Chapter Two

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P.S: I don't own this still.

-..-..-

Bursting through the only door of the dark nurse's office was none other than Leon's best friend Chris Redfield. A smile overcame is face at the sight of Helena, what she pulled off in the cafeteria room was definitely a highlight of his week. No one has ever stood up to Spencer before, let alone even hit the man. Helena backed into Leon. He was nice about it and gently pushed by to talk his friend. She immediately returned to Sherry, shoving the plaid sleeve above her elbow. It was lanky and large on her, on Helena it fit snug, and it kind of made her feel… low.

"Thank you for giving me your shirt. No one has ever done that for me… I think I would've cried myself to sleep tonight if you didn't help. I'm so sorry about your jaw though, it's inhumane of someone to hit without reason."

"In a way, I hit Ashley." Helena scavenged the drawers from top to bottom for some alcohol to clean the wound. There were Band-Aids but the size were to small and incomparable to the wound size. Sherry shook her head,

"She crossed the line today… I don't know why it matters whether I wore the same shirt as her but to tell me that I shouldn't even be alive? The heartlessness in people these days, it's really dissapointing." Her voice deemed low, "Not exactly a good start to a new school year." Helena found a grey cabinet pressed to the wall by a bookshelf, she easily unlocked the small padlock that hung on the silver hinge with a bobby pin and a safety pin she found. "I think she'll just get what she deserves. Its better I fought Spencer instead of her, I think I would've crushed her. She's really tiny." Helena pulled out a pink bottle with a white cap. It said rubbing alcohol on the label and she was safe to say she could use this. The two boys were inspecting her wound, "Are you feeling okay, Sherry? Dizzy? Fatigued or any signs of sickness?"

"I'm only tired, I'm okay really." Helena grabbed some gauge, pushing around beside Chris, who took a lot of space. He was definitely muscular, he suited it all to perfect as well. If anyone should pick a fight all recommendations would not be him. A single punch from this good looking man could knock anyone out for a while. After cleaning the wound, she began to dress it properly.

"Are you trained in First Aid?" asked Leon as he tilted Sherry's head up to show a little pride. Helena nodded slowly, her attention on completing the final dressing. It looked pretty good for her first time ever dealing with a situation such as this. In the book she read and the instructors who taught the situation wasn't exactly dire. Then again the dummies she used weren't real humans either. It was a good idea to take the class when she did because standing there while it bled would have been a bad idea altogether. Though the feeling she didn't let her friend die of such a minor wound felt good.

"Dr. Helena." Sherry said confidently, "I am very thrilled with your work, it didn't even hurt. I look forward to future help if it's necessary." She hopped off the desk, landing firmly on her feet. Helena leaned over towards a mirror, examining the bruise that formed by her left jaw. It was already swelling and a dark purple color was already taking over. It hurt, she could admit that. There was something about the wound that was off, it was real, it was hurting, but she felt she deserved it. Violence is never the answer to any problems, this wasn't the first time she hot someone. Helena was in Judo before she moved though that shouldn't count since it's nothing but a sport. A feeling in her chest that felt a lot like guilt, she felt bad for using the upper hand on someone who was at a different level skill then her.

"You're in deep thought right?" Sherry glimpsed into the mirror till she saw the wound Helena had of her own, "He punched you really hard, are you okay?" Helena nodded, her hand gripping the table roughly.

"Was it wrong? I want an honest opinion. I am a new student who got in a fight on the first day. Should I apologize?" Helena wiped underneath her eyes, feeling as if bags were forming. No one answered, "Ah, you don't know me. I hope I didn't make a bad impression, I'm really not a bad person."

