May 15, 2020 edited

Not perfect but better...No plot changes

I woke up when I felt something soft in my hand. Blinking a couple times I noticed the sun was starting to show through my curtains. Moving my hand again I looked down to see my fingers entangled in someone's hair. This person was sitting in a chair with their upper body laying on the bed with their arm draped across my thighs.

The memories of last night's events came back. The training, getting punched in the face hard, being carried, the shower, the bruise, Nick rubbing cream on my bruise after tucking me in than him leaving and M1 sitting in a chair beside my bed. What I don't remember was Nick coming back to my room and me running my hands through his hair. As these memories came roaring back I unconsciously started to play with Nick's hair. Now the embarrassing part was that he had woken up during this time and watched me in my daze as I continued to run my hands over his head.

"Morning Love. How are you feeling?" I removed my hand quickly and sat up. I felt my cheeks start to warm.

"Ah...good. Why are you here?" I grabbed the blanket in time not to flash Nick my goods.

He looked a little disappointed before displaying his known smirk. "Remember it was either this or stay the night in the infirmary. Your bruise looks better. It has already moved from the black and blue stage to a sickly greenish yellow one." I didn't miss the guilt that flashed in his eyes when he looked at it before the smirk was back in place.

"What? Really?" I jumped out of bed barely keeping the towel in place as I rushed to the bathroom. He was right the bruise looked days old now instead of less than 12 hours. "How?" I asked while staring at my reflection.

Nick stood at the door leaning against the frame with his hands in his pocket. "It was the cream. Some old fashioned remedy. It works wonders as you can see. Anyways I need to jump in the shower. I will meet you downstairs. I'm driving you in today. Tony barely slept so I told him to get some sleep." With that he was gone and I was still staring at the miracle in the reflection. Old fashioned remedy? They could make a fortune on this stuff.

I couldn't ignore the growling of my stomach this morning and I knew an apple would not be enough. Dreading the group of people I was most likely to run into I straightened my shoulders and headed downstairs. I didn't care what anyone thought of me. I just really did not like crowds or the questioning stares I no doubt would receive.

"Come eat before it gets cold," Nick greeted me on the other side of the island where he had almost finished his breakfast and pushed a full plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast towards me.

It was just the two of us and I ate quickly. For one reason I was hungry and the other was because I wanted to get out of here. So far I was in a decent mood and I was hoping to stay that way for a little while longer. But of course that little bit of hope came crashing down.

"Hey baby." Some blonde came up wrapping her arms around Nick's neck placing a kiss on his cheek. "Where were you last night? I missed you," she pouted. Her voice alone was like nails on a chalkboard.

"Busy," he grunted. "Listen I will see you later at school. Get a ride with Drew." I really did try to ignore what was happening in front of me but it was hard. The guy that I saw last night was not the same one I first met or even the one in front of me now. Nick was just like him.

I saw his arm snake around her hips before squeezing her ass before pulling her close against his body right before smashing their lips together trying to see who still had their tonsils. It really bothered me and I didn't know why. Sure I thought he was hot but at the same time a douchebag. Maybe it was the small sliver of kinship I felt last night. The concern and guilt I saw in his face. Maybe it was even that possible spark of caring and smaller possibility of friendship blossoming. It didn't matter now because the guy in front of me now made me sick. I remembered he was just a playboy that looked to get into the next girls pants. He was the bully that picked on other kids who were weaker than himself. He was nothing more than my punching bag for last night. It was just like at the beginning with him. I would never allow that to happen again. I would never be that weak again.

Suddenly losing my appetite I disposed of the remainder of my food, placed my dish in the dishwasher and headed up stairs to get my backpack. Not paying attention to where I was going I ran straight into Brad.

"Sorry," I mumbled stepping around Brad to head to my room.

"You ok?" He asked and seemed really curious.

I was about to say fine but remembered what Alexander had told me in the office that day. "Not really. Are you busy right now?" I asked. I really didn't want to spend any time with Nick at all.

