"Can you hear me? Miss Hayes, can you feel my hands?"
A distant sound came from the nurse's lips to my ears as I struggled to stay awake in the chair I was sitting, examined by miss Daisy, trying to process the fact that moments ago I was on the floor getting my ass beat. I suddenly felt something wet and cold touching the sides of my neck and then wrists.
"That should help" it did. I realized it was water that was applied to me, and the cold sensation made me open my half-shut eyes. "There she is" miss Daisy smiled. "How are you feeling?"
I shrugged my shoulders "How should I be feeling?" I asked "for your height, weight, and record... a verge before death. I promise you're going to be just fine though" she smiled reassuringly.
After a few more minutes of her asking me yes or no questions -as I couldn't master to say much more-, I was free to go, but not before I got hit with a sentence capable to wake me up for good.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Mr. Thomson wants you in his office. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure everything will be fine. Besides, your brother is here"
I was glad I wasn't holding anything because I surely would've dropped it. Cole was here? In the back of my mind I hoped, prayed, wished for it to be Jason but the logical part of my brain knew it wasn't him. I stood up and walked towards the office door, after reassuring the nurse I was capable of walking to the office on my own.
The walk towards the office felt shorten than ever and I dreaded the moment I'd have to walk through that door. Sooner than appreciated I was outside the door, and I could hear my brother's voice
"You call my sister a bitch once more time and I swear it's not gonna end well for you" my brother's voice could be heard.
"Mr. Hayes please don't drop the bar"
"Bring it on, I'm not scared to make your face blue too!" her  voice was heard after, ignoring the principal entirely.
I knocked on the door, realizing it was a good time to cut their conversation short. I heard my principal's voice and let myself inside, facing my attacker's cold stare as well as my brother's angry but also concerned one. "Miss Hayes, please take a seat"
I took hold of one of the empty chairs close to my brother bringing it to the center of the room, facing Mr. Thomson as I found it was the safest spot for me to be at. Not daring to look at my brother, or her, I just kept my eyes on the posters on the wall, as if it was a normal day.
"So?" I turned my attention to my principal, questioningly. "Maybe you'd like to explain why we're here?" he asked and I was brought back from my trance. "Oh sure, I could. Uh... I don't know. I got kicked out of class because I was late, then I went outside to wait for the break, and uh, I got beat up" I smiled.
Not a second after I heard mystery girl scoff, clearly not happy with my answer. Around then was the point when things went downhill even more than they were going before. "That's a funny way to put it, but now if you'll excuse me I'm going to tell the truth how I know its real"
"Enlighten us" the principal spoke, boredom lacing his words. "This chick, who loves to victimize herself-" -" Watch that mouth I'm sitting right here" Cole interrupted, facing her attitude. "Can you stop chiming in like a bastard little baby? No one's even talking to you, dog" she spat back, her attitude over the roof, making Cole even more furious than he already was. "Who are you to tell me when to speak and when not? Aren't you the bitch that went out of her way to come here and beat my little sister?" Cole fired back making my principal sigh and fall back into his chair, palming his face and muttering under his breath "Not this again"
The girl to my left slammed her hand against the desk and stood up taking an aggressive step forward, moving closer to my brother "Did you just call me a bitch?"
"Other than being brainless are you also deaf? I think I made myself pretty clear the first time, I don't like repeating myself" Cole spoke and leaned back on his chair arrogantly. I on the other hand wasn't feeling so confident as I knew that if she revealed which boy this charade was happening over I would be found dismembered in a ditch.
Mystery girl moved past the initial shock and mimicked Cole's stance, crossing one of her legs over the other. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. I don't think you would be as protective of her as you are right now if you knew what I'm talking about" when her words registered in my brain I sank deeper into my chair as if, if I sank deep enough I would be able to escape.
"Miss, would you please finish what you were saying so we can get a grip on the situation?" Mr. Thomson pleaded.
