Being in a group home wasn't ideal for anyone, but for the six teenagers, it was the best they could get out of the crappy system. In other's eyes, it was an odd way to form a friend group bonding over being in the same abusive home. But in their ey...
CHAPTER 12 IS ONE NIGHT BEFORE THIS HAPPENED(so like when Ares, Quinn, and Mak met Leo at the entrance chapter 12 had already happened
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
One second Alea was next to me, babbling about a dream that she had last night and the next she was in my arms, passed out.
Me and Jack panicked, crouching down next to her. Jack, not being the sharpest tool in the box, started slapping her face.
I was just..frozen. She looked dead, her skin was pale and she was barely moving.
"W-what's wrong with her?" Jack stammers, I swallow the vomit lurching up my throat.
"We should take her back to the apartment," I voice, grabbing her and placing her arm around my shoulder. I try to be the leader and take control of the situation, two panicked people can't help Alea. Be strong, I try to remind myself.
"Are you sure? What if Robby sees us?" Jack asks, copying me, the shakiness in his voice still prominent.
"It's fine," I say flatly
We drag her back to the apartment and people look at us weirdly. We pass a mother and daughter, and the woman looks us up and down, "We're not rapists!" Jack yells to the people looking at us weirdly.
I groan when she holds her daughter closer and mutters something along the lines of God help that girl.
"You're not helping," I say, annoyed, "if someone calls the police on us I'm running and letting you get arrested."
Jack puts a hand to his heart, "I'm blushing."
I roll my eyes when we approach the fire escape, "Grab her arms, I got her legs."
Jack complies and we shimmy up the creaky stairs, going slow just to be safe.
The pit in my stomach grows, what if she has some mystery disease?
"What do you think happened?"
"Her mom had some fainting disorder right? Remember she passed out during the freshman pep rally, she told us all about it," Jack rambles, his face getting redder by the minute.
I nod slowly, the memory coming back to me.
TWO YEARS EARLIER
"Cassie said I'm all skin and bones, but she can suck it because that's a perfect build for a flyer," Alea says as, Jack, Quinn, and I sit on the hard bleachers at the very top. We all watch the girls, doing some dance routine to a pop song for the home basketball game tonight.
"I don't think you're all skin and bones, your body is fine," Quinn says from where she is sitting in between me and Jack, leaning over to talk to her.
Alea had been dying to try out for the cheer team, but no approved guardian would sign the form for her, and the consequences of staying late every day after school till five scared us shitless.
