"Damn, what happened to your face?" Jonah pokes at my cheekbone with one slender finger. I bat his hand away and put my bag into my messy locker. My foundation and concealer job has washed off by the hours of the day. "My little brother didn't want to go to bed so he knocked me down." Jonah snorts. "A little kid knocked you down? Don't bullshit me. Tell me." I turn to look at him, and he's become all serious. He takes my free hand and leads me to the girl's bathroom. He barges in and several girls doing their makeup turn and stare at us with half mascaraed eyelashes. "You can't be in here!" A girl with streaked hair calls out, and he glares at her. "Yes, we're about to have hot sex in this dirty high school bathroom. Now move. I don't like peepers." When the girls realize that he wont be leaving, they huff and gather up their bags and push past us out the door. "Perv." One girl shoots at him and I hit her with my shoulder as she moves past me. She lets out a cry and turns to me, fire in her eyes. "Try that one more time, bitch." She gnarls at me, and shuts the bathroom door. The door slams with a boom, and i jump. I go the dust and black makeup covered mirror and pull my hair back. I pull out a tiny tube of foundation and dab a little on my bruises. Jonah watches me as I expertly cover up my wounds. "Brea." He says, but i ignore him. "Brea!" He rips my bottle out of my hand and slams it on the sink. His eyes are silently screaming at me. "Who hurt you?" I shake my head. "Don't you make me get Lyra." "You wouldn't." He raises his eyebrows. "You doubt me?" He turns on his combat boot heel, his jacket flaring out behind him like a black wedding train. I start to walk out behind him, but a storm of girls bust in, the girl i had slammed into earlier at the head of the group. "So, you ready to apologize?" She says, and i shake my head. "In your dreams, Malibu Barbie." She laughs. "I was hoping you would resist." She comes at me with sharp pointed pink nails. They claw at my eyes, but i duck away and try for the door. "Hey, we're not done." A hand swings out and grabs my middle, using her arm as a crane, pulling me back. Several hands start hitting me, pulling at my long hair, clawing at my skin. "Get off!" I scream, throwing my arms out, fists hitting a plastic nose. "You stupid whore!" The girl I made contact with hurls her Prada bag into my back. Surreal pain shoots all over my body. My homemade stitches start to seep blood. My skin is on fire, and i kneel to the ground trying to see through the pain. I am blind with pain spots. Over and over, buckles of Coach bags and ringed hands hit me until i am completely numb. I lean my head on the stall leg, the cool metal turning lukewarm from my sweaty forehead. "What the fuck?" My hearing is clogged up. The pain has taken over my entire body. All my senses are screwed. Two hands cup my head in their hands. "Brea? Are you okay?" Another voice behind me swears and whisper, "She's bleeding. Look at her back." "Honey, can you open your eyes?" I crack my eyes open and Becca smiles at me, her eyes swimming in a sea of tears. I shift, and try to stand. Two hands push on my shoulders until I'm forced to sit on the moldy ground. "We need to get you out of here. Who can we call? Your mother?" I shake my head. "I just need to get to my car." I stand, and Becca tucks herself under my right side, hugging me into her small body. "We'll take you home." Another body pulls me over to them, taking my weight off of Becca. "Becca, go back to class. I got this." Jonah says, and I see her hesitation. "Just go." I say, and she seems hurt by my choosing Jonah over her. But she leans and kisses my cheek. "I'll get them back for you. I promise." She walks out the bathroom with blood sprinkled on her white top and pride in her step. "Alright bud, let's go to my house. You're in luck. My mom's is like the best nurse ever." Jonah gloats and pulls me along the silent hallways.
