The Purge

Pt 7.

Alissa quickly apologised to everyone for having to leave, all while Sam dragged her by the wrist.

Sam dragged her out the door and broke into a run, still holding her wrist. Unlike Tyler's grip, Sam held on lightly, making sure not to hurt her in any way. He led her behind the same building where he found Alissa crying and made sure nobody was around.

Alissa yanked her wrist free from his grip and stared daggers at him. "What is wrong with you?!" She yelled. Sam quickly covered her mouth with his hand and made a shushing motion with his other.

"I don't mean to scare you, but you need to listen to me, ok?" Sam said, gently removing his hand.

Alissa gave him a sceptical look and stepped back slightly. "Why did you bring me here?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

She was trying her hardest to keep a calm composure, but it felt like her stomach was doing flips and her head was pounding.

Sam sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "You can't ask how I know this, but you just have to trust me, ok?"

Alissa nodded hesitantly, still uneasy about this whole situation.

"There are rumours that there's going to be a purge. But unlike the movies, it's going to go for 30 consecutive days. 30 days without any laws in place. 30 days with no police, fire or medical attention. Nobody knows when. It could be tomorrow, it could be in three months. You can't tell anyone, ok? I don't want to risk it." Sam said.

Alissa started smiling slightly, and then started giggling. And then the giggles turned into laughter. "Oh that's funny! I've got to admit you had me there for a second." Her smile then dropped when she noticed Sam's dead serious face. "Wait... you're not joking..."

"Why would you think I'd joke about that?!"

"I don't know?! I've know you for, what, 4 days?!"

"I-" Sam stopped. He cleared his throat, and this time when he spoke, it came out in a husky whisper. "I don't know why, but I feel inclined to help you."

Alissa was taken aback but tried her best not to show it. "Yeah, well, won't you put me in some kind of danger?" She emphasised with sarcastic jazz hands.

"Don't you get it?! I was helping you by not talking to you. But now, I kind of had no choice! It's either not warn you about some month long kill fest or not get you involved in some gang shit! And you know what? I thought the answer was kind of obvious!" Sam's hair was now a mess and he had a weird mixture of hurt, anger, and desperation in his eyes.

Alissa was stunned. A few times she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. "What?" She managed to get out in a soft whisper.

"Forget I said anything." Sam hurriedly said.

"Sam, you can tell me..." she reached out her hand and brushed his arm gently. "It's ok."

Sam sighed and sat down on a ledge, burying his face in his hands. He let out an annoyed groan and removed his hands from his face. Looking up, he met Alissa's worried gaze. "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't tell anyone and you won't freak out, ok?" He said slowly.

Alissa paused for a moment, contemplating what he'd said. "I promise."

Sam sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Uh, ok... Oh god where do I start? Well I guess it started off when I was 11 and my parents died. I got shipped off to some shitty little orphanage. And by shitty, I mean really shitty. Our food consisted of gloopy oatmeal and our beds felt like rocks. On my 13th birthday, I escaped. Never looked back. I didn't have anywhere to go, but I didn't care, I just ran and ran. The further away from that shithole, the better. I found an abandoned trailer, and decided to go in. Didn't realise that this was the home base for some of the biggest drug dealers in the country. Most of them were horrible. Really horrible. I mean, it's not that I thought they were going to be all friendly like the thugs in Tangled, but I didn't expect to be held at gunpoint. Anyway, this one guy was nice and took me under his wing. He was the one who enrolled me into this school and he took care of me. But, uh- he died. Beginning of Sophomore Year. From a heroin overdose." Sam's voice broke at the memory.

Alissa wrapped an arm around him and rubbed his back soothingly. "I'm sorry..."

"Nah, it's ok. I'm over it now, and I'm just thankful for the life he lived."

Alissa nodded understandingly and gestured for him to keep going.

"His death brought me to the darkest time in my life. I completely lost any sense of myself and started drinking and doing drugs. I ended up getting caught dealing drugs and got put in a juvenile detention centre. Man, juvy really makes you think about your life. That's when I knew I wanted to change. Once I got out, I tried my hardest to change by quitting everything: drugs, gangs, alcohol. Quitting's way harder than it sounds. I managed to quit all the hardcore substances, such as coke, heroin, straight alcohol, but I couldn't let go of the weaker ones. I still smoke weed and drink more beer then I probably should, and obviously I also vape, but it's hard. Once you get caught up in that world, it's incredibly hard to stop." Instead of his face being covered in tears like Alissa thought it would be, it was like stone. He showed no emotion whatsoever as he stared straight ahead. "I'm trying Alissa, I really am." His voice broke slightly and he lowered his eyes. The stone cold mask slipped for a second, but it was long enough for Alissa to notice the hurt and regret in his eyes.

Sam felt uneasy and a wave of regret came crashing into him. He'd just dumped all these years of trauma and pain onto this girl who he's known for 4 days. And not just any girl, the queen bee of this school. The picture perfect princess. The girl with no troubles at all. Sure, he hadn't told the full story, but it's enough to scare anyone off.

"Wow, that must've been," Alissa paused, searching for the right thing to say. "Traumatic."

"The past is the past." Sam said, emotionless. He didn't actually believe in the words coming out of his mouth. Sure, the past is the past, but not when it stays on your permanent record.

Alissa clicked her tongue awkwardly. "Right..."

There was a moment of awkward silence that Alissa felt inclined to fill.

"You know my life isn't all sunshine and rainbows." She blurted out.

Sam's head snapped in her direction. "What?"

"Yeah," Alissa chuckled wryly. "Abusive father, toxic boyfriend, anxiety and an eating disorder. It's nothing compared to yours, of course. It's just, I feel as if I get portrayed as this perfect girl that isn't allowed to show any emotion at all." She picked up a rock and threw it against the wall.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Sam said, panic washing over his face.

"No, no, no it's fine. I've learned how to deal with it. I just thought if you were opening up, I should to." Alissa said hurriedly.

A wave of silence came again, but instead of it being awkward, it was kind of peaceful. A breeze swept through and Alissa suddenly became aware of how cold she was in her cheer uniform. Sam noticed, and without a word, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around Alissa. She peered up at him with a thankful smile that he returned. Hesitantly, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his chest. Sam instinctively wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. There, they sat. Two broken humans in each other's embrace.