Jace held my hand leaving the mall. It seemed like he never wanted to let go, and it didn't freak me out. I squeezed his hand as we made our way through the food court.
I was thankful no one was watching us. But Jace abruptly let go of my hand and stormed over to Bermuda Burgers. He stalked over to the young man behind the cash register, the same creep from earlier. He didn't seem to want talk to him when he reeled his fist back and struck him once in the nose.
The boy crumpled on the ground and everyone in the food court watched on in shock as I did too. I blinked and next thing I knew, Jace had jumped over the counter, and began beating the poor creep. It was like he had no intention of ever stopping.
That's when I snapped.
"Jace stop!" I screamed leaning over the counter to grab his shirt. He shrugged me off and began hitting the kid again.
"Don't you know how to treat a girl!" Jace growled at the boy. "You respect girls you little creep, not scare them!"
"I'm sorry!" the boy cried out repeatedly.
"Are you really?" Jace growled, rhetorically pulling his fist back to punch him again.
"He is!" I screamed out, until my voice went hoarse. This time Jace looked up at me. His stone cold blue eyes scared me. They were nothing like the warm pools of blue I had grown used to.
"No he's not Phoenix." Jace shook his head.
"I'm leaving." I muttered, shakily as my body began to shake. But it wasn't another anxiety attack, it was anger. Pure anger, fueled by my embarrassment. "Have fun getting kicked out of here." I snapped at Jace before storming off.
Why couldn't he just cool it? All those people were watching and it was humiliating! They probably thought he was just some jealous boyfriend- which he isn't. He's just some idiot who thought he'd defend my honor or something.
But I don't need to be defended! I was just going to ignore the kid and hoped to exit the mall as soon as possible.
"Phoenix wait up!" Jace called out jumping over the counter effortlessly.
"S-stay away from me." I muttered walking away as fast as I could, without catching anyone's attention.
"No wait, I'm sorry!"
"Save it, this whole day has been humiliating." I muttered leaving him behind.
__________
Glaring at my reflection, I felt nothing but disgust. I was weak, pathetic, and only a shell of a person.
Why did I run away like that? Why couldn't I just ignore that creepy kid and order my food. Normal people could walk up to a counter and talk to a cashier. But that shit freaked me out.
Why can't I be normal?
Why can't I live without fear?
Why am I a waste of space?
Why am I still alive?
"Phoenix, sweetie are you okay?" Mom's muffled voice asked through the door. I swiped the stray tears and cleared my throat.
"I'm fine Mom." I called back.
"You have a message on the kitchen fridge. I have to get to work, make sure you go to group today." Mom reminded me before, disappearing downstairs again.
I washed my face and changed out of my pajamas. Saturday was my least favorite day, only because of group therapy. Hopefully Jace wouldn't make an appearance.
YOU ARE READING
HERO SYNDROME
Roman pour Adolescents"They say life is fragile, and we're not all guaranteed tomorrows." My name is Phoenix, and despite my name being a bird that rises from the ashes, I can barely rise from my bed on a good day. I was born to be fearless, but I am in fact, a fearful...
