It's been three days since Gale walked out of that room, and her irritation with her homework has hit an all time high. Giving up on studying Gale decides to go for a run through the woods for the third day in a row. Maybe I should just make amends? Jay made the nonsense make sense. She sighs to herself. No, I can't make amends. I should have never let anyone get close in the first place. This is for the best. I can't avoid father forever.
"You're getting pretty predictable. Makes my job easier." Chad says stepping out from behind a dense cropping of trees with Paul, Al, and Felix. They take care to surround Gale and a small amount of panic rises in her but she quickly stamps it down.
"You'd think she'd pay more attention out here since she's practically feral." Paul says mockingly.
"Cowards." Gale says defiantly. Chad, prince, probably knows how to fight. Paul, tough as wet toilet paper. Al, son of Aladdin, probably quick on his feet. Felix, son of Flynn, wild card.
"Excuse you? Who are you calling a coward, freak?" Al asks angrily.
"You idiots of course. You're only confronting me out here so if I kick your asses you can spin the story in your favor." She responds. There's only so long I can keep them talking. I need a plan.
"What are you afraid of getting expelled?" Felix taunts.
"Not really, but if you think I'm leaving on your terms you're dead wrong." She keeps her tone defiant. I can not get expelled. But I can't get out of this without a fight…
"You said it yourself there is nothing you can do out here." Chad says smugly.
"Clearly you're half deaf. I said you could spin the story if I kick your asses. That just means I have to outsmart you instead of over power you. Shouldn't be hard considering that you four have the combined brainpower of a rock." She says with a smirk provoking Chad and his pals into closing the circle. I have one chance at this. Hopefully this works.
Chad throws a punch, Gale ducks under his arm spinning herself outside the circle of boys, but Felix grabs the back of her shirt. He pulls her back, throwing her into the waiting arms of Al who is almost a foot taller than her. He holds her, back to chest, so her feet don't even touch the dirt. With her arms pinned to her sides there's nothing she can do. These assholes are gonna get to beat the shit out of me all so I don't get expelled. Better for this to happen than to face Father's rage… Right?
The first hit lands squarely on her jaw, the next few land on her stomach and lower ribs. The fifth hit is followed by a resounding crack as her ribs break under the abuse. She loses track of how many bruises she will have at the end of this and to top it off Morgana wakes up and Gales eyes continuously flit between chocolate and gold as she tries to keep Morgana's rage in check. This is the better option. It has to be.
"There she is!" Mal says, her voice getting closer. Gale smirks a little seeing that she wasn't the only one who heard it, earning another blow to the gut, and this one harder than the last. They came for me?
"What do you think you're doing here rat?" Chad shouts at her, seeing the rest of her group following close behind her. It's not like they can do anything. No one would believe them over us.
"I could ask you the same question." Ben says stepping around to the front of the group and into view. Gale's expression becomes confused. I know him cozying up to Mal was part of the plan but why does he sound mad? It's not like they touched her or anything.
"Ben!" Al says shocked, dropping Gale in the process, and letting her crumple to the ground. "Why are you with the misfits?"
"I believe you have more explaining to do than I do." Ben says in the same angry tone as before.
"Well I might not be a detective but that bruise on her jaw says they weren't playing patty-cake." Carlos says in an attempt for levity but even to his ears the attempt feels desperate. She didn't fight back. While Carlos is talking Jay storms over to Al shoving him back, causing him to trip over a tree root.
"That bitch had it coming. If those freaks never came here Felix and I would have never been benched by Coach Jenkins." Paul says irritatedly.
"And this is how you act when you don't get what you want?" Ben says, disgust clear in his tone.
"Why are you siding with the villains?" Al says angrily.
"I'm not. The villains aren't the ones who were looking for their friend. The villains are the ones who outnumbered and cornered someone who did nothing wrong."
"We aren't the villains here." Felix says defiantly.
"If that's the case then you won't mind coming with me to talk to the Fairy Godmother." Ben says sternly.
"She wont believe you. The only ones who could back up your story are these freaks." Chad says with only the slightest hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"Let's go see then. Would you please come with us Gale? The nurse should look you over." Ben turns to look at Gale who is sitting on the forest floor.
"I don't need to see the nurse. I'll be fine." Gale says almost automatically. No one can see.
"But-" Ben starts only for Gale to cut him off.
"I appreciate the concern but I'd rather not go. It's alright, I'm fine." She says managing to plaster a genuine looking smile on her bruised face.
"Alright." Ben says, then looks at the boys and begins escorting them back to the school and soon enough the clearing is only inhabited by the five teens from the Isle. Gale sees that instead of leaving, the group stays with Mal casually leaning against a tree, Evie and Carlos sitting on a log, and Jay walking over to kneel next to her. Gale shakes her head and focuses on checking herself over gently poking at her ribs. Only two of them are broken. This isn't nearly as bad as-
"What are you doing?" Carlos asks, ripping her from her thoughts.
"Why does it matter?" Gale asks in an irritated tone that had none of its usual bite.
"We came here cause we were worried about you. We only want to help." Evie says earnestly.
"I…" Gale starts but trails off. They don't need to know everything but maybe… maybe it would be okay to trust them with this? "Fine, but I don't think you can help."
"Why not?" Mal asks.
"There's," Gale takes a deep breath and tries to hold back the wince, "not much that can be done about broken ribs."
"Broken ribs?" Carlos asks, concerned.
"I swear I'm gonna-" Jay starts, but his angry rant is cut off before it could truly start.
"Jay. Don't get yourself expelled for me." Gale says.
"How are you so calm?" Jay asks the anger draining from his features only to be replaced by concern.
"Doesn't matter." Gale says looking at the ground. It's not like this is the first or last time this has happened to me...
"It matters to me." Jay responds, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Lets not do this right now." Gale says shaking her head, her voice barely loud enough to be heard by the group.
"If not now then when?" Carlos asks gently.
"I don't know. I just… I need to stop being weak."
"Gale. In all the time I've known you I never once thought of you as weak, and I think I speak for all of us when I say you are one of the strongest people weve ever met, both figuratively and literally." Jay says. Gale, on the verge of tears and not knowing what to do, gives into her weakness and practically throws her arms around him in a hug and burying her face in his shoulder. To her surprise he only hesitates for a moment before hugging her back gently. They stay that way for a while before he realizes the girl in his arms is crying into his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" He asks prompting the rest of the group to move closer.
"I'm fine." Gale quietly assures. Will Father ever care about me like they do? Maybe if i get the wand…?
Carlos looks among the rest of the group meeting eyes with everyone other than Gale before moving closer and hugs her. Mal and Evie follow suit and soon enough Gale is in a cocoon of friends. Gale looks at everyone's faces with confusion painting her own.
"We're here for you. Even if you don't wanna talk about it." Mal says.
"Why?" Gale asks. Why is this so nice?
"Cause that's what friends do." Evie declares.
"Though we should see about fixing you up." Carlos says.
"I've had broken ribs before. All you can really do is try to not focus too much on the pain and remember not to breathe too shallow." Gale responds.
"But that was on the Isle. The Isle doesn't have magic or good doctors. You might not want to go to the nurse but maybe magic can help." Mal says hopefully, and she is the first to exit the group hug in hopes of heading back to the dorms. After a moment Carlos and Evie follow suit.
"I…" I don't deserve your help... but maybe just this once... "I guess it's worth a shot." Gale says, standing up and holding her hand out for Jay to help him up, which he takes with a smile.
Hello my lovelies. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you all so much for reading. It means the world to me. Please leave a review telling me what you think and I'll see you next week. Byeee.