**REFER TO CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER DAMON FROM THE CAFE RIGHT NOW OR YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND SHIT. THAT IS ALL.**

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My aching legs carried me through the front door and onto the Fuentes couch and I practically threw myself onto it. I was sore from head to toe but it was all worth it. I messaged my legs through my thick black yoga pants after taking off my jacket, leaving me in a grey, long sleeved athletic top. Regardless of the feeling of the bruises developing under my skin, I smiled thinking of the proposition Damon made about a month ago when I finally decided to take him up on that offer for a random chat and cup of cocoa:

I entered the cozy café with slight reluctance. I was unsure whether he’d even remember me from the night I skipped school after I blew off that corrupt principal or if he’d still want to talk to me anyway. I took the same seat I claimed the first time I discovered the café and looked around for the blue eyed boy in hopes of talking to him. I needed to speak with someone that didn’t go to my school and was outside my handful of friends, someone with no possible chance of getting hurt and completely unassociated with my dilemma. It guaranteed me an unbiased opinion and, something I desperately needed before I went back to school in a month and their safety. I spotted him tending to a couple across the way. He glanced in my direction and immediately noticed me, recognition shining in his eyes. He walked over to me and took the seat across from me.

“Hey old friend,” he greeted cheerily.

“Hey,” I smiled.

From there – just like last time – time flew and conversation flowed effortlessly.

“So why’d you look so scared when I noticed you came by today?” he asked carefully.

I sipped my cocoa, “I’ve got a lot of shit going on.”

“Want to cut the small talk and vent?” he asked knowingly.

I nodded my head furiously.

He smirked, symbolizing the green light to continue.

From there I broke down the whole Tinsley situation, only leaving out the bit about my mental… “illness”. I explained how I had no idea what to do when it came to snitching on her or taking the beatings till graduation. The whole time Damon listened whole-heartedly and occasionally nodded to show he was still listening and understood what I was saying. After I explained the details of my situation, I took a long gulp from my warm drink and slumped in my chair. Saying everything out loud worsened my already distressed mood and I felt like shit for not telling Vic. But I have to keep it from him till I know what to do and I can’t figure out what to do by myself!

“You know why I haven’t attended college yet?” he asked suddenly.

“Why?” I questioned, wondering what this had to do with the shit load of stuff I just told him. I remember the first day I visited and I asked whether he planned on attending college. I recalled the way he looked like he had bigger things in mind but I never bothered to ask just what it was he planned on doing.

He looked up at me smugly, “I want to become a professional fighter.”

“Oh?” I replied, still unsure what this had to do with me.

Damon chuckled, “You have no idea why I’m saying this do you?

I sipped my cocoa cutely, “Nope, not in the slightest.”

“I can train you,” he stated flatly.

I blinked, “What?”

“I can train you to defend yourself, maybe even get in a few hits.”

I shook my head, "If I fight her my behavioral record is tarnished as well as my chances as getting into an ideal college."

"Not if you fight her outside of school. If you're descreet and don't get caught or arrested you're home free and the school can't document anything."

“Hold on a second—

“Think about it!” he grinned, “If I teach you the basics of kicking ass, you won’t have to tell or get anyone involved and you’ll get the privilege of wiping that smug look off the bitch’s face!” he reasoned.

I stared at him, “…And you’re sure you can help me before I have to return to school in a month?”

“I can guarantee that if you give your all during practice you will be more than capable of fending off a couple of amateurs,” Damon declared with conviction. I thought for a moment of everything that could possibly go wrong by agreeing to this arrangement but really couldn’t think of anything.

Finishing off the chocolaty beverage and slamming the cup down, I wiped off my mouth, “When do we start?”
******

It’s been a grueling process since. Vic has questioned the various bruises and it’s become harder to lie to him. Thankfully, today marked a month of training and Damon said if he continued to work with me at this pace I’d be able to kill her. Though his smile was light when he said it, he later clarified that he was very serious. I was a fast and dedicated learner that skipped the novice level things and worked on mastering the things I needed to fend off jocks twice my size. I did make him promise to continue to teach me when I finished dealing with this mess since I was now genuinely interested in deepening my physical ability and knowledge on the art that is fighting. Damon helped me refine my reflexes, instilled fighting technique, improve my flexibility and overall physical strength. This month has been far from easy and I’ve worked my ass off to get where I was with a foreign medication dulling my schizophrenic symptoms and messing with my emotional stability.

“Nix?” Jaime called from next to me. I shifted my gaze from the TV and looked at him expectantly.

He gulped, “Do you want a snack or something?”

The boys have been walking on eggshells since I started taking the pills. It’ll take a good two months for my body to adjust—if it adjusts. Everyone’s different so if these don’t work then they’ll start me on something else and my mental stability will be back to square one. Just yesterday Vic had to drag me to his room for trying to claw off Mike’s face for comparing my moodiness to a woman in her third trimester.

