DAMAGED

chapter20 ☪

•••

Kassie's POV

"What do you mean? Didn't you see him forcing me to-" I began, but he interrupted. "I saw you kiss him, Kassie."
"Hold up, she didn't-" Phineas started, but Wolfie cut him off too. "Don't try to get involved."
He grabbed ahold of my wrist and pulled me away from the crowd.
"Jerry obliged me to kiss him against my will, Wolfie. Besides, you're the one that goes around kissing other girls when I'm at the doctor's!" I said defensively.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked.
"I'm talking about the enormous girl line waiting for their turn in the janitor's with you." I growled.
"There was no 'girl line.' Kassie, if you're just trying to invent some random excuse to distract me from the fact that your lips were practically glued to some idiot's, then it's not working." He retorted.
"My lips? What about yours? I'm pretty sure they enjoyed the flavors of millions of other girls." I fired back.
"I never cheated...unlike some people." He glared at me.
"I didn't do anything. Didn't you see Alex trying to take Jerry's hands off of me?" I asked.
"Woah, now you're friends with Alex?" He smirked.
"Yes. Why? Are you afraid she'd show me another video?" I huffed.
"Video? Wait, you're talking about the video that Esperanza put on MyPage?" He asked, the corner of his lips tugging into a mischievous smile.
"No!" I replied sarcastically.
"That was a throwback to last year."
"Prove it." I challenged.
"Okay." He agreed simply before taking me with him by my arm.
"Where are we-" I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I realized we were in front of the closet.
He sighed. "Relax. I'm not going to do anything. Do you believe I would after you cheated?"
"I didn't cheat!" I protested. "Why are we-"
I got dragged inside despite my hesitant attempts and some girls' annoyed gasps.
Wolfie took off his jacket, revealing new bruises all over his arm. "Were these in the video?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"N-No." I answered, feeling guilt for blaming him. "You see? At least I keep promises." He said coldly, putting the jacket back on.
"I can't believe you think I'd cheat on you. I mean, if you saw Jerry kissing me, you probably saw Alex trying to help me get him off." I told him.
"She was just trying to separate you two before you did something in public." Wolfie said.
"No, she wasn't! He was trying to force me-"
"Forget it, Kassie. You can come here with him for all I care. I'm moving anyways, so it'll be fun when I do cheat on you. You won't mind, right? You'll be having such a good time with him, you'll forget all about us."
His words made my eyes fill up with tears.
"Why don't you believe me?" I asked.
"Maybe because you feel so sorry for me, that you'd kiss that guy." He replied.
"I don't have any pity for you. Is this about your parents?"
"I don't know. Which part of my life makes you feel sorrier?"
"None...and what do you mean, 'you're moving?'" I asked, my heart beating rapidly.
"I'm about to find out what abuse is like in the sunshine state." He shrugged. "At least now you won't have to pretend you like me just because-"
"I love you." I said quietly.
"What?"
"I love you." I told him. "If you're going to talk, at least get your facts straight. I don't pretend to like you. I love you."
He stayed quiet.
"I know."
"Then why did you say that I only feel sorry?"
"'Cause I honestly don't know what to believe at this point, Kassie."
I didn't know how to respond to this. He sighed, looking down at the floor.
The bell rang, but we didn't move. The soothing silence wrapped itself around both of us afterwards.
My heart started going crazy as the thought and longing of our lips pressed against each other came into mind; the way his hands would professionally touch my skin, leaving me breathless and unable to remember anything but him.
I cleared my mind of all the tentative thoughts and focused on the necessary ones.
That's when it hit me.
"You're moving to Florida?"
He nodded slowly before letting his melancholy blue eyes lock with mine.
"How much time?" I asked, trying not to panic. I finally found the only person that understands me, that I'm capable of loving under these measures, and now I'm going to lose him? This is so unfair.
"Three days." He replied.
"Can't you convince your parents?" I asked.
"I've tried." He looked back at the ground. "All they'll do is take out the rope."
"You can't let them or some stupid rope dominate your life." I told him, trying my best not to cry.
"I have no choice, Kassie. I'm still underage."
I stayed silent for a while.
"I wish we were like, twenty or something. I wouldn't have to go to an all-girls school, and you wouldn't be with your parents."
"All-girls school?" He asked.
"Jarett." I replied. "He wants to enroll me."
"I hate the guy, and I've never even met him." Wolfie laughed, a hint of sadness in his voice.
I let myself hug him, resting my head against his chest.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you when you told me what happened with Jerry." He told me.
I don't care about anything else right now. All I want is to enjoy the moment while I have it.
"It's okay. I'm sorry, too. Can't you do something about your parents?" I asked hopelessly, letting his arms wrap around me protectively.
"That's the thing. I can't. I'm a stupid minor. In a year, though-"
"Maybe you can do something now. I mean, what about blackmail?" I suggested.
"I don't know. I can try." He mumbled as I tucked my hair behind my ear.
