Chapter One-2

"I wasn't aware of the names and wasn't planning to until you said it, but yeah, those dudes." Chuckling, Levi places himself on the edge of the wooden table, his front-facing me "It's already nearing the end of senior year, just try to keep up a little bit more with the complete mayhem that takes place in this shithole, it'll be all over soon before you know it." Like I hadn't been reminding myself of that since. But biting down on the bubbling sarcasm that was tingling on the tip of my tongue, I leaned forward and plastered on an agreeable smile "Yes, of course, but still. It'd be nice if we hadn't spent the past few years constantly watching a fight somewhere in the distance. Whether it ruined someone's social life or just like, their ribs in general." The mocking tone in my voice didn't fail to make Levi laugh "Well, that's just how things are around here. Let's just hope to God there isn't gonna be another ruckus or something." "That's true. Either that or as long as-" and with a knowing smile on both of our faces, the next words almost came naturally as we let it fall past our lips and into the wishing pile of previous reminders from days we've said it, hoped upon it even "It doesn't involve us." ... But how foolish we are to think wishes are anything but an idea of virtue, something to just stupidly hope upon, but never really does anything to save us at the end from our own failed expectations. Because it wasn't any longer than a second when we let the reminder slip past our mouths, did the doors to the library burst open, revealing no other than the man himself, Evan Williams. Also known as the king of Henderson High, the boy who wherever he goes, all types of hell just break loose "I can't fucking believe you!" he fumed, and just then had I noticed that it wasn't only him that he had uninvitingly dragged to this room, but a girl as well. "Evan! Please! You're making a scene, for crying out loud! Calm down!" The girl pleaded as she attempted to pull her hand out of his grasp, but almost as if it was a literal iron grip, she failed. "Do you think I care?!" He yelled back with the kind of rage that could've sent shockwaves all throughout the walls "Do you think I care that I'm making a fucking scene right now?!" "What the-" and as I attempted to stand up and intervene, did Levi abruptly pull me back as he stared me down with a warning look on his face. "Don't," he said as my eyes widened. "Don't? Are you not seeing what I'm seeing right now?" "You do realize this is Evan, right? You said so yourself, that we don't wanna get involved-" "But still!" "Hey!" Evan's sudden raging voice boomed and interrupted both Levi and I's debate, with panic immediately churning at the pits of my stomach, we turned around only to realize that it wasn't us that he was shouting at, but instead, some random guy scrambling his way out the library. Evan points to him in a rather hostile manner, a snarl glued to his face "You tell this to anyone I'll be sure to bust your face in the next time I see you!" he threatened and just like that, my intentions instantly shut down as fear took over. The guy frantically nodded his head before Evan turned back to the girl, his eyes ablaze as he took a menacing step forward "If only you have any idea how fed up I am with you right now..." "So what?!" the girl yelled back "You have no right to be mad at me after everything that you put me through!" "What I put you through?" he repeated, laughing dryly "After what you did to me, you have no right to act like the victim here because we both know whatever the hell I did would not amount to the level of embarrassment that you put me through!" "Embarrassment?!" she cried out "Of course! Of course, you'd only care about what my actions would do to your image because that's all you ever cared about! Trying to maintain this stupid superiority complex and not allowing yourself to love anyone!" "But I did! I loved and cared for you so much that it practically broke my heart every single day knowing that you'll never feel the same! That whenever I tell you that I love you, you can only ever look at me as if I'm just another girl that you could give less than two shits about!" With that, she lets out a sob, one that made her clutch her chest in what I can only describe from my point of view the heavy, torturous feeling that you were never good enough, and it hurts me to see her like that because I knew that feeling all too well. "How you can never say you love me back, how whenever I try to show the littlest bit of affection, you just push me away. I gave everything there is that I could give to you..." "But if you cared so much why'd you go around opening your legs like some sort of skank?" he hissed "You can try to feign innocence all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you screwed my best friend behind my goddamn back!" The atmosphere suddenly felt a million times thicker, with Levi and I caught in the aftershock of the newfound revelation as neither one of them spoke another word. Allowing the reality of the situation to finally sink in, and for Mandy to realize there's nothing she could say or do to make Evan feel otherwise of what he sees from her doing. Betrayal. But of course, Evan had to finish what they had started "You are so pathetic, you know that?" he added, the sound of his voice vaguely calm, but his words coming off excruciatingly sharp and unnerving "To go around opening your legs to anyone you can put that filthy cunt into all just because you didn't feel like you were too special enough-" Before he could even finish, a strong slap landed on the side of his face, one that echoed throughout the room and caused both me and Levi to flinch. It was silent at first, with the girl looking up at him with her jaw clenched and eyes still watery "Damn," Levi whispered, bewildered by everything that just happened "That was-" But Levi didn't have enough time to finish what he wanted to say and neither did I, because before any of us knew it, what I dreaded right from the start transpired right before us. With Evan lifting up his hand and connecting it towards Mandy's face that caused me to jolt back in my seat whilst her head whipped to the other side as she fell to the ground on her knees, mortified. Evan rubbed the side of his face before he stared back down at her, outraged "Don't you dare fucking touch me." he shot back before moving past her and out of the room. Leaving her crouched down onto the floor while her hand stayed on the side of her face as if processing what had just happened. But one second led to another, she was crying. It didn't take me long before I quickly went up to her "Hey," I called out softly, stopping as I was only a foot away as I tried to bend down to her level "Are you-" But as I tried landing a small, harmless touch to her shoulder to see if she was alright, did she immediately flinch away from me, my stomach churning with a sickening feeling due to her reaction "Hey, it's alright," I reassured, moving closer as she continued to release choked up sobs "I just wanna make sure you're okay." She remains eye contact with me before letting her head fall, giving me enough access to come to her side as I put my arms around her to envelop her into a comforting embrace. "He's not here anymore," I told her in a mere whisper "You're okay now, don't worry." She clutched the blouse of my uniform, eyes squeezed shut as if she were afraid to open them only to be greeted with the sick reality that she was faced with. "B-but why does it feel like I'm not?" she muffled into my chest as her cries only became louder "Why does it feel like I'm not okay? At all?" All I could do was just to hold her tighter and let her cry her fears and pains away...