Evening Drives {On Hold}

Maybelle

They were relentless. They punched, kicked, grabbed, spit, cussed - the whole nine yards.

They didn't stop for a full hour and a half, and after the first 40 minutes they started taking shifts. Fucking shifts. That's how much I'll always be hated. Enough to take goddamn 10 minute shifts. Adam thought as they finally stepped back to admire their handy work. Out of breath, James mumbled a "C'mon" and all three guys started following him back into the school with their backpacks.

Adam lay crying into the grass in fetal position thinking about why he was doing all this again, why he didn't just drop out of school years ago like he wanted.

"Hey, are you dead, cause that'd kinda suck." Adam perked up as soon as he heard the newer but familiar voice, and he instantly regretted it. His ribs protested loudly, everything started to regain feeling, and all of his muscles were painful past the point of moving.

"Uh," It was hard for Adam to speak, and he could just guess it was from a  few fractured broken ribs, "could you help me up please, Maybelle?"

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Somehow she had been able to help him hobble away from the school and under a weeping willow at the edge of the campus. Adam leaned uncomfortably on his elbows on the soft grass while Maybelle sat criss-cross about two feet away.

"What happened back there? I mean, I-I saw the end but why did they do it?" Maybelle sounded frightened and slightly traumatized, but Adam figured it was because she had just witnessed a full on beatdown at her own school.

"Uh-" Adam winced sharply at the pain in his chest and decided to lie down flat so the pain would be decreased, "Well, they were trying to let me know not to get in their way. Apparently this is their school, and they don't tolerate outsiders here. Fuckin' Douchebags." At that Maybelle looked away quickly and after a moment looked back.

"Well, I'm sorry they did that to you. Hopefully you can get on the popular kids' good side."

"Yeah, that might not be such an easy task for me, but anyway, can you tell me about the school so I can not get pummeled daily?"

"Uh, I don't really know much about the school, but I know the town well. I know this willow was planted 17 years ago, I know the sushi on the corner of Spring Street won't give you indigestion, and I know the best gas station is on 14th Street. Other than that though, I'm not the best person to go to. Sorry."

"That's okay." Adam thought she was acting a bit odd, so he decided to ask, "You seem a bit... Fazed by all this, but also like you're used to it. Uh, does this happen often here, or, do they just pick out the new kids to kick around?" He started to worry a bit, and he could tell Maybelle was uncomfortable with the situation.

"Well," She started nervously, "they usually only do that to new kids, and if you're on their bad side they might push you around sometimes, but if you're on their really bad side, uh, well, it can be a weekly thing."

"And where are you?"

"Me?" Maybelle's cheeks turned bright red and she looked at him alarmingly, as if it was illegal to ask about her. Then she composed herself and brought back the calm yet self-conscious girl Adam had been seeing so far.

"W-well I'm pretty sure I fly under the radar a lot of the time." She sounded ashamed for some reason, but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable so he decided to back off for now.

"So, uh, do you have a car, or no?"

"Y-yeah, why?" She sounded relieved and even smiled a little at the change of subject.

"I was wondering if you could take us to that sushi place - if it's okay of course." Adam actually did want to know what restaurants were in town because he wouldn't have much time to make home cooked meals.

"Yeah, sure. Can you stand yet?"

"Yeah, I should be fine. I've had worse." He started to get up and winced. Maybelle got up quickly and helped him stand, then she grabbed their backpacks and they hobbled to the car. As she opened the passenger door for him, she suddenly thought of something.

"Oh my god! We have school! You must want to get to class so you don't fail, and I need to get home soon to make Dad's lunch," She started to have a miniature melt down and started freaking out and shaking. "Oh my god I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fuck up so bad, please-"

"Maybelle!" Adam grabbed her arms and looked up at her. She flinched away from him and started crying so softly, any normal person wouldn't know.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not going to school like this. Now we still have a few hours before noon - or even 11 o'clock - and you're not doing anything wrong. Come on," he pulled her down to him and let her bawl into his jacket while he hugged her tightly. "It's going to be okay, trust me."

After a few minutes Maybelle let go and wiped the tears from her thankfully makeupless face. She walked back to her side of the car and got in, turning it on.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Adam said almost jokingly, but as she turned her head and locked eyes with his, she knew what he meant and she felt oddly a little bit glad he knew. Maybelle let out a big sigh.

"Well, let's go get some sushi!" She backed out of the school parking lot and started driving into town.

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Alright! So that took awhile, school is a bitch, life sucks ass, the usual. If you wouldn't mind, could you comment if you see a misprint or something like that? I'd really appreciate it, thanks!