This Rose Bleeds

Chapter ~Four~

I waited for class to begin. I was exhausted. I stayed up late cleaning the house, and then woke up early just to get to school before Marcus and Jonah. I've done this for the past two days. Ms. Richmond seemed surprised to see me this early again and asked if I was getting enough sleep, pointing out the circles under my eyes were deeper than usual this morning.

I collapsed at my desk and rested my head on my arms. I was tired, but hopefully by the end of the day I'd have enough motivation to go to work. I groaned. Then I have to go tutor the idiot, then go home and clean the mess I made this morning when rushing to school.

After endless minutes of waiting, the bell finally rang and the students reluctantly filed in. I noticed Ryder come in with the two other soccer players I know quite well.

He scanned the seats and when he found me, stopped walking. I raised an eyebrow as if saying– see? I wasn't lying. He didn't make any acknowledgement and kept an indifferent face and continued walking toward his own desk with his friends.

Markus nudged Jonah and they looked in my direction. Their expression told me to look out.

So I did. I ran out of class before anyone else had even packed their back and ran to science, praying for no hassle. I glanced behind once, but they weren't there. I was probably safe.

I'm seriously kidding myself.

A hand shot out from the janitor's closet and my vision went dark. Two people, I sensed, ambushed me, and it was pretty obvious who those two were.

One of the fists found my stomach in the dark. It was amazing they could still aim just fine without vision. Something slammed into my face and I fell back with a crash against the wall. They settled on kicking. At first it hurt but soon I was too numb to notice. But I did notice when the wooden broom struck my back and jabbed at my ribs.

When the seemingly endless beating ceased I opened my eyes. Two shadowy figures could be made out in the dark room.

"Take that Strauss." I heard Jonah spat. The door opened and their figures retreated into the light.

The air slowly entered my lungs again and I became aware of the throbbing pain. I couldn't move, even if I dared. So I just lay there in the dark. I wiggled my fingers and my toes, but just propping myself up sent me coughing and I fell back against the wall. Ah, what was the point? I was late for class. They were probably going over homework. Did I finish the homework? It's so dark in here. Only a sliver of light carried through from under the door.

I gasped. The bell was ringing. Did I fall asleep? Probably, because in sleep, you can't really feel the pain.

I used the wall as a guide to get up and found the door. My ribs were screeching, not as loud as my right hand. I opened the door and instantly received a headache from the sudden light. I forced myself to walk through the hallway at a brisk pace. My limp was worse than the day before.

I checked my watch. That was the after school bell, and I was late for work–really late. Thirty minutes?

I felt something burn in the middle of my throat. I knew the feeling, like you could start sobbing at any moment. I took a deep breath and squinted my eyes shut because, as usual, there's no time. I couldn't run but did my best to quickly walk the blocks to the café.

I avoided Kristy and went through the back. I shut the bathroom door behind me and looked at my reflection. There was a nasty scratch on my cheek. I hope it wouldn't affect my host image. I cleaned away the blood and took off my shirt. Ew. Ew ew. Bruises were added to my already scared back and torso. I pulled on the uniform and again felt the throbbing in my fingers. Maybe if I just stretch them out...NO, no, that was a bad idea.