SILENT CRIES.

Twelve.

1 week later...

Iman hadn't spoken to Bryson and his mother ever since she stormed out of their house and she felt bad for the disrespect she resorted to. Today was her first day back at school and she had been living with Santana ever since he revealed his condition to her.

It wasn't pretty because he still put his hands on her but what everyone didn't know was that she actually wanted evidence to expose him and lock him up for good. From the drugs, to the countless people he murdered, including her mother.

She placed the liquid foundation in her bag after hiding the bright red scratch on her cheek, and headed to class. Everyone knew she was coming back today so they expected her to be a little late. Even Mrs Norwood, who despised late coming, would make an exception for today.

Iman had her hair silk pressed, just the way her mother used to wear it. It somehow made her feel better. She took a deep breath before opening the door to the usually noisy class as most people went silent. Her heartbeat rapidly increased and she could feel her anxiety kick in but as usual, she played it cool.

"Thompson. Welcome back!" Mrs Norwood's always serious face, curved into a warm smile.

Making Iman calm down a little, she smiled back. Her smile quickly changed into a shy grin as her classmates gave her a round of applause.

"We... got you this little gift as a class, as a welcome back gift. And I'm so glad you're okay!" Mrs Norwood said as she embraced Iman with a warm hug.

"Thank you, ma'am. I should get to my seat." She said before heading back.

She found it funny how people always resorted to kindness after a misfortune, almost as if they needed a reason to be nice. She awkwardly locked eyes with Bryson and muttered a quick "hey", only to be ignored by him.

~

"And that is your work for today class. I'm checking tomorrow." Mrs Norwood said before closing her marker and heading over to her desk.

The class went back to making a racket and Iman kept on staring at Bryson, who was surprisingly sitting alone. She couldn't gather up the courage to walk up to him so she decided to text him.

Iman
Can I please explain??

...

Bryson
You made yourself very clear.

Iman
It's not what it looks like.

Bryson looked at Iman and shook his head before locking his phone and going back to listening to his music.

She released a heavy sigh and pushed her seat back, only to be stopped by Bri?

"Hey... Iman." She sincerely said as she rubbed her acrylics against each other.

"Not today Bri, please." Iman said with her head hanging low.

"I just wanted to apologize. For everything," she sat down, making Iman raise her head in confusion, hoping this wasn't one of their mean girl stunts. "We all heard what happened to you and I'm sure you heard what Macy's dad did. I... decided that I don't wanna be friends with her anymore because she's been so awful to you, making all of us act the same way."