He sits in the drivers seat and runs his hands over the steering wheel. "hey, sugar. We gotta go really fast so your mommy doesn't bleed out all over your lovely seats. So start for Daddy." I manage a breathy laugh at his coaxing, and he shoots a smile at me. "You have to sweet talk her, Brea. That's why she doesn't work all the time." "First off, my car is a boy. And sweet talking a car? What drugs are you on?" "Only the fun ones." He pokes my nose. I roll my eyes and skim my fingers over the foggy windows. "Dave, please work." I whisper, and he roars at my request. I smile at my victory, and Jonah laughs in my face. "What drugs are you on, sweetie?" He throws at me and I shove him away with my hand. "Piss off. Just drive." He keeps quiet in the short drive, letting me fiddle with the radio and hide in my mind. He pulls up to the farmhouse and pulls out his phone. He presses one and holds the phone to his gauged ear. "Mom? You're home right? Alright I'm in the driveway. I need you." She says something, and he hangs up. "She's coming, just don't move." He gets out of the car and trots up to the house. I close my eyes and press my nose on the glass. I even out my breathing just as if I was running. My legs start to ache for the burn of hitting the rubbery track and my joints wanting to break off my body. A knock on the window scares me, and i see Jonah holding up wraps and band aids. He opens the door and scoops me out. "What are you doing? I can walk." I try to free myself from his arms, but he's impressively strong. A woman runs out the front door, beautiful ginger hair flying out behind her. "Alright Jonah, bring her into the living room. I'll have to get her shirt off, so go get something of yours so she can cover up her front." She keeps the pace of her son and smiles sweetly at me in his arms. "Honey, you'll be okay. I know what I'm doing." She laughs as i sink into his hold relieved. His broken farmhouse is a mansion inside. Expensive paintings hang on milky walls with blood red carpets covering wooden floors. His living room is wool blankets with horse running across the fabric, a stone fireplace climbing up the wall, and couches made of angel feathers. He gently places me on the nearest couch and leaves me with his mom. "Take off your shirt and bra, then lay on your stomach. The pain is coming from your back, right?" I nod as I unhook my bra from under my shirt. I blush as i grab the hem of my shirt, and it adds up to her that I am uncomfortable. "Silly me!" She slaps a hand to her forehead and smiles warmly at me. She hands me a blanket with cows woven into the sweet smelling wool. "You can lay on this to cover up, and I'll go get my supplies. I'll keep Jonah out until you give us the okay." She leaves the room, and i can hear her busting around the kitchen, pouring ice water and directing Jonah to her medical supplies. I slip off my shirt and too small bra and place them in a ball with my bra hidden inside at the foot of the couch. I lay on my stomach with the animals running across my stomach. A cat jumps from the staircase and walks up to me with no hesitation. He nudges my dangling hand with his pink nose, and as I scratch him behind the ears, he finds me as a friend and purrs. He sits right under my hand and licks my palm. "Garfield, be nice." She comes in with one hand over her eyes. "Everything you don't a middle aged mother and a gay teenager to see covered?" I laugh and she takes that as an answer. She sits on the floor next to me and dabs my back with a cold washcloth. "Man, they really got you." She mutters as she wipes away blood. Jonah comes with a black bag, a typical medical kit, and places it down next to his mother. "I'm Anna, just so you know who is going to be handling your wounds." She says. "Have you been in any other accidents? You have previous wounds on your back..." She trails off and i can feel her fingers brush my glass cuts. "Um, yes. Someone stitched me up but i guess they came undone." "Yeah, this person didn't do the best job. What happened?" Jonah takes this as an opportunity to butt in. "Mom, it was insane. Those queen bitches got so pissed at us because i told them to leave the bathroom. One called me something, and Brea knocked her down with her shoulder. Then i left for just a split second, and then Becca is screaming her head off at me saying Brea was getting attacked by a bunch of Barbies and when i go there those girls had turned into animals. This is a prime example why I mind boys over girls. They're just too dangerous." He shudders and laughs, deep and sweet. "Jonah, i meant what happened to her back before." He meets my eyes, and says, "Well, i wouldn't know. I didn't even know she was hurt." My face burns, and I bring my gaze to the gold braided into the carpet. "Brea, sweetie, I need you to tell me what happened. You don't have to say anything right now. But I need to know today." A sharp pinch into my side makes me flinch. "Don't worry, just a liquid laughing gas. I don't want you to feel any of this." Anna has a sweet voice, like honey and warm water. The cat has the softest fur ever. I link my fingers under the cat and feel him purr. It pours into my bloodstreams, the only feeling I acknowledge.
YOU ARE READING
Heart Burns
Teen Fiction"Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in."
