by S. J. Smith
"Lex, bub, come on you've gotta stay awake. The paramedics just pulled up okay. They'll be right here. Please just stay awake for a little while longer." Em squeezed her friend's hand, holding a towel to the bleeding gash in her temple with the other. If only they'd just gone with Alexis to get the book, then the last ten minutes would never have happened. Those bullies never would've attacked Alexis while she was with other people. Emilia had seen the siblings as they stumbled away, and they looked in rough shape. Even outnumbered Alexis had dished out a can of whoop-ass. If only she hadn't been handed her own plate of it at the same time.
It wasn't much longer until the paramedics got to the office and loaded Alexis onto their gurney. Em followed them out of the of sick bay and saw that hers and Alexis' bags were sitting next to the reception desk. Looking over at the young receptionist sitting there, Em got the answer to her question before she even had a chance to ask.
"That young man that carried your friend in here, he brought your bags a few minutes ago and then left again."
"Lucas? He came back?" Alexis' voice was weaker than usual, the sound of it had Em holding back tears. She'd never seen her friend in such bad shape. "Yeah hun, he did. He just dropped off our bags."
"Em? Call him, please. Make sure he's okay, he looked really mad before. Tell him I'm sorry."
"I'm coming with you in the ambulance. I'll call him later when I know that you're okay."
There was a soft sound of acknowledgment from Alexis as the paramedics maneuvered the gurney through the doors. Em scooped up their bags and followed them to the ambulance, ignoring the gawking teenagers and whispers. She didn't realise that Miss Lesch and Mr McNeil were following behind until she heard them telling the students to disperse and let the paramedics through. Mr McNeil ended up taking the lead while Miss Lesch came up next to Em. She gently took Alexis' backpack from Em's hand, wanting to lighten the girls load, but knowing that emotionally and mentally, she was carrying more than anyone knew.
Adriane Leschenelle knew more about the goings on in her student's lives than they thought she did. What had occurred the previous week in her human bio class, Adriane had never thought it would come to that. She knew that Alexis had tipped April's chair and she knew why. April was a bully and Alexis was a protector by nature. Emilia, she was a carer. Fierce in her own way, but when it came to looking after herself, she needed someone like Alexis. And Lucas, he cared about Alexis, that much was clear to anyone with eyes. When he left though, Alexis had thought that it was her fault, as though somehow, she'd angered him by being assaulted. Now while there was no question that her assault had made him angry, what the concussed girl couldn't see was that he was angry at himself for not protecting her.
The paramedics loaded Alexis in the back of the ambulance, Emilia insisting that she ride to the hospital with her best friend. Mr McNeil gave assurances that he would be along to the hospital to check on her condition once he'd made contact with all the relevant parents. This prompted Alexis to comment sleepily about how mad her dad was going to be.
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The ride to the hospital was short, not as short as it should've been thanks to the after-school traffic but still only ten minutes. Once Emilia got off the phone with Mrs Angelo, the paramedic that rode in the back of the ambulance with the two girls finally asked the question she'd been dying to since the office. "So, this Lucas guy, did he do this to your friend?"
Emilia let out a humourless chuckle. "God no, he and Alexis just started dating. What she said in the office about being sorry and him being angry, she just thinks that he's mad at her but he's not."
"Well it wouldn't make sense for him to be mad at her, it's not like she asked to be beaten up. Do you know who did do this?"
"Yeah, it's okay though. They won't get away with this." The paramedic gave a satisfied nod.
3.45 - Lucas, we're almost at the hospital. I'll keep you updated, but you know you're welcome to come see her for yourself.
Em didn't have to wait long for reply, but just as her phone went off, the ambulance pulled into the hospital. The gurney was unloaded and Emilia was directed towards the waiting room. There she found some seats in the back corner, away from everyone else and sat Alexis' and her own bag on the seats next to her.
3.47 - Thank you. I don't think that's a good idea right now. Tell her I'm sorry.
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Hours later Emilia still sat in the emergency room waiting area. Tony and Carmen Angelo had shown up five minutes after their daughter had arrived and spent the time since then making phone calls, pacing and in and out to see their daughter. In between tests, the worried parents stayed by her side, smiling and holding her, but out in the waiting room Emilia saw their rage. Mr McNeil had come to hospital about an hour after they'd left the school. He assured the parents that there would be serious consequences for the Hale siblings involved in the attack, and that Alexis was excused for as long as she needed to recover from the ordeal, any outstanding tests or assignments could wait.
As helpful as he was trying to be all Mr McNeil did was fuel Tony Angelo's anger. Carmen had to intervene and persuade Tony to take a walk and cool off.
"I'm sorry about my husband. He knows that it's not your fault. He's just angry and can't take it out on the people who deserve it."
