Regroup
Bethany groans and and rubs her forehead with her fingertips. She is sitting across the table from Garthan, who she is trying to explain english grammar to.
"It's not my fault that every rule has an exception, how am I supposed to trust anything when it's like that?" Garthan defends himself.
"No I hear you, but look here, these words follow the rule" Bethany leans over and points to one of the many papers they have between them.
They're alone in the library, except for Carl, who is sitting with earpods on, in a corner, reading a comic book.
"You're very smart Beth, but to be honest, I think Amber explains it better…" Garthan shakes his head in defeat.
"Gee thanks…" Beth leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.
As on cue, Amber enters the library.
"Oh look, there she is. Maybe I can go back to doing my own homework now." Beth stands up.
Before she gets very far though, Amber holds up her arms in a stopping gesture.
"No wait. I need to talk to all of you."
She walks over to Carl and pulls his earphones off, and nods for him to sit by the table. All of them sit down at the table, and Garthan tries to gather his things closer to him.
"So?" Bethany asks, and looks at Amber.
"I think we need to lay off the others for a while. Dabria and Thea and their gang."
"But we were supposed to do the prank on the new girl today! We have prepared everything." Carl complains and lifts a gym bag, that rustles lightly when it moves.
"Yes I know, but I think we should wait at least a day, to see what's going on."
"And what is going on?" Garthan asks, confused.
"Something has happened to Thea and Dabria. Or Thea at least. Someone punched her I think. And I just wanna make sure that they're okay before we do anything."
Amber looks around at her friends.
"Of course. We're not out to actually hurt them. It's supposed to be fun, and it won't be if they're hurt for reals." Bethany nods.
The rest also nods.
"Thank you. I'll text you if I hear anything else." Amber gets up again.
"Sure. And same. I'll go check with Sel." Bethany gets up as well.
When Sel reaches his locker, Bethany is already standing there. She's dressed in tights, and a dress that looks like an oversized buttoned up shirt. She has her arms crossed and meets Sels eyes the second he comes around the corner.
"Oh, look at that, he was actually in class?" She sneers at him.
"Ha ha, very funny. I only skip out when I know that I already know what we're supposed to go through that day. Now will you move so that I can open my locker?"
Bethany takes a slow step to the side.
"Why are you even here? Is Garthan around the corner or should I maybe not open this?" Sel knocks with one knuckle on the door to the locker.
Bethany cocks her eyebrows, challenging, but doesn't say anything. Sel takes a step back and opens the door at an arm lengths distance, but nothing happens.
"Okey, so not that?" He says and starts changing out the books he's carrying.
"No actually, I wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear what happened, or rather that something happened. And that we're okay with a truce until everything is alright."
Sel just gives her a confused look, before finishing up and closing the locker door.
"What do you mean something happened?"
"I heard Thea tasted someones fist? And not Garthan or Ambers this time."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I don't know! Amber came and told us that someone punched Thea… you didn't know?"
Sel just shakes his head, and fishes up his phone from a pocket. He scrolls through the group chat, but nothing. No new texts since yesterday's goodnights.
"I don't know anything?" Sel looks up at Beth again.
On that moment though, his phone shimes. They both look down on it. It's a text from Dabria.
Meet me at the back at lunch. You too Thea if possible.
"I guess that's where I get answers." Sel says and holds the phone up so Beth can read.
"Well. Tell me if there is anything we should know." Beth says a turns around with a swirl of her dress.
Then they both hurry in their own direction, to catch the next class.
Catch up
Thea is already sitting at a bench, luckily under the edge of the roof, when the others walk outside. The rain isn't pouring down, but they all still gather under the eave of the roof to avoid getting wet. Dabria isn't there yet. Sel sits down beside Thea, and looks closely at her face.
"How are you doing?"
"It's not to bad, unless you touch it, you can barely tell that it's there. And also I took a painkiller just in case." Thea says and shrugs.
"You seem calm?" Bree says a little bit surprised.
"Oh on. Not at all… Well my face is no problem, that'll get better. But I just sat through meetings for the whole first half of the day, just to know that they're gonna do nothing."
"Who are gonna do nothing?" Katkin asks.
"The school. My mom thought it would be good to tell them about it, but they say that since it didn't happen on neither school ground or shool time, it's not up to them. They say that we could report it to the police, but that the school won't do anything." Thea stands up and step forward so that she can face her friends. "Dabria needs help. She probably won't agree, but I really don't know what would have happened if I hadn't stepped in. What if he'd hit her. What if he already has?" Thea bites her lip, trying not to loose it to much. The thought is terrifying.
