Friends forever

Her nails raked against my face, tears blurring my vision and a sob choking my throat. My eyes desperately searched around, looking for someone to help. They sought a familiar face-support- but all they found were students cheering, jeers from people I'd never even met before. Just one person, one familiar face, that's all I wanted. To know I wasn't alone.

Be careful what you wish for.

My eyes settled on Ashleigh. Her face was blank, not displaying joy like the rest of the crowd, but not displaying any pity either.

"Ash," I choked, blood escaping my mouth. As she looked at me properly for the first time in weeks, I searched her eyes for the girl I once called my best friend. Resolve formed in the hazel eyes I'd always been jealous of, and her jaw hardened. For a second I expected her run into the middle of the fight and stop something that should never have started.

I should've known better.

In the blink of an eye she was gone, her spot in the crowd quickly taken by another cheering student.

Suddenly, I could feel the impact of every blow that had landed on my body. I realized that my cheeks were red from the amount of times I'd been slapped. and the warmth slowly making it's way down from my lip was probably blood. My knees were grazed from when I'd been pushed over from behind- it was always from behind- and I was starting to get a headache where my hair had been pulled.

Physically I'd been defeated long ago. Mentally, I had been desperately clinging to the idea that I wasn't completely alone, that there would be at least one person who would stand by me. Us against the world. That one shred of hope was now gone, and suddenly everything was a blur. As I look back at it now all I can remember are some flashing lights and- just like that- I was alone. I remember a woman asking me where I lived, and suddenly I was at home. All this time, people kept asking me the same question thst echoed in my mind.

"What happened?"