My High School Bully

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Austin smiled a little. "Well I guess I can just be grateful for that. Can I carry your books?"

I looked down at what I was holding. Just my textbook and notebook. My hand was still pretty weak, but I was too busy being angry at Austin's friends earlier to notice. "Um, sure." I said, handing them to him. He walked into the classroom, and I followed. I was planning on just going back to my room for the day, but if Austin was going to be nice to me, hey, I wasn't complaining.

As we walked in together, everyone was staring. All my classmates could tell that Austin and his friends were so mean to me, but no one really said anything. They just stayed out of it and minded their own business.

I found my seat, and Austin sat next to me. "So, are you working tonight?" He asked, organizing my books on my desk. 

"No, not tonight." I replied, and he looked almost... sad? And then I remembered why. "So you won't be able to steal any of my tips tonight, sorry." 

"Oh, about that." He said, taking out his wallet. He took out  a ton of cash--my tips-- and set it in front of me. I stared at it in shock. 

"Are you serious?" I asked. 

"Yeah," Austin said softly. "I shouldn't have done that. It's yours." 

I blinked a few times, then took my money off the table and put it in my bag. "Um, thanks... so are you going to seriously be nice to be now, or is this just one of your pranks?"

"No, I'm being serious. I didn't realize how badly I was affecting you until last night."

"No, you didn't." 

It was quiet for a few moments, and I started preparing for class to start. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Austin was staring at me. "What are you looking at?" I asked. 

He glanced over at his friends, who were whispering to each other and staring at us. "Look, they're not going to ask you to do their homework anymore. I'll make sure of it. We'll do our own." 

~~~

The next morning, I sat down next to Alex for breakfast. 

"Hey," he said, stuffing more toast in his mouth. 

"Hey," I replied.

"Hey," 

Alex and I turned around to the third voice. Austin was standing behind us. "Can I sit with you?" 

"Sure," I said at the same time Alex said "No." 

Alex looked at me and grumbled. "Fine."

So Austin sat next to us, and for the first few minutes we only conversed in small talk. It was pretty awkward.

"You know what?" Alex said angrily. "This is ridiculous. You're the reason she could've died!" 

"Alex!" I exclaimed. 

"I know," Austin said. "I have to fix my mistakes."

"Well you can't. It's too late. Come one Ella, let's get out of here."

I didn't move. 

"Come on." 

I still didn't move. "Alex... I was actually going to see if he would still be nice to me." I told him. 

"Fine," Alex said, and he reluctantly sat down. 

"So, can we start over?" Austin asked, offering his hand to Alex. He looked at me, and I nodded encouragingly.

"Fine," he said, shaking Austin's hand. "So are you guys working tonight?"

"Yep, we both are." I told him.

"No tip stealing." Alex said, pointing at Austin.

"Don't worry, I won't."

~~~

The rest of the day went about the same. Austin was still treating me with his strange kindness. Later that night, the three of us walked to work together. Austin began washing the dishes, and Alex and I started waiting on tables. Throughout the night, though, things were getting stranger. A table would leave, and as I approached the table to clean it and get the check, it would already be clean. 

I thought I was going crazy, until the fourth time it happened. I exited the kitchen, and Austin was wiping down a table that had just left. 

"Austin, you don't have to do that." I told him. 

"I know, I'm just trying to help you out. You have a bad arm, remember?" 

I nodded and thanked him, then returned to the kitchen to see Alex taking off his apron. "You off?"

"Yep," he replied. "I'll wait for you though. I want to eat some pie."

I laughed. "You and your pie." 

"It's good!"

"I know it is." 

After all of us were done, we walked back to the school together. It was much less awkward, and we were actually joking around and laughing. 

"Well, goodnight!" I said as I approached my dorm room. 

"Goodnight," They both said in unison. 

I closed the door behind me, then changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I went to sleep. This time, smiling. 

~~~ 

The next day, I was heading towards my English class, which I shared with Austin. And unfortunately, his friends were in that class too. I approached the classroom, and they were waiting for me outside. 

"There she is," Mike said. "Don't worry, we'll give you a break for last time. But these papers better have an A." 

I tried to ignore them, but they kept picking on me. 

"Aw, poor little Ella. Couldn't even do our math homework because she's too poor and has to work all the time."

Still, I tried to ignore them. But then they started throwing up crumpled pieces of paper at me. 

"Hey!" The voice was booming, and it startled everyone around us. Austin was approaching us with a murderous look on his face.  "Did you all forget that I have class now too? Get out of here." 

"Oh come on man, we though we'd have some fun with her too. Just like you. You're faking this right?" 

"No, I'm not. Leave." 

"Dude, what's your problem?" Mike asked.

"You."

"Oh yeah? Why are you hanging out with this loser anyway?"

Austin shoved him, and Mike shoved back. Pretty soon, a full on fight was going on. People were crowding around us, and Austin slammed Mike against the lockers. They slid to the ground, and both were bleeding. Austin has a long cut on his forehead. 

"Stop it!" I yelled. "Stop this!"  I pulled on Mike and Austin, but neither would budge. I got in between them, but the timing was the worst. Mike was sending a punch straight for Austin, but I guess I got in the way. 

Everything was white. 

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What do you think? Think she'll be okay? Is she getting her hopes up too much over Austin? Will she end up disappointed?? How do you think things are going to go down with Ella, Alex, and Austin?

Thanks for reading!