She is standing in the rain, and her clothes are starting to get damp.
Katkin grabs her hand and pulls her back under the roof. She puts a hand on each of her shoulders and looks her very sternly in the eyes as she breathes in demonstratively. Thea follows her breathing, and nods as a thank you.
"Could you maybe just fill us in on exactly what happened, and who "he" is?" Katkin asks and gestures to Thea to sit down again.
Meanwhile, Dabria planned to go join them. However, as she walks down a seemingly empty hall, she suddenly hears someone call her name. She was deep in thought, but as she turns around, she sees Saree. Dabria hesitates for a moment, she needed to talk to the others before the break was over, and she didn't know how much time Saree wanted from her. While she stood there, Saree made her way up to her.
"Brontë? Are you there?" She waves a hand in front of her face.
"Uhm, yeah, sorry. I was actually on my way-" Dabria tries to exit the conversation.
"Are you okay?" Saree interrupts.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay? I heard something happened. You would think the staff didn't talk so much but no, bigger things get around. Like a student showing up with a purple face. I heard it had something to do with you?"
Dabria looks down on the floor. This is getting out of hand, out of her hand specifically. She doesn't need people talking about it. A moment passes without her answering Saree, but Saree ends it by suddenly pulling Dabria in for a hug. She puts both her arms around Dabrias shoulder and puts a hand on the back of her head. Dabria closes her eyes for a second, it feels good to be held. The football coach smells of the dressing room, and a bit of grass.
"If you need somewhere to sleep again, just text me." She almost whispers to Dabria.
The hug feels much longer than it actually lasts, but with almost a jerk, Saree ends it. She puts an arm length between them, and let's go of Dabria just as the sound of footsteps turn the corner in the end of the hall. She gives Dabria a last encouraging smile and pats her on the shoulder as she walks by her.
"Hope to see both you and Thea at practice, Brontë!" She exclaims and walks away.
Dabria nods to herself, and then looks at her watch. She needs to hurry if she wants to tell the others the whole thing.
Thea just finishes her story as Dabria hurries through the door and joins them.
"There you are!" Sel starts.
"Yes I got caught in something but I'm here now."
"Thea just told us the whole thing of yesterday." Bree says and stands up to let Dabria sit on the bench.
Dabria sits down, takes one look a Thea and then hugs her. It's a short but hard hug, and as she lets go, she starts to explain.
"I'm so sorry you got hit yesterday, I feel really guilty. I should just have gone up to bed at once and not stayed in the kitchen."
"You don't need to-" Thea tries to interrupt.
"You all know that my dad isn't the friendliest. And that we have a lot of rules to follow at home. He is just trying his best to create order, but he hasn't got the best ways."
"Are you defending him?" Thea tries again.
"He has never hit me. Alright?" Dabrias voice hardens. "He has yelled, and broken things, and locked doors. But never hit me directly. I'm not defending him, I'm just telling you how it is. I am sorry that he hit you, that was unforgivable."
"Where are you going with this Dabria?" Sel tries to ask politely.
"Well as I said you all know this. And since you already know how shitty my life at home is, I thought you might as well know that I can handle it. If things get to much out of hand, I usually go and sleep at Saree's place. She offered me to sleep in her spare bedroom, after a very late practice once."
"Saree our coach?"
"Yes that Saree of course. I go there if I need to get out of the house. It works. And she has promised not to tell anyone."
"But Dabria that's not a solution. It's great that you have found help, but it won't end what's going on." Katkin cuts her off. "And why do you talk like your life is an embarrassment? Do you really think that we would shame you, or laugh at you if we new that you needed help?"
"And to add, no we didn't know how bad things were, we just thought that he was a harsh type of parent." Sel pitches in. "Like we new about him being drunk a lot but we didn't know about the abuse."
"It's not abuse, he hasn't-"
"Hit you? No. But it's still far past an okay behaviour!" Thea is almost shouting, unable to control the mix of emotions.
"You don't know my life Thea! I was trying to explain, but you all seem to have it all figured out already." Dabria stands up and Thea follows.
"You are defending your dad! He's controlling you, abusing you! He hit me! Why would you want to pass him of as not a problem?"
"He is my dad! He's the only one I got! He sucks, but at least he's alive right? All of us can't be adopted for a better chances. Some of us has to make something of what little we have!"
With her lasts words, Dabira turns around and storms of. She wipes her face as she walks through the door, unable to tell if it's rain or tears.
Thea stands silent in the rain again. The others are still sitting on the bench, looking at her. No one really knows what to say.