Cloverfield

4: If not, for ourselves

The next morning, Alison walked with trembling hands into school. The hallway was crowded, the air conditioner was on, but her breath felt hot. She looked for her friends, but she saw Mona instead so she returned her notes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Alison."

From the corner of her eye, the blonde spotted Aria. Perfect, they had the first class together and she wouldn't ask too many questions. She approached her friend. "Hey."

"Hi, Ali. What's up?"

"Um, nothing. What's up with you?"

"Well, Noel asked me out last night!"

"Oh, my god. That's great!"

"Yeah, I can't wait." Aria looked at Ali's hands and the goosebumps on her skin. "Are you cold? It's sunny."

"I think I'm gonna catch a cold thanks to the air conditioner," Alison lied. She had been preparing all night, but one step into the school made everything seem so serious. If she messed up, Ian would go on and on and she would really have to quit field hockey. She took a deep breath. "So-"

The bell cut her off. Was Ali really that late? Was she even ready for practice later today?

"So we should go," Aria finished, offering a smile. Alison tangled their arms and they walked together to homeroom and then class.

x-x-x

Ian had pulled the same crap from yesterday, making innuendos at her. What's funny is she doesn't feel scared or nervous anymore. She feels angry. And maybe that showed in her performance, but let it show. She didn't care.

After Alison scored again, Coach Thomas said the game was over. "DiLaurentis," he called her over. "Give me a minute."

She smirked and headed towards him as her teammates left to the locker room, where Ali was sure he was going to show up later. The thought disgusted her.

"You were pissed on the field. You almost took Kirsten's eyes out "

"Please, she was wearing a helmet."

"Well, if you are pissed next class, you're sitting the game out. Being pissed means you go solo. Going solo is not teamwork."

"Well, you better make sure I'm not pissed again."

Ian frowned. Was she saying what he was thinking?

"If you don't stop with the comments and coming to the locker room, I'll tell the principal and Melissa everything. So this ends now."

Nope, she wasn't. "If you tell, who's going to believe you?"

"You see, Hilton Head has cameras, maybe whoever was looking over them didn't pay enough attention, but the footage's there and not to mention the dozen of witnesses hearing you here. Once they get a hint that you're a predator, they'll understand what you really meant and they'll report you, too. Principal Hackett will call the police."

He scoffed, shaking his head slightly. "Fine. I won't bother you. Now get out of my sight."

Alison flipped her hair as she turned around towards the girls' locker room. She felt happy and carefree. She took a five-minutes-long shower and almost forgot to put the towel on. Maybe not too carefree, Ali.

She put clothes on and made her way to the cafeteria as the bell rang. She grabbed a tray, some food and sat in their table. As she ate, she still couldn't believe how amazing threatening Ian had felt. Alison felt more powerful than ever, like she could snap her fingers and a genie would appear at her command. She had never thought she could get over this so quickly after two weeks of being in a living nightmare. Maybe Alison had needed the rush of adrenaline to layer her fear.

"Hey, Ali!" Hanna chimed in, sitting next to her.

"Hey, Han. What's up?"

"Besides some boys in my class passing a paper ball around that had a dick drawn inside, nothing much."

"So mature."

Spencer, Emily and Aria came together and took their seats, too. "Hey, Ali. We didn't get to talk after practice. You okay?" Spence asked.

Em looked at her and then at Alison. "Wait. What happened?"

"Nothing, I was just too pro for the team."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "I heard some girls whispering on the cafeteria line about how you almost chopped someone's head off and then you had a heated argument with the coach."

"Naomi and Riley need to shut the fuck up."

"Woah," Emily let out. Her mouth had gone agape the second Aria finished speaking. Hanna wasn't even playing with her food.

Alison restrained a frustrated sigh. She was fine. Why couldn't they see that?

She stood up and went straight to a table. "Listen, bitches, if you're gonna say things about me, say it to my goddamn face."

"I-I..." Naomi stuttered, definitely not expecting an outburst from Alison, who was usually nice to everyone and was well-known for being sassy and hot. Riley looked stunned, too. What was going on?

"Don't talk about me ever again or I'll end you." Alison turned on her heel and left the cafeteria with her head high, not looking back.

She heard steps behind her as she reached the school's outside area for fresh air.

"What was that?" she heard Emily's confused voice.

"What was what?" Alison turned to her friend. "I was just standing up for myself."

"Did you have to be so mean?"

Ali shrugged. How else would they understand? she almost answered, but even that sounded mean.

"I don't like it."

"So am I supposed to let them talk behind my back about things that aren't their business?"

"No, but you could have been nice about it." Like you always are.

Alison scoffed. Nice. "Being nice only gets people to walk over you, you would know." Once the words left her lips, she immediately regretted it. She was talking to Em, her bestest best friend in the world, not some airheads. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Emily stared at her feet. Ali knew her insecurities, yet used them against her.

"I'm sorry. I won't be mean, never to you."

Brown eyes shyly looked up, reaching out her pinky finger. "Promise?"

Alison interlaced it with hers. "I promise."