Chapter 26

Abuse Me

No One's P.O.V.

Bex wiped a single tear out of her ice-blue eye. They were no longer filled with the love and care they had been for the past few weeks. Ever since Bex had met Mason, her life had started to seem better for once. Now it had all just come back and hit her in the face. With force. And vengeance.

The brand new, cherry red convertible pulled up in front of the High school for what might have been the last ever time. Bex took in a deep and shaky breath, turning to face the back seat. She was nervous, even more so the closer she got to fulfilling what she had come back to do.

"Come with me." She asked. The brunette in the back was not smiling. No one in the car was.

"You have a perfectly good father there." Katlyn pointed out, trying to cheer Bex up a bit. Nothing was working. Bex was upset, nothing was changing that. Not even one of her best friends.

Katlyn sighed, opening up the back door of the car. She and Bex climbed out. The darker haired girl grabbed her almost empty book bag too. She needed to empty out her locker and give back all of her books before she could finally leave the school for good. It was the one thing she had left to do, and it was the one thing she had been dreading doing.

Bex did not ever want to step back into the school after today. She was giving up. Giving up on everything. No more school. No more acting. No more anything. Bex just wanted to crawl into her bed and stay there for the rest of her life, because, to her, her life was over.

"I'll wait out here." Duncan called, not turning to look at either. His sunglasses shielded his eyes. He was really disappointed in his eldest daughter, and Bex knew he was.

Duncan had never put his daughter down as a quitter, so he was quite surprised to hear that she truly was going to let everything get to her. Giving up was not the way Bex was raised by her mother, and her father over the past few years, but she still was going to do it anyway.

Bex's P.O.V.

Walking the empty halls was one of the hardest things I had ever done. Everyone was in their classes by now. First period, half-way through. I normally would have had English. And lucky me, I had to head there to drop off all of my books. It was going to be one hell of a thrill ride walking into that classroom.

"I don't know why you're doing this, Bex." Katlyn whispered. I knew she didn't mean emptying my locker and returning books. She meant the giving up. I wasn't sure about it myself. Why was I giving up? I'd been heartbroken when Darren has broken up with me, and I haven't given up then. So why now? Because I wasn't in love with Darren. I was in love with Mason. And he had broken my heart. Every little inch was shattered in my chest. I swore I needed an operation just to make sure that it would still ever work again. Everything I cared about was no longer there. Not acting or attending High school. Not playing with my little sister or staying up until 3AM to answer questions on my blog.

Katlyn held open my backpack as I crammed as many items from my locker in as possible. I kept the books separate. I had to return every single one before I left. The sooner the better.

I slammed the metal shut and the noise echoed through the empty hall. I leaned in, resting my head on the cold door. Tears started to build up in my eyes, and I could feel Katlyn's arm wrap around me. She was always there to comfort me. I knew she was, and always would be. She wasn't as mad at me as everyone else; Katlyn knew I was having a tough time.

"I'm sorry." Katlyn whispered into my ear. I nodded, wiping my eyes dry once again. I moved away, faking a smile for my closest thing to a best friend. It was the least I could do for her after everything she did for me.

"Bex, where have you been?" Mrs. Davis asked as I entered the English classroom. It was the last stop on my route; I had purposely made it that way. "And who's your friend?"

"Hi, Mrs. Davis." I smiled weakly at my favorite teacher. "This is my really good friend Katlyn Lockwood."

"Nice to meet you, Katlyn." Mrs. Davis smiled, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Hi." Katlyn replied, no doubt smiling back. Katlyn was always so full of confidence. She wasn't scared to randomly start talking to a stranger about any topic that arose. It was just the way Katlyn was, and I really wished I was more like her.

"I'm just dropping these off." I said, walking towards the desk and dropping the few remaining books I had in my hands. It was my text book, exercise book and a copy of, the latest play we had been studying: A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare.

"Dropping them off?" Mrs. Davis questioned. "You're leaving us already?" She sounded quite worried and upset. I could also hear the whispering and the backstabbing beginning from the others who were all listening in on our conversation.

"It may hurt for me to say this, but..." I took in a deep breath. "Marisol was right." That got everyone to gasp. "I don't belong here...I don't belong anywhere...That's why I'm...I'm giving up on everything. No more school. No more acting. I just want it all to stop, so I can go back to being me again."

Mrs. Davis sighed, patting the empty seat beside her. She always had a spare seat by her desk. She was the freshman guidance counselor. She was there to help troubled younger students with their problems. I guess I really should have been sitting there.