" Of course. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, this chick was talking to her friends about getting it on with my boyfriend, who I'm pretty sure she's crazy for as well, and-"
"Wait a second, so you came all the way here, broke in the school and beat up a student because you're sure she likes your boyfriend" the principal asked, clearly not amused by the situation and getting seemingly more and more upset as he realized he was wasting his time on our case. Cole on the other hand seemed to be getting more and more interested.
"On that note, who is your boyfriend again?" Cole turned to her, raising one eyebrow suspiciously.
"It's not who I think it is, is it now?" he eyed me suspiciously and I turned my head away as I knew I was guilty. "Don't tell me you don't know who's living next to you" she smiled mischievously and played with her black hair, loving the fact that she was in fact winning.
"Oh no, you did not" my brother turned to me and I opened my mouth to protest- with no luck, as it seemed Cole wasn't in the mood for talking. Before I could stop him he stood up and grabbed me by the arm, almost dragging me out of the office. My various attempts to stop him by whisper-yelling, kicking, and moving around like a seal all failed miserably, as no matter what I did he kept moving, leading us away.
When we finally stopped I could see what an awful state he was in, his face red and veins popping out on his neck. I knew that no matter what I said it would only make the situation worse. With that in mind, I decided to keep my mouth shut and wait until he spoke first. Running a hand through his hair and tugging at it slightly, he started taking leaps around me.
"Unbelievable. This is unbelievable. I get a call, not even an hour into the school day, and have the pleasure of hearing your principal telling me that my sister had gotten into a fucking fight and is badly injured! So I come here only to find out this happened for the low life living next door? Un-fucking-believable" he paused, and I kept my gaze to the ground, at a loss of words that could make this any better, giving him the chance to give a full show.
"I-I don't even know what to say and she's saying that you were talking about messing around with him? When this morning you swore up and down that nothing was going on between you two? Is there anything else I should know? Like if you're pregnant it's a good tim-"
"-Cole! can you please stop yelling? We're still at school and I don't want to get more ridiculed than I already have. Just let me explain."
"Explain? There's an explanation to this mess? And what makes you think I want to hear it? There's only so much bullshit a man can take in the span of a few hours" he paused and I opened my mouth thinking he would stop talking for once and I would be able to get myself out of this position. But no, he had more to say. "How can you explain that not only are you talking about doing such outrageous things with him but also the fact that things have escalated to the point where his girlfriend, his damn girlfriend sees you as a nuisance to her relationship?"
"if only you would stop talking and let me speak for once, you would know that all this is a very poor misunderstanding. Everything started when Bailey and I were out at the mall and she thought it would be very funny if she teased me about being with Aiden who I absolutely don't think of romantically and she knows that, which is what made her think she was being funny"
"But if bailey knows there's nothing romantic about how you feel towards him then why did she even come up with such a 'bizarre' scenario?" he narrowed his eyes, clearly not convinced.
"I-I don't know, okay? Ask her, not me" If only someone would've told me that he would've taken my words seriously I never would have spoken. "Very bright idea. That's exactly what I'll do. In fact I don't even have to look far, she's in one of these classrooms isn't she? Why don't we go get her and ask her what she has to say about her oh-so-funny jokes?"
At that point I think any colour left of my face disappeared, and that along with my bruises surely made me look like a corpse. Having no other option but to agree I waited with him until the break. In the meantime we found out that my attacker -whose name I found out was Lindsay- was taken straight to the police station as not only was she not a student of the school but also she was an adult. Bailey, I want to murder you with my bare hands.
Time seemed to be passing slower than slow and I could almost physically feel Cole's aggression in the atmosphere. I wished I could somehow cast a spell and escape as I really didn't want to be in the middle when Bailey got out of class. She wasn't dumb, she'd find something to say and most likely - as she's a master at lying, cole wold believe her, but my nerves were getting the best of me once more.
