"You're such an idiot!"
"How dare you?"
"You can't date someone like that and then just throw him away!"
Why is everyone yelling at me? I haven't done anything wrong! Roderich and I just weren't compatible; and besides, I caught him red-handed- with Seychelles! I did the same thing any sane girl would have done, so why do they all hate me?
"Roderich is perfect! I knew a girl like you would be bad for him!" a girl screams. I don't know which one; the faces all blend together. My back hits cold metal. They've pushed me up against the lockers! Please tell me they're not going to-
"Get inside," one girl; Mei, I think is her name, demands, holding open the door of an empty locker. When I hesitate, another person pushes me inside. While I'm recovering from the shove, the door slams on me and I hear the sound of wicked laughter.
"Maybe Roderich will come get you, Elizaveta," a sarcastic voice calls from the other side of the cold wall. They walk away, wailing with laughter.
I try to scream, but nothing comes out. No matter how hard I try, it's like my vocal chords are paralyzed. The truth is, I'm majorly claustrophobic. I sometimes have trouble even sleeping with the door closed. Being in such a small space… I feel like I'm gonna die.
"Help," I manage to whisper as the lights in the hallway turn off, leaving me completely in the dark. The walls seem to get closer in the darkness, and I can barely breathe. But nobody's going to come. Who wanders around the school at night? I start hyperventilating as the walls close me off from freedom and light. "No," I whisper. NO!" I can't die like this. "Help!" I pound on the walls, the will to live giving me strength.
I don't know how long I wail for, but soon I'm worn out again. Crying, I manage to slip down the walls and curl up into a protective ball. My tears choke me as fear completely overtakes me.
All at once, the door is flung open and light floods the small space. Who turned on the hall lights? I look up at the person who is either my savior, or someone just here to harm me farther. I see the outline of a boy with… a bird flying around his head? Gilbert?
He's panting, as if he ran all the way here. "What are you-" he begins, but I cut him off with a hug. I want to thank him, but tears, now of relief, block any words from getting out. He pushes me away. "If you're gonna be like that, then I shouldn't have saved you!" he yells, sounding embarrassed.
But instead of staying standing, I sink to the ground, legs shaking too hard to support me. Gilbert notices what's happening and picks me up before I fall over completely. "What happened?" he asks incredulously. I won't look him in the eye. "Nothing."
"Elizaveta Hedervary. I have known you since we were both little kids. I know everything about you, whether you care to admit it or not. You can't hide from me. Now what happened?" he asks forcefully.
I take in a shaky breathe; there's no way I'm gonna get away with not telling him. "So you know how I broke up with Roderich last week?" I ask.
"What? Why?" he asks. There's something strange in his voice can't place, but I move on.
"He was cheating on me. But when the girls found out, they blamed me for 'breaking Roderich's heart'. And today… they shoved me in a locker," I mumble the last part.
For once Gilbert is silent; not his usual narcissistic self. "I'm… sorry," he says finally. Then, his features darken. "I'm going to kill those brats!" He starts running down the hallway, dragging me along with him.
"Wait, Gilbert, stop!," I yell, trying to force us back. "They're girls! You can't hit them. Please, just go back!"
He stops and mumbles something. "What?" I ask.
"I don't care!" he screams, making me wince. "I wouldn't care if they were babies! They caused you pain. When The Awesome Me gets finished with them, they'll wish they had never even met you!"
I feel all the color dripping out of my face. "You can't!" I wail, "They… they… used to be my friends," I say sadly. He stops.
"Your friends did this to you?" he cries.
I nod. "Well, along with some other girls," I amend. How am I supposed to tell him that I only had one friend to begin with?
"Not anymore!" he yells, "I hereby forbid you from ever talking to them again!"
I want to scream at him. I really do. But I wouldn't talk to them anyway, so I keep my mouth shut.
For a few minutes, there's silence between us. I finally find the strength to support myself, but my heart hurts. My only friend, Bella, is now gone. I know better than to expect Gilbert to replace her; we went our separate ways years ago. He seems to sense my sadness, and says, "The Awesome Me is going to walk you home now!" He raises his hand as he speaks, as if leading us into battle with an imaginary sword. "Let's go!"
I giggle in spite of myself. He's always been obnoxious. I stop. Something about this time… is different. Almost like he's trying to cheer me up, but has no idea how. "Thank you," I say, pulling his hand out of the sky. But instead of letting go, I leave my hand on his arm. He looks over questioningly, but says nothing. Neither do I.
When I reach the house, all is quiet. My parents died last year in a car accident, just after the house was paid off, and I managed to pull some legal strings to keep it for my own. Still, every day I come home expecting to see their smiling faces welcoming me, and every day I'm disappointed.
Gilbert leaves after walking me to the door, and I'm completely alone.
This was originally supposed to be a one shot, but I ended up adding an extra chapter just for the heck of it. I've been writing a lot lately, but that's because it's the weekend, and I have so many ideas... I don't know. I just spend WAY too much time on the computer. If anybody has any good ideas as to how I should finish this, please share. Nothing I can think of seems good enough to fit this amazing pairing!