So, I sat. Mrs. Davis then turned back to Katlyn, who was swaying back and fore in the doorway. She didn't look awkward, out of place maybe, but not awkward.

"Please, feel free to take a seat, Miss Lockwood." Mrs. Davis smiled at my best friend. She smiled back, and then took a look around the room. The only person not staring at her (because, HELLO! Famous actress in the classroom) was Mason; trust him to just want to get on with his work. But I tried not to think, or look at Mason. It hurt me too much.

"It's not like you don't know anyone." I hissed at Katlyn. "Just sit down."

"Mrs. Davis." I heard a voice pipe up from the back. "Can I please have permission to slap some sense into Bex?" I had to admit, Bella was bound to talk at some time. It wasn't like her not to talk. However, I had been praying she wasn't going to.

"I second that." Katlyn also spoke, raising her hand and looking around to find Bella. She was now sitting in the seat beside Mason. The one that had once belonged to me when I was new in class.

"Gee, nice to know my two closest friends want to severely abuse me." I muttered, not wanting to look at either of the,

"And Bex looks like she has taken quite a beating already." I could tell Mrs. Davis was now eying up the not-so-well hidden black eyes and scars that covered my body from the fight. Of course, I could also tell that Marisol was in a bad state too.

I closed my eyes, but the whispering still went around. I knew everyone was probably discussing how Marisol and I both were injured. That was unless Marisol had been flaunting her tale around. You know the one where she thinks that she beat the shit out of me and I ran crying.

"Okay, back to work everyone." Mrs. Davis told the class, and they did. That was what I liked about Mrs. Davis. She was the fun teacher, but we all respected her. If she told us to do something, we would do it. But we were always having fun and joking around too.

"I..." I started, but I had no idea what I had been planning on saying.

"I know." She replied. "You are having a hard time adjusting to everything in school, working on a TV show and everything is just falling apart?" I nodded. Trust Mrs. Davis to be the only one who really understood what I was feeling. "Okay...The first thing you need to ask yourself is 'Why am I quitting?'"

"I...I'm quitting because...I..." But nothing was coming out. It was all just too much in my head. I felt like I could scream and scream and scream. But if I ever tried, nothing would have come out. "I am quitting because I want a normal life."

"Normal teenagers go to school-"

"I want to be homeschooled again. I will more than happily sit in my pajamas and let that old coot teach me the difference between the kings of England, and why Shakespeare wrote for them." I realized I was rambling, but I had to ramble. "If it means I don't have to be around...Around HERE!" I screamed, my eyes brimming with tears. I couldn't take it no more. Everything was just too much for me to cope with by myself. I felt as if I was alone in the world.

"Hey, hey..." Mrs. Davis cooed over me like I was only a young baby crying. She handed me a tissue, but it stung badly because of the bruises. She kept staring at me as I screwed my face up in pain. I knew she was wondering how I got these scars.

"I-I...I got into a fight..." I whispered, shutting my eyes and turning away. I didn't have to look to know Mrs. Davis was now looking at Mason.

As far as she knew, I never saw Marisol outside of school, and Marisol did come from an abusive family. Therefore having an excuse for her bruises, scars and wounds. I, on the other hand, wasn't someone who had an excuse. Since Mason was prime suspect number one, he could have easily been an abuse boyfriend behind doors. He wasn't, but it was always a possibility for anyone.

"I know you think it was me." I heard Mason say. "And, no matter how much I would really like to slap Bex, I haven't laid a finger on her."

"I never said you had, I simply looked at you, Mason." Mrs. Davis replied, coolly. "But I did look at you for a bit of a back-up story."

"You want a back-up story? There are two girls in this classroom with beat up faces; I'd suggest asking one of them for a back-up story."

"I would like no part of this."

"Too late." I snapped at her. "This is mostly your fault!" I said, pointing to my face. It was only mostly because I did also now have a few bruises from the twins tripping me up and I fell into a door.

"Okay, will one of you tell me what is going on?" Mrs. Davis asked.

"Mason and Bex were in love. Darren, Bex's evil ex-boyfriend, teamed up with Marisol to destroy their relationship. Marisol flirted her ass off with Mason while Darren kissed Bex, making sure that Mason could see. Mason and Bex had an argument, resulting in them breaking up. Bex then blamed Marisol, and then the two clawed at each other's faces. Bex, after winning the fight, I might add, has now decided she is giving up on her entire life because she is heartbroken and badly bruised around the brain area." Katlyn said. Of course, she said in one breath without any stops in between the words or sentences.