"It's fine Carmen, totally understandable. Perhaps it would be best for me to leave. Please let us know how Alexis is doing tomorrow. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and your family."
"We will, thank you so much."
Once he was gone, Carmen had sat down next to Emilia putting her arm around the girl's shoulders. "So what happened today, Em?"
"I don't know, everything was fine during the day, and then Lex realised she left her human bio book in the classroom so she went back to get it. We asked if she wanted us to go with her, but she said no, and we should've just gone because it must've been when she was coming back that they caught her. It was three against one, but somehow she still had them limping away."
"She's got her mother's fire that's why," Tony said, sitting down on the other side of his wife.
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It was a quarter to eleven when the Angelo's pulled into their driveway. Alexis had been released after receiving stitches and her parents given instructions to wake her up every few hours to ensure she didn't slip into a coma from her concussion. She was also warned that she'd have a killer headache.
"I'm taking tomorrow off of work, so I'll be here to interrupt your sleep every now and again."
Alexis sighed as she dumped her take out wrappers in the kitchen bin. She'd known that what she was about to tell her parents wasn't going to go over well.
"I'm going to school tomorrow."
Tony and Carmen looked at each other their faces full of confusion, their teenage daughter was giving up a legitimate reason to stay home from school.
"Angel, I think that bump to the head really did a number on you. You're talking crazy talk," Tony laughed weakly, wondering if maybe they should take her back to the hospital.
"Dad, I'm serious. I'm going to school tomorrow."
"Do you have a test or something? You know what Mr McNeil said, all your assignments and tests can wait."
Mr McNeil had also assured her parents that there would be severe consequences befalling the Hale siblings involved in the attack, and that all school work was taking a back seat to her recovery. That was all well and good, but she wasn't about to sit back and let people think that she'd gotten worked over by some hypocritical cowards. She had been, but no one else got to know that. Plus, she needed to talk to Lucas. He hadn't been replying to any of her messages and he'd looked so mad this afternoon. Alexis hated to think that she'd ruined her chances with him when things were just starting to get good between them.
"Alexis, the doctor said that you need rest. You don't have anything to prove to anyone," her mum said, always seeming to know her reasoning before she did. It must've been some kind of mum superpower.
Alexis hoped that she would have that superpower one day.
"Yes, I do. Look, I know that I could take the rest of the week off and no one would bat an eye at it. Everyone would understand. They'd feel bad for me, and offer to help me catch up, and tell me how messed up what those assholes did was. It was cowardly, but they weren't totally unjustified. I am the one that messed up their sister’s 'pretty face' and then got away with it. If I had siblings, then I'd hope that they'd be as protective of me as the Hales are of each other. I'd also hope that my siblings were smarter and a lot more subtle in their revenge, after all we're Angelo's. But that's just the thing, I am an Angelo. I am not giving anyone the satisfaction of thinking that those self-righteous pricks got the best of me. Now, my head hurts so I am going to bed, but I am going to school in the morning, and I will call you if I need picking up."
Carmen got up from the bar stool she'd occupied when they got to the kitchen and hugged her daughter. "I'm proud of you, baby." With a soft kiss to the top of her head, Carmen let go and moved aside so Tony could get his goodnight hug.
"You're a stubborn little shit, you know that?"
"Yeah daddy, I know, and you love me because of it."
"Mm, I might have to rethink that with all the grey hairs you're giving me."
Alexis snorted a laugh and left the kitchen, snagging a water bottle from the fridge on her way out. She made it half way up the stairs to her room when she turned back around. In the time it took her to come back, her mum had a glass of wine and her dad had poured himself a bourbon. Leaning around the door frame Alexis voiced her final request for the evening.
"When I'm feeling better, I need you to teach me how to fight properly."
Chapter 11
The next morning Alexis was regretting her decision to go to school. Her head was throbbing and she was exhausted from being woken up by one of her parents every two hours. All morning they hovered around her waiting for her to give in and admit that she should stay home from school.
Thing was though, she hadn't become known as testa dura for nothing. She remembered the first time her dad had muttered it under his breath when she refused to back down about something. When she asked her mum what it meant, Alexis had been so confused as to why her dad was calling her hard-headed. She was six.
That was just it though, she was stubborn and she'd made her choice. Alexis didn't care if she had to put on a happy face all day and pretend that her brain wasn't trying to carve its way out of her skull with a blunt spork.
As soon as she showed up to school, she already had the upper hand against the Hales. Joel, Carter and Bella were going to be expecting her to be hiding from them, just like they should be hiding from anyone who had any loyalty to Alexis or her Family.
There was also the fact that Lucas had yet to text her back after yesterday afternoon. Emilia had told her last night that he'd said he was sorry, but he hadn't actually elaborated on what he was sorry about. Given his lack of response, she could only assume that he was ending their flirtation. That was the part that hurt her the most.