I took a seat on one of the more discreet places in the yard while my brother chose to stand. Time went by and soon the cafeteria was filling up with people. I took that as my queue to text Bailey - with Cole's supervision of course - to come outside. She read my text and soon enough she was coming towards us, shock plastered on her face once she saw what state I was in. "What happened? Who did this? How? When?" she examined me frantically. Noticing Cole's figure she greeted him before asking why he was here. "You should know, you had something to do with this" Cole pointed to me, making Bailey turn to me, confused. I only lowered my gaze.
"Me? Oh, I would never do this to her, plus I was in class, I promise I didn't do it this time!" she defended herself and I chuckled. "That's not what he means Bey" I managed to let out "Then what is he saying?" she asked and I gave her a brief explanation of what happened this morning, watching as her mouth dropped and she opened it quickly to say something but closed it when her attention went back to how Cole was still standing next to us.
"And what could I've got to do with this?" she asked him, her hands crossing over her chest, eyebrows raising.
"The reason this girl thought that my sister was fooling around with her boyfriend was some jokes you made when you two were at the mall. She heard you and thought you were being serious. Now Bailey, I have a question for you. Why did you make these jokes in the first place? I'm just genuinely curious" Cole out emphasis on those last words, pointing at me with his head and shooting a fake smile at her, that only indicated that he was losing his patience. Bailey raised her eyebrows, she was caught off guard by his question.
"All this is just a funny misunderstanding, you know how girls like her are, I mean-"
"Do you know how they are? You haven't even seen her" Cole fired, not backing down for even a second.
"You're right but it's not that hard to guess, I mean look at what she did to Eve. Anyway, what I said at the mall was just jokes. We had met with the guys earlier and we brought up the subject of dating and what would happen if we all turned into couples. We were just joking around and I thought it was funny to bring it up again cause she was paired with Black as they're the couple least likely to happen. No one knows how to take a joke anymore" she finished and jokingly sighed, trying to lighten up the mood.
I was stunned, she came up with this whole scenario so quickly and pulled it off so smoothly that even I was convinced that it had actually happened. Cole on the other hand didn't seem so convinced but the fact that I didn't get to speak to Bailey before she came here made him less doubtfull about it.
Seeing that Cole didn't reply to that, Bailey turned to me "Did you get in trouble? Where's the bitch at? There's still time for revenge girl, people have been testing me all morning" I laughed, "Calm down, I'm only expelled for a day and she went to the police station so I'm all set. Well kind of" I pointed towards my bruises.
"Can we please go home, now?" I asked Cole, people were starting to pass by and stare and I knew that soon enough they would hear about the fight. I definitely didn't want to be there when they did. Seems like a pattern for today, huh? "Sure" he replied. I said my goodbye's with Bailey and left with Cole, neither of us saying a word to each other.
When we got home I went straight to the bathroom. My reflection was shocking to say the least, and I wondered when I'd look normal again. My hair was tangled, regardless of my earlier attempts to make it appear presentable. My lip was already starting to swell and there was bruising all around. My head was aching badly but I was glad to see that there was no blood. The unsettling fact of the matter though was that I couldn't stop the pounding and dizziness. I felt a stage before throwing up.
I was glad Jason was already at school so that I'd get the chance to cover up the mess before he came back. I didn't want to worry him. As for my mother, I wasn't sure whether or not she had been informed about the incident, but I didn't really care. She didn't come and that was all I needed to know.
I went back to my room to remove my dirty clothes, only to find Cole already there. Ugh. "If you're here to reprimand me, please don't. It's not the time for such a thing" I palmed my face.
"I'm not here for that, or to fight or anything like that. But I do wanna talk" he sighed and I did too. I was so drained, I really couldn't bear to talk to him but I wanted no more tension and if a conversation between us would make things better then so be it.
I walked into the room and grabbed my chair, rolling it close to me and taking a seat. Feeling a nuisance behind me, I noticed Aiden's hoodie was draped on the back. I removed it and threw it on the bed "That's actually what I wanted to talk about" he took hold of the hoodie himself and examined it. Great.
