Live For the Sake Of Living

"Alright, class is over. Go in and get changed," the gym teacher called out, and the class split up, half going into the girls' locker room, and the other half to the boys'. I filed in behind Rhiannon with the rest of the girls, and we found our lockers in the very back of the room.

"So, you and Jesse, huh?" she asked, shooting me a sly grin as we spun the combination locks, opening the doors to change back into our school clothes.

"Mmmhmm..." I nodded, grinning back at her as I began to change.

"He is so cute. You're lucky," Rhiannon sighed, and I giggled as I pulled my pants on. "Did you tell him about..."

"Yeah, and he's fine with it," I answered, nodding as I pulled my gym shirt over my head.

"He didn't even freak out?" Rhiannon asked, sounding surprised.

"Nah, he was completely cool," I said casually, shrugging as Rhiannon finished getting changed, slipping into her flip flops.

"Well, I'll be outside waiting for you," she said, grabbing her books for the next class that she had brought with her. I waved her off, telling her I would only be a minute more, as all I had to do was put on my sneakers and shut my locker.

The locker room was quiet, most of the people having left already, and all I could hear was the leaky faucet dripping. One of the doors opened and then shut, but I just figured another student had left. I finished tying my shoes and stood, coming face to face with a fist pummeling into my nose.

The blinding hot pain shot through my, springing tears to my eyes, and I felt my body get slammed into the row of lockers behind me, the metal pressing hard into my back. Crying out, I tried to bring a hand up to my nose as I felt the blood trickling down, but my arms were pinned to my sides and the tears still burned my vision. I could hear low, slick laughter echoing lightly around me, and I slowly blinked back the tears, opening my eyes to see a horde of blurry figures standing before me. When my vision cleared, I saw it was a group of the druggies Demetra had recruited after I had gotten help from Brian.

"What do you want?" I drawled out, my voice sounding thick and slurred due to the blood filling my nose and the intense pain biting at my nerves.

"Oh, we just wanted to check up on you - see how your little recovery was going," the one standing in front of me said with a devilish smirk. I knew her to be Beth, and she had been a nice girl before she got caught up in this mess. Just like I was. "And we were told to give you a little present from an old friend of yours," she sneered, and I watched her pull a small clear bag from her pocket, an all-too-familiar white powder filling it.

Just the sight of my old friend sent my heart into hyper drive, pumping blood hard and fast through my arteries, and a sense of fear soaked my skin. Sure, it was easy to say no to the drugs that had almost killed me, but now that it was staring me in the face, I couldn't handle myself.

I watched as Beth fixed a small line on the back of her hand along the flesh of her thumb with the help of one of her friends, and she inched closer to me, holding her hand up to my face. I tried to struggle, to get away, but the two girls holding me again the lockers were strong. I turned my head to the side, trying to get far away from where I was, but Beth growled and the two strong girls used their other hands to grip the sides of my head, wrenching it back to look at Beth.

"Oh come on, take a sniff. You know you want it," she cooed, her hand coming up right under my nose. I tried to hold my breath, and when she saw I wasn't doing as she had told me to, she glared, venom lacing her dark irises. I felt a hard blow to my stomach, causing me to gasp for air, and the white powder shot up my nose, bringing blood with it down into my lungs.

Coughing, I felt more tears plaguing my vision, not because of the punch I had received, but because of what Beth had just done to me.

"Enjoy your friend while it lasts; next time it won't be free," she snickered, and I felt my body be let go before they all turned and left, leaving quicker than they had come.

Slowly I regained my strength, my breathing coming easier, but my brain felt tingly, and soon I felt wired. I went to the sink and washed my face, watching the red-tinted water slide down the drains. Looking at my reflection as more blood seeped from my bruising nose, I let out a crooked smile, laughing darkly at my appearance. There was blood staining the front of my white shirt in spatters, and I didn't bother to change my shirt as I left the locker room, going down the hall. I got stares from everyone passing by, which wasn't saying much as there weren't many wanderers considering the bell for the next class had already rang - which was why Rhiannon wasn't out there waiting for me.

A teacher walked by with a shocked and worried expression, but I just started straight ahead until he stopped me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and I just looked at him with a blank stare. "Here, let's get you down to the nurse," he said, turning back the way he had come and ushering me down the hall to the nurse's office.

"Whoa, what happened to her, Mr. Burke?" the nurse asked.

"I don't know - I found her walking the hall like this," he answered, and the nurse sat me in one of the chairs before getting an ice pack, telling Mr. Burke he could leave. I didn't want him to leave. He had a pretty face. But I think he was getting a little creeped out by the way I was looking at him, and he quickly left.

"What happened? Did you get into a fight?" the nurse asked.

"No," I said, quickly thinking of a lie. "I got bashed in the face with the door to the locker room as I was leaving and someone was coming."

"That looks pretty nasty - I'm sure your nose is broken. Do you want some pain killers?"

"Nope, I'm fine," I said, but already the high was wearing off. "I just want to go home."

"Okay. I'll write you a pass to sign out with down at the front desk. You can go get your things and head home," the nurse said, nodding as she wrote down the pass and sent me on my way.

My nose was throbbing by the time I had walked halfway home, and the cocaine had worn off fully by then, leaving me feeling dull and heavy. There were tears spilling from my eyes, and I was just glad I had pulled a hoodie on over my stained shirt and that my nose had stopped bleeding.

A car slowed beside me as I was walking with my eyes glued to the sidewalk, and I looked up, my blurry vision focusing on the one person I never wanted to see again.

"I see you got your present," Aryn called out, grinning wickedly through the open window. "Just wanted to tell you, Char, that you made a mistake telling Daddy to come save you. Next time, I can assure you he won't come to the rescue.... I'd advise you to never walk alone," he said with a laugh and then drove off, and I felt his threat genuine.

"Charlotte, what the fuck happened to your nose?!" Brian asked as I walked into the house. It was purple and blue and swollen - probably looked a little crooked, too. Seeing the worried look on his face, I broke down into more tears, knowing he was going to be so disappointed in me.

"I tried to stop them, Dad, I really did," I sobbed, and he looked confused.

"Tried to stop what?" Brian asked, and I explained what had happened, filling him in on Aryn's threat as well, which made him furious.

"I thought I told that fucker to stay away from you," he growled. "I'm fucking sick and tired of these fucking kids pulling this shit. They've gone too far... Charlotte, from now on either Michelle or I will pick you up from school. I don't want you to go anywhere alone - even in school. Do you understand me?" he asked calmly and I nodded, wiping my tears away and feeling the stinging pain shoot through my face.

"Go lie down, sweetie. I'll go get you some ice," he whispered, and I nodded, heading into the living room and wondering just what the hell was going to happen to me.