Chapter 9

Return of the Bully

"Is everybody still going out to Franco's tonight?" Alex asked, walking with Kerry to their lockers to dump of everything they didn't need for the weekend. She dropped off more than half of the content of her bag into the locker, not needing any of it.

"As far as I know," Kerry said as she put her government book into her backpack to study. "I'm on call at the cafe and Taylor has been skipping lately so I might get called in though," she said. "So I might not be going."

"I think I'm going to skip tonight," Alex stated, zipping up her backpack before swinging it over her shoulder. She closed her locker and turned to the older girl. "I'm not really in the mood."

She hadn't really been in the mood to do much of anything with anybody lately. Every time she looked at her friends she'd see how pretty or handsome they were, and it would remind her of what Amanda had said to her about the way the redhead looked. Plus, seeing how cozy Phoebe and Rudy, and Kiley and Erik were, it just reminded her of how alone she was in the whole dating department.

"Are you okay?" Kerry asked softly. "I mean, you haven't seemed like yourself lately."

Alex shrugged, putting the other strap of her backpack on as they two girls headed down the hallway. "I'm tired," she stated, which was actually the truth, just not the whole story.

"Well," Kerry said slowly. "You are scheduled to peak capacity."

"Yeah, so I might just rest tonight after tutoring," she said with an absent minded nod.

"Sure, do what you have too," she said nodding. "Come on by the cafe if you want, around 8 is when we slow down," she said and bumped shoulders with her. "I can wait on you hand and foot," she joked.

Alex rolled her eyes with a small smirk playing on her lips. "Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better," she stated. Once outside, Alex stopped at the gate, having to wait for one of the guys to come and get her. Kerry hung back a moment.

"Hey," Kerry said, sounding a bit shy suddenly. "I'm here, if you want to talk," she said slowly.

"I know," Alex said. "Thanks, but I'm okay." Alex's stomach dropped, causing her to glance away from Kerry and to the school, seeing Amanda walking out. She gulped slightly and turned back to Kerry, a smile on her lips. "You get going. I've just to wait for one of the guys."

"U-uh right," she said clearing her throat. "Right, nothing to talk about," she said rubbing her arms a bit. "See ya tomorrow at the dojo," she said and headed off quickly.

Alex sighed, leaning back against the gate a little more, happy that just in case Amanda came back over to her like she had done the day before when Alex was finishing up her project in the library for lunch to continue degrading her, that her best friend wouldn't see. She didn't want to get Kerry all worked up about the whole thing. And if Kerry did happen to find out, Alex feared she'd get expelled for fighting.

"Hey!" Amanda said as if she was happy to see a friend. "It's my favorite transvestite!"

Alex sighted, a pained expression dancing across her face as she bit her lip. She knew it was coming. Why did it still feel like such a blow to the chest though? The girl opened her green eyes, focusing on the brown eyes of the blonde girl. "Amanda," Alex greeted.

"How's it going? Take of the beauty tips I gave you?" Amanda asked. She had been referring to the comment she had made at the library about stuffing her locker with dog grooming gear.

Does it look like I've changed anything to you? she thought, but didn't dare say. Saying it would have just made things worse for her.

"Oh, come on, it was just in good fun," Amanda pouted at the lack of a response. "Though I heard that guys like a bitch with a shiny coat."

Alex looked at the blonde. She did have rather pretty hair, even if it had been dyed blonde far to many times to be considered healthy and alive. But she always wore it in different ways and she was rather good at it. Alex only ever wore her hair down or up in a messy ponytail whenever it was bothering her. She never put any thought into it.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, Bitch?" Amanda said, words getting more violent as she got no response. "I think we need to change that," she growled grabbing Alex's arm tightly in her orange painted hand. " I know boyfriends want their girlfriends to be submissive, but they do expect some response when talking to you."

Alex bit her lip and pulled her arm out of Amanda's grasp, causing the blonde's manicured nails to scratch into her skin, leaving thin red streaks. She ignored the slight burning sensation, having been through much worse, even two weeks ago. A scratch was nothing, but her actions weren't nothing to Amanda.

"Hey!" A voice called out and Amanda's grip disappeared. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Raph snapped as he marched over, fists clenched.

"Raph?" Alex asked, turning to look at the male redhead. She was beyond shocked to see him there. Not once had he ever gone on pick-up duty. She thought he didn't think it was worth his time, seeing as his brothers were normally so eager to go see their first female friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up," he said as if it were the most obvious thing. "Duh, you idiot. Now who's the dumb bimbo?" he asked stepping between her and Amanda, as if shielding her.

"Raph?" Alex asked, questioning his action.

