You Can't Live Like This... (The Rules of Survival Fanfiction)

Nikki's Revenge

While I sat on the porch, I saw a very suspicious man slinking over to our side of the road. I blink and stand up a bit. I saw something big and shiny in his hand. "Uh... sir?" I called out. "Do you need any help?"
The man looked up. He stared... then he took the shiny object to the back of Murdoch's truck. "Hey!" I, stupidly, ran over to try and stop him. He kept swinging at the truck. I try and grab the bat from him, and we swung around a bit before he kicked me away and punched me in the face. You better believe that man went to jail after that, Emmy. I fell to the ground, just as Murdoch came out. "Hey! Back away from her now!" He came right at the guy, and they fought for a bit. Then, after being able to wreck Murdoch's truck and sprain his wrist, he scampered away.
"Lynnette!" He came over to me as I held my stomach and face in pain. "Oww..."
"C'mon, inside, now," he helped me up and we went inside quickly. Murdoch was on the phone in the matter of a millisecond, calling the doctor about our conditions. Then he helped clean up my face. I had a bloody broken nose, and I already knew a bruise was forming on my stomach from where the man had kicked me away. "Sick freak... beating up a kid," Murdoch mumbled angrily. I sigh. "He took a bat to your truck. It was my fault for trying to stop him."
"No, it's not your fault, Lynny," he said sternly. "You did what you thought was right."

The next morning, we went to the hospital to get checked out. Murdoch has to wear a splint, and I had to have my nose bandaged. They didn't actually wrap my face up with bandages, but they put these band-aids called "butterfly bandaids." I flinched as they put them on certain spots. Then they gave me a cold pack. "There. Your nose should feel a bit better in a couple of weeks. We'll have a chiropractor put your nose back into place next week." Murdoch and I, on the way to drop me off at school, sat in silence.
"... I'm thinking about homeschooling you," he said abruptly.
"Huh?"
"I've been thinking about it for a while. It might be the best option for you."
"Why?"
"It'll give you a chance to learn about important stuff that school isn't teaching you. Plus, you can still see your friends from school, just outside of school, and," he looked at me with a wink, "I know how much you like sleeping in."
It sounded nice. But that would mean no more seeing Matthew. I only ever saw him in school. The only time we "hung out" outside of school was the one time I went to your guys' house. "... I dunno."
"Really? I thought you'd like homeschooling."
"I know. It sounds great, but..." I look out the window.
Murdoch knew. He looked at me quick, then back to the road. "... still thinking about Matthew?"
"All three of them," I said softly. "They're in danger, Murdoch."
"Again, there's nothing we can do."
"We could try!" I look at him. "We can't just sit by and watch it happen!"
"Lynnette—"
"No, Murdoch, you can't convince me I can't do anything about it." There was a long pause. I look down at my feet. "... We managed to escape from Dad."
"That was different. It was our choice to leave. I managed to get him down long enough to escape, and you saw an opening and ran away. Matthew doesn't have a choice, and neither does Callie or Emmy. They need to protect each other... we didn't have that."
I continued to look down. "... fine. I'll do homeschooling." I look up at him, "But the second I'm able to see Matthew, I'm going. I don't want him fighting this alone..." I look back out the window. I could hear Murdoch chuckle.
"You seem to care about him as much as he cares about you."
"Huh?"
"C'mon, Lynny, I've been hearing you talking to yourself at night. How you try to find a way to help them." We pulled into the schoolyard. "Go tell your teachers I'm planning on homeschooling... maybe Julie can help too."
"Okay," I nod. I hop out of the truck and close the door. Murdoch drove home, and I spent the rest of the day coming up with excuses for why I was late and what happened. Lunch rolled around, and I had the entire cafeteria staring.
"Wow, wild man got in a fight!" One of my other guy friends said. His name was Cree. I was currently sitting at a table with Cree, Province (she's from Russia!), Alex and Trina. They were my group at lunch, but Cree, Province and I seemed to be closer to each other. "How'd you manage that, dude?"
"It wasn't a fight." I shake my head. Then I look at him. He could also somehow read my mind. I sigh. "Alright, fine," I sit down and tell him what had happened the night before. He was freaking out. "You're lucky your dad was there to help you, man."
"Yeah..." I look up from my food, and I can see Matthew in the lunchline. I start to get up, but Province pulls me back down. "No."
"Huh?"
"He is bad. Don't go after him." She wasn't able to speak clear English sentences yet, but she was getting better.
"Yeah, Lynnette," Trina jumped in, "he's bad for you. I heard he talked back to Mr. Skowhegan."
"No way!" Alex was shocked. Mr. Skowhegan was one of the nicest English teachers in school.
"Guys," I get up, "he's fine. He didn't talk about to a teacher, okay?" I walk to the lunchline, standing next to him.
"Hey."
He didn't answer.
"Matt?"
"Stop talking to me."
"What?" I was surprised. What happened to the Matthew I saw back at Cumberland Farms? The one who went with Murdoch and I on all those fun trips?
The one who would stay up with me when I couldn't sleep?
"Because," he mumbled, "I can't talk to you..."
"Not this again."
"No, I'm serious... Nikki said if she even knew I was talking to you, she'd make sure you'd be taken away from Murdoch."
"Huh?" I raise an eyebrow. Take me away? How is that possible, he's my only relative in the area, and they don't know who my father is. For all they know, Murdoch is my father. "What are you talking about?"
"She wants to blame Murdoch for abusing you and I... in a really uncomfortable way."
I gagged. "Ew! What the hell is wrong with your mother?? What did I do to her?"
"Nothing," he sighed, "you're related to Murdoch..."
It had finally clicked for me, Emmy. She was hurting Murdoch by hurting me. Ruining Murdoch's life by ruining mine. She knows Murdoch cares too much about me. She knew what got to him.
"You need to stay away," Matt said. "I don't want to stop talking to you, believe me... Was that genuine? "But I'm doing this to protect you..." we sat in silence. Then, almost as if he just then noticed, he said, "What happened to your nose?"
"Long story," I shake my head. "... it's kind of annoying."
"Alright... you should probably go back to your friends. They look... anxious."
I looked back. Trina was biting her nails, Province was glaring at Matthew, Alex's foot was tapping faster than usual, and Cree's face just said it all. I sigh. "You should sit with us. They're good people... plus, you need friends."
"I—"
"Please? Just for today..." I looked down. I want to spend my last day with you.
"Fine," He sighed. "The, uh... the girl doesn't seem to like me," he pointed out Province, who was giving him the 'I'm watching you' movement. I swat at her to put her hand down. She did, reluctantly. "I promise, she'll warm up to you."
"I'm sure," He rolled his eyes. I smiled.

Emmy, I managed to get Cree and Province to like him. They thought he was, "a chill dude." Province said, "Little suspicious, but... chill." When I left, I talked to the principal about Murdoch wanting to homeschool me. He said we'd need to have a meeting to sort things out. This was it.
My last day seeing Matthew.