Crimson High – The Jane Story

A/N: I felt I owed you another chapter tonight, because I haven't updated for a while. Enjoy.

Chapter four

I entered the building the next morning and headed for my locker. I spotted Grace and Rigsby talking earnestly at her locker, but Teresa was nowhere to be seen. That was good, because I didn't want a confrontation about my surprise visit. I was nervous that she may tell people in the school. If word got to Lorelei, Teresa was a target for sure. I opened my locker and dug around for a book. As I closed the door, Lorelei was standing on the other side. "Lorelei," I said with some surprise. "Why are you here?"

She smiled sweetly at me. "I can't handle not being with you anymore. I want to get back with you."

I turned to face her properly. I can't do that, Lorelei."

Her face turned sour. "Why not? We're perfect together."

I shook my head. "I can't, Lorelei. My heart belongs to someone else."

"Bullshit!" she replied. "I'm the only one who ever truly cared about you, Patrick."

I laughed once. "Lorelei, we are over. You don't care about anything unless you can get something out of it. I don't feel that way about you, and I've moved on. You should too."

Lorelei grabbed my arm. "Please, Patrick," she whined. "We can make it work."

I shook her off. "It's too late, Lorelei. I feel that way bout someone else now."

Her expression turned angry, and she turned around abruptly. "I am going to find whoever that bitch is, and I am going to kick her ass!"

She vanished, and I turned back towards Grace's locker. Only Rigsby stood there, his eyes wide. It was obvious he had heard what was said. I shrugged and walked away. I felt scared for Teresa, because Lorelei was quite persistent when she wanted something. I went to my first lesson, and listened to the gossip as it flew around the room. Word spread quickly that Lorelei was on the rampage, and I sighed. Teresa didn't even know she was a target.

Between lessons, I looked for signs that Teresa had told her friends about my visit the night before, but they gave no indication of knowing. I sat in the cafeteria and watched as Lorelei entered the room. She sauntered over to me. "I'm going to find her," she said. "You can't hide her from me."

I smiled at her and shook my head. "No chance, Lorelei."

She glared down at me before turning and stalking away. I watched her in mild disinterest, but a thought occurred to me. What if Lorelei actually found out that it was Teresa? I felt panic rising, and glanced across at Teresa when Lorelei's back was turned. Our eyes met for less than a second, but I wasn't quick enough to hide the panic in my eyes. Lorelei turned and headed across the cafeteria towards Teresa, and I fought the urge to jump up and stop her. The four friends were deep in conversation when Lorelei interrupted them. I could tell from her body language that she wasn't interested in Grace. But she stiffened at something Teresa said, and abruptly turned away. I watched her leave, and knew that Lorelei had her target. The bell rang, and I stood up. I wanted to leave immediately, but I was stalled by JJ, who was asking questions. "What does Lorelei want?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. She just went wild when I told her I couldn't get back with her."

We were walking in the direction of Teresa's locker, and we rounded the corner. I froze in shock as Lorelei launched herself at Teresa.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Teresa staggered under the force of the attack, but stayed upright. She pushed Lorelei away, but Lorelei reached for Teresa's hair. The girl next to me screamed unnecessarily, and Teresa swung her fist. It connected with Lorelei's cheekbone, and she clutched her face. JJ and I looked at each other and rushed forwards. Lorelei punched Teresa across the side of the head, and Teresa staggered under the force of the blow. Lorelei came at her again, this time with her nails. I watched as two streaks of blood appeared on Teresa's cheek. Teresa had her by the hair, and Lorelei was screaming. I wrapped my arms around Teresa's torso and pulled her back. JJ did the same to Lorelei, and we separated the fight. Teresa didn't struggle, but Lorelei clawed and fought against JJ's grip on her. I dropped my arms and placed my hand on her back. I guided her away to the nurse's office, picking up her dropped bag as I went. "Come, Teresa," I said. "You're bleeding."

She just nodded mutely and allowed me to lead her away. The nurse's office was just up the hall, and soon we had reached the door. She glanced up at me and I gazed back down into deep green eyes. I just smiled back down at her and opened the door. I stepped through behind her and put her bag down just inside the door. I watched her as she tried to wipe the blood running down her pale skin with her fingers. I laughed at the effort, glad that she was okay. "That's not going to work, Teresa. You need to clean it properly. Come here."