“At least you’re not fat!” he quickly tried to mend once he saw the fire light in my eyes.

I roll my eyes every time I think about his idiotic statement.

Tony, however, has put me in my place on several occasions:

“I said no,” I muttered angrily, eyes trained on the TV.

He huffed and glared at me, “I was sitting there first.”

“Move your feet, lose your seat,” I stated flatly, my eyes challenging him.

With a slight growl of annoyance I was tossed to the loveseat adjacent to the chair I was just in.

I went to bark a few choice words at him when he reclaimed his seat and immediately began talking before I could.

“I don’t give a fuck what that doctor gave you, you’re not going to be a bitch to me and get away with it.”

I pursed my lips and threw myself back into the seat angrily.

And poor, poor Vic; he literally does everything he can for me:

“Vic,” I called with annoyance.

He stumbled into the room in nothing but sweatpants with food on his face and his mouth full, “Yes babe?”

I squinted at him. Squinting seems to have become habit now-a-days.

“…Are you eating?”

He swallowed the food in his mouth, “…Yes?”

I felt my eyes sting.

“A-…And you didn’t m-make me any..?”

Now that I think about it, it was pretty ridiculous reason to cry but like I said, I’m moody as fuck and make literally no sense lately.

Vic’s eyes bulged, “You said you didn’t want any!”

My mouth opened to let out a loud wail and Vic flew over to his bed where I was sitting.

“Please don’t cry! Uh—um—I’ll make you something, anything—what do you want to eat?”

“I want a b-burger,” I hiccuped.

“Anything else?”

“And…” I sniffled, “F-fries? And a s-shake…and a s-slice of t-turtle cake.”

Vic nodded his head vigorously, tossing on a shirt and fumbling for a grip on his car keys. I bullshit you not, Victor came back in 20 minutes tops with everything I asked for, the way I liked it.

“I don’t want anything to eat,” I then faced the kitchen where I knew Mike was, still addressing Jaime, “Mike already thinks I’m fat!”

I heard Mike groan as I slammed myself back into the couch, changing the channel with an angry pout. All I want is to cuddle with Vic and eat a tub of rocky road ice-cream and feel happy. Instead I’m the biggest bitch in the world that felt bottled up unless I was training with Damon. However, I do think the meds aren’t completely responsible for my general disposition. Since I got a month off of school—because face it, I’d have killed half the student body if I went back to school immediately after starting the medication—I’ve had a lot of time to think. In between bitching and crying and being “a very beautiful Grinch” as Vic had put it, I’ve realized I have a lot to deal with. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place with the whole Tinsley thing, Vic knows nothing about the soft spot I have for Tony or the fact that we’ve kissed and I’m literally erasing Phe. I felt my eyes burn at the thought of going to school tomorrow with such an intense amount of stress beating on me. It was fairly safe to say I was in emotional and mental turmoil. Did I forget to mention I’m a diagnosed schizophrenic on top of all that? That’d I’d have to take medication for the rest of my life to keep the voice in my head from having a negative impact on me or even multiplying? I sat up and put my head in my hands, fighting tears.

“Yo,” Tony called with a perspiring soda in his hand.

“What?” I snarled, irritated that no one would back off and let me brood in peace.

Oh the irony.

My sarcasm was met with silence. A silence I’d never get used to.

I could practically feel Tony’s eyes harden and bore into me, “I wanted to know if you needed a ride to school tomorrow.”

“I think my boyfriend’s taking me..?” I pondered more to myself.

I heard Tony snort, making me immediately look up at him. “What’s so funny?”

Sorry that I don’t have my plans for tomorrow ready! I don’t even know what the hell I’m going to wear let alone how I’m getting there.

More internal silence.

“It’s just funny that the one girl I actually chased ends up with another guy,” he said in a not-so-amused tone, plopping down on the seat next to me and kicking up his feet.

I could feel my heart beating in my ears, “Care to elaborate?”

He sipped his soda, eyes on the TV, “Oh did you ask me to torture myself? Okay.”

I rolled my eyes at his dramatic introduction, a small smile on my lips.

“Every relationship I’ve ever been in was born through the efforts of the girl, not me—I’ve never had to try and I didn’t take interest in them till they expressed their feelings. Then from there we’d talk and see where it went.”

I continued to look at him with big, interested eyes.

“The one time I actually chase a girl that I really like, she ends up with another guy,” he scoffed. “It sucks.”

‘It sucks’ is Tony’s way of saying that it hurts. The realization softened my face and I cuddled up against him. He stiffened but eventually relaxed.

“I’m sorry Tone…” I grumbled, trying to comfort him by nuzzling him a bit.

