Chapter Six.
Until You.
"So, how would you rate your first full day of school here? Scale from 1-10?" Rova asked as we walked to our dorm.
I thought for a moment, "Solid -3 out of 10." He laughed, he always laughed at my jokes.
"Jayden seems to like you." He said matter-of-factly.
I snorted. "What? He obviously has it out for me."
Rova shook his head. "No, if he didn't like you then he would stay silent. He just needs to get used to you and then it'll be all good. He doesn't adjust to change very well."
I nodded, understanding what he meant. Change is an awful thing in my opinion. It ruins everything.
"Well I wouldn't mind if he hated me." I said as we arrived at our dorm.
Rova gave me a confused look, "Why?"
"It would make things more interesting."
He laughed and unlocked our door.
So..Jayden doesn't hate me? Does that mean he likes me? I've never cared if people liked me or not but for some reason I felt the need to make him like me.
We had about an hour before dinner. Rova said he wanted to sleep, because god that man can get some long ass sleep hours.
I sat on the fire escape, staring out into the woods that surrounded our huge school.
I heard a tap on the window and I turned around, Calla was giving me a confused look. He opened the window and I crawled back inside.
"Why do you like it out there so much? It's October and freezing."
I shrugged. "I like the cold."
"Alright well we are leaving for dinner once Rova finally 'fixes his hair.'" He said putting air quotes around the hair part.
I laughed.
Jayden entered the room, running his hands through his dark hair.
"Your face is red." He said poking my cheek, "Oh and cold. Why the hell were you outside?"
His fingertip was warm, it comforted me.
Calla interrupted, "He's psychotic and likes the cold."
Jayden crossed his arms. "As do I, but I'm not psychotic?"
Calla smirked, "but aren't you?"
Rova walked in right as Jayden was going to beat Calla's ass.
"Boys, let's not show bad examples to our perfect angel, okay?" He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and guiding me to the front door, Calla and Jayden following.
"Pft 'perfect angel?' Did you see the way he talked to Madam Branton earlier?" Jayden objected.
Was Madam Branton her name? The bitch who slapped me earlier?
"Man that shit was crazy, I can't believe she slapped you! How did you not freak out?" Calla asked, looking over to me.
I shrugged. I was going to say that I was used to it, but that wouldn't get me very far in any friendships. Because who is so damn weak that their own father beats them? Who is so god damn fucking weak that their own father rapes them.
"Lexie?" Rova said, grabbing me out of my zone.
"Huh? Oh uh I don't know. I don't really get hurt, I guess." I explained. It was the truth, most things don't hurt me anymore after what I've been through.
Jayden's stare lingered on me for a moment before shifting to Calla while he ranted about Cars movies again.
We sat at the same seats that we had for lunch and breakfast, I guess this was their table that I was now invited to.
Then it dawned on me.
I had friends?
Were these boys my friends?
Was I in a friend group?
The only friends I had ever had were people I hooked up with for money or people who sold me drinks and cigarettes since I'm underage.
And so far, having friends isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed it, really. The way Rova always laughed at my jokes even when they weren't that funny. The way Calla tried his best to include me in every conversation so that I would have something to talk about. Even Jayden's insults felt like some sort of friendly feud. I think that his rudeness towards me is just him trying to adjust to having a new person in his friend group and I'm okay with that.
"Lexieee." Calla's voice snapped me back in reality.
I looked up to him, all three of the boys were looking at me funny.
"Your phone has been ringing for like ever, bro." Rova said with a laugh.
I looked at my phone and opened it, reading the caller ID.
It was Tony.
I mumbled a quick, "sorry."
And walked away to pick up the call.
"Tony?" I said as I answered the call.
"Hey kid. How is it over there?"
I smiled. Hearing him say 'kid' felt sort of..fatherish. I liked it.
"It's not too bad."
"Good, that's good. Grace has been missin' you lots."
I let out a small laugh. "Tell her I miss her too."