I gently pulled her by the hand, leading her to a chair in the corner. She passively sat down, and I began to rummage around in one of the cabinets against the far wall. The nurse appeared from the back room and saw me. "Mr Jane," she said, annoyed with me. "What are you doing digging around in my cabinets?"

I looked up at her and smiled. Nurse Summer Thomas was good friends with my mother. "I'm cleaning the scratches on Teresa's face. She got in a little scuffle with her locker door."

Nurse Thomas smiled at Teresa. "I'll leave you to it then."

She vanished back into the room, shutting the door behind her. I stood up and returned to where Teresa was sitting, carrying several items. She watched as I opened the antiseptic and applied a little to a piece of gauze. I dabbed it gently against the first scratch, and I felt her grit her teeth against the sting. "Why me?" She asked as I gently wiped her face clean.

"Lorelei has, issues," I replied, smiling at her.

Lorelei had more than just issues, but I wasn't about to reveal the real reason behind the attack. She rolled her eyes at my statement. "I never would have guessed," she said sarcastically.

I chuckled again. "She gets possessive. I guess you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Her eyes narrowed. "Uh-uh. I was targeted. Why?"

I smiled at her, hiding my alarm at her perceptiveness. She knew I was hiding something. I changed the subject abruptly. "Do you want me to cover this?"

I could tell she noted the sudden subject change, but she sighed and said nothing about it. "No, it will heal better uncovered."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you a medical expert now?"

She grimaced, obviously not wanting to broach this specific subject. "Let's just say, I have a little practice with this kind of thing."

I raised an eyebrow again, this time in confusion. "With getting into fights?"

Teresa looked down, but didn't reply. I figured this had something to do with what she hadn't told Grace that day. I had the feeling she was hiding something, but I wasn't sure what. I simply smiled sympathetically at her. I slowly stood up and helped her to her feet. "I'm late for class," she mumbled, looking around for her bag. "Where's my bag?"

I glanced towards the door. She spotted the bag, and went over to pick it up. I pulled a small slip of paper out of my pocket and held it unseen. I had written my number on it. I put my hand on her shoulder and stopped her from walking. She turned around to face me, and I rested his hand on my hip for just a moment. In that moment I slid the paper into her front pocket. I dropped my hand. "Teresa," I said, looking her in the eyes. "If you ever need anything, just call me."

She nodded and walked to the door. She picked up her bag, and turned around again. "Thank you, Patrick."

I smiled, and Teresa smiled back. Then she hurried from the room, eager to get to the next lesson. I followed just behind her, and met up with JJ at the end of that lesson. "Where's Lorelei?" I asked, glancing around.

JJ sighed. "She went home. Teresa gave her one hell of a black eye."

I frowned. "It's almost like she's done it before. It came too naturally to her."

JJ shrugged. "All I know is that I'm going to get crapped on about it. Lorelei is going to be furious."

I turned away. I had a feeling that I knew what Teresa was hiding. I needed to think further about it, and so I pushed the thought aside for later.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

I lay back on my couch and stared at the ceiling. I thought about Teresa's story. Her father had suffered badly after her mother's death, and had resorted to alcohol for comfort. I had noticed that afternoon that, when I raised my hand to her face to clean it, she had flinched unconsciously. It didn't only happen when I did it. Whenever Cho or Rigsby waved their arms about – which was fairly often for Rigsby – she would duck or flinch unconsciously. She wasn't even aware she did it. It wasn't enough for most people to notice, but my skills in body language and cold reading helped me to pick up the movement. She seemed to be scared of male figures, and so she didn't trust me very much. I could see that much in her eyes. I could only come to one sickening conclusion; Teresa's father had physically abused her whenever he was drunk. I felt sick to my very inner core. How any man could think of willingly hurting that sweet, innocent girl was beyond me. Plus, knowing how selfless Teresa was, I suspected that she took most of the beatings for her brothers, to protect them. I couldn't even begin to imagine the emotional pain she was suffering. She had left her brothers at the mercy of their father just so they could have money for food. I decided that they needed my help too. If Teresa was to trust me, I needed to help her brothers in any way I could. But first, I needed to talk to Teresa again. She needed to see my side of the story too.

A/N2: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and that you've forgiven me for leaving this story for two weeks. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks.