Take My Hand

Chapter 2

"Oh god! Oh god! Why is there so much blood?" Someone shouted from the distance, witnesses running from where the scene of the fight had happened.

"Someone call 911!" Another passerby shouted, gazing down at where a bloodied, nearly passed out blonde teenage girl laid. The other party of the fight was nowhere to be seen, looking around the girl's vision had been blurred since she had hit the ground. Last she remembered she had gotten into a fist fight with a girl her age, and had apparently lost. Distant sirens could be heard in the background as various different people gathered around her. She heard some call her name, her tongue heavy, she tried responding, only to slip away into the darkness. Days later she woke in the hospital, her left eye swollen and a clean fracture to her right wrist. The girl in question was Aliyah, along with major injuries, thin stitches held together the wounds on her upper forehead. She didn't quite remember what had happened the night she came to the hospital, but she remembered her attackers last words before disappearing, being "I won't ever forget you.." tears of anger streaming down the female attacker's face.

Alec choked on the Coke that he was drinking, looking over at Aliyah with widened eyes. "Blair May?" He exclaimed. "That Blair May?" He exclaimed once more, remembering her just as well as Aliyah did.

"Seems that way to me," she replied, tossing an apple up and down in her hand, successfully catching it each time. She leaned against the wall of the convenience store, taking a bite of the apple she had with her.

"Are you sure?" He asked again, seeming more worried than she herself was.

"I'm positive, it has to be her.." Aliyah trailed off, images from the first fight they had gotten into years ago filling her brain.

"You haven't talked to her, have you?" He asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, eyeing Aliyah.

Aliyah shrugged lightly, "not recently no, I bumped into her in the hallway, but I didn't actually know it was her." She stated.

Alec nodded in response, "I see, well it's been at least 3 years, she may have already forgotten you." He said, seeming distracted by his phone.

Remembering the fight with vivid details Aliyah nodded hesitantly, "right.." She said trailing off, hoping what Alec said was right.

Looking up from his phone, Alec glanced over at Aliyah. "You aren't planning on going out tonight, are you?" He asked looking at her with a skeptical glance.

Aliyah shrugged, a coy smirk on her face. "Fine, you caught me. You know me all to well Alec," she said implying that he was right.

"How many of these 'casual outings' have you been to in the past month, Ali?" He asked, looking her directly in the eyes, a look of disapproval clearly visible on his face.

Aliyah avoided his gaze, turning her head to look down at the ground she scratched the back of her head. "I don't know, 6, 7, maybe.." She admitted, her voice changing to a mumbling like tone. These 'casual outings' weren't really casual at all, normally they were parties that Aliyah would attend, end up getting wasted out of her mind, which normally ended with her screwing a random dude. She never really knew why she continued doing this, in the beginning it was to distract herself from having feelings for Alec, but now she was way past the crush phase, so why..why did she continue like this?

Alec looked up at her with disappointment in his dark, cloudy eyes. "Ali, how long do you plan on keeping this up?" He said, his voice stern and forceful.

Aliyah crossed her arms over her chest with a soft sigh; although she had been making eye contact with him a moment ago her eyes seemed to be anywhere but focused on his face now. "I don't know.." She finally answered.

A look of worry in his eyes Alec exhaled softly before he approached the smaller female he called his friend. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her smaller frame closer to his as he rested his chin in the crook of her neck. "I'm just worried about you..that's all," he murmured into her ear.

Shades of pink brushed across Aliyah's cheeks as he pulled her into a comforting embrace. Why? Why is my heart beating so fast? Why am I so relaxed? Thoughts much like those were scattered amongst her brain as she stood wide eyed in the arms of her best friend. A dark expression growing on her face she pulled away from the embrace. "I know.." She murmured. Turning around she waved to him, "I've gotta go.." She whispered in a melancholic tone. She had to leave..had to leave before she let herself fall for her best friend again. It couldn't happen. It wouldn't happen.