“It’s not your fault you don’t feel the same.”

I bit the shit out of lip upon hearing him say that. That was the thing, I once did feel the same. There’s always that one pesky crush you can’t rid yourself of and Tony was mine. Something about his steely brown eyes and his stiff yet complex personality will forever fascinate me. But I didn’t want to pursue a relationship when I’m in love with Vic.

Wait.

WUT.

LOVE?

Definitely a revelation I’d have to get used to, I thought with a small blush.

I heard the front door open and Vic appear, his hair disheveled from the wind and his nose red
from the cold. He looked around till they landed on Tony and I, whom were staring back. I felt Tony’s grip on me tighten at the same time that I saw something in Vic’s eyes shine.

“Hey Tone,” Vic said trying to keep the wariness out of his tone. Vic walked over to me, leaned down and gently kissed me on the lips.

“Hey Nix,” he smiled.

“Hey Vic,” I giggled.

Vic went to kick off his shoes and sat down at the chair adjacent to Tony and I.

“So are you taking me to school tomorrow?”

“Wait you’re going?” Vic inquired with a quirked eyebrow.

I nodded slowly. “I said I was, right?’

“No,” Vic replied lightly, “You said you were thinking about it and threw a shoe at me for asking for the third time that day.”

I snorted, “Well I’m going, are you going to take me?”

“Now why the hell would I take my girlfriend to school?” he asked with sarcasm bleeding through his voice. “What time you want me to pick you up?”

“Hm… I’m going to stay here for the night.”

Vic’s jaw dropped and Tony chocked on the bit of soda he was drinking.

“…What?”

“S-Spend the night?” Vic asked with reddening cheeks.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early for that?” Tony asked harshly, furrowing his brow and glaring down at me.

“What? It’s not like Vic and I haven’t slept together before!” I scoffed defensively. Why were they acting like I was saying something completely ludicrous?

“What?!” Tony and Jaime shouted.

Jaime was suddenly standing in the door frame that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Now I was really confused.

“We haven’t had sex Nix! What are you talking about?” Vic asked hurriedly, glancing betweenTony and Jaime like they were two riled up bulls and he was painted red.

“Don’t bullshit Fuentes!” Tony spat, about to jump until I tugged on his shirt to keep him next to me instead of trying to knock out my boyfriend.

I felt myself about curse everyone out till I laughed.

I laughed.

When everyone stared at me confusedly, excluding Tony—he maintained his angry expression—I shook my head.

“Spending the night doesn’t always mean I’m going to have sex,” I explained. I saw Jaime go to open his mouth but I cut him off, “I am still a virgin, Jesus Christ.”

I hated how they cared so much for my sex life. MY VAGINA, MY DECISIONS.

“Why don’t you want to go home?” Vic asked.

I haven’t gotten ready with any sort of time constraint in a while and I knew I’d make both myself and whoever were my ride fairly late. But being the lazy, doped up person I was, I didn’t feel like explaining it.

So, I shrugged, “It’d make my first day back easier if I just get ready at the same place as my ride.”Tony smacked his teeth but didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to because I almost instantly knew exactly why he did it and it made me blush a deadly crimson.
Vic continued to eye Tony with a slight glare but nothing too obvious.

“Do you have clothes?” Mike shouted from the kitchen. I had to keep from laughing. Mike knew if
I didn’t then he’d be sent to retrieve me some.

“Yeah!” I shouted back.

“Then I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“Great!” I clapped my hands with a sigh, still leaning against Tony and my legs at my side. “I think I’m all set for Monday.”

Everyone nodded and I threw in a convincing smile. The image of those football players coming for me was constantly on my mind. Not only was I going to be testing out my newly attained skills in a real life altercation, I had to keep all four boys out of it on my own. No witty advice from Phe, No one to come and clean up this mess without getting hurt; me and me alone could end this. To say the pressure was overwhelming would be an understatement.

Notes

BEFORE YOU PULL OUT THE PITCH-FORKS AND POUR THE GASOLINE PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT LIFE IS A BITCH AND I'M UNBELIEVABLY SORRY AND I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THAT I AM TOTAL SCUM FOR TAKING THREE MONTHS TO UPDATE. I'm so sooooooooorry ;-; I missed you guys and this story though. I just had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life that I'd rather not get into in the notes but if you genuinely wish to know, message me ;-; I made this update nice and long and I'll try to get the next one up before more bullshit comes up.SORRY FOR ANY ERRORS, I'M UPDATING IN SECRET. Rate, Comment, Vote, Subscribe and all that jazz~ (Wow it felt good to type that again... xD)

Cookie for you if you read all my bitchin' ^^^

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Topic of the Day: What you think about the fighting lessons? :o Comment!