Love In Destin ✔

35 - brutal

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𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒂

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LUNCHTIME JUST BECAME my least favorite part of the school day. Solely due to the fact that I can't sit with the girls anymore. Without a thought, my feet led me to the picnic table but I stopped myself before I could reach it. Now I'm seated at Rick's table which is a whole other world than the picnic table.

It's rowdy and loud, the overbearing laughter of Brent and the other guys making it hard to eat. They keep dropping questions at me but never give me a chance to complete my answer. My legs are itching to get up and leave, but I stay anyway for Rick. These are his friends, even though he groans at every word they spill from their mouths. In spite of that, I cannot for the life of me understand why Rick is friends with these self-centered, sexist and arrogant brats.

Damon is excluded from the lot, though. He joins Rick in his groaning and offers me sheepish smiles for the actions of his friends. What I don't understand is why he sits with them if he's so embarrassed by them.

The moment I hear the bell, I get up so fast I almost drop my platter. Rick follows after me. "Sorry," he murmurs.

"I don't get it," I say, throwing my platter into the bin. "How're those your friends? And don't you sit with Mark?"

"Mark and I don't sit together,"

"Why?"

"Because there's this unmentionable rule that all jocks should sit together,"

"Says who?"

Rick shrugs, "I don't know, it's always been a thing,"

"No. I think what you meant to say is that you're popular, and he's not, so you can't sit together,"

"That's not what it is,"

"You mean the looks those kids are giving us over there is not what it is?" I point out, staring at the ogling group of boys and girls across from us. "People have been staring, and it's probably cause you're popular and I'm not,"

"Just ignore them,"

I sigh, "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah," he blows out a breath, not meeting my eyes, and I walk away from him. I'm swiftly on my trail when I pass Mr Allen's classroom, and my eyes settle on something that makes my heart drop. At the end of his classroom, on one of the desks, he has a girl's arm stretched across her back and is clenching it.

He's saying something to her as she grips the edge of the desk, perhaps in pain. When she angles her head a little, it's Jenna, and her face is morphed into an expression of agony. She's begging him to let her go, and I'm about to call out Mr.Allen when I stop myself. Taking out my phone, I click a photo of the scene and twirl my body around in the other direction to run.

That monster is going to pay I think to myself as I grit my teeth. On my race to the principal's office, I stumble into Rick's larger form, and my mouth moves out of its own will. His face instantly contorts into disgust at what I'm telling him. "Are you sure?" he presses.

"I am," I take out my phone and show him the picture I just took. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts before agreeing to join me at the principal's office. When we reach, Rick agrees to wait for me in the school lobby when the lady at reception says I can go in.

"Come in," Mr Mallon's smooth deep voice calls out to me. The moment I take my seat, and he allows me to speak I spill all the beans. I start from the very first moment I spotted the two, Jenna's traumatic state and what I just saw in Mr Allen's class. Then, I proceed to show him the picture for proof.