"You saved Sherry, so I know you aren't. Let's just wait till the bell rings then we'll slip into class unless they decide to throw the pep rally for the new students." Said Leon as he found a cloth and dampened it with cold water underneath the sink, then twisting the cloth so tight all the water in it drained into the sink. Helena turned her back to the mirror as he approached closer. As soon as the freezing cold material made contact with her left side of her jaw a stinging pain built up. With a snap of her eyes shut and her jaw, his warm hand masked the pain once her gently place it on her unharmed cheek, "Stop thinking about it, it probably hurts more." Her breath went dead, he knew the shots Spencer could give, and her eyes continued to squeeze shut. The two had gotten in a fight once with no victor since they were ripped apart by Chris but the nasty bruise he woke up with just below his eye was crucial.

"You can stop, I'll do it." She couldn't withstand the pressure that built up and as much as he was trying to be gentle he only pushed harder on the wound. Before she could snatch it, he stopped her.

"No." it was plain and simple, Leon said no and he wouldn't give her the cloth. It was starting to become warm, so it was just plain hurting now. After a moment he finally cooled the fabric and repeated his process despite her dissatisfaction and pain. Her eyes fluttered open to his figure that stood so close. Leon didn't seem to mind the closeness or the fact his thumb was making a very soothing circle on her left cheek. It would suck if he had a girlfriend, if he did she couldn't imagine the beauty of the beholder let alone the type of woman she would more than likely be. It wasn't Ashley. Ashley was just a flirt and is dating Spencer. She thought of the other girls at the table… there was the beautiful auburn haired woman who didn't fail to stand out.

"Could staff and students please make their way to the gym for a pep-rally? All staff and students please make their way to the gym." They all made a noise of grief, none of them wanted to go. Helena didn't want to go.

"C'mon Leon, Mr. Coen will chew us out for not going to greet the new students." Helena couldn't have wanted to leave school more than she did now.

Sherry went home much to Helena's disagreement, she didn't speak to anyone other than Sherry and Leon and he had his own little group of friends. Spencer and Ashley were missing from the grade twelve rows and lucky for her she was waved over by Leon. After he moved slightly to the right she sat between him and Chris. The gym was loud with rambunctious teenagers, the teachers also created half of the chatter. It was no surprise since the gym was probably the biggest one she's ever seen. It was definitely worth the money since all the paint looked professionally done.

"So, where did you come from before you moved to Raccoon?" Chris began, leaning back on his palms as he enjoyed the coldness of the gym. Helena wrapped herself in her arms tightly, her tank top wasn't covering much and the gym had been colder than outside.

"I lived in New York." Her gaze followed from the stage to the man with brown hair, short and very suitable.

"Why here? Apparently we intimidate the rest of the country." Chris waited for Helena to answer. The only reason she moved to Raccoon City was because her father was sick, they wanted to get better treatments and this city was highly recommended. She went with them without hesitation, if she could help her father in any way she would do it even if it means leaving everything.

"My, uh, Dad got a new job?" She wasn't even believing that herself.

"Are you sure about that? You seem a bit decisive on it too." Chris chuckled, "It's fine, if you're here on personal matters I respect it." There was a newfound respect for him, he really was being understanding about her personal matters and didn't even think once about prying into her personal life. Not that her life was a secret, there was stress and knowing these people they would be really concerned about her. She was confident her father was going to get better so she didn't want anyone's pity either.

"Thank you…" she didn't know his name.

"Chris, Chris Redfield." They shook hands, hers being smaller than his not surprisingly, everything about this man had been big, his arms, his chest, his thighs, and everything else that could be possibly be muscle.

"Thank you, Chris."

The chatter was silenced by the student representative council. It was the auburn hair that was sitting with Leon earlier. The girl does look sort of peppy just to be at school. It took a couple of minutes for the whole room to shut up, she stood patiently waiting for everyone's cooperation and attention.

"Alright, there are six new students today! We all want to give them a warm welcome to raccoon city because were a nice school." She looked around the room to see if she could spot anyone. Helena held her head down, she didn't want to be here, she would much rather be doing whatever school work there was to do. After a moment she decided to call the names.

