k-12: the shadows

༺ the principal ༻

alexis

"can't believe young girls like you are fighting like that... a disgrace...!"

alexis shifted in her seat as she heard the principal's shouting drifting down the corridor, aimed at crybaby. she instead looked around at the other people waiting to enter the principal's office;

kelly, obviously.
herself,
a kid eating glue
and a kid rolling a bottle of pink pills back and forth in his hands, looking reluctant to take any.

kelly noticed alexis stared at her, and narrowed her eyes.

"i'm your friend. you didn't have to attack me," kelly snapped.

alexis choked back a laugh. "wh- what?"

"i'm your friend," kelly repeated slowly. "i'm on your side. you didn't have to defend that freak."

it took alexis a moment to understand. "you- ohhhh. my name is alexis," she said patiently. "isabel is my twin sister. she's your friend. not me."

kelly frowned. "oh."

there was a moment of silence before she asked, "so why did you defend that freak?"

"what makes you say she's a freak?" alexis countered.

kelly raised an eyebrow. "are you serious? what type of normal person can float into the air and choke someone with their braids?"

alexis shrugged. "there's no point in bullying her for something she can't control."

"it doesn't matter whether she can control it or not. she's a freak who's gonna get what's coming to her," kelly spat.

"well. freak or not," alexis replied, "she's still stronger than you could ever be. maybe you should respect that." she felt her eyes slowly flicker into black.

before kelly could respond, alexis was called into the principal's office. she rolled her eyes and stood up, walking down the corridor towards the ornate white and gold door with the principal's office carved into it ornately.

crybaby slipped out of the door, her eyes lighting up when she saw alexis.

"it's okay, he wasn't that harsh on me," she whispered. "he shouldn't be on you either. good luck, though." she kissed alexis's cheek before hurrying off down the corridor to sit back down and wait for alexis.

alexis blinked before taking a deep breath and heading inside.

✦ ♫♪ ✦

"how did it go?" crybaby asked as alexis entered the waiting area again. kelly brushed angrily past her as she was called into the principal's office.

"okay," alexis shrugged. "he didn't really think i had much to do with it. just cause i got cut."

she looked down at her arm; the blood on the k carved into her arm had dried, but it had dripped down her arm and stained her uniform. it was already clear that it was going to scar.

"let me fix that," crybaby said softly, reaching out to gently touch the wound. alexis flinched away, but a moment later it was gone, replaced instead with a shiny scar.

"thank you," alexis murmured. they held eye contact for a moment before crybaby blinked away awkwardly.

"is crybaby your real name?" alexis asked after a moment. "it's an ... unusual name, don't you think?"

crybaby laughed sadly.
"yeah, no, it's my real name. i have my brother to thank for that."

alexis cocked her head to one side. "tell me the story."

"there's nothing much to it," crybaby murmured, looking away.

"hey, i'm your friend. and i'll hurt anyone who's hurt you. understood?"

crybaby laughed softly, and placed her hand on top of alexis's. "okay.

"so when i was first born, my brother got hold of my birth certificate. and i was crying when i was first born, so he named me crybaby. my mom didn't give a shit, so it stuck."

alexis opened her mouth, assuming this was the end of the story, but hastily closed it again when crybaby continued to speak.

"when i was little my mom and dad fought a lot. they kinda fell apart- our whole family fell apart, i guess. mom started drinking, dad was with a different woman every night and my brother was constantly high. i was bullied a lot for being- well, a crybaby.

then one night, my mom ran out of syrup for her sippy cup. so she came into the kitchen to find some more. but instead she found my dad with one of his sluts, and she went crazy. she- she killed both of them, and when i came downstairs to find out what was going on, she gave me something that made me all- sleepy. when i woke up, she was gone. she came back a few weeks later, and now i see her whenever she feels like coming back. mostly my brother took care of me, and then we got a letter to say that my mom signed me up to come here...
so here i am."

crybaby waved her arms, then seemed to realise how much she'd just said and clapped her hands over her mouth in horror as tears sprung to her eyes. "you can forget i ever said any of that."

"hey- shh- it's okay," alexis said softly, wrapping her arms around crybaby and rocking her from side to side soothingly. her heart ached after hearing how much crybaby had gone through at such a young age.
"i haven't known you that long, but i'm your friend, okay? i'm one of you too. i'm here for you."

"thank you," crybaby whispered, sinking into alexis's embrace. "and... the same goes the other way. i'm here for you too."

alexis thought sadly of isabel before murmuring back, "it's okay."

both split apart from their hug as they heard the principal's office door slam, and heard hurried footsteps heading towards them.

"hey- you bitches should be grateful. i got all of us out of that mess," kelly snapped at them.

alexis blinked. "what? how?"

"my parents have money," came the drily reply.

"oh. uh. thanks?"

kelly sniffed, and muttered to herself as she left the waiting area.

crybaby looked at alexis.
"well, we should probably head to lesson."