Waiting for the Sun ✓

Chapter Six

[This is the newly re-written version of this chapter]

I should've turned and ran away.

I should've made a beeline for the bathroom and locked myself in there for the rest of my life.

I should've done a lot of things, but I was very good at making mistakes.

I knew that walking towards an angry-looking Max was a mistake, but it was as though my feet had other ideas. When I was a few metres away from him, I stopped. I didn't say anything, though. Once again, my words had abandoned me.

Max pushed away from the lockers and I inhaled sharply. Anger whirled through his eyes like a flame in a fireplace. I wasn't sure what I'd done wrong, but I could tell that this wasn't going to end well.

My heart rate increased. My hands began to shake. If my lungs had a choice, they'd cease working right then, too.

"You know, you have everyone fooled. You act all innocent, but that's not what you're really like, is it?" Max sneered.

I couldn't keep the look of confusion off my face. I honestly had no idea what was going on. He was clutching a workbook in his hand, waving it around every time he spoke, but I didn't understand what he was so angry about.

And what it had to do with me.

"Come on, speak!" Max yelled, and I flinched. Images of Dad last night flashed through my mind. "You're not mute, I know that much. You may have everyone else fooled, but you haven't fooled me."

"I don't understand," I rasped.

Max laughed, but it was void of any humour. "You're good. You really do have this whole 'innocent' act down pat. I almost believe you."

"What did I do?" I forced myself to ask. My voice trembled as it left my mouth.

He thrust the book into my hands and I stumbled backwards. Looking down, my eyes scanned the page. It was the maths questions he forced me to do for him the other day. Every single answer was wrong.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Max said in a low voice.

That is what you get when you ask someone who is incompetent at maths to do your work, I wanted to say.

I shook my head, my blonde hair whipping around my face. "I'm sorry. I tried my best."

"Obviously you didn't! Thanks to you, the teacher is making me get a tutor," Max snapped, ripping the book from my hands and shoving it into his bag.

This whole situation was honestly ridiculous. He never should've asked me to do his work in the first place, and I shouldn't have been such a coward and refused.

"You're useless," he spat.

The word clanged through me like a shard of glass and pain flared inside my chest.

Useless.

"Do you ever wonder why you have no friends? Why no one likes you?" Max shouted, throwing his arms out wide. People were beginning to stare at us, wide-eyed and entertained. "Everyone knows how useless you are. And you're not just useless. You're worthless, too."

The trembling travelled from my hands and spread across my whole body. I couldn't even think, let alone speak. The triumphant look on Max's face told me he knew that he had won. He knew I wouldn't fight back.

I wished I would fight back.

"Say that again," a low voice from behind me.

Max's eyes darted to the person. "Mind your own business, new kid."

I felt the person move to stand beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that it was Alex.

Alex's facial expression hardened. "If you're harassing Lacey, then it is my business. We're friends, you see, and I stick up for my friends."

Max laughed and shook his head. "You're an idiot."

"Well, at least I'm not an insecure bully who feels the need to harass people in order to feel better about myself," Alex shot back.

Max's mouth dropped open and he clenched his fists. Rage flashed across his face, pure and undiluted. He looked like he was about to explode any second.

The bell pierced through the air and all the students in the hall dispersed.

"Leave Lacey alone," Alex said firmly.

"You made a mistake, helping her. I'm going to find a way to make both your lives miserable," Max swore, backing away.

Alex smiled. "I look forward to it."

When Max left, I sagged against my locker, placing a hand on my chest. I was concerned that if my pulse went up any further, I would actually have a heart attack. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing since Max was angrier at me than he'd ever been.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked softly, peering down at me with concern.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for helping me," I said, shooting him a genuine smile. No one had ever stood up for me before. It was a foreign feeling, knowing someone else might actually care.

"No problem. He's a bully and he needed to be put in his place," Alex said.

"True, but you don't want to be on Max's bad side. Trust me, he will make our lives miserable," I told him. With a sigh, I continued. "You probably shouldn't have stood up for me."

"But I did, and I'd do it again," Alex said seriously, holding my gaze.

I looked away, my hands fidgeting in front of me. "I should probably put my bag away and head to class," I said quietly.

Alex nodded and asked, "Yeah, okay. What class have you got now?"

Opening my locker, I dumped my bag inside and pulled out the books I needed. "History, I think."

"Me, too. We can head there together then," Alex replied with a small smile.

I smiled in return, but all I could think about was how much worse my life had just gotten. Max wasn't going to give up just because Alex was supposedly on my side now. I believed him when he said he was going to make our lives miserable. When it came to Max, he rarely made empty threats.

As I walked to class with Alex, I couldn't help but wish he'd never intervened at all.