Everyone in the classroom turned to look at me. All I could do was nod my heart, dabbing softly and gently at my bruised and battered blue eyes.

Katlyn's P.O.V.

"It's not like you don't know anyone." Bex told me. "Just sit down."

I slowly rushed to the seat beside Mason. The only other person I knew was Marisol, and I really didn't plan on sitting by her if I could help it. She still looked beat up from the other day, as if she hadn't even tried to cover up her scars.

"Hey." I whispered to Mason. He was concentrating hard on his work, and he didn't look up to see me. I can't say I wasn't upset, because I was, but I understood why he was ignoring me. Like Bex, Mason had dropped out of the TV show and hadn't expected to ever see me again.

"Mrs. Davis." I heard a voice pipe up from the back. "Can I please have permission to slap some sense into Bex?"

"I second that." I added, raising my hand and searching for my accomplice for the extra measure. I just as much agreed. Bex needed a decent slap to get her back to her right state of mind.

"Gee, nice to know my two closest friends want to severely abuse me." Bex mumbled. I tried not to smile, so I smirked at her instead.

"And Bex looks like she's taken quite a beating already." Mrs. Davis said. It was true. Bex's face had taken quite a beating too. I knew that she had a bruise on her forehead from the twins, but it all blended in nicely.

All the whispers around made me sick. I really wanted to bruise their faces! But I had the decency not to say anything, or even look at anyone. They could think what they like; the important people knew the truth. I only wished Bex had the same outlook as I did. I could tell that all the vicious rumors were getting to her, and I hated seeing my best friend in distress.

"Okay, back to work, everyone." Mrs. Davis told the class, and they did. It was weird, as if they all respected her wishes. Maybe TV was wrong about school. Maybe the students did actually listen to their teachers. I wouldn't know. My parents have always hired tutors for me. I've never liked any of them, but I had to put up with them anyway.

"Mason." I whispered. A few people were talking, along with Bex and Mrs. Davis. "Please, Mason...Talk to me."

"About what, Katlyn?" He almost snapped. I jumped. A few others did too. I hadn't been expecting him to be so aggressive, but he had been. I knew he hadn't meant it, but I was still quite scared. "I-I...Katlyn, I am so sorry."

I nodded my head, turning away from Mason. But I could feel him wrap him arms around me in a kind, friendly embrace. More whispers ensured. They were just jealous, I told myself. I mean, Mason was quite a catch.

"Why did you quit?" I asked Mason once he had let go quite quickly.

"I quit because I don't want to do the show anymore. My character was written out anyway, remember?" Mason tried to shrug it off as if he had, had to do it when we both knew he hadn't.

"And they wrote you back in."

"No, they wrote Ricky AND Bubbles back in." He argued. "You can't have one without the other...Both of us have quit and neither of us wants to face each other." It was true. Bex didn't want to face Mason; Mason didn't want to face Bex. It was starting to look like someone has scripted a badly written teen movie before my very eyes.

"HERE!" Bex screamed. I looked up, she was almost crying now. She was scared, I could tell. Her whole life had just been one, big downhill roll ever since her parents had gotten married. She had really thought it was going to change things, but it had only made things worse. I know it wasn't their fault, but I believe in Karma and life balances out like that. Finding her father was all uphill for Bex, and things had to go wrong from there.

"Don't try to convince me to come back, Katlyn. I won't." Mason told me. I nodded.

"I wasn't going to. I just would have thought you would have been the bigger person and had the ability to look past all of this." I shook my head at Mason. "I guess I was wrong."

The whole time we had been talking, Mason hadn't turned to look at me. He kept doing his work. The whole time all he seemed to want to do was work and work and work. But, when I looked down at the sheet of paper he was writing on, wanting to know what he was working so hard on, I saw the page was filled with doodles rather than an essay, which I had been expecting.

When I say doodles, I mean fine art work. I mean it. Mason's drawings were amazingly breathtaking. They looked professional to me, but he saw me looking and instantly turned the paper over. I went to talk to him, ask him why he had hidden them from me, but he started talking to Mrs. Davis instead.

"I know you think it was me." He said. "And, no matter how much I would really like to slap Bex, I haven't laid a finger on her." That was true. Mason was harmless, no matter how pissed off he got, he never hurt anyone physically. He just was not that sort of person.

"I never said you had, I simply look at you, Mason." Mrs. Davis replied. "But I did look at you for a bit of a back-up story."

"You want a back-up story? There are two girls in this classroom with beat up faces; I'd suggest asking one of them for a back-up story."

