Head above the water

4

(Meme is an example of me and the rest of y'all because of that last chapter)

IMPORTANT: This chapter contains rude language and violence.

"Why the long face?" Julianna asked me in a soft voice, as if trying to calm a wild animal.

"Nothing," I said with a tired sigh.

"Are you sure?" Marissa prodded, reaching across the table to grab my hand.

"Yeah, I'm- what the hell?" I cut myself off by yelling because something cold and gross trickled through my hair and over my face and shirt.

I leapt from my seat and spun to face whoever had poured the milk over my head, and I wasn't surprised to see Trent. I could feel the anger seething under the surface, but I knew better than to let myself explode. I was so angry that I was trembling, but Trent saw that as weakness instead of anger.

"Hey! What was that for you cunt!" Marissa shouted and tried to crawl over the table to smack him.

Julianna held her back, which I was thankful for. If Marissa got into another fight she would likely be expelled from school, and I didn't want that to happen because of me.

"Looks like you lost your little knight," Trent chuckled as he dropped the milk carton to the ground.

"I can take care of myself," I stated defiantly, but my defiance was weakened my the milk dripping into my eyes.

From where I was standing I could see the table the boys had sat down at. Their eyes were trained on the scene, but they seemed to be disinterested. I turned my attention back to the situation that I was in.

"Doesn't seem like it," Trent smirked as he stepped closer to me.

He was so close now that I could feel his breath hitting my forehead as he looked down on me. I could feel my sharp nails cutting into the palms of my hands as I tried to not react to him. There was warm liquid dripping from my knuckles, and I knew that I had broken skin. I couldn't let him push me further, but if I reacted at all he would only be worse.

In the time it took me to think that someone had come between us and pushed him backwards. There was a group of people standing around me, and it confused me. I only had two friends. Who were these people?

It would have been fairly easy for me to find out their identities, but I was determined not to break eye contact. I would not look away from Trent first. I would not show weakness. Thankfully, the boy that pushed Trent back to begin with pushed him once more, and he dropped eye contact first.

Looking around, I got an unexpected answer. The people surrounding me were the exclusive group. The boy that had pushed my tormenter back was Hoseok, which shocked me more than anything else.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hoseok asked.

The entire lunchroom had fallen silent at this point, and everyone was watching with bated breath to see what would happen next. Trent's face was slowly turning an ugly red-purple color, and his eyes seemed to bulge. Now it was him shaking with anger instead of me, and he was less capable of defending himself against these boys than I was of defending myself against him.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to see Marissa and Julianna now on my side of the table standing in the midst of the boys.

"Come on," Julianna said, "Lets get you cleaned up."

Julianna pulled me out of the group and towards the door of the cafeteria with Marissa not far behind. She pushed the doors open, and just as they were about to swing closed behind us I heard Trent yell out something that sent me into a rage.

"That's why your dad walked out on you and your mom! He was sick and tired of fighting all of your battles for you!"

And just like that I had flown back into the lunchroom, skillfully dodging the outstretched hands of both girls. I could feel the hot tears streaking down my cheeks, but I couldn't stop myself from what I knew I was about to do. Like a few days ago on the cliff my body was in control and my mind was just along for the ride.

I sprung up and onto the table, and I used it as a platform to vault straight at Trent with my fist balled, ready to knock his teeth out and disfigure his face. I would have, too, if hands didn't snatch me out of the air a split second before my hit should have connected.

Arms of steel encased me in a prison, holding me back though I fought like something wild trying to escape. I twisted and pulled and pushed in an attempt to free myself and attack Trent. I was not of myself anymore, and I knew that. It scared me, and I knew it scared others because I could see the faces of my peers who had never seen me react so strongly to anything else twisted in concern and fear. The cage moved backwards, and I was pulled with it, him.

"Shhh, it's okay Anastasia. It'll be okay. You have to calm down for me. Can you hear me?" Someone was speaking in a soft and comforting voice, and I could feel my mind slowly returning to my body.

I turned around in his arms to look up at Jimin's concerned face, and I couldn't tell if my heart stopped all together or just did a tap dance.

"You okay now?" Jimin asked.

"No," I whispered and buried my face in his chest to let out the rest of my tears.

He tightened his arms around me and we stood there for a long time until I realized I was still covered in milk.

"I'm getting your nice clothes dirty," I sniffled, pulling away from him.

"It's okay. How about you let the girls take you and get you cleaned up, huh?" He gently insisted.

"Yeah. Thank you for that," I whispered and let Marissa and Julianna pull me off to the bathroom.

---------------------
So what do you guys think? I'm trying not to let this story be cliche even though I feel like it kind of is. Don't forget to comment and vote to tell me if you liked it!

Love Ya Always,
-Haleigh