By the time Alexis had dumped her bag on the rack outside her homeroom class, she had resolved that she was going to apologise to Lucas for the drama that he'd been pulled into. Then she was going to let him go.
However, there was a pretty big part of her that didn't want to just let him go. No, she wanted to apologise and then hold onto him. The choice was his though, she couldn't make him stay. They weren't even officially dating.
Alexis tried to find Lucas at his homeroom class, but he was nowhere to be found. She ignored the bell, waiting until there were no more students milling around outside the classrooms. He hadn't come to school today. That must've been it. He was so determined to avoid her that he hadn't even come to school.
Heading back to her own homeroom Alexis tried to get a grip on herself. She barely knew the guy. Up until four days ago he hadn't even been a blip on her radar, and here she was getting all hung up on him. Sure, they got along like a house on fire, but that didn't mean they were destined to be together. She and Seth got along like a house on fire in the beginning as well and look how that turned out.
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Two periods.
Two periods was how long Alexis had to bitch to Emilia nonstop about Lucas avoiding her and her own unrelenting desire to convince him that yesterday’s drama was just a freak occurrence.
"Dude, it's not though. You're Alexis-freaking-Angelo. Your life comes with a drama included guarantee. I'm sorry to be blunt, but you can't escape it without escaping who you are. That made more sense in my head, but you catch my drift? Oh, and by the way, Lucas is here today. So guess what you two can do with your double study period this afternoon? Sort it the fuck out. And tell him to stop texting me. If he wants to know that you're okay he can text you himself." With a huff Emilia walked away from Alexis and got swallowed up in the mass of students swarming out of their classes for recess.
Emilia had been right to snap, Alexis knew that. And Lucas texting Em? About her? Why would he bother? Did he want to know she was okay so that he could end things officially without having to feel guilty? Or was he really genuinely concerned?
With all kinds of questions swarming through her head, Alexis autopiloted to the lunch spot. She barely noticed when Brennan and Seth sat down across from her, she just stared into her yogurt. She didn't realise that she'd finished it until Brennan nudged her knee with his foot. When she looked up at him, his face was full of concern. Before he could actually say anything, the bell rang and she was on her feet and off for her third period class like a shot.
Alexis didn't realise where she was going. Not until she saw it. If anyone had asked she couldn't have told them how she'd even come to notice the spot on the wall. She just saw it and stopped in her tracks. There on the tan coloured brick was a smattering of blood.
Her blood.
Absentmindedly she brought her hand up to touch her temple. Her mum had helped her with her hair this morning, styling it so that it covered up the butterfly bandages keeping her skin together.
"Lex! Come on, class is gonna start."
The voice only just broke through the static in Alexis' head, but not enough to make her stop staring at the dried blood.
Emilia realised that Alexis wasn't just standing in the middle of the walkway to be annoying, she was actually staring at something. Moving to stand next to her best friend, Emilia looked straight ahead, trying to see exactly what it was the Alexis was seeing.
And she did.
"Alexis, don't look at it. You're okay, everything is okay."
When she didn't get an indication that her friend had heard her, Emilia stood in front of her. One moment Alexis stared through her and then she wasn't. Once her eyes seemed to refocus, Emilia moved them towards the nearest girls’ bathroom. Once she'd made sure that all the stalls were clear, she locked the main door, guaranteeing them some privacy. Alexis was sitting on the floor, back to the wall. Her eyes were wide and frantic.
"Lex, hun, come on just breathe."
Alexis' breathing was shallow and fast, she was in the midst of a panic attack. Emilia had seen them before. Hell, she'd been through them plenty of times before. She'd just never seen her best friend in this kind of state. Apparently, this week was going to be full of firsts for the pair.
"Lex, breathe with me, come on. In... and out... in... and out." Emilia continued her prompts until Alexis was able to breathe properly on her own.
"Em, what just happened? What was that? I couldn't breathe, and everything was going fuzzy and static-y an-"
Emilia cut her off. "Hun, that was a panic attack." There was a softness to Emilia's voice that wasn't usually there. "Do you remember what happened?"
Alexis closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "I dunno, I was just walking and everything was fine. And then there was this movement to my left, and I looked, and whatever it was, was gone. Then I saw the wall and..."
"Your blood."
>
Alexis could only nod in response. Maybe her parents had been right about it being too soon for her to come back to school.
But you were right about needing to be here. For yourself.
The inner voice had a point. Taking a few more deep breathes, Alexis mentally braced herself for the rest of the day. She knew what was coming. All of the teachers would know by now what had happened yesterday. They'd be on the lookout for any trouble, the Hales, her.