe and gave me their business cards in case of an emergency. As the car drove off, I plugged in my earphones and turned on my playlist. Lately, I had been listening to a lot of instrumental soundtracks but once in a while I would switch to indie pop. I hoped playing a couple of tracks would get me through the lull.
I was wrong.
Four songs later and Arisa and Khaleel were a no-show. I started to get worried. What if something happened to them on the way back? What if Dobberman was ready to ambush her again? Khaleel could handle him. He was strong enough to fight a few guys on his own but what if there were more than that? What if a gang of boys got to them? Paranoia struck fear into my heart. I got off the front steps and bolted in the school's direction. I barley made it to the intersection when I spotted Arisa on the other side of the street. Her head was turned up to glare at the sky, and she was passionately grumbling to herself. Then she dropped on her feet and held her head, looking rather miserable.
I quickly caught up to her. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Where is Khaleel?"
Arisa almost toppled over. She dusted herself off and stood up. "You scared me," she said, avoiding eye-contact. "What are you doing here?"
"I asked you first," I retorted.
Arisa moved to cross the street and left me to follow her footsteps. "Where is Khaleel?" I repeated.
"Don't know," she said, making her way up the street.
I grabbed her wrist and forced her to stop walking. "What happened?" I asked, trying to fill the gap between us.
"N-Nothing," Arisa stammered.
I was not the mood for her ambiguity. "Do I need to call him and ask?"
Arisa whipped around and yanked her arm away. "Maybe you should!" she got upset. "Call that big idiot and ask him what happened! Because I sure as hell cant make sense of it! I mean, a girl tells him no, and he takes that as an invitation?"
"An invitation to what?"
Arisa's face turned pale. "Nothing—I don't know!" she exclaimed hiding her face. "Stop asking me so many difficult questions!"
"They're not difficult," I said. "You just need to tell me the truth so I can help you."
Arisa looked up at me. Her eyes were glistening, like she was fighting the urge to cry. I had never seen her wear that expression before. "Please," I pleaded, going to hold her shoulders. "Tell me what happened."
"He kissed me," was the the beginning of her story. Arisa walked me through the events and by the end of it, I lost feeling in all my limbs. I knew Khaleel let his emotions get the better of him from time to time, but I never throught he would go as far as that. A kiss was innocent enough until it was forced onto someone who didn't want it. I couldn't help but think of Tomasia in that moment and what she had gone through with Dobberman. I couldn't help remember the look on her face when I walked in on her and that scum bag in the student council room. My blood boiled as I relived the experience. Tomasia, she looked so scared, so alarmed, and frail. Her lipstick smeared and her hair completely dishevelled.
"I'm sorry," Arisa said, averting her eyes.
"You don't need to apologize," I told her. "It's not your fault."
"I kissed him back," Arisa reminded me. "I had the chance to push him away and I didn't. I have to apologize for that."
I brought her in for a hug. "You did nothing wrong," I assured her. "Nothing at all."