You're the Only Light

As time when on through the day, I began regretting my choice to come to school. I don't think there isn't one student that didn't either give me a dirty look or give me a remark. Well scratch that. Brian has been sticking up for me, since I got here. I still don't know what to think about that. I mean is it possible to go from hating someone to protecting them? Beats me.

The bell rang, signaling for lunch and I really didn't want to go into a room full of teenagers that can say shit to me, openly. I walked out of my classroom to find Brian leaning up against the wall.

"Stalking me?" I asked, while slowly making my way down the hallway.

Brian smirked, "Got me."

We both heading down the hallway towards the Cafeteria. My heart was pounding as I walked through the doors. I was getting scared and on instinct, I turned around to see if Brian was still there.

He gave me a smile to show he's not going anywhere. I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. I walked towards the tables, not really hungry for anything. I could feel people staring at me, but I did my best to ignore them.

Knowing Matt wasn't going to let me sit in my usual spot, I just picked a table in the back. Brian sat down across from me, "Aren't you hungry?"

I shook my head, "It's pretty hard to have an appetite with all of this shit happening to me."

Brian leaned forward and placed his elbow on the table, "I know you think I hate you and I thought I did, but after seeing how everyone is treating is really fucked up. Even if I did hate you, I would never wish this to happen to you." He was being honest and it was starting to make me realize he wasn't a bad guy.

Across the room, I noticed Zack making his way over to us. A sigh escaped my lips, "Well this is going to be fun." Brian turned his head just as Zack made it to our table.

He wouldn't even look at me. Asshole.

"Are you going sit by us?"

Brian scoffed, "And leave Dakota by herself, so people can tortue her some more?"

Zack peeked a glance at me, "She deserves it." I looked down at the table, trying not to let it get to me.

This made Brian angry, "If you don't fucking leave us alone, you're going to get what you deserve and that's my fist in your face." Another shocking thing from Brian. Now he's even standing up to his own friends.

"Matt isn't going to be happy about this." Zack warned Brian.

The 'warning' made Brian snort, "You think I care? Matt can go fuck himself! He's the one who turned his back on his sister when she needed him most!"

Zack shook his head, "Whatever, Brian. You're just a blind fool. Dakota is using you. She's acting all upset just so you'll feel bad for him and then she'll sleep with you. When that happens, don't come crying to us. We warned you!" He walked away.

So that's what they think about me. They think I'm faking all of this just to get in guys' pants. It made me angry and sad that they would automatically assume things like that without giving me a chance to explain.

I wiped my eye lid with my finger to make sure no tears escaped. I hate crying at school, especially in front of people. I've been like that since I was younger.

"What do you say we ditch the rest of the day?" Brian asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I've only ditched school a few times and that was with Matt.

Just as I was about to answer, a girl walked up to our table. She had blonde hair and she looked like a junior. She smiled at Brian, "You're Brian, right?" He squinted his eyes and nodded, not exactly sure to what thia girl wanted.

She fiddled with her hair, "I'm Claire. We have the same Math class, but you always skip, so you probably didn't even recognize me- Anyways! My friends and I were wondering if you wanted to sit with us?" Claire asked and messed with her shirt, so that her cleavage was showing.

Brian didn't even pay attention to it, he kept glancing at me, so I knew he was uncomfortable. He cocked his head to side, "No thanks. I'm perfectly fine where I'm at."

Claire sent a glare in my direction and moved a little closer to Brian. She leaned down so she could whisper to him, but she was the worst whisper ever. I could hear everything she was saying.

"I know you don't want to sit with her, so you can just come with me. I'll break it gently to her." She winked at him.

Brian took a deep breath and muttered, "Unfucking believable." Under his breath. He looked back up at Claire, "Um, Casey was it?"

She frowned, "Claire!"

He nodded, "Right, Clarinet! How do I break this gently? I don't want to fucking sit by you, so take your a-cup titts and go bother someone who cares." I had to bite my tongue from laughing.

Claire turned to me, "Looks like you got him brain washed, slut. It's cool. He'll find out who you really are and you'll be all alone, just like you deserve." She walked away from our table.

I was getting really sick of everyone. They all were saying the same shit and it didn't really make me upset anymore. I realized they just don't have anything better to do.

"Let's leave." I concluded, while raising my head to meet Brian's dark brown eyes. He nodded with a small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Brian stood up from the table and I followed suit. We headed down the aisle way that was between two tables. Everyone was staring at me and it was making me uncomfortable. We got passed the first set of tables and Brian stopped. I looked up to see Matt standing there. A scoff escaped my lips.

Matt cleared his throat and the whole room went silent. My heartbeat started to accelerate and I started to get scared. Matt is the only person that can actually hurt me.

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Incase anyone didn't know, my sister here is a slut. She went and had sex with the biggest jock in school. Oh and she even let him take pictures, isn't she great? Now she's trying to get in Haner's pants as well. Gotta give her props, she moves fast. Watch out ladies, she might be after your man next." Matt said with a smile plastered on his face.

The whole cafeteria was saying stuff to me. It went from 'slut' to 'bitch' to even 'cunt'. I was trying so hard to keep the tears from falling, but I wasn't doing a very good job.

"You can cry all you want, slut. No one is going to protect you anymore. You are no longer a Sanders in my eyes." He spoke in deep voice and it was like he sliced my heart into pieces.

