I'm walking toward the table where Alex is sitting while staring down at my lunch tray at the same time wondering what the hell kind of food they're making us eat. I put my tray down as Lex looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I reach over and wipe away the tears that have already fallen and trail my fingertips across her cheek making it heat up. "What happened, Lex?"
"I got here early, so I sat down to wait on you. Miley just came over here and said some things, it's no big deal." She puts her head in her hands and sighs. I pick up my tray and move around the table to sit next to her, tossing my arm over her shoulder and pulling her into me.
"What did she say?" She doesn't answer, because she knows I will confront them and they will probably try to kick my ass. "Alexandra, what did Miley say?"
"She s-said I should just k-k-kill myself bec-cause not even my-my-my parents love me." Tears are streaming down her face, and I want to rip Miley's head off. "And she's r-right Mitchie, they d-don't even c-care about me. My mom is always telling me what-what a waste of sp-space I am, and my d-dad is never h-home. She's r-right. And t-then Lilly and Caitlin pushed me d-down when I got up to g-go somew-where else."
I pull her closer and put my lips against her forehead gently. The way she stutters usually leaves butterflies in my stomach, but not this time. I'll be damned if I let her torture Lex like this. I put two fingers under her chin making her look at me. "None of that is true, Lex. Even if they don't care, you have me. You always have me, and I will protect you. I will take care of you, Lex. It's okay. It's gonna be okay. I'll be right back." I go to leave, but she holds tight to me as if I'm going to disappear. "I'm just going to talk to her, it will be okay." I take my arms back from her and go looking for Miley. She's not in the cafeteria. She must be smoking in the bathroom, another one of her usual hang out places. I pull the door open to the bathroom and step in. It straight up smells like smoke in here, so I know I've found her.
I hear her voice from behind me. "What's up, dyke?" When I turn, I spot Lilly and Caitlin. This may end badly for me, but I have to do what I can.
"You have some real nerve calling me that after what you said to Alex earlier."
"Well we all know it's true. That little worthless piece of shit can't even talk right, she should've killed herself a long time ago."
Okay, she really should not have said that. I saw a flash of red before my knuckles landed on the side of her face. Her two minions immediately stepped forward and grabbed my arms effectively pulling me off of her. I'd pull her hair out if it wasn't so goddamn short. And she was calling me a dyke. She looks more like a dyke than I do. Lilly and Caitlin back me up against the wall and hold my arms out beside me. Jesus Christ. I mentally chuckle because I must look a bit like Jesus, arms splayed out, about to get beaten.
Miley gets up holding her bleeding nose, and I smirk. At least I hurt her a little bit. She clenches her fist and punches me in the stomach with all the strength she has. All the wind was knocked out of me. I doubled over and Caitlin pulled me back up by my hair making me whimper a bit. I thought they were about to let me go when their hands loosened their grip on my arms, but I was wrong. A second punch is delivered to my stomach, but this time it's from Caitlin. The wind is knocked out of me for a second time as I fall to the ground curling up trying to catch my breath. Not ten seconds after I hit the ground, I feel someone kick me in the ribs and I hear a slight cracking noise. I'm trying to catch my breath, but it just isn't coming to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Miley and her lackeys leaving.
It's been about five minutes since they left, and I'm still curled up on the floor trying to breathe wishing someone would just come in and shoot me already. I am very sick to my stomach and I don't even want to know what it looks like. I slowly, very slowly, make my way into a crawling position. I crawl over to the toilet and empty the contents of my stomach, making my head hurt and tears blur my vision because of the pain.
I hear the door to the bathroom opening and my name being called. I recognize the voice right away as Alex's. I take a deep breath so I can answer her, but a sharp pain interrupts my reply and I let out a quiet growl making the pain sharpen and I couldn't stop the scream coming out of my mouth. "AH!"
"Oh my GOD. Mitchie?! What the hell happened?"
Alex rushes over and puts her hand on my shoulder making me flinch away until my brain registers that it's her hand. I relax a bit under her touch and look at her. "Miley. And Lilly and Caitlin," my voice comes out sounding raspy. She reaches up and wipes the tears from my cheeks making my stomach turn again. "I'm going to throw up again," I choke out as I get up on all fours wincing in pain and yet again empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet.
Lex holds my hair back until I'm done with a look of pure concern on her face. She then slowly helps me to a standing position. "How about we skip out on the rest of the day and get you home, huh?" she says, running her hand through my hair the way a mother would run their hands through the hair of a sick child. Her fingers against my scalp are actually making the pain dull a little, and I realize I've closed my eyes lolling my head to the side making me blush.
"Honestly, I don't think I could make it through the rest of the day anyway. I'm not even sure I can walk right now. I still feel a little queasy." She nods and puts my left arm over her shoulder and snakes her right around my waist holding me up, and something about that makes me thank God I have her. I turn my head and kiss her temple, lingering there for a few seconds testing the waters. The blush that makes its way to her face has my heart beating faster, and we start to hobble toward her car.
