Raise Hell and Let it Burn (On Hold)

Chapter 11

As I walked through the crowd I started to hear whispers that I had blocked out before.

"She jumped on his back!"

"Did you hear she got stabbed? I wonder-"

"Why isn't there a bandage? Maybe she lied, that is just sick-"

Blushing a furious red, I avoided looking at anybody and went back to trying tune them out. How did I miss this earlier? I sighed in relief when I arrived at the glass doors. This morning I had managed to escape home early so the entrance was completely empty, no normal student wants to be near the actual classes any sooner than they have to be. As I approached Miss. Johnson, I suddenly felt an intense uneasiness, something I could not quite explain. Chills raced up and down my back as I looked around, searching for the source of my discomfort. I quickly sped up and practically ran over to the metal detector. Miss. Johnson saw me and a warm smile crossed her face.

"Are you okay Helena? I heard about what happened...."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Thank you for caring." I gave her a grin as I put my helmet and backpack carefully in the bin carefully. Miss. Johnson knew something was up.

"Anything else bothering you?" Should I tell her?

"Yes, actually. I just have a really bad feeling. I'm sure it's nothing big." Miss. Johnson looked around curiously.

"That is certainly strange. I guess I don't know what to say to that."

"Don't worry! I'm sorry, I have to get to my locker before I die from the stampede that is soon to come." Miss Johnson nodded as she took note of the students chatting as they walked through the door. I knew that the hallway would be empty for another twenty or so minutes because all of these students were in different grades than me so none were on my floor.

"Good-bye, Helena."

---Five minutes later---

As I was walking to my locker I suddenly felt the chills again, this time with reason. I heard an echoing of footsteps that were irregular with mine and I stiffened. Suddenly the footsteps grew louder and came closer. I turned around and came face to face with Chloe. Three minutes later I found my back shoved up against a locker, my right eye swelling, and my feet dangling about an inch above the ground as Chloe taunts me. Let's have a recap of this, shall we?

As I looked at Chloe I saw her fist curl into a ball, her buff football playing best friend to her right and her popular fitness crazed second in command on her left. I gulped slightly. They wouldn't hurt me, would they? I mean, I just saved someone's life. I guess I was wrong. I tried to step back but Chloe sent a well-aimed punch to my eye. It took three seconds for the pain to hit and when it did I stumbled into the lockers. Emiline, the fitness crazy girl, grabbed one of my arms as Bessie, the football player grabbed my other. They picked me up so I couldn't run and Emiline put her hand over my mouth. I tried to scream but the wind was knocked out of me as Chloe punched me int the chest, I wheezed and gasped for air as I kicked and thrashed. I kept hoping someone would come but no one did. After sustaining multiple punches to my stomach, chest, and side, I was dropped onto the ground. Chloe and her gang left but not before Becky turned, kicked me in the ribs, and spat on my face.

Every second felt like hours as I lay there on the floor, too numb to get up and leave. Even trying to sit up makes my whole body hurt. I know the whole thing lasted less than ten minutes but it felt so much longer. A voice drifted down the hallway.

"Helena? I need to talk to you, where are you?" Footsteps approached and I heard an audible gasp coming from, you know it, my dearest Nicholas.

"Helena! What happened! Are you okay?" He ran forward and knelt next to me, his brown eyes full of worry.

"Oh god, you're not okay." No shit Sherlock.

"Helena, who did this to you? We need to report them!" This freaked me out, I can't report Chloe! That would make my whole life way more miserable.

"No!" My voice was quiet but I put a lot of force into it, Nicholas was obviously shocked by my answer.

"You can't tell anyone, okay? I would end up worse than this."

"Helena, you can't let someone beat you up and get away with it! At least, tell me who it was!" I could see the anger in his eyes, a thinly veiled outrage at my attackers. Nicholas gently helped me stand up.

"Listen," I looked him dead in the eyes. "You can not tell anyone. Anyone. I'll be fine, I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." This would have been a lot more convincing if I had managed to stand up properly like I had tried. Let's just say Nicholas helped me in that area too.

"Helena, I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself. I am saying that it's not okay for someone else to hurt you and get away with it. I promise I won't tell as long as you say who it was." I sighed.

"If you really want to know, it was Chloe and her gang." I must say, I was surprised to see the amount of surprise on his face.

"Chloe did this? How?!" Nicholas could barely stammer out a full sentence, he couldn't comprehend my words.

"They snuck up on me, picked me up and held my back against the lockers. One thing led to another and here I am now." Of course, I had to add in a very healthy dose of sarcasm to my response. A look of determination crossed Nicholas' face.

"We're leaving."

"What?"

"Come on, follow me." Eh, why not? I took his outstretched hand and followed him.

A/N

Hello, quick end note. I recently wrote a short story for Language Arts, if anyone wants me to post it in my next authors note comment or DM me. Thank you for reading, have an amazing day!