"I would like no part of this." Marisol told everyone, who all were now listening contently to the tale that was unfolding. I could see why they were all interested; it was a pretty good tale.

"Too late." Bex snapped at her. "This is mostly your fault!" It took me a while to remember that she was talking about the bruise from her brother and sister. But I think she didn't mention it because she wanted to look even more badass.

"Okay, will one of you tell me what is going on?" Mrs. Davis asked, and I just couldn't stop myself from saying what I said next. It was 'word vomit' to quote another clichéd movie.

"Mason and Bex were in love. Darren, Bex's evil ex-boyfriend, teamed up with Marisol to destroy their relationship. Marisol flirted her ass off with Mason whilst Darren kissed Bex, making sure that Mason could see. Mason and Bex had an argument, resulting in them breaking up. Bex then blamed Marisol, and then the two clawed at each other's faces. Bex, after winning the fight, I might add, has now decided she is giving up on her entire life because she is heartbroken and badly bruised around the brain area." That took a load off my shoulders.

"I-I... We have to go." Bex quickly stammered, dabbing at her eyes with caution for the last time. She dropped the tissue into the bin and stood up. She motioned for me to get a move on and I got up too. "Bye, everyone." Bex mumbled as she opened the door. I followed silently, my face down to my heels now. It just had not been a good day for anyone so far.

No One's P.O.V.

The two teen actresses left in silence. The door slamming shut behind them as they left. All was quiet for a few minor seconds, before the whole class burst into noise and disruption.

"QUIET!" The blonde teacher yelled. She had total control over her class as they all went back to silence as soon as she said it.

"Mrs. Davis." Bella Cortez piped up from the back row of seats. She was sat beside Ethan once again, although Bex hadn't noticed it this time she had been in the classroom. It had just grown into one of those common things now.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Can I please go talk to Bex before she leaves? I mean, I've tried calling her and texting but she never picks up or replies. I've left messages on her blog and sent emails, but nothing. I just wanted to tell her tha-"

"Quickly then, before she leaves." Mrs. Davis told the young girl. It was the only thing that was going to get her to shut up and go after Bex before she left. So, Bella got up from her seat and chased after her best friend.

"BEX!" Bella called down the hallway. The two teen actresses stopped both turning around to face Bella. She was now standing right by them, only a meter apart. "Why...Why are you doing this?" Bella asked. "I thought you were strong. I thought you could handle anything. Obviously I was wrong. I really believed in you. I believed that you would have been able to balance everything when no one else did, but I was wrong. I was clearly wrong about you, Bex..."

"Belles..." Bex sighed, using the mini-nickname she had made up for her friend. "I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry, I really am. But it's all too much for me to handle right now. I just need some time to think."

"Then you call me. You call me whenever you get the chance to. You text and you reply to my emails, and you shall reply to me when I want to leave comment on your blog." Bex cracked a little smile, opening up her arms for Bella. The two hugged. It wasn't a 'goodbye' hug. It was 'goodbye for now' hug, because the two knew they were going to see each other again.

"Bex..." Katlyn mumbled her friend's name. The two broke apart and turned to face her. She held up her pink and sparkly cell phone. "Duncan wants to know what's taking so long." Bex nodded her head, turning back to Bella to give her one last hug.

"Bye, Bella."

"Bye Bex." And with that, the two actresses left the school building. Bella watched them as they walked into the car park, climbing into Duncan Evers brand new, cherry red convertible. They sped off. Bella knew Bex was going to be alright. Bex was always alright in the end.

A/N: That was sad...Happy and sad all rolled into one...

...I haven't got anything to say.

Apart from the fact I want a hug and Gizzy's nowhere to be found...

Thank you to;

AwesomeMan327: WHOO! 100! hahaha! Yeah, very sad...Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Yes. Yes you will be spellchecking this chapter! You never did tell me what happened with Amy, I expect details! Later...Not right now, I'm too tired right now. I wouldn't hate Amy, she's the most entertainment I think I've ever had on Skype! Our Scons vs Scones talk holds a special place in my memory =P Thanks :D

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Spellchecker's Note: HEY GUYS! LONG TIME NO SEE! Sorry! I've been busy, I went to a Reece Mastin concert, (my sister is obsessed with him, stalker obsessed), and I've just started a new semester at school and I've had to put up with some bitches and some people who I call my "friends. Also some guy trouble. But hey, that's what's expected as a teenager, right? Anywho~ I hope you guys have been having an epic time lately, review and say hi to me. Bye guys xx Maddi.