The girl next door, - ᴛ.ᴋᴀᴜʟɪᴛᴢ

chapter twenty-one.

• DIGITAL BATH - DEFTONES

ONE DAY

☠︎︎ 𝚃𝙾𝙼'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

Georg, Gustav, Bill, and I walked beside the bodyguards and through the crowd; all of us were completely hungover. I had a high temperature, felt terrible, and Bill had a sore throat, but he still wanted us to play. So we did, but now we had school for fucks sake.

I had a bunch of missed calls from Klara, texts. Bill said to just ignore her, but I couldn't since I saw her last night. The way she glared at Mandy, it was a fucking psycho look.

"She won't leave me alone." I looked at Bill, sighing. "Just ignore her." He repeated. "Why not get a restraining order while you're at it?" He laughed, looking at me and then at the paparazzi as he looked ahead as he pointed to the camera.

My shoulders slumped, a sigh leaving my lips. "I'll lash out if she goes for Mandy. She saw me with her, gave me a weird ass look."

"You think she will?" Bill asked, eyebrow raised. "Mandy? Fight? You're hilarious."

»-☠︎︎-+>

☠︎︎ 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚈'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

I was in class.

The last few nights had been significantly stressful with dad around. He was constantly giving Seb a hard time, and he could barely contain himself around me. The other night, I saw him put a gun in a space behind his wall.

I hadn't slept in almost five days.

"Hey," I heard Tom's voice, watching him sit down beside me. "You okay?" I glanced at him. He was late, a small smile on his face. "Sorry, I had a concert."

I wanted to just stand up, hug him tight, and not let go. Maybe I should stay with him for a couple of days.

"No worries," I replied and looked back down.

☠︎︎ 𝚃𝙾𝙼'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

My heart broke at the sight of them and the track marks in her forearm. They were fresh, too. Even after what happened last night.

I glanced at Bill, who also noticed. My gaze slowly drifted down, and I tried my hardest to ignore it. She looked defeated.

"Do you wanna skip?" I looked over to Mandy once more, my voice hushed. Mr. Moore didn't notice. He was instead watching a girl bend over and pick up a pencil. "I have some weed."

She nodded a little as I stood, helping her up. While Mr. Moore was distracted, I quickly walked out, headed into the bathroom, and into our usual stall. "So, are you seriously using after you almost overdosed last night?" I sat down, watching her turn around to leave before I pulled her down onto my lap with force, hearing her let out a deep sigh.

"You don't know what's going on. Just leave me be, Tom? I wasn't using."

"And that's not a burn from the spoon?" I pointed to the red mark on her thigh.

"No."

"No?"

"No."

I leaned back but didn't say anything. Instead, I just continued to roll the joint before gliding my tongue over the paper.

"Can I come over after school?" Mandy suddenly said quietly after a few seconds. My lips parted, and I sighed. "Sure, but you'll have to meet my parents." I rubbed her sides, watching her nod in response.

"Why? Is Seb pissed?" I chuckled, watching her go silent.

"My dad got out of the pen yesterday."

"Oh," I shifted, resting my head on her shoulder. "I don't want to be home." She mumbled. "Of course you can stay." I whispered and pressed a kiss to her shoulder before pulling away at the sound of the bathroom door opening.

"Yo, did you hear someone?" A boy whispered. Another approached the stall, kicking it. "You got some company in there, man?"

"Occupied," I said, slowly pushing the stall door closed while he tried to open it. I pulled Mandy's legs up, pushing the joint into the wall.

"Who have you got in there?"

"Nobody." I replied, cussing under my breath as one of the boy's friends stood on the toilet in the next stall, peeking into ours. "Ooh, baby, you can fuck with me anyday." He grinned.

"Fuck off!" I snapped, hitting the stall. The boy giggled, stepping back slightly but still watching.

"A dickhead with no future career. Do you think if I went for better, it'd be you?" Mandy looked up at him, almost skeptically. "Does your mother even love you? With a face like that, I don't think she does."

"At least we won't be touched to tell if we're a girl or boy in our careers." He smirked. I hit the small again, watching him get down at the sound. By now, my knuckles were red and sore.

Mandy looked at me.

I pursed my lips, looking down. I heard his snicker, and then the bathroom door closed behind him and his friends.

"What does he mean?" She questioned. I lifted her off of my lap, my hand slipping into hers. "Nothing. Do you wanna go to the cooking class?" I asked, trying to avoid the sensitive subject. Mandy smiled and nodded while we walked out, my rage simmering just over the surface before I managed to control myself.

We'd gotten over this before, and I can do it again.

☠︎︎ 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚈'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅

When we left the bathroom, Tom noted that he had to get something from his locker.

"I've gotta get something from my locker." He stated. "I might actually skip." he added on. I didn't say anything since I noticed how tense he was, even when he leaned down to hug me.

Once he pulled back and I walked off, I didn't hear his locker open. I stopped by the corner, watching quietly as he approached one of the boys while the others ran off. I wasn't even sure if they went to our school.

"You don't know me. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Tom said, his eyes flickering over him. "As if nobody knows your brother is a faggot. Maybe tell him to stop trying to turn others into one, too. You think I don't see that little cunt talking to my brother?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"How fucked up are you? Are you dumb, too?" Tom said, pushing the boy against the classroom door. A few students in there were watching, but as soon as they started fighting, a teacher came out to separate them.

"Faggot!" The boy sputtered out towards Tom; who was being pulled back by one of the male teachers. But he hit him, too, before immediately giving the other guy a blow to the face. it echoed through the hallway, and then they started hitting again. A few other people flooded the hallway, watching the fight.

Tom pushed the guy onto the floor, watching as he dropped down and then pushed him each time he tried to get up. Once he gave up, Tom just continued to hit him and send blows across his face.

"Tom! That's enough!" The principal yelled.

Shiiiit.