24 Days Until...

Brooke

I wake up to my alarms obnoxious ringing. My hand slams down on it, like it does every morning to get it to shut the hell up. I then proceed to get my butt out of bed and down to our kitchen, yawning. Then it all comes back to me. The fact that I now have a friend, the dread of wondering if it will last throughout the whole day... And I really hope it lasts. If not, it's just back to what I'm used to, which somehow makes me feel like I'd rather just not live. One person can make that big of an impact on my life and that scares me. Who wouldn't be scared about that? Let's just say, I really hope this feeling of hope in my chest lasts longer than today. On that note, I grab a bagel and put it in the toaster. While it's toasting, I go up to my room to pick out something to wear for the day. Definitely not the usual baggy sweater, sweatpants, and converse look. I grab my black leather jacket, Sleeping With Sirens tank top, black ripped skinny jeans, and black combat boots. Like damn, if this isn't a perfect kick ass outfit, I don't know what is. I walk downstairs, grabbing my bag first, so I can eat before I go outside to wait for the bus to pick me up. "Hey Mom." I greet her as I walk into the kitchen. "Morning Brooke, I buttered up your bagel for you." She says to me with a smile, looking up from her laptop for a quick second. "Thanks Mom!" This is honestly the first time we have had a conversation in a really long time. I eat it quickly so I'm not late and run outside. As soon as I'm out of the door I hit something and start falling backward, but hands catch me from hitting the ground. "Hey what's the rush Brooke?" He stands me up and lets me go, his eyes twinkling with amusement and a slight chuckle escaping his lips. "The bus is coming and I can't miss it. Thanks for saving me from the ground."

"Yea, no problem. But seriously, what's the rush?" Apparently mister fan of everything here doesn't like school. "I want to learn Josh. That's the one part I actually enjoy about school."

"You're a smart one?" He asks me. "Yep, and apparently you are not a fan of school." He smirks at that. "Well, only an insane psycho would enjoy it."

"What are you trying to say there rudeness?" He puts his arm over my shoulder, the smirk still on his face. "I'm trying to say you're crazy Brooke, obviously." The bus pulls up and the driver honks at us. We walk up, not running since I obviously can't handle that anymore. "You're hot when you're angry Brooke." I respond with an eye roll and a slight blush rises to my face. Ugh...why do I have to blush? I slip into the first seat on the bus and Josh slides in next to me. "You are going to absolutely ruin any chance of having friends in this school by being near me Josh."

"Meh, whatever Brooke. I have more than enough friends at my old school." Why is he so stubborn? "It's your death wish Josh." I stare out the window and I can feel him staring at me. "You look gorgeous right now Brooke." My face turns red and I look over at him. A light flashes and I see his phone. This boy just took a damn picture of me. "Thanks, and really? A picture?"

"Yep." He says chuckling again. "Had to show some people the gorgeous girl I just met." He smiles at me. The jerk...

"Hey bitch! Did you finally find someone who will talk to your fat ass?" Josh looks at me with hurt laced in his chocolate brown eyes. And anger. Anger at the people who make my life a living hell. My eyes lower to the ground, avoiding his. "Don't fucking talk to her like that again you bastard." Josh says to him calmly, but his body tense, like a ticking bomb about to blow up and leave nothing in its wake. "How much are you paying him to talk to you bitch?" Josh looks like he's right at the brink of blowing up now. I place my hand on his arm, his hand is in a fist and his muscles are taut, like a tiger ready to spring for its prey. I would be lying if I said this wasn't hot. "Josh, calm down. He's not worth it. Trust me."

"Brooke, this bastard fucking deserves a good ass kicking." Damn he's one ball of anger right now. "Just don't Josh, please."

"Fine." We ignore the comments for the rest of the ride, just sitting there. Me, staring out the window, and him staring out the front of the bus, his body still tense and ready to fight. After a couple minutes, I feel his eyes on me again. I glance over and as soon as I do his arms wrap around me, pulling me into his chest. "I know why you cut now Brooke, I know why you're hurting. And I'm going to fix it okay? It's going to get better angel." His chin rests on my head. I feel safe around him surprisingly, it's weird. "Okay Josh, thank you." I smile into his chest and he lays a kiss upon my head. Oh. My. God. What's happening here? We reach the school, his arms still around me, a smile gracing both of our faces. We look like idiots, happy idiots. "You want me to show you where the office is Josh?" I ask him as we walk into the school. "Nah Brooke, I gots it. Thank you though."

"Yea no problem Josh. See ya later."

