May Angels Lead You In

Strangely, the next day, when I insisted on going to school - mostly to apologize to Jimmy - I noticed Mom whipping up breakfast for me.

I gave her a suspicious look; not knowing if I could believe what I was seeing for the first time in a long time.

"Sit down, dear. Daniel's out early for work so here," she pushed a plate of scrambled eggs towards my direction with a smile.

"No thanks," I tried to walk away.

"Sit," Mom said with a voice of authority, this time, she isn't smiling.

Hesistantly, I sat down and stared at the green marble table before me. I knew what was coming to me - I know it.

"What were you thinking, Marchelle Evans? Getting into fights? Partying with alcohol?"

I felt my defensive nature kick in so I stood up in anger causing the stool to fall with a loud crash and glared hard at her.

"You're talking to me about alcohol?" I snapped in fury. "You are the last person on Earth to talk to me on alcohol!"

I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the house, rushing towards the school bus that is waiting outside. When I saw Gabriel sitting by the front instead of with the jocks in the back, I couldn't help but to wonder why.

It was stranger when I noticed that he wasn't wearing his team's - The Ravens - jacket. Instead, he was wearing a plain grey tee with denims and a pair of normal black shoes

"Sit with me," Gabriel said, patting the empty seat next to him.

I glanced to the back to see Nicole glaring at me with such hatred before searching for Jimmy. He wasn't in the bus so I took a seat next to Gabriel and we both sat silently still throughout the bus ride.

"How are you feeling?" Gabriel pointed to the bandage around my head and my hand sub-conciously reached out to touch the back of my head as we got out of the bus. "I'm sorry for what happened. If I'd known -"

"Why are you talking to me in front of others?" I questioned him instead, trying to rush into the building hoping he'd leave me alone.

"If I'd known what the others were up to the night before, I would've stopped you from coming," Gabriel continued as though he had not heard a word I had said.

"You'd stop me from coming?" I stopped curtly and turned to face him. "So you never planned on asking me to go to one of your little parties?"

"That's not what I meant," Gabriel quickly said and slapped his own forehead, shutting his eyes.

"You know what? Your parties aren't that great so you should stop apologizing and go back to your team," I said when I spotted Jimmy by his locker.

"But I-"

I walked away from Gabriel and towards Jimmy, putting a smile on my face. As soon as I reached to him, he looked at me with a blank expression.

I couldn't help but to gasp when I saw the purple bruises on his face. It must've been from the fight.

"What do you want," Jimmy turned and shoved a whole lot of books into his locker.

"I tried calling you," I started and paused. "I even gave you a few voicemails."

"Then you're puny little brain isn't taking the hint," Jimmy answered with sarcasm.

"I deserved that," I stared at my feet. "I'm sorry."

I jumped when he slammed his locker hard enough for it to be heard down the hallway. I felt eyes on us and my cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"God, what infuriates me even more is the fact that you would rather go to a stupid fucking party than to my very first gig!" Jimmy turned to glare at me, his face red from anger. "Is being so fucking popular that fucking big of a deal?"

Tears started to form in my eyes. I would have said something but I dare not to. Because deep inside, I knew he was telling me the truth.

"You know, I thought you were different than the girls who goes here," Jimmy shook his head, his voice softer. "Bad judgement from my case."

I watched as he walked away from me - the only friend I had made since day one. I ruined this friendship. I bloody ruined it.

My feet had a life of its own when it started running out of the school as tears rolled freely down my rosy pink cheeks.

+

"Marchy," a voice whispered softly into my ears and I felt someone finger-combing my hair. The same person was holding onto my hand gently.

I grabbed the comforter and covered my face. I tried to open my eyes but it is too small and puffy. I had went home right after being told off by Jimmy and I cried for the whole day.

"Marche," the husky voice said again, trying to pull the comforter away from my face.

"Dylan?" my voice croaked and the hand on mine squeezed a little to give me assurance.

I sat up from bed and hugged my step-brother tightly causing him to jerk back a little. Then just like that, tears started to stream down my cheeks again.

If you are wondering who Dylan is, he's actually Daniel's son from the latter's previous marriage. Though Dylan shares the same eye color and a few of the facial features with his father, their attitudes are nothing alike. Dylan is a troubled youth - he always got into drugs and stuff back where we were from.

Though he is an ass to others, he is never that way when it comes to me. In fact, he treats me like his little sister - always there to protect me whenever I needed him.

A year ago, he brought me along to one of his gang-related business when it went wrong. He got caught by the cops and was thrown into juvie for about six and a half months before his release. I didn't know why he took this long to come back.

"Oh my god, Dylan, you came back," I cried into his chest as his arms wrapped around me for comfort. "You have no idea the hell I went through. I don't know what to do."

Dylan kept rocking me back and forth silently as I told him what happened and sobbed into his chest for almost an hour before I pulled away, wiping my tears. When I noticed that it was three in the morning, I looked up at him through puffy eyes.

"What are you doing back here at three in the morning?" I finally asked and he chuckled.

"I came back here as soon as Dad told me about your little incident," Dylan had the same thick British accent Daniel has.

He smiled, stood up and straighten his black skinnies, adjusting his studded belt right after.

"You were released a few months ago," I looked at the calendar on the side table next to my bed before turning to him. "Why didn't you come back?"

"Dad hasn't forgiven me for that little stunt I pulled a year ago," Dylan pursed his lips and shivered as though he had remembered something Daniel had said before he shook his head with a smile. "I mean, I can't blame him. I'd almost gotten you into trouble."

I kept quiet knowing that this was a sensitive issue for him but when he cleared his throat and smiled at me again, I told myself to digress from the topic.

"We should catch up or something," Dylan said as he walked towards me and gave me a kiss on my forehead. "I'll meet you outside tomorrow morning - don't tell Dad I was here though."

I watched as he climbed out of the window before resting my head on the soft pillow, forcing myself to sleep.