helo! welcome to this huge mess that i made, anyways ive been trying REALLY hard to not make this cliche af, i know it honestly already is but... im tryING MY BEST OK

im big unsure if I want to make this m-rated as well but we'll see when it gets there

Demi's head was shaking inside her body, the skull thumping against itself the more she attempted to open her eyes. Her lungs felt squashed and her body felt like a mix of black and blue lumps - but she still tried to get up. She was laying in Selena's bed, the covers pushed to the side of the bed and slowly sliding off. Her clothes were damp with fresh sweat, and she was sure that she could wring out the perspiration in her clothes. It was around 1pm, and she was sure that she last remembered it being 11am, and being at school… God, school.

The girl could only remember from there, trying to follow after Selena after she ran off and instead being pulled away by two gruff-voiced girls, bombarded with fists and slaps and countless insults. If she was at Selena's apartment, though - it could only mean that someone put her there. She remembered being so tired and weak that even her tongue was wobbling to hold itself up.

Demi reminisced, finding herself back in the locker room again, except she remembered a voice that had yelled stop and held her so purely and so dejectedly. Of course - the girl flicked herself in the head for not knowing sooner - Selena had brought her back home. Demi's uncontrollable guilt washed over her, the girl had said some really mean things to her and yet she had still helped her. What mattered now was not her own wounds, but instead her newfound friend that she was determined to not lose.

However, Selena was nowhere to be found - nor was her backpack. Must've gone back to school, Demi sighed longingly, wondering how she was ever going to thank the girl for what she'd done. Make her dinner? Clean the house? Ugh, they all sounded wrong. Everything sounded wrong.

Instead, an overwhelming need to sleep ran over her like a looming stormcloud. Demi had tried to fight it but ended up succumbing to it in the long run of eye-pinching and knee-bouncing.

At school, Selena's sweat was covering her face - she was sitting in the back of her Art Class, trying to pay attention to the rambling teacher who was practicing shading in the front of the class. Selena could not focus, she kept glancing to Demi's empty seat that she would always throw paper airplanes at that contained mocking insults and scribbled jeers. Taylor was sitting next to her, watching her with concern and a harsh gaze.

"Pay attention." Taylor nudged her with her elbow, which jolted her right from her long stare at the empty seat. "You keep looking over there; where is the punching bag, anyways?"

"Uhm…" Quick, Selena, lie! "Yeah. I beat her up real bad and sent her home for the day, I'm just scared she'll tattle."

"We'll cover for you if it comes to it," Taylor assured, giving her a thumbs-up and then directing her attention to the teacher.

It was the last class of the day, so Selena just had to push through it. She was only worried about how she had left Demi alone in the apartment, in such critical condition. She couldn't stay, though, because Mr. Smith would destroy her with bad grades if she missed another one of his classes. He was cool, and all, but he was very strict about kids who skipped class. Even if Selena could be considered a bad girl, she didn't want to disappoint her dad. She could just imagine her dad getting an email from the school while hiding behind a bush during a military battle, his gloved hands swiping down to read every unsettling detail. His eyes becoming saucers when he reads that she wasn't doing well in her classes, and then boom - shot. The thought terrified Selena, so she tried her best to do good.

When the bell rung, Selena shot up from her seat and ran to her locker, Taylor trailing behind in a high-heel-stumble-run.

"Selena, wait…!" Taylor gasped, stopping once she ended her sprint at her locker. "We still doing the weekend sleepover?"

Selena had forgotten completely, ugh! The girls would be so disappointed in her when they learned that she couldn't host it this time, but they'd be even worsley disappointed if they found out Demi was living with her.

"Sorry, Tay," Selena apologized, bringing her backpack strap to her shoulder. "I can't this weekend. I'm sorry."

And with that, she ran. She couldn't let Taylor interrogate her, or else she'd break! Taylor was super good at getting people to talk, and that was why Selena, and Demi, were so scared of her.

i know it's short im SORRY i just need to save the next stuff for the next chapter so it's organized

thank u for reading and staying this long like wow ? queen

ALSO! next chapters will be longer i big promise im just ... dying rn

review if u have the time pls ! i will update nonetheless but it makes me happy so :^)