"Mmm, and who are you?" Amanda asked, looking Raphael up and down. "I'm surprised someone as hot as you would be hanging around a girl like Lex."

Alex shrunk back, practically hiding herself behind Raph's strong frame. She avoided looking at the taller redhead, feeling his eyes on her when she moved behind him. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to tell anybody. She just wanted it all to go away! She didn't want to deal with any of that!

"Tch," Raph scoffed. "Why would I tell you who I am? God, makes me sick even thinkin' you might know me," he said and Amanda's face fell. "And so what if I'm with her? She's better company than you, that's for sure."

"Oh, honey, you don't know what kind of company I can offer," Amanda said, running one of her hands up Raph's strong arms, feeling him up just as much as she was trying to seduce him. "Far better company than the transvestite, that's for sure!"

"Leave him alone, Amanda," Alex pleaded, peaking out from behind Raph. "He's got nothing to do with this."

"Right, nothing to do with this. He can't be your boyfriend," Amanda said, finding that thought rather humorous. "Remember, we've had this discussion. You have nothing to offer a boy, let alone a man like him," she said, nudging her head in Raph's direction.

Alex crossed her arms and shrank again.

"What if I was her boyfriend?" Raph asked eyes narrowing, to which both Amanda and Alex's heads snapped in his direction, eyes showing just how truly shocked they were at the insinuation. "That would mean you just insulted my girl. And I don't take to kindly to things like that," he said and got in amanda's face.

Amanda laughed. "You can't be serious, can you?"

"I'm very serious," he said and shoved her back. "And I like to think if you can talk trash, you can take the fight that comes with it," he hissed at her. "What's it going to be, Bitch?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes, but stepped back. She shook her head and said, "I'm not buying this. I'll see you on Monday, Lex." With that, the blonde turned away, leaving the two redheads alone.

Raph watched Amanda go, making sure she was out of earshot for when he turned to Alex and asked, "What the hell was that about?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

"Nothing? That's what you call nothing?" Raph asked, grabbing her arm, below where she had been scratch. He moved her arm so that it was in her line of sight. "This is nothing?"

"Compared to what Hun did? Yes," she said, narrowing her eyes before shifting them away.

"How could you just stand there and listen to what she was saying? You didn't do anything to defend yourself!" he continued, his voice getting louder as the level of his anger increase.

"Because talking only makes it worse!" Alex stated, her voice getting louder as well.

"That's when you get help!" Raph said as he looked over her scratch with an odd gentleness.

"Help? Help from who?" Alex asked. "You don't know anything about any of this, Raphael! I've tried to stand up to her before. That never got me anywhere!"

"Well, you can't possibly believe any of that crap she was saying, can you?" Raph said. "She's just saying it get you to react! That's what bullies do!"

"Oh, I can't?" Alex huffed. She turned away from him, running a hand through her long red hair before turning back to Raph, her face as read as either of their hair, hot tears welling up in her eyes from embarrassment and anger. "And why's that, huh? From where I'm standing, everything she says is true! She's not the first person to tell me any of that. So what else am I supposed to believe?"

"Who the hell would tell you something like that?" Ralph asked.

"You!" Alex screamed. "You say things like that to me all the time. Why wouldn't it be true?" She turned away, trying to walk away from him, but he followed right behind. "What can I say? I don't get attention from guys. I don't get dates. I've never even had a boyfriend." She quickly turned to Raph and said, "It's the truth. You're both just saying what right in front of me! You're just stating the facts."

"You always fought back against me!" Raph growled. "I thought you could take shit more than that. Your tough, probably the toughest girl I've ever met. If it bugged you so much you could have asked me to stop, honestly," he growled.

"Just ask you to stop? Just like that?" Alex huffed. "Yeah, and you didn't get that I didn't like it in the first place? I highly doubt you would have just stopped."

"I would've," he told her. "I was joking around. I didn't mean any of it!"

Alex backed down a little. "You didn't mean it?"

"No!" he yelled, getting worked up about the whole situation. "And maybe guys don't ask you out because they don't know how to approach you, huh? That Fred guy-

"Whoa! What does Freddy have anything to do with this?" she demanded.

"You really don't know?" Raph said looking at her bewildered before shaking his head and continuing walking. "God, you're dense."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she pressed, moving in front of him.

"Listen if he can't man up and say anything that's his problem," Raph scoffed. "I'm not going to do it for him."

"Raphael!" Alex yelled, grabbing his arm, forcing him to face her. "Don't you dare leave me hanging like this! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not my shit to tell," he hissed and pulled his arm away before pushing her forward to walk. "Get moving, Mikey is waiting for you."

