Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. Haven't been able to type because our computer was being fixed. I'll try to get chapter 3 up sooner.
"Teen Angel"
Gabriel was slipping into his tuxedo jacket when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He turned around and saw his dad standing there. He grinned at him nervously.
"You almost ready?" Peter asked him. "Amie's here."
He looked around for his shoes. After finding them and slipping them on, he nodded his head. He followed his father down the stairs and into the living room. Amie and his mother were standing together with their backs to the doorway.
Amie turned around when she heard their footsteps stop. Gabriel started to say something but his breath caught in his throat. He couldn't believe that this young woman was really his tomboy friend. It had taken quite a bit of urging to even get her to go to their junior prom with him. Finally both of their mothers had managed to talk her into going. It had taken some convincing to get him to go as well. Now he was glad that they had.
Her bangs were curled under. The sides and about half of the back were pulled up and held in place with bobby pins. The rest of the back was curled under. It hung to her shoulders. She had light blue eyeshadow on and only a small amount of blush.
Her dress was light blue at the top and darkened as it went down. There was a glittered flower patter on it, and thin straps went over her shoulders. It only came halfway up her back.
Gabriel opened his mouth and closed it again several time, but no words came out of it. He finally found his voice again and said, "Amie, you look beautiful."
She shook her head in disagreement. "I look weird. I don't belong in a dress."
"You look fine, Amie," Gabriel's mom assured her.
As they started toward the door, his mother stopped him with a light touch on his shoulder. He turned back to her, and she laid a gentle kiss on his cheek. "You look quite handsome, Gabriel. Now, go and have fun tonight."
They walked out to the car, and he opened the door for her. She got in awkwardly, not accustomed to the dress yet. He climbed in on the other side and drove to the restaurant. There they met Sly and his date, Trish Keely. After the four of them had finished eating, they piled into Gabriel's car and headed for the hotel where the dance was being held. Several couples were already there.
The music could be heard as they walked inside. The room was elaborately decorated. Streamers hung from the ceiling. No one was dancing yet. Everyone was standing in groups talking. When the next song started playing, a few couples headed out onto the dance floor. Gabriel took Amie's arm and led her onto it. They danced to the next couple of songs, then decided to take a break.
They had just reached the edge of the floor when Amie felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She jerked her body away and spun around to face the guy. She recognized him from school, but couldn't remember his name. He reeked of alcohol, and her nose wrinkled up at the smell of it. He grabbed her arms and started to pull her away from Gabriel.
It didn't take him long to realize what was happening. When he did, he started to push the other boy away from his date. He released Amie's arms and focused his attention on Gabriel.
Patrick Fairbanks was a large seventeen year old. He had light brown hair and green eyes. He was the star football player of the school. His arms and shoulders were packed with muscle. There was always a sneer on his face. "It's my turn to dance with her," he said with a taunting smile.
"No, it's not. She's with me, and you're drunk."
Patrick pushed Gabriel to the floor. He hit it hard on his back, and his breath was knocked out of him. It took several seconds for him to recover it, then he pushed himself to his feet. The larger boy stepped forward and sent two punches into Gabriel's stomach. He doubled over in pain and before he could straighten up, a fist to his chin sent him sailing to the floor. Two chaperones came over and grabbed Patrick's arms dragging him out of the building.
Sly ran over to Gabriel and helped him to his feet. "You okay, Gabe?"
He silently nodded his head, still dazed. Amie helped him to his feet and over to the side of the room. His face had gone white. After a minute, he pushed himself away from the wall and walked out the door. Gabriel staggered down the hall. He had only made it half of the way to the bathrooms when the wave of nausea hit him. Once he had finished vomiting, he sank to a sitting position against the wall. He closed his eyes, and his head fell to his knees.
Severaal minutes later he heard footsteps approaching. Raising his head, he opened his eyes and looked to see who it was. Amie stopped and looked down at him. "Are you okay?" She asked, concerned.
There was a wry smile on his face when he shook his head. "Far from it. Can you help me up?" He asked holding his hand out to her.
When he was on his feet again, she asked him, "Do you want to go home now? It really wouldn't bother me if we left."
"Let me find Sly. We have to take him to get his car, so we can't leave without him."
Just them he saw Trish and Sly walking toward them. They had been looking for him. "Let's get out of here," Sly suggested.
"All right," Gabriel replied.
They retrieved their coats and started outside. Sly promised to be right out. First he wanted to say goodbye to a few people. The rest of them walked out of the building. The three of them were almost to Gabriel's car when someone stepped out of the shadows. Gabriel recognized him as Patrick Fairbanks.
"What do you want?" He demanded. "Why are you still here?"
"I still want that dance with her," he replied with a nod to her.
"Well, you won't get it. Now, get out of our way." He was almost shouting. His temper was getting the best of him. Patrick just laughed at him. It held no amusement and sent a chill down Gabriel's spine, but he was angry now and wasn't planning on backing down. He stepped forward, but in a warning voice, Amie said his name. His head involuntarily turned toward her, and he didn't see the fist until it was too late. He hit the ground on his shoulder holding back a cry of pain.