Josh

I don't get it. Why are they so mean to her? She is one of the nicest, kindest, sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I could literally kill them for saying that crap. And she just sits there, ignoring it, or at least acting like she doesn't care. Which, I do know she cares, her wrists scream out for help. I completely get why she cuts now. But what I don't understand is how her parents don't notice the scarred arms. They are completely oblivious to their daughter's pain and the fact that she's hurting so badly. Like seriously, I just don't understand. I reach my locker, since I already got all my stuff from the office yesterday. A girl is standing there watching students pass like they are her minions and she's a ruler. "Hey, I'm Courtney. You new here?" She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "Yea, I am. Name's Josh." I open my locker and put some of my stuff in it. "Nice to meet you. Oh, and there's this chick with red hair here, her name is Brooke. Don't talk to her, she is real bad news." Are all the people in this school nasty ass mother fuckers? Seriously, it's like everyone is on a constant period. Even the guys. "Brooke is my friend Courtney, as well as my neighbor." I spit out through my teeth, seething, not that this bitch notices. "Really? C'mon, you can do so much better than her." Her eyes dare me to defy her again, she's like a snake. "If you're talking about yourself, then no thanks. Believe it or not, Brooke is way more wanted and special than you are right now." Her smile disappears and she pushes me up onto the locker, her body pressed up against me. "Don't mess with me Josh, it's a mistake you don't want to make. I'm high up on the social caste here, you are the new kid, today defines where you stand on it, and right now, even though you are sexy as hell, aren't doing so well. So I suggest you change the crowd you hang around." Then her lips press against mine, the first since Ariel's... I push her away and she is smiling wickedly. "See you later Josh, and if you want any more action, you know exactly where to find me." She flaunts away, spreading the halls like Moses does with the Red Sea. Like damn, what the hell is with the people in this school? And how don't the teachers notice it?

I walk into my first class, and all the students have already filled up almost all the seats. Looks like I'm late, well at least it's just the first day. "Nice to see you finally arrive Mr. Fragran. Since it is your first day I will let it slip. But if it happens again, you get a detention. Understood?" God, talk about strict. "Yes sir." I nod and take my seat in the back of the class. "Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, flip to page 583 and read till the end of the chapter. Then answer all the questions and write an essay about the city of Athens. Whatever you don't finish will be homework." Well damn this place gives a lot of work.

As the class ends I've finished the reading, questions, and just have to write the conclusion for the essay. The girls in the class also keep staring at me, and it's weird. Like, really weird. It's just, none of these kids like Brooke, and to me, that's close to being insane. They most likely pick on her for no reason other than being jealous of how gorgeous she really is. The bells rings and I walk out of the class. A burst of bright red streaks through my vision, going into a closet. I walk over quickly, but it's shut tight and locked. I knock on the door, maybe she'll let me in. "Brooke, sweetie, it's me, Josh." I can hear her crying, and it's tearing my heart to shreds. "G-go away Josh." She stutters, the crying not allowing her to speak. "Brooke, sweetheart, let me in please let me in." The door unlocks and I open it, walking in, then shutting it behind me relocking it. She looks horrible, her eyes are all red, and her hair is all over the place, the tears are streaming down her face making some strands stick. I sit down next to her and lift her onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her. She sobs and sobs and sobs into my chest. After the bell rings and the students are in their classrooms, she becomes quieter, just shaking with tears streaming down her face. I wipe them away carefully and tuck her hair that I can reach behind her ears since her head is resting on my chest. "What happened Brooke?" I swear I'm ready to kill whoever did this to her, but that will be later. "You know the guy on the bus?" She says sniffling. What the hell did that little fucker do to her? "I have first period with him and he kept on..." she trails off, crying again, her hands clinging to my shirt. "Kept on what Brooke? I need you to tell me, please." My voice breaks at the end and I sound helpless, and feel it too, just watching her sit in my arms and cry. "He kept on...rubbing up and down my legs with his hands and making sexual comments." I am going to kick his ass. "I'll take care of it Brooke, I promise." I kiss her head, I seem to be doing a lot of that lately which is weird for me. I'm not normally a touchy feely person at all. "Don't be stupid and get hurt Josh."

"I won't be Brooke." She looks up at me and I wipe the remaining tears from her face. "Don't worry about me sweetie, I'll be fine. Ok? I promise." She hugs me tight, wrapping her arms around me. "Okay." She whispers as I hug her tighter. "We have class sweetie." She groans at that. "Can't we just go to the nurse's office?" I look into her eyes. "You could carry me down and say that you found me on your way to class, which you did. Just, before the bell finished ringing."

"Mkay." I pick her up bridal style after I put on my backpack and make sure all my stuff is in it. "Let's go beautiful." I bring her into the nurse's office, which is about a five minute walk. And let me tell ya, Brooke is as light as a feather. "Hello, what can I- Woah." Her face shows complete and utter shock. "I found her on my way to class. I hope it's okay that I don't have a pass."

"It's fine, you can set her down on the bed over there. Would you like me to get you a pass to your next class?" I set Brooke down on the bed. "No thank you, I'd like to stay with her right now." I take the seat next to Brooke, she's pretending to be asleep. The nurse looks at me and smiles. "What's your name dear?"

"Josh Fragran ma'am, today is my first day here." Brooke's eyes flutter open. Damn, I love her eyes. "So you're the new student we've all been hearing about."

"Yes ma'am, I am." I smile at Brooke. "How'd I get here?" Brooke asks sitting up, I really need to recruit her for drama. She would probably enjoy it a lot. "I carried you here." She looks at me, and I wink at her. "Josh, hey. Thanks."

