My Missing Piece

Part Two

As the rest of the week passed, Coraline and the rest of her group had finally managed to agree and get some work done. After a particularly heated argument, Jason had taken Eleanor to the side and they began to whisper-argue. An agreement seemed to be made after a few minutes. When they came back, Jason cooperated with Ash, and Eleanor began to contribute to the group. They had decided on creating a short, fictional film about people standing up in their school. While they had created a vague idea and outline, no one had any ideas for the specifics and script writing was difficult.

After their fifth class of potential productive work, they had hardly seemed to move forward. Not a single person had any suggestions to contribute. Headaches seemed to be a common theme in photography class, and by the end of the block everyone in Coraline's group had one. They winced at the sound of the high-pitched bell. Eleanor gave a small smile to her partners as she gathered her stuff. As soon as she had everything, she bolted for the nearest bathroom. She needed a minute to compose herself before she went to her second block.

Eleanor blew out a heavy breath as soon as she was in the safety of the women's restroom. Her head pounded against her skull, a time bomb close to explosion. She quickly dug a bottle of Tylenol out of her bag. She shook a couple of pills out and downed them with a gulp of water. Her eyes fluttered closed and she slowly willed herself to relax. A deep breath behind her caused that to fly out the window. She whirled around and came face-to-face with her two "best friends", Judy and Amelia. Judy circled around her. Eleanor's hazel eyes never came off of the other teen. She covered her fear with what she hoped was a menacing glare. Amelia frowned at Eleanor's outfit.

"You're not wearing a jean jacket. Ellie," pouted Judy.

"Sorry," said Eleanor. Her lips curled into a sneer. "I forgot. I woke up late. I'm lucky I made it to homeroom on time."

Amelia clucked disapprovingly. She placed her fingers under Eleanor's chin, forcing the latter to look up at the taller girl. Amelia's long, pink painted nails dug into Eleanor's skin. "I think we have a problem in our midst Judy," said Amelia sharply. "Ellie, my phone says you read the message at seven in the morning. Just before you usually get ready." She began to pace around Eleanor again. "You've been weird lately. Distant. I noticed you hanging out with that skater boy, Jason. You were talking with that weirdo Joanna and her friend the new girl. What was her name?" Eleanor glared at Amelia. She knew that her friend knew Coraline's name. She was just trying to spite her. "It doesn't matter. What matters is you've changed, Eleanor. It's brought you on a different path from us. And we're not following. I think is our final meeting." Amelia stopped, her narrow eyes meeting Eleanor's. "Good riddance, bitch."

With that, Amelia and Judy pranced out of the bathroom. Tears welled in Eleanor's eyes. She wiped them away before following suit and heading to her next class. As usual, the prey never noticed the predator poised to attack. Evan's foot jutted out once again and Eleanor fell to the hard, cold ground. She laid there, tears burning down her pink cheeks. She felt strong arms pull her to her feet. She glanced upwards and she found herself staring into Jason's green orbs. Pink dusted his chocolate skin. He glanced over her, making sure she wasn't seriously injured before turning to Evan.

"That was not cool, dude!" Jason exclaimed.

"What, can't take a joke Azarov?" replied Evan coolly.

"Not when you're hurting people!" said Jason. "First you cause Carrie to cry, and now Eleanor. Who's going to be your next victim? That shy girl, Brie? Or how about that tiny freshman, Rebecca?"

Evan stood from his usual spot on the floor. His eyes met Jason's. He saw the pure hatred in the other man's eyes, and followed what every masculine cell in his body told him to do.