"All yours. What's up," He asked, giving me his full attention.

Now I felt stupid. I didn't usually run from things but as soon as I got to this place I have had feelings and emotions I haven't had in a long time and it was confusing me. Plus I was remembering things about my past that I thought I buried a long time ago. Nick seemed to be a steady reminder of that right now. "Ah, would you mind driving me into school? Just there I don't need a ride back. M1, I mean Tony didn't get much sleep last night so he is playing catch up now." When the hell did I start to ramble? Fuck I hated this! "Nevermind. It's all good. Forget I asked." I made my way to walk past him.

"No. No. It's no bother. Get your stuff and let's go." Brad said as he turned to walk me back to my room as if he was afraid I would take off. The thought had actually crossed my mind. Instead I grabbed my stuff and followed him to the back of the house avoiding everyone which I was extremely grateful for and jumped into a pickup truck which was on the other side of the house.

This time on the way to school I paid attention to where we were going. I figured it would take me about 45 minutes to walk. A little exercise was a good thing and thought I just might start doing that from now on. I have had to find my way to and from school by myself since 3rd grade. We made it to school faster than I thought but one good thing was that I realized if I cut through the woods that I could save a lot of time on my walk. Instead of getting detoured by the twist and turns of the roads. I thanked Brad and asked him to tell M1, well Tony, that I had a ride home so he wouldn't have to take the time out to come get me. Brad didn't look overly happy about that but agreed to pass the message for me anyways.

School was school with the exception of Nick trying to talk to me and me walking away before he had a chance to catch up. It helped that his slut of a girlfriend kept her claws in him everytime he tried to leave. I think she knew he wanted to talk to me and did not like that in the tiniest of bits. Her actions favoured me so I didn't care or put too much thought into it. The big problem was that we had gym class together and there was no way to avoid him. He was one out of a few guys able to keep up with me so out running him wouldn't work. I don't think I had ever been more relieved when I walked up to the change room with a note on the door stating due to an emergency gym class was cancelled.

Not wanting to waste any time I raced up to my locker, grabbed my books and was off school property within 15 minutes. I debated on just walking straight home but since I had been on a mission to avoid Nick I didn't eat lunch. A couple times I heard some kids talk about a diner, a pizzeria, and a cafe down the street from the school. Just thinking about pizza had my stomach growl in approval. So instead of heading left to the woods I walked down the sidewalk and turned right on the main road hoping I would find the pizza joint sooner rather than later.

As luck would have it I found the place after 20 minutes of walking down the main road. Looking in the window the place had a couple occupied tables but fairly empty. After taking a seat a sweet older woman took my order and said it would be around 20 minutes. She quickly returned with my drink and salad I ordered for an appetizer. I sat and enjoyed my alone time while finishing my salad and waited for the main course. I was still hungry but the growling had slowed down to a quiet rumble. True to her word the pizza arrived 20 minutes later. And let me tell you it was truly amazing. The crust cooked to the perfect golden brown and the cheese and sauce ratio was superb. I was in my own little heaven. Savering each and every bite had the time fly by as I finally finished.

Looking at the clock I realized that school had ended almost an hour ago and I should have been home by now. Paying my bill and thanking them for the world's best pizza I left with a full tummy and a smile on my face. The sun was warm and the traffic was slow. It was a beautiful day. Now to enjoy my walk home. Ok well not home. It was the place I would stay in till school was done and I could leave. Sure I was turning 18 in a couple months but I always promised myself I would finish high school. Well promised my dad.

The walk back to the high school was quick. The parking lot only had a few cars left in it which were probably the staff faculty. Heading right for the woods I took my time to enjoy the peacefulness that surrounded me. The trip home didn't take as long as I thought even though I was far from being in a hurry. Breaking through the tree line I headed straight for the front door. I was surprised I hadn't seen anyone outside, maybe it was dinner time already.