My Beautiful King

Chapter Twenty Nine

I could barely breathe for sobbing as I approached my front door. After a weak stab at the doorbell, the wooden entrance swung open and my mother's mouth widened to rant.

"Ashley, where on Earth have you be - good God, child! What happened to you? Are you hurt? Who did this to you, Ashley speak to me!"

My mother's commotion caused my father to rush towards the hallway, where I stood panting against a wall, worn out from my journey home.

"Ashley... What-"

"We n-need to talk." I croaked with my voice hoarse. "We have to... In the front room now, please."

"Don't you want dinner-"

"I just need to speak please!" I cried aloud, too close to tears again. "Please just let me... Just let me... Please..."

My father held my hand and led me to the living room without a word. Mum followed as I sat down on the small armchair and sighed. With both parents anxiously sitting on the settee opposite, I began to speak.

"I... I need to change schools."

"What?" My dad looked horrified. "You can't possibly... It's this boy, isn't it? This thing with the boy is carrying on... He's still bothering you, isn't he? Wait..." My dad's face blanched to a remarkable extent. "Don't tell me he... He didn't do this to you, did he? Please say he didn't... Do things to you. That he didn't touch you-"

"He didn't rape me, Dad!" I groaned. My paternal parent both flinched and relaxed at the same time. I rubbed my temples slowly and hissed. As if Zayn would ever touch me anymore...

"Then what is it?" My mum asked timidly. "Was he still involved in this...?" She waved her hand over my shredded knees and dishevelled appearance, as if it would cause a pertinent expression to arise. I shook my head. Then nodded. Then frowned.

"I don't know." I admitted sniffling. "He w-wasn't there, he wasn't even at school today. I think he's disappeared. It was these girls... Becca and Hayley and-"

"Becca?" My mum took her turn to frown. "Isn't she that boy's new girlfriend? And Hayley, you were friends with her, weren't you?"

"Fake friends." I corrected bitterly. "She never actually liked me, it was all pretend. But anyway... They - they did it because Zayn told them that I was behind the whole break-the-popularity plot-"

"What 'break-the-popularity plot'?"

"Oh." I rubbed my sore elbows nervously. "It was um, just this thing I was doing-"

"Ashley, what did I tell you?the strength to soldier on and stay true to yourself! Not the strength to turn into some assassinating ninja!"

"It's not my fault, okay?"

"WHO'S FAULT IS IT THEN?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed as I propelled to my feet suddenly. "Maybe mine, okay, definitely mine. It's my fault, everything is my fault. I'm an idiot, I'm a stupid, stupid idiot that fell in love with the wrong guy. And you may scoff and say that it wasn't love, I'm too young for it and all that crap, but I know I loved him. Fuck, excuse the language but I still do...

"Then I lost everything I ever spent my young life working for and earning in a series of weeks. I lost good friends, good respect and good grades... In weeks. What does that say about me? It says that I had some serious problems beforehand, that's what it says!

"Then, I make this big fuss to bring down the popularity but I don't even know what I'm doing it for. Who I'm doing it for. In the beginning it was about standing up to Zayn, proving that I was better than him. And then it became a need to be on top again. Followed by a desire to make Zayn want me back. And I'm so scared because... What if he had? What if he'd dumped Becca and asked me out again? Would I have said yes? Probably; he has the power to make me do just about anything. And I'm sick of it. I can never be... Myself if I'm in the same school as him. I'm screwed up."

My mum stood up and walked towards me, shooting a secretive look in my dad's direction. She deftly wiped the current of hot liquid tears that I hadn't even noticed were spewing from my eyes. I felt sore. I felt raw. But my mother's touch seemed to make me feel temporarily whole.

"Your father's been offered a promotion." She whispered softly as she tilted my chin to look at her face. I stared deep into the eyes that I never inherited. Her words barely registered in my mind. "They want your father to work in London. It's a better job with better pay... But we'd have to move... To London."

Moving to the capital of the country? That was miles away...

"Would you... Would you like to move to London, Ashley?" My dad piped in slowly. "Obviously, it is relatively far away and you'd have to leave all your friends behind-"

Correction: my one friend behind.

"But would you like that? We can sort out a school... Although it would disrupt your GCSEs and no doubt mess up your studies-"

"I'd love that." I replied as a fragile smile tweaked my mouth. "I haven't done a lot of GCSE studying anyway. This will probably benefit my GCSEs more than anything. As long as you guys are alright with leaving?"

My mother returned the slight smile. "Of course, sweetheart. We want what's best for you, remember? But we will have to talk to the Ms Steel, your headmistress, about the bullying-"

"Mum-"

"We will have to talk to the Ms Steel, your headmistress, about the bullying." Mum repeated sternly. "We can't let these bad-minded children get away with this! Look at what they did to you! It's downright disgusting!"

I frowned and looked down at the dried blood that was soaked into my tights. "Okay... Yeah. Fine. But can there be no action taken until I leave?"

"No way-"

"Please, Mum, they'll kill me before I get to leave-"

"If you're scared enough to think that they'll actually kill you, then definite immediate action needs to taken!" My dad concluded. "Although we will consider it. Let's just take things as they come for now. Deal?"

"Deal."

My dad held his arms out to scoop me into a warm and comforting hug. I let my head rest against his soft aftershave-scented jumper and felt my heart tighten with affection. "I love you, Ashley."

"I love you too, Dad." Reaching out for my mother's slim and feminine hand, I dragged her into the embrace. "And you too. I love you, Mum."

Tears glistened in her deep blue orbs. "I love you, Ashley."

Fantastic. Happiness all round.