"Sheva Alomar, Rebecca Chambers, Steve Burnside, Ada Wong, Piers Nivans, and Helena Harper all come up. I will find you, believe me, and I will make you get up here. Chris?" she asked. Chris stood up, pulling Helena by her hand, she shook her head and without another thought she was put over the man's shoulder and pulled to the front first. A flush of embarrassment flooded her face, she wasn't much for being shy but she stood in the front of at least five hundred or more students. Everyone looked at her, only her because she was new and the only one in the front. A couple of guys whistled at her, she immediately held her elbows and turned away. Another girl hopped up beside Helena. A tanned skinned woman, her eyes were the color of light chocolate and very alluring. She had short brown hair tied in a ponytail to the back that looked very comfortable. Her wardrobe consisted of a pair of jeans, a purple blouse that definitely suited her skin, and some sneakers.

"Hello." She had an accent too; it wasn't strong and easy to tell she's been in America longer than anyone would think. Her English was amazing and her accent was neat to listen too. Slowly, the other students approached the front of the gym till all six were in the front. The speaker had handed them all new bags but one student particularly caught her attention. It was Ada Wong. The woman was unbelievably gorgeous and very elegant, everything about her screamed mature. Is she even human? The woman had looked like she was of Chinese decent. Her hair was short and black, edging to the end of her jaw and parting in the middle to reveal her face. Not only that, her make-up looked professionally done. It made her brown eyes pop. Her height was almost as tall as Helena herself but she beat her by maybe less than an inch. The two girls had been the main attention of the guys at school, they were two entirely different personalities, and yet the way everyone looked upon them as if they had been the most bit similar.

"Alright, we're going to play a game so we can show them our warm welcome. If you guys don't do it you don't get the discount of twenty percent off any meal at Bradies. Believe me, you want this." Helena enjoyed discounts, especially if she is given it. The game ended up being a ridiculous one, it did include sports. Leon, Chris, and three other football guys ended up playing defense and the goal was to get the football to the other side without one of them getting it.

"Game plan, everyone gather." Sheva leaned in the middle of the circle the six created. Ada had seemed like she was too good for these sort of things and hung back mature and cool, "These guys are tanks, we keep it high or low?"

"We could wing it. I mean, there's not enough time to plan out every possible outcome. Who's fast?" Rebecca asked, looking to the five boys who waited, "Our chances are slim if we rush them or plan so what?"

"We need two people behind, just pass the ball as much as possible." Offered Steve as an idea to the group, it was a good plan. They all agreed and gave the ball to Ada, since she was less caring whether she was included or not. It went to Steve as he rushed Leon, Piers was behind him ready to take the pass. Helena and Rebecca ran behind the wall of defense. Chris nearly swiped the ball from Piers, nearly ending the game. He tossed it towards Leon who prepared for his victory. Helena intercepted with a jump, passing the ball to Rebecca. She tapped the wall with the ball declaring their official win.

"I think they took it easy." Sheva whispered, leaning to Helena as the defense high-fived one another in their loss. Helena nodded, it was simply too easy. That or their really good and beat them out of luck or something like that.

Everyone dispersed from the gym while the five students, Ada had ditched at first moment, and they high-fived each other.

"Come on, Helena." Leon put his hands behind his head, linking his fingers to hold them there, "I want to show you the canteen." Helena nodded, collecting the five new numbers given. She caught up with him, walking by his side and immediately waiting for him to start the conversation on their round, "That was a nice interception you did, were you in football or rugby before?"

"No, I think that was luck. You guys were taking it pretty easy so it wasn't hard. Well, now I have twenty percent off whatever meal at Bradies… wherever that is." She put the slip in her pocket, shrugging to herself.

"It's the best food you'll ever have in your life time. I can take you if you want." Her heart began beating uncontrollably. A smile attempted to surface, she did a good job not overreacting like a fan girl, and she kept herself subtle while nodding slowly, "Great, just text me when you have free time. Hopefully… cough, cough, tonight." Helena was immediately won over by this guy, he was extremely adorable and made her want to smile.

"Sure, who's all going?"

