Chapter 11

School was a nightmare for Dani. At every turn, every sound, every whisper, she would jump and try to hide. Getting called on in classes, she wouldn't speak, let alone look up. All she wants to do is bolt and leave the school, or go to Will's classroom.

Mitchie decided to miss her classes and stay with Taylor. Dani herself though, wanted to move on and act normally, but she knows it could be a smart move or bad.

Walking over to her locker, Dani opens it to only switch binders.

"Hey geek." A guy's voice comes out from behind her. Not knowing if it's directed at her or not, Dani freezes and pretends she didn't hear, "I'm talking to you." Feeling a rough hand at the back of her neck, Dani elbows the guy before turning around, "You freaking bitch!"

Feeling the guy slam her into the lockers, Dani lets out a soft cry.

"Let her go!" Dani hears a girl shout.

"What are you going to do about it, Lopez?" The guy taunts.

"Don't test me, asshole." Looking at the girl, Dani feels her heart pound faster than it already is.

"Man, just leave the freak alone. We can get her later when Lopez isn't here." The guy's friend, who Dani didn't even notice was there, speaks.

"Fine. I'll get you later geek." Feeling the guy let her go, the guy lands a punch in her stomach. Landing on her knees holding her stomach, Dani watches Santana charge at the guy, swinging her fist. Watching it collide with his nose, Santana narrows her eyes as the guy land on the ground.

"Stay the hell away from her." Santana growls.

~S&D~

Watching them scurry, Santana turns to Dani. Kneeling on the ground next to her, Santana gently places her hands on her arms.

"Are you okay?" Santana asks gently. Seeing the tears in her eyes, Santana wraps her arms around her, holding her to her; "I'll take you to Mr. Schue."

Hearing the bell ring, Santana glares at everyone around them, waiting for the halls to clear.

Helping Dani up, Santana closes the girl's locker before rewrapping her arms around her.

Arriving to the classroom, Santana barges into the room, ignoring the other class.

"Ms. Lopez, why are," Will starts until seeing Dani in her arms, "What happened?"

Walking over to Santana and Dani, Will stops in front of them. Listening to Santana as she whispers what happened, Will looks at Dani; surprised she hasn't started crying even with the tears in her eyes.

"Thank you for bringing her here, Santana." Will smiles a small smile gently pulling Dani into him.

"Thank you, Santana." Dani whispers her first three words since that morning.

"You're welcome, Dani and Mr. Schue. See you both at Glee." Santana smiles.

~D&S~

When lunch arrives, Will leaves the room to get their lunches, which Will took to make it easier for them. Sitting at the piano, Dani plays a few keys, no one but Taylor and Mitchie know that Dani knows how to play piano and guitar, both acoustic and electric. Mitchie also knows how to play both instruments. The only difference, Mitchie feels more comfortable playing piano as Dani feels more comfortable playing guitar.

Taylor knows how to play the basics but she loves drawing and painting, and photography.

Beginning to play Miley Cyrus's The Climb off by heart, Dani singing the song softly. Dani immediately gets lost in the music.

On the floor, Mitchie and Taylor are doing homework, which Dani brought Mitchie's from their classes. Humming along with smiles on their faces, no one hears the door opening.

At the door, Will grins happy that Dani is calmer than before. Walking to Mitchie and Taylor, Will joins them on the floor, passing them their lunches.

Waiting for Dani to finish the song, Will claps his hands, very impressed.

"That was incredible, Dani. I swear you are a pro." Will says honestly.

"Thank you. Mitch taught me to play. I taught Mitch guitar. Mitch is better than I am. But she says the same with me and guitar." Dani smiles joining them.

After lunch, Dani washes her hands in the nearby washroom. Hearing for the door, Dani bumps into Santana, Quinn and Brittney.

"Get out of our way, freak." Quinn snarls.

Confused on why she is being mean, Dani rolls her eyes.

"I said, move!" Quinn snaps before Dani even gets the chance. Pushing Dani to the floor, Quinn and Brittney purposely steps on her hand or bruised stomach. Standing at the door silently, Santana gives Dani a soft glance before following, carefully stepping over her.

Forcing back her tears, Dani surprisingly retaliates. Letting her sore hand turn into a fist as she gets to her feet, Dani crashes her fist into Quinn's jaw.

"Give someone a chance to move next time, Barbie." Dani growls clenching her teeth, "And you should go see a doctor about your mood swings. My first day here you were nice, and now you are mean."

