Thunder

Alex sat in his first period class, zoning in and out of the Physics lesson that his teacher was teaching to the students that day. His attention was fixated on the girl he had met on the bus that morning.

Why was she so quick to get off the bus after he’d asked her why she was wearing a black hoodie?

There was something that this girl was hiding, and Alex was determined to find out what it was.

“Alex!” he heard the nearby whispered shout of his best friend, Jack Barakat. Jack was lanky, with black hair that was sporting a big blonde chunk.

“What?” Alex snapped out of his trance. What was up with him? He never spent this much time thinking about a girl. He never cared to.

“What’s up with you today? You’re all whacked and out of it…” Jack made sure to whisper loud enough where his friend could hear him, but low enough so that the teacher didn’t catch them.

“I met this girl this morning… I’ll tell you about her later,” Alex shook his head. He would tell Jack, just not now where someone else could hear.

“Oh, I get it now,” the black haired boy waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Jack knew his best friend well enough to know exactly where he was getting at, or so he thought.

“No, Jack,” Alex rolled his eyes. This is how bad his reputation had gotten. Even his best friends thought that was all he did in his spare times – fuck ‘em and leave ‘em. “It’s not like that. It’s completely different, trust me. I’ll tell you later.”

“Ah, alright,” Jack sighed, defeated. “When ya gonna see her again?” he questioned his friend. He was getting more and more interested by the second.

“I’m hoping at lunch, if I can find her that is. If not, she rides my bus. I’ll just sit with her again,” Alex shrugged, watching the analog clock at the front of the room tick by slowly. He felt relieved when he realized they only had about two more minutes of this class. The eighteen year old just had to get through this class and the next and he’d be able to see Abigail again. Hopefully.

“Ah,” Jack nodded, really wanting to know who the girl was that Alex was talking about, but as stupid as he could be sometimes, Jack knew better than to press his friend for information. “Well, good luck, bro.”

Just as the bell rang, Jack grabbed his things and patted Alex on the shoulder before leaving to his next class.

——-

Abigail felt irritated as the bell that signified lunch rang the usual four times. She hated lunch time. She didn’t have anywhere else to hide out for the time being, so she was forced to sit in front of a bunch of kids who looked at her strange for never eating lunch. Little did they know she never ate anything.

At the beginning of the school year, Abigail had found a table that was far enough from the rest of the students that she could go unnoticed. She always made herself look busy – always reading or studying.

She trudged down the crowded halls towards the cafeteria, when she spotted a familiar face running towards her.

It was Alex.

What did he want now, she thought, as he came jogging to her.

“Hey, Abigail!” the boy said way too enthusiastically for Abigail’s liking. When Alex finally got next to her, he lunged to hug the girl, just as she backed away looking terrified.

She didn’t like being touched at all. When someone went to touch her, she was always scared it would end one of two ways. One being they would attack her the way her father did, and two being they would attack her the way her rapist did.

Just as she backed away, she ran into someone’s arm by accident, causing their hand to brush her thigh. Her severe paranoia got the best of as she froze in place, thinking the stranger’s hand was there much too longer than it should have been.

Alex stared at the girl as she seemed to go in some sort of a panic.

Abigail couldn’t breathe; she knew this feeling all too well. Her chest ached, her blood pressure was most likely through the roof, she felt dizzy and helpless, and her hands shook. She was having a panic attack, for her luck, in the middle of a crowded high school hallway.

She knew this was an overreaction to the accidental thigh touching, but she couldn’t help it. It brought back the memories. The memories she had tried to cleanse her mind of for so long. These flashbacks never had a face, since she didn’t know who had done it. But she could tell you exactly what the stranger had done. Any kind of touching brought Abigail right back to that room with the random man. Without warning, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

Alex stared at her for a minute longer before he realized what was happening to Abigail. He had had enough panic attacks to be able to recognize one.

While everyone rudely walked around the scene in the middle of the hallway, Alex bent down to pick the girl up in his arms, bridal style. He couldn’t help but notice how light she was, he felt as if he moved her even the slightest he would break her, but brushed it off for the time being.

Alex wasn’t sure where to bring the fragile teenager, who clung to his chest for dear life, shaking and sobbing into his red V-neck. The nurse was out for the day for some family emergency or something, and he didn’t exactly know any teachers that would know how to handle this.

“Shh…” Alex whispered, attempting to comfort her the best he could at the moment. “Abigail, you have to calm down. It’s going to be okay,” he tried again. In response, she just grasped the soft fabric of his shirt.

“Please don’t touch me,” she finally said, and once she said it, she kept repeating it several times. This caught Alex’s attention, but he knew right now he wouldn’t get an explanation, so he decided to save it for later.

Alex, not knowing where to go with her, fast walked all the way down the hallway to meet the two double doors that led to the courtyard of the school.

