Under the Radar

Protection and Ice Cream

After two weeks of not going to school, all absences were excused of course, I was forced to go back. I was not happy. It's Monday morning and Charlie is driving me. I really didn't want to go, But I gotta face my fears at one point.

We pulled up in the parking lot, but I stayed seated and played with the string of my sweatpants. "Mia? You want to just lock the car up when you're ready?" Charlie held out the keys.

I shook my head no and cleared my throat. "No, I have to toughen up and go. I can't go running scared for the rest of my life." Charlie just nodded her head and shut the door to the car. Hesitantly, I got out as well. Hell, everyone was watching. Looks of pity, and fear crossed the faces of everyone I passed. Some looks of hatred and disgust were there, but you could guess who those people were.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a warm chest. I looked up into his brown eyes, happiness was stitched into his smile as he walked by my side. "Daniel? What are you doing? Your class is down the hall." I whispered.

He simply smiled and said, "Yeah, I know. But I wanted to walk you to your class." He walked me to my desk and waited until I sat down to say goodbye and leave. May growled and stomped towards my desk, but before she got here the teacher walked in.

Here comes the trouble....

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As soon as the bell rang, May's eyes immediately found mine. Her chair screeched against the floor as she shoved it back into the desk behind her. I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the room, trying not to make it obvious I was trying to run away from her.

I scampered through the crowd of people in the hallway and headed towards the school exit. I just wanted to be left alone. I haven't done anything to anyone, yet here I am being chased from the school.

May picked up the pace and stalked towards me. I kept my eyes on the front doors, as if when I turned around a monster from those scary movies would appear. I was 12 feet away from being free when someone grabbed my arm. Their nails dug into my skin like knives, very sharp, long, pink, knives.

I was shoved against a locker roughly. May scoffed, "Thought you could get away? Think again, bitch, you're stuck here."

I whimpered as blood came out from were her nails were still attached to. "I never did anything to you, why are you doing this? We are friends! Just stop and get things back to normal," I pleaded.

She laughed in my face. "Oh please, you thought we were friends? The only reason I stuck by you, was for the good grades and the popularity increase. You see, when you thought we were friends you gave me a hella lot of credit for things I didn't even do. And when I was seen with a loser like you, I was seen as a nice person. I mean, poor little Mia, everyone feels so bad. She needed someone's shoulder to cry on, she needed support. And who showed up just in time? I did! And things went just how they were supposed to go."

My mouth went dry, tears pricked the corners of my eyes, and it became hard to breathe. After everything I told her, after everything I did for her, she wasn't even my friend. She was just pretending!

"Aw, is the little bitch going to cry? Good! Seeing you suffer makes everyone happy. No one really cares about you, don't you see? They only pretend. Me, your friends, even Daniel. He only talks to you to get in your pants. He said so himself. He hates you, every word that comes out of your mouth, every last sentence; he despises you. But the best part is, is that he was planning on breaking you. Any last unharmed piece of your heart that was left, he was going to shatter it. And you wanna know why?"

I shook my head 'no' as tears slid down my face. "He did it because I told him to. He did it, because every time I'm near him, every time we touch, we kiss, I make him happy. He loves me, not you. Let's face it, you disgust him. You disgust all of us."

"I-I don't believe you." Her eyebrow rose up.

"Excuse me? Which part did you not believe?" She spat in my face.

Rolling with my sudden courage, I looked her dead in the eyes and said, "Daniel would never love a bitch like you."

Her face turned red and she stepped back. Her left hand rose in the air and I closed my eyes waiting for the impact. But none came. Instead, May gasped. I opened my eyes and found Daniel angrily holding onto May's arm while she gazed at him. Soon enough she recovered and flirtatiously batted her eye lids. She stepped closer to him as he let go of her.

"What do you think you were doing?" He growled at her.

She was slightly taken back by his tone, but she began to rub up and down his arm and pouted. "What do you mean, baby? I was only going to teach this slut a lesson." He pushed her away and went to me, wrapping his arms around my shivering body.

"Listen here, March... June?"

"May!"

"Whatever! You will never, lay a hand on Mia again. You won't bother her, look at her, be near her, or even breathe the same air as her! If I find out that you have, I will make your life a living hell! And no, I don't mean making you do my work and buy my lunch and carry my books! I mean, I will make sure everyone knows who you really are! Every town, every city, every working place, every college, Everyone! You will be known as the girl that messed with Daniel Storm and your life as you know it, will be over." He began to lead me away but then stopped. "Oh, and by the way! The only slut here, is you!"

Once we got outside, he pulled me into his chest. "What did she say? Did she hurt you?" I shoved him away. Confused, he looked down at me. "Mia, what's wrong?"

"Is she telling the truth? Do you really hate me? Are you really only talking to me be-because you want to...," I sobbed. His eyes widened and he ran a hand down his face. He suddenly became angry and stormed towards me.

"Do you honestly think I would do such a thing?!" I glared and nodded. He sighed and calmed down a little. "Okay, I'll admit I've done it in the past. But once I met you, I knew that I shouldn't do it to you. I couldn't, I wouldn't let myself. I don't hate you; I would never hate you." His eyes searched my face but quickly dropped to my arm. Flames lit his eyes and his face became red. "Did she do that to you!? I asked you if she hurt you and you said no!"

"I didn't say no! I didn't say anything!" I yelled back.

"Why didn't you come find me? If you were with me, this wouldn't have happened! Damn it, Mia! I could of stopped this!"

"Excuse me, but I didn't realize you were my personal body guard! I was trying to get away! I went the direction I thought I could lose her in, not in the direction to look for you!" I dropped down onto the bench and let tears fall. "I just wanted to get away. When it comes to situations like this, my instinct is to run. I just cower away, and flee."

He sat down next to me and hugged me. He held my head into his chest as I sobbed, soaking his shirt with tears. "Sweetheart, you're not a coward. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. It wasn't your fault; I get it, you were trying to get away... Does your arm hurt?"

I glanced down to the bloody, bruising, claw marks on my forearm. "No, not really. I'm used to it." I whispered.

"What?" I shook my head and we sat in silence outside the school. Soon enough, he stood up and pulled me with him. "C'mon, let's go." He pulled me towards his bike and sat me behind him. He started the engines and we took off. Leaving everything behind.

As we drove, I felt free. As if nothing was holding me back. I wasn't being weighed down by my past or present. I was just flying, metaphorically of course. The wind blew on my face, drying the tears, and trees zapped by, creating a blur of fall colors. Birds flew south and orange leaves fluttered to the ground. I was so hypnotized to notice we stopped.... in front of an ice cream parlor.

"Ice cream? At 10:30 in the morning?" I chuckled.

He smiled at me childishly, "Everyone loves ice cream. And it makes me happy, so let's go!" I laughed as he excitedly dragged me into the shop. It's funny how this guy can save me in more ways I can explain.

(A.N: this chapter is honestly better than the last one. But honesty, tell me what you think of it so far. It would be helpful hearing opinions and ideas! So...yea I guess....)