"What? You don't miss me or nothin'?" He said with a fake gasp.
"Meh, you were kind of a pain in the ass."
We both laughed, the call going silent for a minute.
"Uhm- I have some news." He said in a serious tone.
"Whoa there Don't- don't tell me you're pregnant or somethin'."
He didn't laugh. Something was wrong.
"They- well..we think.."
"Just spit it out already." I said, annoyed.
"It's about your dad. He-" Tony began but stopped, the line was cutting out.
"Wait Tony- what about him? What-" I tried but the line kept making static noises.
What about my dad?
What happened?
I immediately opened my messages and texted Tony.
TONY
_______________________________________
ME
What happened?
ME
Tony???
ME
Tony tell me what the fuck
happened.
___________________________________________
The messages weren't going through. The school's signal must be cutting out or something, plus it doesn't help that I'm across the ocean from him.
I took a deep breath and ran my hands through my hair, and slowly walked back to my table.
"Hey man? What's wrong? You look a little pale." Calla said, reaching out his hand to feel my forehead.
"You're kinda warm, Lexie. Is everything okay?" He said, worried.
I nodded my head, my breath getting caught in my throat.
Rova and Jayden exchanged confused and worried glances.
"I think-uhm I think- I- I...think.." I tried to speak but my words weren't gathering properly.
I wasn't sure if this was another anxiety attack, I get those quite often.
Calla grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the dining room, and into an empty classroom of some sort.
I couldn't breathe properly, as all my anxiety attacks go.
"Breathe Lexie. In...out..." Calla comforted me.
"no-he-I-" I tried to speak again.
"Shhh....breathe...1....2.....3..." He counted as I calmed.
My head fell onto his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around me and ran his hand up and down my back in circles.
"It's okay, see? You're okay." He whispered.
As much as I've always hated being comforted, this felt nice. To have someone with you when you're upset feels right. Maybe I never hated being comforted, but I was just being comforted the wrong way.
"What happened?" He asked, still hugging me tightly.
I cleared my throat and broke from the hug, looking at the floor.
"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to- I really- I'm so sor-"
"Alex, it's okay. You have nothing to be sorry for." Calla interrupted with a smile.
I looked at him confused. How can he not be mad at me for interrupting his dinner with my pathetic problem?
"Can I ask what happened?" He said, I thought for a moment.
I nodded. "But if I tell you then you can't tell anyone. Okay?"
Calla nodded, and I trusted him enough for him not to gossip about any of my issues.
I trust Calla, which is peculiar considering I don't trust anybody. Or at least I didn't before.
"It's about my dad." So I began from the beginning. I didn't include all the details. I didn't mention anything about the sexual assult towards me or my sister, that's just embarrassing.
But I did explain how my mother committed suicide, how my father was an abusive drunk, and my sister, Molly. How she was my best friend but ran away when she got the chance.
Calla just sat and listened.
I continued to explain how I ran away after my father had some sort of drug dealing gone wrong, how my own father had tried to auction me off to his dealers in order to pay for his cocaine and heroin. Claiming that I could be a slave of some sort.
Dad had actually offered me as a sex slave, telling the men that I was a 'good little twink,' but of course I didn't include that part when I told Calla.
But once I ran away I was homeless, and how Father had been reported to the Police somehow and that he went missing, still not being found despite him disappearing 2 months ago.
I then explained who Tony and Grace were, and why I was so upset.
"Shit, Lexie." He mumbled, chewing on his lip.
I ran my hands through my hair. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have dumped all that shit on you."
Calla gave me a kind smile and opened his arms to hug me, which I suspiciously accepted.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Alex. You did nothing wrong." He comforted me.
Ah there it is again.
Comfort.
My mind wandered, I wonder what Jayden feels like in a hug?
Wait.
What the fuck.
WORD COUNT: 1618
Thank you for reading!
Alex caught lacking fr thinking about jayden... suspcious...
Chapter 7 is out now.