Alex was angry, but primarily because he left her hanging about Fred. What was he talking about? Fred had nothing to do with the subject. Why bring him up? And why was Raph calling her dense? What wasn't she seeing? And why would Fred need to man up? Fred was strong. Why would he need to be stronger?

"Hurry up. It's bad enough I had to come get you, don't waste my time too!"

"If I'm such a waste of time, why did you even come get me?" Alex asked, staring down at the ground as they walked. "Why stick up for me? If you don't like me that much, why bother with any of it?"

"You might waste my time, but that doesn't mean I-" Raph grumbled and kicked at the ground. "That doesn't mean-I...You're okay! Alright? An-and my bros would be really ticked if I let that happen to you. Now shut up and stop saying stupid things about yourself, it's annoying"

Alex glanced up at the boy, his cheeks as red as his hair. He said I'm okay, Alex thought, a smirk playing on her lips, her stomach flipping. Okay, so I guess he doesn't hate me. And he's not all bad if he stuck up for me.

"Raph?" Alex asked softly.

"Didn't I just say to st-"

He shut up when Alex leaned in and kissed his soft cheek. She backed away, both of their faces as red as their hair. "Thanks," she told him.

He blinked, touching his cheek a bit, as if nobody had ever done that before. He looked away, completely embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, just back off, okay? I don't need your germs, Butch!"

Alex sighed. "So we're back to Butch?" She pushed past Raph, making her way up the front steps of their home. So, he was lying? I'm still just the Butch? He just stuck up for me because he knew his brothers would be angry if they found out he didn't?

"Depends, am I Ralph?" he scoffed.

"I only called you that because you called me Butch," Alex stated.

"Then maybe I can compromise and call you something else...Firecracker," he scoffed,

Green eyes rolled. "Well, I guess that's better than Butch, but you know, you could just call me by my name," Alex suggested. "It's easy. Alex. Come on, say it. AAAAleeeex."

"Do I look like I care enough to try?" Raph grumbled as they made it in front of his house. "Come on, Don is grounded and Leo is out for a ru-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alex said, holding him up. "Donatello? Donny? He got grounded?"

"He's not completely innocent, you know," Raph laughed a bit as he opened the door for her as if out of habit.

"Thank you," Alex said politely, going in ahead of him. She turned to him as she took her shoes off, still into the conversation. "Obviously, he's got a thing for Kerry."

"Don't bring the hick into this," Raph rolled his eyes. "No, Don has always had an adventurous side. He sometimes forgets the big picture when he's hyperfocused, with that mind of his, he sometimes doesn't think of repercussions," he grumbled eyes narrowing.

"What did he do?" Alex asked.

"Drove a motorcycle without a license," he answered.

Alex laughed, shaking her head. She couldn't believe it! Oh, wait until I tell Kerry! "He's not the only one," Alex said. "I mean, you did the same thing today for me. There are going to be repercussions."

"What are you talking about? What repercussions?" Raph asked, walking with her down the hallway.

"You basically told Amanda that we were together," she informed him, face red as she opened the door to the common room.

"No, I didn't," Raph smirked. "I ain't stupid, I asked so what if we were and if she takes it that way that's her problem. If she give you shit just call her out on it."

Which would mean me saying that I don't have a boyfriend, which she'll take and continue to use against me, Alex thought. But I guess he's right. He didn't actually say we were going out, so I can't use that to get her to leave me alone. No matter how much I want to. She'd never live that down.

"Wow, you guys didn't kill each other," Don muttered a bit, looking bored out of his mind as a book sat in his lap. Mikey was over at the couch, TV on. He turned it off when he heard the two enter and turned them.

"Nope," Alex said. "And guess what? Raph said I'm better company!" She was just joking, lightening the mooded. She smirked over at Raph, giving him a small wink to try and keep him quiet about what happened that afternoon. Raph smirked and nodded at his brother.

"Yep."

"What?" Donatello asked blinking. "What do you mean?"

"He said I'm better company," Alex said. "Which means I'm officially accepted into the family!"

"No it doesn't!" Raph grumbled, smirk on his face.

"Sure it does," Alex said. "If Raph says I'm good for you guys to be around, then it must be so, right? Not many people get his approval."

"Yes!" Mikey laughed with a grin as he hopped over the couch and hugged her. "Best sister ever!"

"Ready to do homework?" she asked him.

"Worst sister ever!"

"You got to do it, Mike," Don said as he went back to reading with a sigh.

"Noooooooo," Mikey grumbled.

"Okay, come on. Let's get to work," Alex said, a smile on her lips and laugh in her voice.

Raph glanced over at her from his punching bag, a small smile on his face as he thought, At least she's happy again.