Hello all! I'm back with another chapter. I'm going to warn you, it gets a little intense in this chapter. If at any point you need to stop reading and come back later, I understand. This chapter isn't too bad but some of the later ones' will be very intense and they might be hard for some of you to read. They were certainly hard for me to write. I have the whole story outlined already but I only have up to chapter 5 typed up right now.
Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis
A few hours later while Mara was attempting to study for her French exam, another knock came on the door. Mara hesitantly opened it, afraid it would be Jerome insisting for answers again.
"Hey babe." Mick smiled and he entered her room without invitation.
"H-hi." Mara replied, watching him as he crossed the room and sat on her bed. She stayed standing near the door, in case she needed to leave quickly.
"Come sit here with me." Mick said, tapping a spot next to him.
"No, t-that's okay. I'm fine w-where I am." Mara attempted to control her stuttering as she looked around the room. She did not want to make eye contact with him.
"What's wrong with you?" Mick asked loudly, his face twisted up in anger. Mara had never noticed it before, but he was not attractive when he was upset.
"You hit me." Mara said quietly as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.
"How many times do I have to apologize? You said it was okay! I told you I just lost my temper!" Mick shouted, picking up a pillow off her bed and chucking it at her.
Mara flinched and blocked it from hitting her in the face. She dropped the pillow on the floor and took a deep breath.
"I-I know I did. It's just going to take me awhile to be the same around you." She said, choosing her words carefully.
Mick calmed down a little and looked around her room. He noticed the biology homework sheet Jerome had left behind on accident earlier today. He picked it up and read the name out loud off of the paper.
"Jerome Clarke." Mick spat out. "Why was he in your room?"
"I've been helping him with his biology homework. I forgot to cancel with him today, so when he showed up I couldn't turn him away." Mara said, making sure she didn't say anything to anger Mick.
"Why couldn't you?" He asked, his voice rising with his temper.
"Because that would be rude. And he's my… friend." Mara hesitated before using the word friend. She and Jerome were a lot closer than most friends were. She wasn't really sure what to call her relationship with Jerome. They weren't dating but she couldn't deny that there was something between them.
"Friend? Mara, last year he went against you in the campaign with Amber after initially helping you. Are you telling me that's what friends do?" Mick countered as he crumpled Jerome's homework into a ball.
"He may have done that, but he didn't cheat for me to win. He didn't…he d-didn't h-h-hit me." Mara said, knowing as soon as the words left her mouth that it was a bad move.
Mick rushed off the bed and pinned her against the wall, holding her shoulder.
"I TOLD YOU I WAS SORRY!" He shouted, shaking her.
"Stop. Please, stop." Mara whispered, closing her eyes.
"YOU THINK I DON'T SEE YOU FLIRTING WITH HIM? YOU DIRTY LITTLE WHORE! I KNOW YOU FANCY HIM! IF YOU HAD A CHOICE YOU'D PICK HIM OVER ME! ADMIT IT, BITCH!" Mick was yelling at the top of his lungs now.
"I don't flirt with him! I would never…I love you, not him." Mara said through sheets of tears.
"BULLSHIT!" Mick shoved Mara to the floor and kicked her rib-cage. A sickening crack was heard, signaling that a rib had been broken.
"P-please stop hurting me." Mara sobbed and pulled her legs in front of her chest to protect herself.
"ADMIT IT!" Mick roared and kicked her again, this time in the ankle.
"Please!" Mara begged.
"ADMIT THAT YOU FANCY HIM!" Mick continued to kick her ankle until it too made a cracking noise.
"I-I don't fancy him. Please!" Mara barely choked out as she continued to cry.
"WHY ARE YOU PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS? YOU SLUT!" Mick kicked her one last time and stormed out of the room.
Mara could hear him thundering down the stairs and people asking him what was wrong. After a moment of silence she heard a door slam.
Mara attempted to stand up but moaned in agony as weight was put onto her ankle. She managed to limp over to her bed and lie on her back, so no pressure would be put on her cracked rib. It was hard for her to breathe; the pressure of her lungs against her rib was extremely painful. But she would have to deal until tomorrow, when she could visit the infirmary. She would have some cover story to tell the nurse.
Mara stayed in her room until supper time. Afraid that people would get suspicious, she knew she would have to make an appearance at supper.
Mara limped into the girls' washroom and went to the medicine cabinet. She took a few aspirins and cracked an ice pack. She placed the ice pack around her ankle inside of her boot.
Mara managed to enter the dining room, walking at a slower pace than usual. Other than that, there was no visible sign of Mara's ankle being injured.
"Hey, Mara." Patricia said as Mara took her seat.
"Hi."
"You've been cooped up in our room all day. Something wrong?" She asked while piling salad onto her plate.
Everyone's eyes at the table turned to her. Nina looked curious, Fabian mirrored Nina's look, Amber looked somewhat interested, Mick looked frightened, Patricia looked concerned, Alfie seemed rather bored and Jerome looked expectant.
"Nope. I'm fine." Mara said, giving Patricia a bright smile.
Mick exhaled in relief and turned back to his food.
After supper, Mick asked Mara to come see him in his room. Mara wasn't sure what to do. If she didn't show up, he was sure to be angry and hit her again. If she did show, there was a huge chance he would end up hitting her again, anyways.
Mara finally ended up knocking on Mick's door ten minutes later then she was supposed to.
Fabian opened the door and let out a sigh of relief.
"Mick, you can stop stressing. She's here." Fabian called out to Mick and then whispered to Mara, "He over reacts to everything."
'If only he knew how true that was.' Mara thought to herself.
"I have to go. I promised Nina I would look at the scrapbook Amber has made for us." Fabian said, giving Mara a small smile. He left and ran up the stairs.
Mara entered the room and saw Mick throwing his football at the ceiling. He saw Mara and dropped the ball.
"Mara!" He said, smiling at her.
"Before you can say it, I'm sorry I'm late." Mara said quietly.
"It's okay. I wanted to say that I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what happens to me sometimes. It's like the anger is all I can think about. I don't even realize what I'm doing until I've done it." Mick said, looking guilty.
"Maybe you should… go to some anger management." Mara replied.
"Maybe. You're not…really badly hurt or anything?" Mick asked.
"No it's nothing bad." Mara lied, afraid to tell him about her injuries.
"Good. I love you." He whispered and then got off his bed and gave her a huge hug.
"I love you, too." She lied again, and hugged him as well as she could with her broken rib.
After a few minutes conversation, Mara left Mick's room to go to sleep. She climbed into bed before Victor could even say his pin drop speech.
Mara looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "If there's a God above, help me."