Weightless

Alex looked at Jack and frowned.

“Jack, something isn’t right about this.”

The skunk haired boy nodded. He had felt the tension between Chloe and her companion as well and it scared him.

“Should we call Zack?”

Alex had his phone out before Jack had even finished asking. As they waited for Zack to answer, Jack saw Rian and waved him over. Alex kept his eye on the couple that was quickly disappearing from sight. Rian gave his friends an odd look. Their looks of concern were strange. Jack quickly filled him in as Zack answered.

“What’s up, bro?”

“Zack, something is up with Chloe.”

The line went dead silent. Zack suddenly started taking very deep breaths.

“What happened?” He breathed.

Zack’s mind had jumped to the worst. Visions of Chloe passed out in the bathroom or bleeding from her wrists or curled in a ball in the middle of a hallway somewhere filled his brain. He found himself rushing out of the school.

“Someone took her out of school.”

“What did they look like?”

Zack’s voice scared Alex. It scared him more than anything involving Chloe had ever scared him before. He sounded completely shattered and terrified.

“He was tall. Brown hair. Gauges.”

“ALEX, GET OUT OF THE SCHOOL AND FOLLOW THEM RIGHT NOW!” Zack’s sudden scream could be heard by both of the other boys and Alex jumped at the intensity of it.

For a moment all three boys were shocked into stillness. None of them had ever heard Zack yell before. It didn’t help that he sounded angry and scared and was breathing like he had broken into a full on sprint.

“RIGHT NOW. ALEX, FUCKING GO GET HER!” Zack cried when he didn’t hear any movement on the other line.

Alex sprang into action, sprinting towards where he had last seen Chloe and the boy with her. Jack and Rian raced after him. None of them quite knew what to think of the sudden change in their friend. Zack had always been the calm one. To hear his yell like this really scared them. Chloe had vanished from their view, but Alex soon caught a flash of her hair blowing in the wind. He heard shouting and sped up.

“Who the fuck was that, Chloe?! Jesus, I come to win you back and I find you with two guys already? You’re such a fucking whore!”

“Marcus, please, it’s not like that. They’re Zack’s friends.”

The boy next to Chloe hissed at the sound of her cousin’s name. She cried out as he pulled yanked on her arm causing her to fall right into him. Chloe didn’t fight back. She had learned long ago that if she just took the punishment she deserved without complaint, Marcus wouldn’t hurt her more than necessary. They had arrived at his car by now and she allowed him to push her up against the side of it. He pulled her hips to his roughly.

“What did I tell you, Chloe? You’re mine.”

His lips attacked hers. His teeth sank into her bottom lip and Chloe yelped in pain. Marcus took the opportunity to slip his tongue in her mouth. His fingers dug into the translucent skin underneath her ribcage, bruises blossoming beneath them. Tears sprang up in Chloe’s eyes as Marcus finally released her.

“Don’t you ever think I’ll let you leave me again, Chloe. You need me. Do you want to end up fat and alone and pregnant with some low life’s kid? Because we both know that you’re a miserable excuse without me. I fucking love you, Chlo. So damn much. I don't want that to happen to you.”

“I love you too, Marcus.” Chloe whispered.

“You better. Get in the car.”

Chloe did as instructed. As Marcus stalked to the driver’s side, she saw Alex, Jack and Rian running towards the car. All of them had looks of panic etched on their faces. Alex had a phone plastered to his ear and Chloe paled. No doubt it was Zack. She tried to give them a reassuring smile but she knew it wouldn’t look convincing at all. Marcus seemed to notice them as well and growled. Chloe began to hyperventilate.

“Marcus…” He turned to glare at the girl next to him. Chloe flinched.

She watched from inside of the car, horrified, as Marcus approached the boys. They slowed down at the sight of him, Alex’s face transforming into a harsh glare. Chloe’s hands began to shake as she stared at him. Their voices carried into the car.

“Where are you taking her?”

Alex was upset. Chloe could hear the hurt in his voice and she wanted nothing more than to comfort him and tell him everything was going to be alright. Instead, she just sat in the car, waiting for the confrontation to end so that she could leave and be punished the way she deserved.

“None of your business.”

“Actually it is his business.”

