BOND

25.

If you cross her

Then you cross me

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Elena could see her confused expression being reflected on Joey's face, only his was more petrified than hers was. She repeated her question, begging both of them for any kind of reply, but none of them answered.

A few seconds later Joey seemed to snap out of his in-activeness and gave her a look that she could only describe as someone who had been betrayed. "I have to go. I can't do this," he shook his head, his body going limp by the second.

"No, tell me!" Elena screamed, her voice drowning under the rev of tires and engines. "Tell me," she looked at Joey, her voice desperate.

Joey turned halfway and ground his jaw, hard. He faced Elena, his eyes closed and sighed, his shoulders slumping ahead defeated. He faced Michael and said, "Take her home." He turned on his heel, almost running out.

Michael reached out and grabbed her wrist in his hand, "Don't go after him! You don't know who he really is!"

Elena snatched her hand away from his grasp and moved up the stairs, "Right now I don't know who you are either Mike!" She looked at the retreating figure of Joey as he entered the tunnel they had come in from. She glanced back at Michael and said in a much softer voice, "I have to go."

She ran after him, calling out his name as the sound barely reached her own ears over the rush all around. As she exited through the other side of the tunnel, she finally saw him, walking over to his bike. "Hey!" she shouted to his retreating figure and rushed over when he made no move to stop.

She grabbed his elbow and yanked him back to face her, "Look at me!"

Joey, before he could control himself, yelled out, "What?! What more do you want from me?"

Elena flinched and looked up at him, both of their chests heaving. His with suppressed anger and hers with running after him. "Don't shout at me," she said in an even voice. "Tell me what's wrong."

He stepped away from her, barely able to meet her eyes, his lungs swelling with every breath, "Your father almost killed me, that's what happened." He fought his urge to shout at her, knowing deep down that she wasn't the cause of everything, but found himself saying, "And you have the same eyes that gave me nightmares for a whole fucking year."

She stumbled backwards with the blow of his words, her hands flying up to her mouth.

That's where Michael found her several minutes after Joey had driven away.

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"I will expect your reports on my table by the next week. You can choose your own partners." John Walker, the English teacher announced onto the bored class. After five more minutes of his monotonous repetition about the deadline and how they should take it very seriously, the bell rang.

Elena snapped her gaze away from Joey as the students started shuffling out of the class. She gathered up her things, still keeping an eye on him, hoping against her better judgement that he would at the very least look at her.

As she lost the back of his head out of her sight, she sighed and gave up the search figuring that she could continue it during lunch.

"Broken up so soon?"

Elena whirled back to look at who had spoken and groaned as she saw Grant. "What? No time for me today?" he asked.

Elena rolled her eyes, barely able to suppress her annoyance, "This is not a good time to me irritate me, Grant. I have a shit load of things on my mind and you don't want to become another one of them."