Bystander

The week flew by.
Until Friday at least.
And on Friday, anything that possibly could go wrong; did.
Mark woke up and had the flu, not well enough to do anything but moan and groan and empty his stomach into the toilet. And when he was gone, I hated to admit, but some of my confidence disappeared.
And then Tom’s wonderful car broke down so we had to take the fourth member of their band’s car, it was spectacular but nothing like Tom’s ‘baby’.
And then Marco tried cornering me again at lunch, but Bill and Gustav managed to drag me off to the library.
But Marco was persistent.
I had to tell Tom, Bill and Gustav that I was attending therapy- I hadn’t told them previously- and I asked them to drop me off at the office. As they pulled away, Bill asked, “Do you want us to pick you up afterwards?”
I shook my head, “No, I’ll be fine. I’m like only two blocks away from home anyways.”
I went to therapy.
My therapist’s name was Miss Vicky Long.
The first thing she did was smile and say, “Hi, you can call me Vicky.”
Then she started asking me questions, “Do you know why you’re here, Addie?”
I cleared my throat, “To control my anger so I stop getting beat up for it.”
“Why are you getting beat up?”
“Because,” I stopped, paused, then continued, “I, uh, I lash out at people. And their friends do the deed.”
“Do you like being beat up?”
I stared at her, what kind of question was that? “No.”
“Then why do you let it happen to you?”
I let it happen to me?

After therapy, I started walking home.
It was rainy.
The clouds were dark grey, and they’d turned everything around me slightly grey, too. I hunched my hoodie against the wind/rain combo that was hitting against my back. My hair was sticking to my head, I wish I’d brought my jacket.
I turned a corner, about three more blocks till I was on my street.
I looked around; no one should be able to see me. I was practically a target for speeding cars.
A car pulled to the sidewalk where I was walking.
When the window rolled down, my stomach plummeted.

“Where the hell is the movie theater?” Georg snapped. He was the final member of the band that Addie had yet to meet, Tom reminded himself.
Tom snarled, “How the fuck am I supposed to know where anything is in this damned confusing city!”
Georg hissed, “You are the one driving.”
The two were supposed to meet Gustav and Bill at the movie theater where the group would watch a movie- obviously. But so far, it seemed doubtful that Tom and Georg would even be at the theater on time. Both boys swore loudly and then Georg muttered, “We’ve passed that Starbucks five fucking times already!”

I swallowed nervously as Marco smiled at me from the driver’s seat, “Hey Addie.”
He appeared to be alone, I choked, “Hey.”
His smile grew, “You need a ride?”
I jerked my head to the side, “N-no, I’m good. Thanks though.”
He climbed out of the car and walked over to me, slowly, deliberately taking his time.
“What are you doing?” I frowned, trying not to sound nervous or suspicious.

Georg growled, “Pull over. Let’s look at the map.”
Tom grudgingly complied, and they looked at the small piece of paper that their real estate agent had given them. “See, it’s supposed to be on 3rd and Maine like I said! Not Apple and 5th!”
“That’s one corner!” Georg snapped, “The other corner is on Apple and 5th!”
“Well here we are,” Tom looked slightly crazy, “We’re on Apple! There is NO 5th street around here!”
Georg rolled his eyes, “Let me look at this.”

Marco spoke softly to me, “You’ve been ignoring me.”
“What?” I tried pretending to be innocent.
“I asked if I could talk to you on Monday,” he continued quietly, “It’s Friday and we haven’t had the chance to talk yet.”
“I-I forgot.” What was wrong with me? I’ve never had a problem with stuttering. “I’m sorry.”
He took a step closer to me; I could feel my eyes grow wider with fear, we were about four inches apart. And in his eyes, although they seemed calm enough, I could see something burning. His fist shot into my stomach the same time that his other hand grabbed the collar of my sweatshirt, preventing my fall. I felt tears sting my eyes as I felt his hot breath against my face.
“You should be sorry.”

Tom and Georg were now going the wrong way down a one way street. The only difference was that this time Georg was driving. Tom didn’t let that last for long. “You get out of the driver’s seat.” He growled, “I’m driving.”
Georg scoffed, “You are not! It’s my car.”
“Bill and Gustav have my car!”
“So?”
Tom couldn’t think up of anything to say against that so he prodded, “I’m driving!”
“I’m a better driver than you are! I’m older!”
“We’re going the wrong way down a one way street!” Tom nearly screeched.

Marco’s soft voice was hissing slowly in my face as he brought his head so that I could feel his lips brush against my ear, “I waited patiently for you. We were going to talk everything out. I was going to apologize for... hurting you.” He got a little closer, “I’m sorry.”
I blinked and then glared, my spunk returning. I repeated his words, “You should be sorry.”
He laughed and then punched my stomach again.
I fell down, he picked me back up.
He pushed me against a wall. I sagged into it, letting it support me.
And then... he did it.

Georg’s head nearly crashed into the dashboard when Tom suddenly pounded the brake. He muttered, “Like hell you’re a better driver than me.”
But Tom wasn’t listening to him. When Georg looked at the driver’s seat, it was empty. The door was open though so that gave Georg a slight clue as to where his comrade had gone. The thought ran through Georg’s head: Was Tom abandoning him?
The headlights showed ahead about three yards in through the dark rain.
Tom was kneeling down on the ground about two feet past the three yards of light that were given. Georg climbed out of the car too, frowning. What was he leaning over? What was he looking at? Georg’s eyes widened. Was that a person?
As fast as he could without falling Georg made his way over to Tom, there was a girl lying down on the cement, clearly alive but not well. She was shaking and sobbing. Tom leaned over her, and with concern he rarely expressed he murmured, “Addie. It’s me. It’s Tom. Can you stand up?”
She was sucking in breath hard, inhaling water and her tears, but she managed to nod.
“Here,” he whispered, “Let me help you.”
He put her arm around his shoulder and let her use him like a crutch to make it back to the car. Tom gave a jerky shake of the head towards the car. Georg understood, he was supposed to drive them somewhere. He pulled out his cell phone and started calling Gustav. He rapidly explained that they wouldn’t make the movie.
Tom brought Addie into the backseat and crawled in behind her.
He frowned as she buckled herself in. “You don’t look hurt?”
When Georg had successfully pulled over to the side of the road and had turned around, he noticed that Addie’s cheeks burned red. Georg noticed that she looked as if she’d fallen down the stairs a good couple of times. Georg gave Tom a questioning glance, and Tom returned with a nod. This was the girl that they’d all had a serious discussion about. The girl who had been getting beat up and everyone had taken it onto themselves to protect.
Her breathing hadn’t calmed down one bit. But Tom wasn’t about to wait, “What happened?”
She hiccupped, “I was walking home... and, and Marco pulled over.”
Georg saw Toms’ face pale considerably. “What did he do to you?
She looked up at Tom, “He kissed me.”