He got slowly to his feet and stepped forward again. Two more people came out of the shadows and grabbed his arms. Patrick hit him in the nose, then he jabbed him in the mouth. He hit him in the mouth again splitting his bottom lip. He moved down to Gabriel's stomach and sent several punches there until he could hear the sound of cracking ribs. He motioned to his friends, and they let Gabriel fall to the ground.
Amie started forward, but he motioned for her to stay back. He got to his knees before a kick in his ribs laid him flat on his stomach. He was assaulted with several more kicks. Then the three boys stepped back and waited for him to try to get up again. He disappointed them though. Groaning in pain, he brought his knees up to his chest to protect his stomach from any more blows.
Seeing that their fun was just about over, the two other boys strode away, laughing. Patrick grabbed Amie's arm and pulled her toward his car. She tried to get away, but he was too strong. He got her into the car and drove off heading to a place where they would have some privacy.
Gabriel raised his head just in time to see the car speeding away. He let it fall back to the ground. Then he felt hands grabbing and lifting him to his feet. He didn't remember much, but he must have passed out sometime after that because the next thing he knew, he was laying in a bed. He looked around and saw his parents sitting across the room. "Mom, Dad," he said weakly.
Peter stood up and quickly walked over to his son's side. "What happened?" Gabriel asked.
"Your ribs were cracked, but there was little damage otherwise."
He shook his head slowly. "What happened to Amie?"
Peter swallowed slowly and wouldn't meet his son's eyes. "She's dead, Gabriel," he managed to get out.
He refused to believe it. "No, she can't be. She just can't be."
"I'm sorry, Gabriel." Peter didn't know how to comfort his son.
He walked over to the door, and his wife followed him out of the room. The only thing they could do was give him time to grieve.
*******
The police had found her body in an open field. The skirt of her dress had been ripped off. The back of her head was covered with blood. She had been raped before he slammed her head against the ground. They knew she had fought back because she had bruises all over her body and there was skin under her fingernails.
Gabriel left the hospital the next day. He locked himself in his room for three days. During that time he didn't eat anything or talk to anyone. He didn't come out until the day of Amie's funeral. His parents' hearts broke at the sight of him.
His face was pale, and his eyes looked like they were on fire. His hair had not seen a brush since the night of the prom. The shirt he was wearing was extremely wrinkled. His body smelled sweaty and unwashed.
Getting into the shower, he just let the water fall on his head and shoulders. After awhile, he heard a loud knock on the door. "Gabriel, are you almost done?" His father asked from the other side of it. "You've been in there for more than half an hour."
"Yeah, I'm coming," he answered turning off the water. Stepping out of the shower, he grabbed a towel. Moving like a robot, he dried off and got dressed. His father had laid out an outfit for him; a pair of black pants and a dark grey shirt. Once he had put them on, he brushed his hair and walked out of his room.
He didn't say one word on the ride to the church, just stared out the window. His face was completely empty of any expression, but inside his emotions were battling each other. Anger and grief finally came out victorious. Ever since Amie had been killed, Gabriel had blamed himself for her death. She was his date, and he felt that he should have been able to protect her. He always forced out the thought that he had done all he could do.
Peter stopped the car in front of the church, and they walked inside in silence. When the service was over, everyone filed past the casket. Gabriel placed a rose under her folded hands. The sight of her lifeless face made tears well up in his eyes. He looked down at her and let the tears slide down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Amie. I tried to stop him. I should have protected you, but I didn't."
His mom put her arm around his shoulders, and they continued walking. He stood silent as they lowered her into the ground half an hour later. Then they drove home. No one said a thing the whole time. When they were back at the house, Gabriel shut himself in his room again. An hour later his dad knocked on the door. "Gabriel, please come out. You can't stay in there forever. And you can't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done."
"I could have protected her better," he said to himself.
Once he realized nothing he could say would bring his son out of his room, he left. Gabriel turned his computer on, but looking for information didn't ease the pain he was feeling. He changed into a baggy t-shirt and jeans, then laid down on his bed. He couldn't sleep though. He hadn't gotten even a minute of peaceful sleep since he had returned home from the hospital. If he was actually able to sleep, he was plagued by nightmares. Finally, he gave it up as useless and stared at the ceiling.
*******
For the last two weeks of school, Gabriel went through his classed like he wasn't even there. His grades began to slip, and he didn't talk to anybody. Sly went through a similar transformation. His grades had never been as good as his friend's, but they began to get even worse. His drawings began to get darker and more macabre.
When Gabriel arrived home after the last day of school, his parents were waiting for him. "They got him," Peter said with satisfaction. Patrick Fairbanks had never returned to school after prom night. The police had been searching for him.
After a moment the shock wore off, and he said, "Thank God."
His parents wrapped their arms around him. "He'll get his justice," his mom said.
"I know, Mom."
He started to walk to his room, then changed his mind and walked outside. It took him twenty minutes to get to the cemetery and find Amie's grave. He sank to his knees and bent his head. He remained in that position in silence for half an hour then got to his feet and started home.
*******
"He got life without chance of parole," Peter told his son when he got back from the courthouse.
"Good."
Gabriel was still withdrawn, but he was starting to come out of his room more. It was the last day of summer vacation before his senior year. As soon as he picked Sly up, they were going to go for pizza. He grabbed his coat and walked out to the car.