Chloe almost passed out cold at the sound of her cousin’s voice. How the hell had he gotten here so quickly? His face was red, his fists clenched at his sides. Chloe had to act fast.

“Fuck off, Merrick.”

Marcus’ voice was deathly low. Chloe wrenched her car door open and rushed to his side. She clung to his arm, completely ignoring the other boys.

“Marcus, please, leave him out of this.”

“Get back in the car, Chloe.” He seethed, pushing her away roughly.

“She isn’t going anywhere with you!” Zack yelled, ripping Chloe away.

“I said FUCK OFF, MERRICK!”

“Stop it!” Chloe pleaded. “Please, stop it!”

By this point in time, Zack was face to face with Marcus. They looked like they were ready to slit each other’s throats. Chloe was desperately trying to wedge herself between them. Suddenly, a warm pair of arms wrapped around her waist and she was gently pulled away.

“Shhhh, Chloe, it’s okay. We’re going to take care of this.”

Chloe hadn’t even realized that she was sobbing hysterically. She tried to pull away from Alex, not wanting to anger Marcus more than she already had, but he held her tightly. Jack came to stand next to Alex. He wrapped his arms around Chloe as well, both of them keeping her out of harm’s way.

“You have exactly three seconds to get the fuck out of here before I call the police, Hanner.” Zack shoved the older boy roughly. “I don’t give a fuck what Chloe says to try and defend your sorry ass, the restraining order is still in effect.”

“You’re an idiot. Her parents cancelled that out months ago.”

Rian moved to hold Zack back before he could lunge at the boy in front of him. Zack was infuriated. He knew his aunt and uncle had never believed any of the accusations against Marcus, but the fact that they would cancel a restraining order that had been keeping their daughter safe was so far beyond fucked up. Marcus smirked, reaching for Chloe. Alex and Jack quickly pulled her away.

“Chloe.” He said firmly, murder in his eyes. “Come here.”

Chloe tried again to break out of Alex’s grasp but she was much weaker and he held fast. Zack shrugged Rian off and stood in front of Chloe, blocking Marcus’ view of her.

“I swear to God if you don’t leave right now I will murder you with my bare hands.”

The two boys glared at each other for a moment. Marcus’ gaze flitted to Rian standing next to Zack as well as Jack and Alex holding on to a desperately struggling Chloe. He noticed that other students were beginning to file out of the school and a few had caught sight of the strange scene taking place in the middle of the parking lot. Marcus cursed under his breath. He took a step back from Zack and shifted to catch Chloe’s eyes. Tears streamed down her face.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

Alex glared at Marcus and spoke before anyone else could.

“No, you won’t. You won’t be seeing Chloe again.”

Without another word, Alex lifted Chloe off the ground and began walking towards his car. Jack quickly followed. He heard Zack repeat his previous statement and then a loud crack. The strangled cry wasn’t from Zack and Alex hoped that Marcus’ nose had been broken when he was hit. Chloe was still sobbing when Zack and Rian caught up to them.

“Chloe, I’m so sorry.” Zack scooped his cousin up in a hug.

“Why did you do that?” She whispered, clinging to his shirt. “Why didn’t you let him take me?”

It was as if Alex, Jack and Rian ceased to exist when the cousins came in contact with each other. Chloe had abandoned Alex completely, her head now buried in Zack’s chest. Zack’s eyes were focused on the small girl intently, his friends presence completely ignored.

“You know why, Bo. You can’t go back to him. You can’t see him ever again.”

“I deserve it, Zack. I left him. I hurt him. He said he loves me. He doesn’t mean it.”

“Bullshit!” Zack suddenly cried, his eyes now connected with Chloe’s. “That is complete bullshit! If he loved you he wouldn’t treat you like this. If he loved you he wouldn’t hurt you! You don’t deserve this.”

Chloe was really crying now. Her entire body shook from the tears. She looked like she would collapse if it wasn’t for Zack holding her up. She couldn’t even form a coherent statement, her words coming out in a jumbled mess.

“I’m not good enough! I just need to be better! He’s just trying to make me better!”

Zack’s anger still coursed through his veins, but he knew this was an argument he could never win. Two years of having it drilled into her head that she was a piece of trash had ruined Chloe. The slaps and punches had only reinforced it even more. So instead, he gathered his cousin into his arms, holding her as she cried.