Moving to the door, Dani gasps as Brittney grabs her hair, slamming her into the mirror.

"Britt!" Dani hears Santana's shocked voice.

"If you don't want to join, Santana, get the hell out as Britt and I teach this little fake blonde her place." Quinn growls.

Squirming to get out of Brittney's hold, Dani feels her foot bend the wrong way. Quickly fixing it before it could break, Dani stomps her heel into Brittney's foot.

"Son of a bitch!" Brittney pulls away holding her foot as Dani slips on the floor trying to get out of the corner. With her blurry vision, Dani tries to reach the door, but Quinn's foot knocks her to her knees.

With her blurry vision, Dani notices that Santana is missing. Maybe she left or is hiding in one of the stalls?

Feeling Quinn grab her hair, Dani bites back a scream as she is dragged into the other corner.

"Now, should we give her a nice makeover for her face, or all over?" Quinn smirks taunting the younger girl.

"I don't know, Quinn. What do you think?" Brittney grins.

"Who cares?" Feeling Quinn's hands grab her face, Dani feels Quinn smash the back of her head into the corner of the mirror. Feeling kicks and punches, Dani's vision starts to fade into black. Trying to fight blindly, Dani feels her fists and kicks make a few contacts, but that's it.

Barely hearing the door slam open, Dani tries to open her eyes, but one is swollen shut.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dani hears a female's voice shout.

"Get out of here, Mercedes." Quinn orders.

"You are not the boss of me, Queen Bee. Leave the girl alone." Mercedes snaps.

Hearing running feet, Dani stiffly looks at the door, to see the dark girl and a familiar girl.

"Dani!" Rachel gasps, running over. Forcing Quinn and Brittney away, Rachel ignores the slap in the face from Quinn. Kneeling next to her friend, Rachel lets tears fall.

Dani's face is covered with forming black bruises. Her bottom lip is busted, and her nose is gushing blood. Her shirt and pants are torn, and her arms are covered in the black bruises. Her neck and cheeks are scratches and blood dripping from them. Her left ear is bleeding along with her temple and forehead.

Confused how her ear is bleeding, Rachel wipes the blood away to find no marks. Seeing the blood in Dani's hair, Rachel shakily moves her hand back to feel warm liquid immediately run down her fingers.

"Mercedes, Dani needs help. Go get Mr. Schue then call for an ambulance." Rachel orders.

~S&D~

Just before Rachel and Mercedes went to the washroom to find Dani beaten up by Brittney and Quinn, the two girls are eating their lunches with their friends.

"Rachel." Rachel hears panting behind her. Turning around, Rachel is surprised to find Santana gasping for air.

"What is it, Santana?" Rachel asks nervously. Anything Santana says or does, is nothing good.

"The blonde twin needs help." Santana whispers. Hearing that, Mercedes jumps to her feet. Just because she doesn't know Rachel's thee friends, doesn't mean she doesn't care. Before anyone could blink, Mercedes takes off in a run with Rachel right on her heels. Following his girlfriend, Finn follows with Kurt running to get help.

Slamming the door open, Mercedes gasps seeing a pool of blood right under the blonde twin, with Quinn and Brittney chuckling above her.

Slipping in front of Mercedes, Rachel ignores everyone, rushing to Dani.

Not surprised that Quinn and Brittney try to get away, Mercedes grabs their arms tightly.

"You both aren't going anywhere." Mercedes states.

Finn heard Rachel telling Mercedes to get Mr. Schue, and since Kurt went to get help, Finn sprints down the hallway to the classroom.

Slamming the door open, scaring Taylor and Mitchie, Finn stares at Will.

"Dani is hurt." Finn states. Accidentally pushing Finn, Will just runs down the hallway, as Finn stops Mitchie and Taylor who try to go as well, "It's not good to go too, girls. Rachel is with her."

"But she is our sister!" Taylor argues.

"I know, Taylor. But you can't."

Staying with the girls for a good half hour, Finn and the girls came up with a halfway point, sitting in the hallway. Knowing it's hard for them to not go against their arrangement, Finn has Taylor sitting on his legs and his right arm is wrapped around Mitchie's shoulders. Watching the paramedics arrive and go into the bathroom, the three of them sit and wait silently.

Surprised to see his ex-girlfriend's parents and his ex's best friend's parents arrive and pick the girls up, Finn quickly pieces it together. It was Quinn and Brittney. They attacked Dani.