Chapter Ten
I woke up with my head on Dally's chest. It took me a moment to remember why I was there, then I remembered Ash and my failure of a date. I still sat next to Ash in history so there was no avoiding him. "Anne, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday but you seem off. Will you tell me what's wrong?" I sighed and made one of the hardest decisions that I ever had to make. "Do you like your cousin?" "He used to be my friend and the nicest guy you would ever meet, but then like the flip of a switch he became a real ass." "Do you think he's capable of hurting someone and if you do think he's capable of hurting someone, would you still be on his side?" He looked confused but finally answered after a moment. "Yes, I think he is capable of hurting someone and no I would not stand by his side if he were to hurt someone." Tears welled in my eyes and smiled. "meet me out front at lunch. I have some important things to talk to you about." I didn't talk for the rest of the class. I moved through the motions of my classes trying to pay attention, but planning what I was going to tell Ash. During PE, Two bit was having a one sided conversation with himself, though it was supposed to be with me. When lunch came time I went to find Ash.
I turned the corner of the school to see someone holding a switch up to Ash. "Stay away from Anne or I swear I will kill you!" "Dally." I screamed
Dally's point of view
I waited outside the school until the lunch bell rang. Ash walked outside alone and I stormed out of the car. I approached Ash with my switch drawn. "Come with me." I dragged him behind the side of the building. I pushed my blade further towards him. I was furious that he had hurt his Anne, poor defenseless Anne. He had made her feel unsafe just as Asher had. My voice was sorta shakey. "Stay away from Anne or I swear I will kill you!" Behind me a female girl screamed, "Dally! Get away from him." I wouldn't back away, I just couldn't. Then I felt her hand on my shoulder. She tightened her grip until even I was crying out in pain.
Anne's point of view
With Dally on the ground nursing his wounds, l turned my attention to Ash. "Are you okay? Did Dally Hurt you?" I turned back to Dally and scowled at him. "I need his help to get Asher out of my life, he is his cousin after all. Ash, would you be willing to go to the diner with us to talk?"
Ash eventually agreed to come with us so that we could talk. We sat at Dingo's and I took a deep breath. "I know your cousin Asher. He used to be my friend, then he changed as you said. I recently realized that it was that it was because he was jealous of someone I know. It started with the beating. He beat me constantly when there was no one else around, but he was my best friend so I suffered through it. That went on for years, but he never left any marks visible on my face or anywhere that would be visible. As we got older it got worse." I paused, not sure if I was ready to tell the rest, but it was the only way that he could help us. Ash already looked freaked out but he motioned me to continue. Dally put a supportive hand on my shoulder until I felt strong enough to continue. "But that wasn't enough for him. He needed to mentally damage me too. When l was 10, he did something truly vile, he raped me. That was when finally began to hate him. l tried to avoid him but he still got to me. When I was 12, I told my mother about everything Asher did to me but she didn't believe me. When I was 13, my mom realized how much I wanted to live a normal life and she made a deal with me that it l trained and she thought I was ready, she would let me live on my own. The day before I came here, which was about a month ago, she decided I was finally ready. Without telling anyone I was leaving I packed my bags and my mom sent me here. I met my friends and I moved in with them. I got into some trouble with a couple of Socs who thought I was a defenceless greaser girl. the second time those Socs bothered me I was in a very bad mood because the boys hadn't taken the news that Asher had hurt me in the past. We had gotten into a physical fight with him at buck's, he had tried to stab and would have killed me, had I not threatened to tell his parents and I had caught the entire thing on a camera I had hidden. Anyway, before I had run off, Dally had gotten me a blade to help me protect myself the next time Asher came back. Well, it was the socs that had come back and I had stabbed the leader. The others had run off and I was arrested. I was sentenced to a trial and eventually I was deemed not guilty and . The boyssaid I could stay at the curtis' house as long as I wanted. My mom sent me some clothes and I've been staying with them ever since. When I started school and I met you, you looked exactly like Asher and had a similar name. It freaked me out even more when I found out that you spoke French just like your cousin. But I did feel comfortable with you and didn't even suspect that Asher was related to you until I heard you talking about you're engaged cousin with a similar name and that was why I flipped out." Asher took a while to digest the information and then it was time for us to get back to school. All I had left was French and Study Hall, both classes Ash was in.
Dally dropped us off in front of the school and we walked to French together. We both greeted the French teacher and took our seats. Two bit taped on my shoulder. "Where were you at lunch? We were looking for you but we couldn't find you." The teacher told us once again to talk to someone around us in French and I spoke in English to Two bit one more time. "I was with Ash." I turned to Ash. "Okay, I know you have a ton of questions so you can ask as many as you want while the teacher isn't in listening proximity." I could feel Two bit glaring at the back of my head but I didn't care. I needed Ash on my side. "But first, I'd like to ask you. Are you on my side?" "Of course I'm on your side. It makes me sick to know that my cousin was capable of such horrible things. How did you meet Asher?"
"I don't even remember how I met him, but when I was little, he was always there for me." I answered, choking back tears. Ash asked more questions like, 'Did you ever meet the princess?'(yes), 'Why did you let him abuse you for so long?'(he was my best friend and I loved him like a brother.), 'Why wouldn't your mother believe you?'(Everyone thought he was an outstanding citizen that would never hurt a fly). We continued like this until french class was over. We were planning to sit together in study hall, but Two bit pulled me away first.
"What the hell were you doing spending your lunch with a Soc?" Two bit demanded. "Incase you don't remember I'm the ultimate Soc and he's Asher's cousin." This just enraged the boys even more than before. "I'll kill him!" This was not going as planned. "No, guys, Ash's going to help me get rid of Asher for good." So then I had to spend study hall explaining how I had told Ash everything except that I was the princess. Steve was even worse about me trusting Ash than Two bit was. "Just chill out, I know what I'm doing." I said with no certainty, hoping I was right and I wasn't just being naive.