"Well, so far just you and I but I bet Chris, Sherry, and the others would more than likely track me down. If that's alright with you, if not I can tell them no."

"It's cool, I like Chris anyways. He's pretty cool." It got silent for a few minutes; he gave her a sad frown because she praised Chris, "I mean, Sherry is cool too. You are as well. I mean you're talking to me and that's really nice-

He smirked, "And you're kidding…"

"Yeah, thanks for the compliment though. You seem like a serious person. Loosen up, we're in high school there can't be any worries." Only if he knew that her smile was something rare, that when it did come it was usually a sign of her being truly happy. Not that she wasn't, she was just really tired from the fight with cancer that her father is going through. It's a big toll on the family before major surgeries; everyone gets all silent and rarely talks. The only person being loud is her little sister Deborah, who turned two at the start of the year.

"I'll try."

-..-..-

"Mom, I'm going out tonight. Is that okay?" she stood with her coat in her arms with a new pink plaid shirt on. The bags under her mom's eyes weakened the feeling in her stomach. She was always restless and had so many priorities it was hard for her to sleep. A smile pressed onto her faint lips as age began to grow slowly; she nodded her head pulling out her wallet to give some money to her oldest daughter. Helena shook her head immediately, holding up her own wallet, "I got my paycheck from work, so I got three hundred dollars. Take a break mom." She really meant it, her body was really small and compared to her mother she was really tall. Helena had seven inches on her mom, so there really was doubt if Helena was her daughter. Their looks made up for the height though, so there was no chance of any confusion of her being adopted.

"Have fun, honey. If you need me just call and I'll be there. Who are you going to be with? If you don't mind me asking." It was her duty to know, Helena was really close with her mother. They have a bond created with trust and neither dare break it.

"Leon for sure and possibly Sherry and Chris… I'll bring them over so you can meet them sometime. They're really cool people and I think you would even like them." Her mom nodded, giving off a small smile that even Helena could see was broken. It hurt her heart so much to see her mother weak, she could've cried if she wasn't shoved out the door to have fun.

"Helena, you finally made it." Leon was alone at the moment, he sat in a corner table at the back with a mug full of a warm substance. She followed over, sliding into the seat across from him while looking around. The cushions were red, very comfortable for a small hang out spot. The tables were brown with a light plastic wood finish on the top that created a shine effect. There were only three windows of the dining area, two by the doors and one east to the door as soon as someone enters. There were a lot of bright lights that gave the room a daytime feel even though it was night. It felt really comfortable to her, just being able to walk in and feel welcomed.

"Sorry, I got caught talking to my mom for a bit. This is a really nice place, I like it."

"Everyone usually does, the owner is pretty creative himself. His name is Josh, really cool guy. What time are you allowed out till?" he slid a menu across the table, watching her expression. It barely changed, though her eyes swirled with anxiety and worry… It could just be him seeing things though.

"Ah, I didn't ask. I'll assume whenever you need to go."

"I don't get a curfew."

"Why not?" she perked her head up to meet his lovely eyes that so easily captured her and never failed to make her heart skip a beat.

"My parents trust me, a lot. As long as I have an over eighty percent average I can do whatever I want. I guess I'm a free citizen of America." Helena agreed, looking around the diner some more, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, this place is beautiful. I don't understand how it smells amazing too." She took his white mug that consisted of black coffee. Her eyes looked at him dumbfounded, "You're how old and you're already drinking this?"

"Seventeen but that doesn't matter, coffee is what helps me run on a daily basis without it I would lose everything I work hard for. It keeps me awake when I should really being studying instead of sleeping."

"This stuff is so unhealthy for you. I don't think I'll ever drink it." She passed it back over with a sour face. Leon held the glass in his hand, passing it back and motioning for her to take a drink.

"I assume you don't drink alcohol or smoke either."

"No… Alcohol could wreck my liver and smoking could ruin my lungs. I really want to live past forty." He chuckled and shook his head.

"There are people who go years and years smoking and yet nothing happens. Explain that?"

