Who She Is

~9~

*Slight violence/bullying warning

Alyx's POV

The day goes by fast, and I don't see Amaya at lunch. She said she'd be here yesterday, though. I walk into history class and take a seat at my desk. I open up my binder and wait for Mr. Todd. I keep glancing at the door, waiting for Amaya to walk through. The tardy bell rings, and Mr. Todd starts his lecture. I wonder where she is. I guess she skipped again. My cheeks start to heat up. I was really wanting to see her today.

The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. I walk home again, and luckily, there's no sign of Luke. I roll my eyes at the thought of him. I get home and play on my PlayStation 5. I play online with Wes and some other gamers. I start to get a headache and shut it off before too long, though.

I wonder if I should text Amaya. I quickly shut the idea down. She probably doesn't want to be bothered. She has her reasons for not coming to school. I don't want to seem like some nosy freak.

~

The next day, Amaya came to school. She seems down today, though. During History, she comes in and sits down. She doesn't say anything to me. I decide to grow a pair and sneak my phone out to text her. I send a simple 'hey' and wait for her reply that never comes. I sneak a glance at her and see she's looking out the window. She seems to have more makeup on than usual. She must be going somewhere after school.

When the bell rings, I try talking to her again. I grab my binder and stand up. She's already grabbing her things, ready to walk out.

I clear my throat and say, "H-hey, Amaya." She looks up and raises her eyebrows. "I just wanted to see how you were doing," I say without stuttering.

She lets a puff of breath out. She looks pissed off. She grabs her bag off the ground. "How I'm doing? Fucking fantastic." Her eyes roll. "Just... leave me alone." She brushes her shoulder against mine while passing by. What the hell? What happened to her? Why does she want me to leave her alone? What did I do? She approached me first. I mean, I was staring at her but still. My heart starts pounding really hard. Instead of going to my last period, I just run out the doors to go home.

I stroll down the sidewalk I take home on the days I walk. I let a sigh out. I thought I was getting a little closer to her and that we would hang out more. I somehow ruined this already. What did I do? I rake my brain of any wrong-doings I could've done. Damn it, I can't think of anything! Girls are so confusing! I feel myself tearing up from the frustration.

Damn. I hate how emotional I can be. I'm so pathetic. As soon as a single tear rolls down my cheek, I feel someone's arm wrapping around my chest and another one over my mouth. What the hell?! I'm pushed into the alley I pass all the time. They take me further in, and I'm shoved hard to the ground. Why does this have to happen to me? Ugh, my elbow hurts now.

I roll over to see who my attacker is, and of course, it's Luke. Fuck! He's never done anything this extreme before. He usually just calls me a name or two and possibly shoves me.

"Hey, Anthony," he says, laughing. Of course. I wonder if he even really remembers what my name is. He has to use his stupid brain to try and come up with other 'A' names. That's got to be difficult for him.

"Oh! Look, the pussy's already crying. I haven't even done anything to you.

"Yet," I mumble. I glare up at him. I'm not exactly afraid of him. I mean, I don't think I have a chance against him in a fight, but I also don't want it to have to come to that.

Luke's demeanor changes all of a sudden. He gives me a worried look and starts walking towards me. I try to scurry away. This can't be happening. What's he going to do to me? He squats down in front of me and asks with sympathy in his voice, "Why are you crying?"

"What?" I ask, confused. Why is he asking? He's never cared to hurt my feelings before. "Why do you care?"

All of a sudden, his eyes lose their worried look and turn back to normal. It's like he was snapped back to reality. "I don't!" He quickly scrambles to his feet. "I don't give a fuck if you cry. I'm out of here!" He turns and leaves me alone in the alley.

What the hell was that about? That's never happened before. He's always a dick, and then he leaves. He actually showed... regret? Remorse? Nah. He was probably just being nosy.

I finally force myself off the ground, wincing in pain. I let a groan out. The asshole has never actually shoved me to the ground before. I stand on my feet and finish my walk home.

Mom's home, too. Great. I try to make myself not look like Im in pain. I stand up straight, wiping the dirt off my shirt and wince again. Damn. I can do this.

I open the front door and walk in. "Hey, Mom," I say as smoothly as I can. She's inside the kitchen, wiping the counters down.

"Hey. Aren't you early?" she asks. Of course I forgot that I bailed on my last class.

"Oh, we finished early, and she said we could go ahead and leave. I rode with Wes home, too." I feel so guilty. I never want to lie to her. I'm just scared, too. What if I do tell her, and she tries to arrest Luke? His parents would just bail him out. Then, I'm dead. Plus, it's just petty high school bullying. It's pointless to tell her.

"Well, okay. I was going to go get some groceries in a minute. Do you want to go?" She believed my story. She should. I've never really skipped class.

"Uh, no. I'm good, Mom. I'm actually pretty tired, so I'm going to go lay down." I go to take a step towards the staircase.

"Okay. Well, I'm about to go. Have a good nap. Bye, love you."

"Love you, too." She shuts the door behind her, leaving me alone.

A/N- What do you think is up with Luke? And Amaya didn't have to do Alyx like that too. I can't wait to write the next chapter. Please vote and comment!