"Today your health was put in danger because of him-" "- he didn't do anything, it wasn't his fault" I spoke back, defending him in a calm voice, I couldn't master anything more anyway. "That's exactly what i'm talking about. he didn't even do anything himself yet look at you. It's not just him that isn't good for you but everything associated with him as well"
"I can't block him out of my life Cole, please try to understand that. His intentions are nothing but good and he's trying to show that so why don't you see it?"
"Even if that's the case, you need to understand that there are things that he's done that he can't take back, and I can't just forget and let him walk back into your life with that stuff on the table. There's stuff he can't control yet he seems to think he's invinsible and can take care of everything but he can't and he's just putting you in danger. I think today was a pretty solid example and it was only the best case scenario"
"You realize you're only making this-" I pointed a tiny space with my fingers "-sense right? this is the best case scenario but I dont know what the worst case scenario is so how am I supposed to make the comparison?" I streched my arms out and threw them to my sides in defeat. "You know what I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Can you please leave so I can change? I'm full of dirt"
"'m gonna be in the kitchen, be there once you're done changing. We need to take care of the wounds"
"i don't need you to take care of anything, the nurse already took care of me"
"Regardless, come to the kitchen, I'm not done" he finished and left the room but not without taking Aiden's hoodie with him. I sighed, this was very very horrible and I really wanted the day to be over with already. I looked around the room, I could feel everything turning, my practically empty stomach was ready to burst and empty its self everywhere. I rubbed my temples and sighed, I wanted to scream so badly. I looked outside my window and faced my dear neighbour's room, reminding myself I still had business I hadn't took care of and something told me my brother wasn't going to let me do it soon.
Realizing I had no other option but to face my brother and get this over with, I walked my downstairs. He was sitting on the couch, hands crossed, his knee moving rapidly up and down. "What is it" I asked and took a seat across from him. "You're not seeing him again. I can't let you risk everything just for him"
"What's everything? My reputation? Already ruined for the most part. Money? I didn't have much to begin with. Friends? My real friends know what the truth is and whoever wants to leave it's on them. So what's everything?"
"Your life, Evelyn. That's everything. At least to me it is. I don't want to find both of you dead because you can't take the consequences of your actions"
I stared at him, stunned. Your life. Regardless of how dangerous that sounded, question marks were still going off in my head. Why me? Why him? How does cole know? What has he got to do with this? Why should I trust him? On one hand, he's my brother. But he lies, hides things, and continuously calls my friend names, because he can't stand him. So can I trust him?
"I'm sorry Cole, I'm going to need more than just that. One thing I hope we can agree on, though, is that me and him do have some things to sort out, starting with what you're holding. I need to give it back to him" I spoke and extended my arm, hoping he would give me the shirt.
"You will, but on my terms- fair enough?"
"Let me hear them first"
"We're not negotiating, Eve. Text him you're on your way" he responded and I pulled out my phone, my fingers hovering over the letters. What was I doing? What was he doing? The last thing I wanted was for another fight to break-out and not knowing how to control the situation made me crazy. For a second I thought about warning Aiden of my brother's uknown intentions but my plan soon went to waste as Cole joined me on the couch, looking at me expectedly.
I shook my head, there was no other option.
Me:
Are you home? I'm coming to leave the hoodie.
I grabbed the hoodie my brother had left next to us and stood up, right as Cole did the same. Taking the shirt from me, he smiled and walked towards the door. "I'm taking over from here" I looked at him, questionably, and before I could open my mouth Cole as well as the hoodie were gone. I checked my phone, panic washing over me. No answer from Aiden. Please don't be home, please don't be home.
I ran out the front door, and watched in sheer terror as my brother came face to face with Aiden, and all talk about saving lives went out the window. The moment their gazes locked, it was game over. The tension and aggression between them was so strong, I felt bad for anyone that tried to get between them.
Myself included.