Beautiful Scars [1] ✔

Chapter Six

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I awoke with a smile on my face, even though I was tired. So, so tired. But it was worth it. After I sobbed my heart out, I did something I thought I never would've done. I apologized.

Mrs. Tilly was nice enough to forgive me, and I even confessed about my day. Remember how I had no friends? Actually have no friends - excuse me. Well, when we got home, Mrs. Tilly and I bonded over chick flicks and popcorn. And I was actually happy for once, instead of miserable. Last night was the first night I didn't cry myself to sleep.

I sighed heavily, completely miserable yet again. I had to go back to school, the one place I absolutely did not want to go. Great. I was going to get teased. I was so excited for that!

I grabbed my white t-shirt, jeans, pink socks, black leather jacket, and my criss-cross laced black boots and sprinted towards the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and put on a good amount of deodorant, then slipped on my shirt, my jeans, and my socks. I ruffled my hair then twisted it around my finger, the movement creating little curls at the end. I bobby pinned my bangs, then pulled on my jacket and laced my boots. I sprayed a little bit of perfume then decided I was ready to leave. I grabbed my book sack and slowly walked to the car, in no hurry to go.

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The bell rang and I left first hour, tears down my face again. I kept on trying to remind myself of what Mrs. Tilly said before I exited the car.

Remember, the second day is never as bad as the first.

I got taunted and teased again, and hoped that it would get better. I walked down the hall and saw that I had a few minutes to spare. I looked around me and noticed the two people from my English class, Melissa and Aston. They were close together, laughing about something. I bet they were dating. I totally bet they are, I thought to myself.

I walked farther and mentally groaned, tears threatening to fall. Aaron and Patricia were a few feet away, and they were talking rather loudly. About me.

"Hey, look, bae, here comes ugly." Patricia hissed.

Sure enough, Aaron turned. "Ugly? Ugly doesn't even begin to cover it. The ugliest person is twice as attractive as she is. I would offer facial reconstruction, but she'd look even worse!" Aaron replied.

They snickered and the tears were falling. I couldn't stop them this time.

"I got an idea." he exclaimed.

"What?" Patricia asked.

"Let's trip her!" he suggested.

"Why?"

"It won't hurt anything. She's ugly enough already."

I stopped in my tracks. They were going to trip me. Surely, I could side-step them right?

I walked towards them, then stepped to the right quickly, trying to dodge their next move.

They deciphered what I meant to do, and tripped me anyways. I fell forward, my bag flying somewhere in front of me, and my face slamming against the floor. I felt a rush of pain, then felt blood trickle against my nose.

A gasp was heard throughout the entire hallway, and suddenly there was screaming, and it wasn't mine. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up, frightened.

There was a girl in front of me, and I noticed her as Melissa.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

"I- I guess.." I was taken aback. Most people either teased or ignored me. This was definitely a first.

I sat up, and turned.

Aston had Aaron pinned against a locker, his face in fury.

"If you EVER even think about hurting her again, you'll be the one needing facial reconstruction, got it?!" He let go of Aaron, then strode over to me.

He grabbed my shoulder and I stared at him in shock. "Why did you do that?" I asked quietly.

He shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with you. So why wouldn't we?"

Melissa smiled then lifted her sleeve, revealing a big black bruise. "This is my battle scar." Then she pointed at my face. "And those are yours."

Patricia laughed. "Battle scars? Ha. As if!"

Melissa bit her lip, then clenched her fist and turned around. "You got something to say, Barbie? Say it! SAY IT!" She walked forward swiftly, then Patricia swallowed and ran away, Aaron following behind her.

Melissa helped me up, and they both stared at me, then asked me a surprising question:

"Want to sit with us at lunch?"

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I grabbed my plate of disgusting cafeteria food, and sat down at the table, Melissa on my right and Aston across from me. He was looking at the table, silent. God, he was gorgeous.

"So you think I'm gorgeous, huh?" He said, smirking.

Oh, my god. Did I say that out loud?

I looked over at Melissa, blushing profusely. "Sorry. I hope I didn't offend you. I know he's your boyfriend-"

Melissa laughed, a long, hard laugh that turned into a snort, all the while Aston was glaring daggers at her.

"He's not my boyfriend! He's my brother!"

Oh. Oh.

Aston looked at me and winked. "Yes, I know what you're thinking, and I'll answer the unasked question. I am available."

I looked at Melissa and we both busted into laughter. It was amazing how comfortable I felt with them, even though we just started talking.

"Is he always this cocky?" I asked.

"Only on good days. Other times, well, let's just say he's on his period."

I snorted and Aston rolled his eyes.

"Ladies, this is not the time or the place to be talking about periods. Now, let's talk about something more interesting." He turned to face me. "I saw you were wearing an Imagine Dragons hoodie yesterday. Nice band. What's your favorite song by them, or are you one of those people who just like the merchandise?"

I took a deep breath. "Demons. Monster. Selene. Radioactive. Cover up. Uptight. Leave Me. Darkness. Emma. Amsterdam. Tokyo. Fallen."

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Nice. For a second there, I thought you didn't know anything about them."

I took a sip of water. "Don't judge a book by it's cover."

He nodded. "Touché."

Melissa looked back and forth at us, a smirk on her face.

Aston grabbed a paper napkin and scribbled something on it then tossed the pen and napkin to Melissa.

"What's this?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Dude. Write your number down and give it to her. Don't wanna leave our friend hanging do we?"

"Friend?" I asked.

They smiled. Melissa nodded. "Yep. Friend."

I walked with them out of the cafeteria, then gulped as I spotted Matthew. His eyes weren't on the plate in front of him. Instead, they were following me out the door.

;�6