"Yea, it was no problem, you really aren't very heavy at all, you know that right?" She smiles at that, something I wish she would do more often. "Ha ha ha, very funny." Her eyes narrow playfully, which is honestly kind of sexy. "Alright, well, it looks like you are good to go Brooke, let me write you both a pass." She smiles and asks us what classes we have. "Science." Brooke and I say at the same time. She smiles and I do too, so far so good with classes, I get to watch out for her in this one, thank god. "Here are your passes, now off you go, enjoy your day!" We leave the office and head down the hall to what I hope is the science room. "Umm...Josh?" Brooke says looking over at me. "Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry about earlier." Why is she even apologizing? It's that asses fault. "It's completely ok Brooke." I put my arm around her, holding her close to me. "Trust me beautiful, it's okay." Apparently we have reached the Science classroom because Brooke opens the door, slipping out of my arm. She walks in and takes an empty seat in the back of the class, surprisingly there's one right next to her that's open. As I sit down the teacher barely acknowledges us and just keeps on teaching.

The day passes, and I'm mainly ignored excluding looks from girls and giggles as they walk by. The teachers all seem friendly, they just all seem to give a lot of homework. Well, at least it will keep me busy. The last bell of the day rings, ending English. class and telling us to be on our merry way. I head over to my locker and spot Brooke with a crowd of girls surrounding her, one of them being the one who kissed me earlier. And another one being the guy from the bus, who I still don't know the name of. Walking over, I stand next to Brooke. "Hey, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Josh." The girls back off; I must look like I'm ready to fight. "Josh? The guy from the bus this morning?" The ass sneers every word he says. "Yeah, thats me."

"I would suggest leaving now, unless you want a fight of course." I look over at Brooke, and the poor girl looks terrified. "Really? Because I would suggest that you leave Brooke the hell alone."

"Josh don't fight him, he isn't worth it." Brooke whispers from behind me. "Brooke shh, I can take care of myself. I will be fine and so will you alright?"

"Evan, don't fight this guy please."' One of the girls say, probably the bastards girlfriend, or someone who really likes him. Although, I can't see why anyone would like him he's a monster, abomination, disgrace to humanity. "Too late sweetheart." Then he tries to punch me, but I dodge it and move Brooke away closer to the lockers. "Stay there Brooke." I growl to her. He tries to punch me again but I grab his arm and pin it to his back in a move I learned in wrestling. I push him to the floor and force him to stay there. "Do not touch Brooke. Ever, Leave her alone. If you ever try to touch her, hurt her, look at her, I will make sure you never touch or bully anyone ever again. Are we clear?" He nods and I let him up, a pissed off look gracing his face and a smug one on mine. "Good." I walk over to Brooke who shrinks away from me a little bit. "Brooke sweetheart, it's okay." Right after I finish her arms wrap around me, her head nuzzled against my neck. "Thank you so goddamn much Josh." She whispers into my ear, and I can feel her smile on my neck. If I could feel that 24/7 I would be the happiest person to ever live and that's not even an exaggeration. "You're welcome gorgeous, anytime you need anything, I will always be here ok? You'll be okay Brooke, everything is going to get better."

"Thank you so much Josh." She looks up at me and kisses my cheek. I look at her face and she is bright red, and if that isn't the most adorable thing in the world I don't know what is. I smile at her and then let her go, and walk over to the group, all the girls gathered around Evan. "Leave Brooke alone, all of you." I growl. "No, I don't think I will. Josh, is it? I'm Ashlee, get in my way again and I will definitely make you wish you had never walked the Earth." So, here's this little blonde brat about a foot shorter than me threatening me. "Really? Wow. I'm so scared." She glares at me. "You know what? When Courtney told me about you, I thought we could be friends. Apparently not though." Then the girl from earlier, Courtney, steps up next to Ashlee. "Oh Josh, this is Destiny, the other member of our little group." Destiny smiles and waves at me, she has black curly ass hair and brown eyes. "Hey Destiny. Now if you all will excuse me, I'm wanted elsewhere." I walk away, over to Brooke. "Ready to go cutiepie?"

"Yup." She smiles at me and I smile back at her.

When we reach the bus she slides into the first seat again and I slide in next to her, again. "You okay Brooke?" I ask her. "No, not really." She looks into my eyes. "I can't believe you fought Evan, and won, you broke his record. He's gone all of his life undefeated."

"I just can't believe he would do that to you. Has he ever gone farther than he did in class today?"

"No, not yet. It would've escalated though if you hadn't been there."

"I know, I'm very glad I was there."

"I'm glad you were there too Josh." She wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest. "You are safe with me Brooke, I promise."

"Hey Josh?"

"Yeah Brooke?"

"Do you want to meet some of my friends?" She asks shyly. "Sure." I say, slightly curious since she doesn't have any friends in school. "They're on an app, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth."

"You like the hobbit?" I say excitedly. "Yeah! I love it!" Brooke exclaims with a smile upon her face. "So do I." My ex-girlfriend didn't even like it. "Awesome! Okay, just download it on your phone."

"Oki, want to do homework together tonight?" I ask her, a little shy, I really just want to get to know her better. "Sure."

"Awesome." I smile at her.