Shadowheart

Chapter 13

The sun rises down the street. Dahlia slowly opens her eyes, sitting up, placing her hand on her neck as it felt very uncomfortable. She looked around and remembered... Everything that happened the night before and what led her to be there, to the bus stop.

She grinned a little bit as she thought...

-Now I know what a homeless guy feels like...

But then again, she remembered those words. Half-breed. It couldn't come off her mind. One bus came across the stop, reminding her something else.

-Oh crap! School!

The bus opened its doors, and Dahlia walks in and asks.

-"Do you stop by Tully Street?"

-"No, but the closest spot I can stop is Holdridge."

-"Then take me there."

She dumps in the money she needed for a pass and sits down. She stretches her back and her spine cracks, Dahlia feeling much more comfortable to slouch back in the bus seat. She stops at Holdrige Street and immediately sprints back to her home... She stops midway as she remembers... Wow... She was much faster than usual. She could easily apply to sports, maybe get her body back in shape, but then she thought:

-Maybe I'm already too strong for these guys to handle.

She makes it to the front door. Slowly opening it, hoping her parents aren't inside. But she spotted her father. Laying in the couch in a drunken sleep. Dahlia takes off her boots, leaving them by the doorstep, and sneaks by him to head up to her room. First thing she looked was the time at her alarm clock. 6:36 am. Well at least she's early. She quickly grabs her things and disabled the alarm for that morning. One thing she clearly couldn't forget was brushing her teeth, so she did it quickly. She then slid down the stair railings and landed on her socked feet, not making much sound. She wears her shoes and went to her usual stop for the bus.

She patiently waited for the bus... For 10 minutes, until she remembered she has athletic speed. So she just ran to school. Dahlia was smiling. Running in the warmth of the morning was a relaxing thing to do, taking her stress out of her mind... Her father, the muggers, the monsters... She was feeling new with these powers. She felt like an open book now.

Dahlia reaches her school on time, she asks a guy sitting by a bench outside: -"Hey, can you tell me the time?"

-"Uh, yeah... It's 7:12."

-"Wow... Ok, thanks!"

Dahlia smiled. It took her 20 minutes to run there, not counting when she was looking for her bag. She really was fast...

Dahlia heads inside and goes to her locker. She picks up some of her books and an art magazine when suddenly...

-"Get your dirty hands off me!"

-"Emo girl sure has a nice butt, huh?"

She looks down the hall and sees Alex, harassed by a group of three jocks. After Dahlia puts away her things in the bag she slammed her locker, walking at a pace towards the harassers.

-"Hey, jerkoffs!"

The jocks look aside and see Dahlia in her dirty coat.

-"Oh, lookie here, the other little emo girl."

-"Leave my friend alone. Now."

-"Or else what? Are you gonna slap me like the little girl you are?"

-"I just might. If you don't want anything to happen, then let my friend go, now."

-"Or else what? Flail your arms at me?"

Dahlia was getting more hotheaded. She almost closes her hand into a fist, but then she remembers. People are looking. Her blades would give her away and people will talk. She couldn't risk it, so she grabs him and shoves him aside, and shoves the jock holding Alex.

-"Jesus, girl... That push!"

-"Come on, Alex, let's get out of here."

She grabs Alex's arm and both pull away from the jocks. Alex turns her head and sticks her tongue out at them. The jocks snicker.

Both Dahlia and Alex sit at a table outside.

-"You ok, Alex?"

-"Yeah. I'm fine. Just nothing new, guys grabbing my ass because it "looks so fine"." She jokingly changes her tone to ladylike, to at least get a smile out of Dahlia.

-"That wasn't fine, Alex."

-"Yeah, I know. But I could have handled it myself there."

-"Alex... What if they would have touched you somewhere else? Would you handle that?"

-"Dahlia, I survived years and years of grab-assing and jackass jocks. I could have beaten them senseless."

-"Like you beat Rory Collins back in middle school?"

-"Rory was a wimp to begin with. And then I thought you were wimpier..." She looks at Dahlia with curious eyes.

-"Huh? What do you mean I'm a wimp?"

-"But then... You came along and showed those guys... You're kind of different, Dahlia."

-"Me? Different? Come on! Alex, you know me. Same geeky poofy haired girl as always."

-"Are you ok? Did something happen back home?"

-"No, I'm... Completely fine." She gives a wide smile to Alex. -"Besides... A thank you would have been nice."

-"Oh! Well why thank you, my sweaty hero."

Dahlia was having a drink but she couldn't help but spit it once she said that, she just laughed.

-"What!? Sweaty!?"

-"Well yeah! You smell like fat guy who had to run 100 meters in the olympics and finished!"

She lightly punches Alex, but even that hurt her.

-"Ow! Dahlia!"

-"Whoops, sorry."

She shrugs, as Alex squinted her eyes, still curious to know how did Dahlia become much more open, much more... Confident.

-"But anyways Dahl... Thank you. You, really saved my butt out there."

-"Of course... You're my best friend, remember?"

-"You're my hero."

-"Okay, Alex, don't tease me."

-"Can I kiss you?"

Dahlia widened her eyes upon hearing Alex say that, while she gives a joking smile.

-"No, Alex, no! We'll be everyone's weird fantasy if that ever happened."

-"I'm just playing, doofus!"

Both girls laugh, but then the bell rings.

-"Damn, class... Can we meet up later in here?"

-"Actually, Alex... Let's meet up at your house instead after school."

-"Why there when we can hang here?"

-"It's just that... I have to show you something."

-"Oh? What is it? Can I have a peak?"

-"No... That's why we gotta do it at your house. It's more private there."

-"Oh, alright. I understand. Gotta go! Running late for class!"

-"Well go run, run Usain Bolt!"

Alex laughs as she heads inside. Dahlia moves her head down. Smiling a bit. All her life it was Alex who protected her from bullies, but today she protected her. Her debt has been payed, and Alex was right about one thing. Dahlia felt much more... Confident. Maybe she was ready. Ready to show Alex what happened to her, to her arms and to her life as of late. Besides, she thought Alex would look her up as the ultimate badass when she sees her blades. She couldn't help but giggle at the thought.