I walk around campus for a while, no real plan. Most of my classes are already over and I don't want to risk running into my Math teacher. "Hey Phoebe!" I turn around to see Ava running toward me. I sigh. "What do you want?" I ask, not holding a grudge. "I'm so sorry, Phe. I really am. It's just, Noah-" "It's cool homie." She looks at me confused. "Okay then. But guess what! Noah asked me on a date." I fake smile. "That's so great!" She loses excitement. "Why aren't you happy about it?" I start walking, followed by Ava. "He's not a good guy." "He was friend's with Jack though." "So? Not everyone has good friends, Ava." "I guess. But i'm still going." I shrug. "Your life." She smiles at me and starts to walk away. "Oh, by the way, one of my friends is gonna stay with us for, uh, some time." She raises her eyebrow at me. "Okay!" she yells, running after hearing the bell.
'What am I gonna do now?' I think, pacing around. I put my hands in my pockets and feel something strange. I pull it out to see the money. I grin from ear to ear. Then I start running to town. I look at all the stores and think about what I'm gonna buy. This is the most amount of money I think i've ever had. Food and furniture is top on my list. I walk past a restaurant and feel my stomach rumble. I smile, squeezing the money, and walk in. It's not an expensive restaurant, but the first i've been in, in a while.
I sit down and while waiting, play games on my cheap phone. "Hey, it's you!" I look up, dreadingly, to see Noah, Ava, and a few of their friends. "Shouldn't you be in class?" I ask them, slightly annoyed. "Shouldn't you?" Noah asks back. "Mrs. Taylor made me go home but I got bored so I came out to shop..." "Shopping? Aren't you like the little broke girl?" "Well my friend that's staying with-" "How much do you got?" I look at him confused. "That's none of your business." "Come on, tell me." "No." "Can I have some? I can get you beer." "No, you can't have any. I need it."
Noah grabs my arm. "Come on, dude." I get up and walk out of the restaurant. As soon as I walk past the restaurant I get pushed to the ground. I look to see Noah. "What the heck?" He grabs my wrist, pulling me up, and reaches for my pocket. "Stop!" I yell, taking a step backwards. "Just give me a little." I can smell the alcohol on his breath. "Noah, you're drunk, just go home." I try to walk away. He pushes me down again, harder. "What's wrong with you?!" He bends down, grabbing the money out of my pocket. Then he pulls my necklace off. "Nice, Phoebe." he says, flipping through it. "Give it back!" He starts running away. By the time I get up, he's too far away. "Come on!" I yell to the sky.
I head back home, in tears from losing the money from Cherry and the necklace Jack got me. When I open the door I see my dark, empty dorm. I walk in and switch on the lights. Then I notice a small box on the table. "What's this?" I ask, sitting in front of it. It's wrapped in light blue paper, my favourite colour. I gently tear the paper off and slowly open the box. Inside is the money. I pick it up to see a small piece of paper under my necklace. I put my necklace back on. Then I flip the paper over and gasp in shock. It has black drops all over it and the words "I'm watching you." I quickly crumble it up and throw the box away. I sit and think about it for awhile. I nervously glance at the windows the whole time. Making a plan, I head back out to get enough food to last for a few days.
The sky's getting dark now, it being dusk. Most of the stores are closed now, except for the 24/7 ones. I head to the closest one. The bad part is that I have to pass the worst part of town to get to it. I try to walk fast past it. I feel a hand on my shoulder and my heartbeat speeds up. Then the person spins me around. It's Noah. He has a black eye and a few small cuts, probably from Jack. "I wasn't done with you." "What do you-" He suddenly puts his hand over my mouth and grabs me. He drags me into an alleyway. I struggle and try to scream.
Then he pushes me to the ground. "Ow." I say, grabbing my knee. "I've always wanted you, Phoebe." "Noah..." "And I'm gonna have you. Now that Jack's gone." "Please. Stop." "No." I get up. "Noah, stop it right now. I'm going." He pushes me back to the ground. I scream, landing on my hurt knee again. I feel something cool running down my leg. I look at my leg to see my pants all ripped at my knee and blood all down my leg. Fingers shaking, I touch it. When I pull my hand away, drops of blood roll off my fingers. I get dizzy seeing so much blood.
Noah goes down in front of me and makes me look at him. He leans forward and tries to kiss me. I pull away. "Stop it!" I yell. "Bitch." he mutters, hitting my knee. "OW!" He starts laughing. "You're a weak little girl, aren't you? I'll make you stronger." He reaches for my shirt so I slap his hand away. "Stop fighting it, Phoebe." He grabs my hands and holds them together with one of his hands. Then he unbuttons the top button of my shirt. Everything starts to go blurry as I realize that I don't know what to do. He undoes the second button. And then the third. "S...stop..." I mumble, barely able to speak. 'Where's Jack? Is he not here?' Noah's fingers just touch the fourth button and he's knocked back. Jack stands above him, furious.
He starts beating Noah up, punching him everywhere until Noah coughs up blood. Then Jack reaches in his pocket and pulls out his scalpel. He cuts Noah up badly, in all the most painful places that would make him bleed out slowly. Noah, unable to move or speak, just lays there, slowly dying. Jack turns around to see me. He kneels in front of me, putting his hand on my cheek. His focus changes to my bleeding knee. He stares at it for awhile before suddenly hugging me. He hugs me tightly. Then he picks me up. He quickly moves through the shadows and the next thing I know, we're at my dorm.
Silently, he walks in and heads to the bathroom. He sits me down on the edge on the tub and picks up a towel. He then cleans my knee. He walks away and comes back in a minute with clothes and a first aid kit. Then he takes my ruined pants off and wraps my knee. He looks up at me and notices my shirt, still halfway unbuttoned. He undoes the rest and takes it off as I feel my face start burning. He stands up and hands me a new pair of pants and shirt. I quickly put them on to avoid being so undressed in front of him. He just stares at me the whole time.
"Thanks." I whisper. He doesn't speak. Now that I think of it, he hasn't since he's been like this. He takes a deep breath, making the most noise i've heard him make this night. I study him as he stands still. He's wearing the same clothes as that night, covered in blood. He has his hood up, hiding his brown bangs. His shoes are dirty, from blood and dirt. And he still has that same mask on, old and fresh tar dripping down it. He stares at me and takes a step forward. He picks me up again. "I can walk." I quietly say, slightly blushing. He carries me to my bedroom and lays me down on my bed. Looking at me the whole time, he basically tucks me in, being cautious of my leg.
When he's done, he just sits on my bed, looking to the side. "Hey, Jack..." He looks at me. "What happened?" I ask. He continues to stare at me. I reach for his mask. The second my fingers make contact with it, he grabs my wrist. He squeezes it tightly and pulls my hand away. Then he stands up and takes a step forward. "Please don't leave." I beg. He doesn't look back at me. He walks out of the room. "Jack..." I whisper as I see him exit.
