After the class, Raine weakly pushed through the crowds, all the while muttering 'excuse me's'. Her next period was economics. But she was still searching for her locker and she needed to take out her books.
"121,122, 123, 124, 125-" She recited the numbers on the lockers as she passed them until she reached hers. "126."
She put in her password and it clicked open. The smell of new books immediately assaulted her nostrils, she welcomed it with a deep sniff. She loved the smell of new paper though it irritated her sometimes. She quickly pulled out the books and walked to her class.
A trio of boys were lounging on the staircase she had to walk by. She hesitated, they looked distracted so she thought to take a chance to walk by unnoticed.
"Hey, hippo." A voice called out. Raine stiffened but didn't stop walking. "Hippo!" The voice mocked again. Her breathing picked up as she quickened her steps, she was terrified. She glanced back and realized they were following her.
Her heart hammered. What did they want from her? She pushed herself to walk faster but her weight didn't allow it. She fell flat on her face and the boys burst into laughter at the sight. The familiar sting of tears pricked at her eyes.
"It's rude to ignore people, you know." A pair of boots entered her vision but she didn't dare look up at him.
Derek chuckled. He loved to have people fear him, the feeling that came with it intoxicated him. The girl was the perfect victim, and she came at the right time too. She was the perfect distraction he needed to get over Valerie. Valerie used to be his toy too until she transferred to another school. He had fun with her but he was going to have more fun with this one.
"P-please, leav-ve m-me al-lone…" Raine cowered away.
"Oh no, hippo. I just wanted to introduce myself and some friends to you." He took a step forward and she flinched.
He bent and grabbed her hair tightly and she cried out in pain. "I'm your worst nightmare." He whispered in her ear and for a moment, she forgot to breathe then greedily sucked in a deep breath.
"Pl-please let me g-go…" She pleaded between rapid pants, her head began to feel light. She was going to faint if she didn't get out of there.
"What a pitiful stutter. But you can't go, you haven't met my friends." He pulled her head up and pointed to the other boys then stopped and frowned at her face. "Who gave you this bruise?" He demanded.
She blanked for a minute the remembered that a door had hit her nose. "N-nobody…"
His eyes darkened and she gasped. He looked devilish and Raine began to question if he was human. He pulled her up and slammed her back into the wall, his face was a few inches away from hers. Raine panicked, she was going to die. They were going to kill her and no one would find her body and Catherine wouldn't care if she didn't return home.
Derek's grip loosened when the girl's eyes rolled back just before her body slacked. Raine fainted.
Raine slowly came into consciousness. A bright light poured into her eyes when she tried to open them and she hissed.
"You're awake." A voice blurted.
She tried to open her eyes again and flinched at the bright light. "Oh. Sorry about that." The voice apologized. She opened her eyes and looked around her. She was in a room that smelt strongly of drugs and there were two people staring at her.
There was a black girl that sat on a chair beside the bed, she looked about her age.
The other woman sat behind a desk, she looked much older and wore white scrubs just like the ones the maids wore back at the mansion. Raine examined the woman's face, she didn't look familiar so she couldn't be a maid at the mansion. But then she didn't know most of the maids.
"Hey, are you alright?" The girl asked softly.
"Um… Y-yeah. I g-guess." Raine replied quietly.
"That's good. What happened? I found you on the floor by the staircase." The girl inquired. Raine paled, there was no way such a petite girl could have carried her. No one could carry 300 pounds without help. Except the guy in the hallway. She couldn't tell her what happened. She locked her gaze on her fingers and replied that she had hit her head.
The girl look skeptical at first then glanced at the bruise on her nose. "Okay."
"Th-this is th-the sickbay?" Raine probed.
"Yeah. I'm Desire and that's the nurse. Cohen." She leaned closer to Raine. "She a lazy bitch."
The woman came around and handed her an ice pack. Raine stared at it in confusion while nurse gave her a droll stare. "For your nose."
"N-no, th-thank y-you." Raine mumbled.
"Freaking take it! I got better things to do." Miss Cohen snapped.
"Don't talk to her like that." Desire stood up angrily and faced the nurse.
"Look, I don't have time for this. Just take your friend and get out of my office." The nurse warned. Raine had a feeling they weren't arguing because of her.
"Good joke. This isn't an office. This is a whorehouse only you're the only prostitute available." Desire sneered. The look on Miss Cohen's face was absolutely comical. it almost made Raine smile but the tension in the air stopped her.
Desire neared the nurse until Raine was sure they were breathing the same air. "Now let me warn you, don't ever think you can take advantage of my brother." Her voice dropped dangerously low. "If I have to warn you again, it won't end so peacefully."
She moved away and grabbed Raine's hand and she struggled to grab her backpack with the other. "Let's go." She said and with a surprising amount of energy pulled her up and dragged her out of the office. All the while the nurse gaped at the spot where she had just been.
When they were far away from the sickbay, Desire let go of Raine's hands and it relieved Raine because she had held on a little too tightly. Desire took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. "I'm sorry that you had to see me like that."
"It-it's okay." She assured.
"She tried to mess with my brother, and no one messes with my brother except me." She declared. Raine smiled, her brother was lucky to have a sister like her. Someone who cared for him this much. She had no one to care for her like that, didn't know what it felt like.
"Let's get to class. What do you have now?"
"Economics."
"Darn, I have English. But I'll see you after school. Bye!" Desire smiled and walked to her class. Raine was shocked. Why was she so nice to her? She seemed like she would be a good friend. Speaking of friends, Catherine never said she couldn't have friends and it didn't look like a bad idea to be Desire's friend.
Raine shook her head and scoffed. Who said Desire wanted to be her friend? She was thinking of the impossible, she could not have friends whether she wanted to or not. With that thought she turned and headed to her class.
After that, she spent the rest of the day sneaking around and into classes to avoid the boys. At the end of her last class, she waited in a closet filled with supplies until she could no longer hear kids chattering.
When she eventually came out, only a handful of students were around. She walked out of the school and surprisingly saw Desire standing in a corner glancing around every once in a while. She's probably waiting for her brother, Raine thought.
Just as she turned to leave, Desire spotted Raine and ran towards her with a sweet smile. "Hey! I was waiting for you."
Raine raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"I said we'd meet after school."
"Oh, y-yes. B-but I, I hav-ve.."
"No excuses, we're going to hang out." She said excitedly.
"B-but I n-need t-to g-get home."
"Okay, we can take the bus together."
"N-no. I d-don't-"
A horn sounded and Raine jumped. A car strolled forward slowly and came to a stop in front of them. The window rolled down and Raine almost gasped in relief. She never thought she'd be so happy see Ray. "I've been waiting for you. Are you ready?" He asked while giving Desire a flirtatious look to which she responded with a disgusted face.
"I'm s-sorry, I hav-ve to g-get home." Raine said and got into the car while Desire pouted.
"Then give me your number." Desire asked and Raine blanked. Up until then she had never needed a phone, but now she felt stupid for not having one.
"I, I d-don't hav-ve one."
"Really? Okay, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Raine smiled and waved at her as Ray drove away from the school.