There was a pause of absolute quiet until we heard the doorknob rattling.
"Shit." Wolfie muttered under his breath.
I felt nervousness creep through me immediately.
If we get in trouble, Jarett might change his mind and enroll me in a military school instead.
"Open the door!" The person yelled from outside.
Wolfie and I glanced at each other before both of us reached for the knob.
A teacher was standing right outside, her foot tapping lightly on the floor, and her arms crossed.
"What do you two think you're doing during school hours?" She asked, her face scrunched up in disgust.
Wolfie smirked. "Obviously avoiding school hours, miss."
I glared at him. If he's the person to get me out of school trouble, I'm doomed. Might as well cut my hair now.
The teacher scoffed. "Get out of there."
"I'm sorry, miss... It won't happen again." I said nervously.
"It better not." She warned in her warbled voice.
Wolfie was doing a really bad job of holding in his laughter.
"We have to follow orders from someone who talks like a fucking chicken."
I couldn't help but bite my lip in an effort not to laugh.
"That's it. Principal's office, both of you!" She hissed, handing us two paper slips.
"Cool." Wolfie shrugged and pulled me with him.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" I asked, annoyed. "Oh, God, if they call Jarett for this-"
"Relax, babe. They won't. Besides, we're both leaving this place. Might as well have fun."
"You called her a chicken." I pointed out.
"Yeah, well, she talks like one. For God's sake, Kassie, just-"
"I know. I should shut up because you need to keep branding teachers as animals."
He looked at me with a mocking face as we entered the office. My heart was pounding really hard. This is the first time I've been in this much trouble...
"Now what?" I whispered quietly.
My legs felt weak when I thought about all the trouble I was about to get in... Yet I felt happy. He was with me. In three days, he might not be here. I need to make the most out of this situation.
A part of me thought I should try to let him go, even though it would be no use, but that way, we won't get hurt as much.
I don't like to listen to that part.
The other part of me had hope, hope that he will stay and we can still find ourselves in this crazy world.
He looked at me and gave me a comforting smile quickly before heading over to talk to a woman standing by the door, our hands still intertwined.
"The principal's office is right this way." The woman replied, guiding us towards a dark red door.
We nodded and made our way inside. The principal's was talking to a girl, and the girl was in tears. I shivered. That would probably be me next. I tried not to think of the new slash marks I had on my wrists. There would probably be more of them after all of this.
Wolfie looked casually bored, as if he's been here many times. Oh, wait...
He gave my hand a confident squeeze, just to make me feel better. "Try not to bring that to school next time, okay, Crista?" The principal told the girl, who nodded and ran out.
"Okay, who's next?" The principal sighed.
"'Sup." Wolfie said, taking a seat just as I did. "You again? Are you ever going to stop violating school conduct codes?" The principal told him.
"I don't do such nasty things. I disrupt school conduct codes." Wolfie grinned as if he were proud of himself or something.
"You're going to need to stop eventually. I may be nice, but some things still need to be put on record." The principal sipped liquid from his mug. "You - You're the one with suicidal parents, aren't ya? Almost failed a grade once." He pointed at me.
I felt discomfort and hurt at his words. Wolfie glared at him immediately. "Listen, don't mess with her. That's a threat."
"You can't threaten the school board." The principal laughed.
"Watch me." Wolfie growled.
"Am I going to have to suspend you again?"
Wolfie shrugged. "I don't give a shit."
"It's okay, I mean-" I began, but the principal interrupted.
"You know what? How about I just suspend both of you?"
"No, please, sir, I'm sorry." I begged.
He sighed. "Why were you with him anyways? Aren't you like, a straight-A student? Why are you trying to get pregnant with him?"
"What?" I said tiredly. "We didn't do anything."
"Why does he care? It's not his business, Kassie. You don't have to tell him if we did something or not." Wolfie told me in an annoyed tone.
"Alright, fine. Since this is your first time in trouble, I'll let it slide. Just come to night school for detention tomorrow." The principal advised me before turning to look at Wolfie.
"As for you, it's suspension."
"Yay, lucky me." Wolfie smirked, rolling his eyes.
I felt surprised at how easily he took the whole situation, then I reminded myself that I shouldn't feel that way.
"The next time you violate school codes, it will be expulsion." The principal warned.
"Okay. Cool. Can we leave now?" Wolfie sighed.
"She leaves to her classes. You go to the cafeteria and help clean." The principal gestured out the door.
Wolfie and I left the room quickly and stopped outside the office door.
"Why did you act so pleased with the suspension?" I asked.
"I got suspended for defending you, which gives me reason. I know that I'm right, so I could care less. Besides, now I can cut class and have an excuse."
I stayed quiet. "Meet me outside after school, okay?" He told me, and I nodded.
"That way, we can make a plan for you to stay here, right?" I asked, still clinging to that hope.
His eyes locked with mine, unsure of what to tell me. Our lips touched for a few seconds.
"Bye, Kas."