"I'm not them, for all I know I could be those one in however many people who acquire cancer. My chances are a tad bit higher…" She immediately stopped herself there, "I mean in teenage girls, since we're all hormonal and shit…" Honestly, she had no idea what she said. It was a horrible cover up and he would never believe it.

"I guess that makes sense." On the inside she was praying to whoever would listen no one would ever bring up the chances of teenagers getting problems from smoking. He might make a fool out of himself for listening to her, "You're really healthy then?"

"Enough to rarely get sick, I can't remember the last time I got a cold."

"You might jinx yourself, watch out." He sipped his coffee as a waitress stopped by with a smile. It was the girl from school, Claire Redfield she believed. After Leon explained she's in class eleven B it made sense since she didn't see her and that Chris is her older brother.

"Leon, do you want the usual?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, what would you like?" Helena pondered for a minute, looking at the menu.

"Basket of fries, please, and a vanilla milkshake..." Claire nodded, bouncing off cheerfully in her workers uniform and high ponytail.

"You are odd. I assume you're going to dip your french fries in your shake." A very confused look took over her face, she had never thought of that. Why would she do that?

"Funny but that sounds disgusting. Salt and sugar together?" The combo wasn't always the greatest together, she could at least give it a try. Who knows, she might actually like it.

"You never tried it? You're going to try it whether you like it or not. It's the best thing that's ever happened to the human race." He beamed a smile, texting in his phone which he never seemed to put down.

"How many contacts do you have?"

"I don't know, nearly the whole school if you ask me. Everyone wants my number and I don't know why…"

"You're cute." She blurted. Helena slapped her face with her palm, looking away, "God dammit that was rude. I meant that in a way that every girl has spoken about you. I think Sherry is the only one who does have a crush." His smile remained, their eyes meeting in an unspoken conversation. Her cheeks were beginning to feel warm and her heart began to beat uncontrollably. Leon was so easy to talk to, she didn't think there was someone like this. She really didn't have much of a love life… and he makes her want to change it. He was very alluring.

"Sorry to interrupt your little staring contest but your food is done." Claire placed the red basket in front of the brunette with a smirk, "I hope you enjoy your first time here!" she placed the milk shake next to her dinner while Leon's was on the way. A fry dipped in a milkshake? Who comes up with these sorts of things? He scooted beside, taking a fry from her dish and dipping it into her milkshake.

"If you're afraid of boy cooties, I apologize. I can't resist a good treat." After taking another fry, she decided to do the same but was very hesitant on it. Her companion sure thought it was the greatest thing and now she felt she should be brace.

"Is this good?" she barely dipped it in. Leon took the fry for himself and shook his head, taking another and going three quarters of the way. He held it to Helena who just propped the fry in her mouth quickly, from his hand, and swallowed it so if it was bad she wouldn't have to live with it for the next hour. Leon seemed embarrassed but at the same time very content with how comfortable she got with him. After a moment she approved of the taste, it wasn't as overwhelming as she assumed and the flavors kind of worked, "Wow! That is really good."

"You have been missing out on so much." His food came next, a tray of onion rings and fries with a normal soda to drink, "Now you have to try an onion ring."

"… Really? An ONION ring?" her expression looked as if he might be tricking her. She took one of his onion rings, breaking it into a smaller piece and finally dipping it into the shake. After the piece landed in her mouth it tasted much more dissatisfying as the fries, "Wow, it's really good." Leon did the same and she smirked while his expression disagreed.

"You tricked me."

"You tricked me first." Helena continued with her fries, sharing her small meal with her company. They talked a lot more then they both expected. Leon ranted a lot more than she did and she could finally clarify something… Helena had a crush on Leon, it still might've been too early to say so but the feeling was unlike she ever felt before. It was very warm.

-..-..-

:D It's going to get harder for you Helena… Just you wait.

Thanks for getting this far! I hope I keep getting more reviews! It's really fun to write, especially if the reviews are good and positive. Thank you very much again.