He spotted the familiar tree where he had found himself sitting under so many times over the course of his four years at Dulaney to think and get away from everyone.

The shaggy, brown haired teenager tried to make it to the tree as fast as he could.

Once he made it, he sat down, still caressing Abigail in his arms, rocking her back and forth slowly.

He honestly didn’t know what had happened to make her panic, but all he knew was that he hated seeing her cry. Yeah, he hated seeing any girl cry, but who liked that? He almost couldn’t stand seeing her cry, without knowing what it was that made her so upset.

Alex couldn’t tell if she didn’t want to be in his arms anymore, because she had released the death grip she had on his shirt, so he started to lay her down on the ground so she could calm down completely.

The eighteen year old was honestly shocked when the girl that had been so cold to him just hours before clung to his shirt even tighter than the last time whenever he went to set her down, and mumbled out a, “No.”

“What is it, Abigail?” Alex asked worriedly, slowly running his hand through her dark hair.

“I’m just…” Abigail stopped herself. Even if she did want to open up to Alex, she didn’t even know where to begin. “I’m just broken. Leave me be.”

“No, I want to fix you,” Alex surprised himself with his words. Did they really come out of his mouth? Had he ever said something so caring and sincere like that? “I’m not leaving. I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”

Alex’s thoughts wandered. Why was he caring so much for a girl he just met this morning? Was it because she seemed so fragile and weak in his arms? Or because he was geniunally caring for someone other than himself?

“Stay, please,” Abigail’s cracking voice broke his thoughts, as she finally looked up at him. “Please, Alex,” she repeated.

It was Abigail’s turn to surprise herself. She had never in her life ever asked someone to stay with her, to not leave her side. Now for the first time ever, she was begging Alex to stay with her.

Alex could’ve sworn his heart would’ve broken in two if he had to look at her ice blue eyes filled with tears for one more minute. “I’m staying, Abigail. I promise I’m staying,” he leaned down and pressed his lips lightly to her forehead, hoping it would somehow magically calm her down.

As Alex’s lips came in contact with Abigail’s skin, she closed her eyes. It was weird for her. Any other time someone had made any kind of contact with her, she’d flinch or start panicking. With Alex, she didn’t feel as if she had to panic. She almost felt safe.

Abigail knew that Alex had a reputation. Hell, everyone knew he did. But she couldn’t help but feel safe in his arms.

“Thank you…” she whispered into his chest, steadying her breath. She knew she’d have to go back inside eventually, after lunch ended. She dreaded the idea, but she knew she’d have to. “How much longer until lunch is over…” she finally asked Alex.

Alex shook the brown hair out of eyes, glancing down at the watch on his wrist. “About fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“Can we just… lie like this for now… please…” Abigail pleaded, hoping he wouldn’t think she was a freak for asking, or just say yes because he felt sorry for her.

“I’d love to,” the boy smiled at her. “But, can we lie in a position that’s comfortable for the both of us?” he laughed, seeing the girl in his arms smile for the first time. It was a weak smile, but it was still a smile.

She didn’t respond verbally, instead of carefully getting out Alex’s arms, and sitting herself next to him. The brunette seventeen-year-old wasn’t sure what position Alex meant, so she sat there awkwardly until he finally moved.

Alex laid himself on his back on the grassy grounds under the shady tree, stretching his arm out, signifying that he wanted Abigail to lay there.

Smiling a little bit, Abigail laid herself in Alex’s arm, resting her head on his chest, using his steady heartbeat to calm her down.

Alex wrapped his arm about the girl, putting a grip that was loose enough to not make her uncomfortable but tight enough to let her know he was there.

Truthfully, Alex wanted to ask what had happened to make her panic in the hallway, but he knew that if she wanted to talk about she would. And he was perfectly content with waiting for her to open up.

The pair had laid there in that position for the next fifteen or so minutes before they heard the bell signaling that lunch was over.

Sighing, the two got up and stared at each other for a few minutes. “So, uh, I’ll see you on the bus. That is, if you want me to sit with you this time,” Alex smirked at the beautiful girl in front of him.

“I’d love that,” she smiled back, the smile reaching her eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Alex and Abigail had walked into the school together, until they came to the hallway in which they realized they had to go their separate ways for the rest of the school day.

“So, I’ll see you around,” Alex smiled, waving goodbye to the girl as she did the same.

Alex started walking down the hallway that led to his third period class, as Abigail did the same.

Abigail was wondering why Alex had helped her calm down, which resulted in him skipping lunch himself, when she was so cold and distant to him that morning.

Alex, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what the Hell just happened. He would happily admit that he did care about Abigail, regardless that he just met her. He just wanted to know how someone he just met had the ability to make his stomach do backflips, his heart skip a beat, his mind go 90 to nothing, and to make him care about someone other than himself.

All he knew for a fact, though, was that he couldn’t wait for the bus ride home.