Brian had enough, "You are a fucking bastard! How can say all of this shit about your sister, because of rumors you heard? You haven't even listened to her side of the story-"

Matt cut him off, "She's a fucking whore. End of story and you're the bastard, for betraying me and siding with her! Maybe you're just like her. You're only sticking up for her cause you want into her pants."

The tears rolled down my cheeks and I wiped them off, trying to regain control of myself. Brian glanced at me and scoffed. I eyed him confusedly and the next thing I knew, Brian's fist connected with Matt's jaw. It was hard enough to make him stumble backwards. Matt inhaled sharply and was about to attack, but Jimmy and Zack retrained him back.

Brian turned to me and laced his fingers through mine, "Let's get out of this hell hole." I couldn't agree more. Once we were outside the school, he guided me to his car. He even opened the door for me.

Once he was in the car, he didn't think twice about peeling out of the parking lot. As he got on the road, he grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his compartment and pulled one out. He grabbed a lighter that was on the seat and lit one up. I watched him intake the smoke and exhaled. His shoulders relaxed and it made me wonder.

He glanced at me, "Why are you staring at me?"

I didn't waste any time, "Why do you smoke?"

Brian took another drag off the cigarette and exhaled, "Stress reliever and I guess I just want to." He said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh.." Was I had to say.

This interested him, "Why? Do you want to try it?"

"Does it taste gross?" I asked, wrinkling my nose up.

Brian chuckled and nodded, "Oh yeah, but it might be good for you. It will help you out when you're stressed."

I took a few minutes to think about it and I remember Matt always saying that he would kill me if he ever found out that I smoked, because he, suprisingly doesn't smoke. Now that made up my mind.

"Let's do it."

He nodded, "Alright, let's go to the park."

We got to the park and I followed him down the first path everyone takes. I was expecting him to take us to the spot where the guys always go to, but he took me to the spot I go to that no one really knows about.

We got to the bridge and he looked at me, "I followed you back here one time and now I always come here when I'm by myself."

"You really are a stalker." I teased and it just made him smile as a response. He pulled his pack of cigarettes out and his lighter.

He pulled a cigarette out of the pack, "Alright, we'll share for your first one just until you get used to it." Brian lit it up and took a drag off it. He put his hand in my direction and I bit my lip, "I don't know how to hold it."

Brian chucked, "Just like me. Between your index and middle fingers." I took the cigarette from his hand and put it between my two fingers.

"Good, now place the cigarette in your mouth. Not too far, though. You'll make the filter get wet. After that, you suck in. Once the smoke is in your mouth, inhale into your lungs and exhale. You're going to cough, but you'll get used to it." Brian informed me what to do and I did what he said.

Once the smoke was in my mouth, I inhaled. It made cough horribly and Brian reached to take the cigarette away, but I shook my head. I took another drag off of it, making sure to inhale and it wasn't so bad this time. I took another one and exhaled the smoke, once I inhaled.

Brian reached out, "You might wanna take it easy, because you're going to get cigarette highs in the beginning."

"You can get high of cigerattes?" I asked, confusedly.

He shook his head, "Not exactly, but you'll get this light-headedness, you might get nauseous and you might even fall asleep."

I took another drag off the cigarette and it hit me. I exhaled the smoke, "Holy crap!" I exclaimed and pushed the cigeratte back to him. I needed to sit down. I sat on the grassy area and rested my elbows on my knees. I laid my head in my hands and it felt like everything was spinning.

Brian chuckled, "You got it now?"

"Yeah, it's kind of making me feel like shit." I groaned and lifted my head to look at him, "Here let him have another.." I trailed off, not sure what to call it.

He handed the cigarette back over, "It's a hit, drag, or even puff. Any of them are fine. Your smoking it, so it doesn't really matter what you're calling it."

This time I took a big drag of the cigarette and I inhaled, expecting to cough, but I didn't. My cigarette high was still there, but I didn't care. I took one more hit off it and handed it back.

Brian was smiling, "You're a natural. Man, Matt would kill me if he knew what I was doing."

I rolled my eyes, "Fuck. Him." I decided to lay on my back until my cigarette high passed. Brian finished the cigarette up and actually laid next to me.

We laid there for a few moments and he broken the silence, "Will you ever tell me what really happened with Mason?"

"Probably, but I need to know that I can trust you. It might take a little way, though." I explained, hoping he didn't get mad.

Brian sighed loudly, "I understand. My past history doesn't really give you a reason to trust me. It's my fault, but I want you to know that I turned over a new leaf. I'm done with that person I used to be. I promise you that I'm going to be here for you until the end."

I actually got a little chocked up by that, "Thanks, Brian. It seems that you're the only person I have left, so I hope you're serious."

His hand met mine and he laced his fingers through mine, "Anyone messes with you, just tell me and I'll beat their asses. I'm looking out for your safety and I'll do anything to protect you."

I like this Brian way better than the one that used to have a problem with me. It feels good to have at least one person I can count on. He's so sweet and caring, it makes me want to tell him everything that happened that night, but I had an emotional day as it is. No need to add to it.

"Can I have another cigarette?" I asked like a little kid.

Brian chuckled, "Damn, 5 hits and you're already addicted? I'm such a bad person."