A'Lyrics POV

Today is Monday. I've finally gotten over the fear of someone following me. It's still a feeling, in the back of my head, that my rapist is coming back for me. I took Malik out of his previous daycare and enrolled him to one closer to my school. If anything were to happen, he'd be two minutes away.

"Hellooo, Ms.Keys, do you have the answer?" I jumped at the sound of my Calculus teacher, Mr.Brown voice. All eyes were on me as I scanned the board for the question. I was so lost in my own world, I wasn't paying any attention. I slightly turned towards Harmony. She held up 8 fingers.

"Well, now that you realized you're in my class, do you have the answer? And no I will not tell you the question.", he said sitting on his desk, waiting. I was so stubborn that I just sat there. I hated when teachers called on me knowing I wasn't paying attention.

"A'Lyric, we can sit here all day. It's up to you."

I looked around the class. Everybody was rolling their eyes at me, some whispering inaudible words. "Welp, I guess we sitting here all day then. I have nowhere special to be." I said kicking my feet up on the desk and crossing my legs.

"Detention, after school today!", he said writing a disciplinary slip. I took my feet off the table and started to grab my bag. "No A'Lyric, you're not leaving without answering this damn question. I'm sick of y'all kids trying to run me and my class." Some students laughed but Most was upset that I was interrupting class. "The answer is 8. Damn.", I  yelled.

I stood up and grabbed my bag. "Where do you think you're going?", Mr. Brown asked. I continued out the door, ignoring him and my classmates. I'm so tired of school and we're only a month in. I walked towards the main office, knowing I was definitely getting called in. I don't know why I act out like this. I have a son to raise & doing stupid shit like this ain't helping me.

As I made it to the office, I saw two new girls. Both of them were short, at least 5'2. They were both dark skinned but didn't look to be related. "Omg, you're so pretty.", the one with the dimples, complimented. I smiled making my way to them. "Thank you and your name?"

I wasn't really feeling a vibe off of her. I sensed a bit of jealousy from her. But who's not jealous of me and my sister? The other one stood back and watched in confusion. "I'm Maloni and this is my friend, Kalilah.", she said pointed to the distant one.

"Well, my name is..", I was cut off by Principal Jones. "Ms. Keys! My office, now!", he seemed angry. He's never yelled at me before. "I have to go, I'll see y'all around.", I followed behind him.

"First off, why are you disrupting class again?", he tapped his pen on the desk.

"He's always picking on me. I don't like that class. It's not like I need it. I already got that credit.", I said getting comfortable in the wooden chair.

"Okay question number 2. Why haven't Braydon been to school? Where is he?", Mr. Jones asked, sincerely as I smirked.

I hated having a smart mouth and bad attitude but I wouldn't be myself without it. "That was actually questions 2 & 3. He's been taking Justin's death harder than everyone. And he's been at home, ignoring everyone, including me," I responded.

Yes, Braydon's my boyfriend but I feel that he needs his space. Everyone copes differently. Harmony cries all day, every day. Braydon stays home, and well me, I act out in class.

"Lyric, stop with the calm, cool and collected act. We've all had to experience this. He was my son for crying out loud. You can't disrupt class as you grieve. If you can't handle being here, talk to me. We can't have you taking away from other students education privileges," he banged his fist on the table.

I kinda felt bad. He's lost his only son and here I am being selfish. "It's not even just about Justin, Mr. J. The boy that raped me years ago, I think he's back. The incident that happened with Harmony the other day? That was supposed to me. Justin and Braydon would be the ones to defend me but Justin's gone and because of him being gone, so is Braydon," I semi-yelled, getting worked up.

I bit my tongue so that I could literally bite back my tears. Mr. J stood and I could feel him staring at me. After a minute, he walked around and hugged me. I finally let my tears escape onto his shirt. "Don't mind me, Mr. J, you know I'm tough.", I laughed pulling out of his embrace.

"Yea I know you are, which is why I expect you to help your sister and Braydon to get through this as well. Not stopping cla...", he was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Thanks for calling Hazelwood Central. This is Princi... Oh NO! When?... Umm, she's actually right here." he looked over at me. With all the bad stuff going around, I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I was gonna vomit. I stood up and walked to the trash can. "Okay, sorry for your loss.", he said as he hung up.

Loss, Sorry, She's right here, Oh No? My head was spinning as I was tryna piece together the phone call. "A'Lyric, sit down. I have some news to share with you."