"My clothes are soaking wet, from your brother's tears" - Poison Oak

-

"Zach?" I called out lamely from my spot on the couch. What a great start to my plan.

I told myself that I'd go upstairs and talk to him after everyone left. However, I didn't really consider how I'd get up the stairs on my crutches. Another reason why the crutches are going to end up being the bane of my existence.

"I'm coming!" Zach yelled from upstairs.

I nodded to myself, drumming my fingers on the armrest of the couch. The shuffle of feet walking down the stairs drew nearer, and my stomach began to twist itself into knots.

I told myself that I would talk to Zach, but what was there to talk about. The only thing he wants to hear is who hurt me, and that's the one thing that I'm not willing to give up.

Everything happening right now is a mess. But it's my mess, and no one else deserves to hold that burden.

"Drake came to see me before he left."

I snapped my head towards Zack and my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. I hadn't seen Drake go upstairs not once when he was here. He was sitting next to Seth the entire evening.

Zach's approach towards me was slow and cautious. Someone with something positive to say doesn't walk that way. I hope that Drake knows that I can still kill him with one leg. I've even got a weapon now.

"He told me he was looking for the bathroom," Zach explained, taking a seat across from me.

"Oh." I mouthed. I do recall him saying something about needing a restroom. I was too busy keeping Sophia and Seth from killing each other over the TV remote to actually direct him. My hand had just waved in some random direction.

"And I'm sure that you just kindly redirected him. Right?" I asked slowly, sitting up in my seat. The last two people who I need having a conversation are my brother who knows nothing and Drake who knows everything.

Zach averted his eyes, shaking his head. He opted to look at the family portrait on the wall.

"I'm supposed to be protecting you," Zach whispered, scolding himself.

"This isn't your-"

"I know it isn't my fault, but it is my job to keep it from happening again, and I am failing at that." He stressed.

The worry in his eyes mixed with the anger in his fist did not make for a good sign. People do unpredictable, crazy things for the ones they love. They're blind to the consequences that will follow, and there are always consequences.

"What did Drake want from you?" I asked, ignoring his last statement.

Zach's expression sobered, and his eyes fixed on me with severity.

"If you don't tell me who it is today, he's going to tell me tomorrow." He stated, his gaze unwavering.

"He can't do that." I immediately protested, sitting up from my spot on the couch.

"Yes he can and he will," Zach warned, leaning forward. "I'm not going to watch you die."

Drake and Zach didn't know who they were dealing with. Neither of them has ever felt the weight of Chris' foot on their chest. Chris has never turned their entire chest black and blue. No one's ever made them feel this helpless.

The sad thing is that I'd rather have his heel pressed into my black and blue chest every day of my life than feel what he's going to do to me if Zach gets him into trouble. Chris wouldn't be in detention forever, and when he got out, his death threat would become a promise.

"I am not going to die Zach. I can take care of myself." I assured in a pleading tone.

"You came home from the hospital today Avery. You obviously can't." Zach reminded me, standing up from his seat on the couch. My mind fell blank, and my heart began to pound erratically against my chest.

"If you don't tell me now, I'm going to Drake's." He decided, staring me down with finality.

The air had trapped itself in my throat, so all I could do was shake my head as furiously as I could. Panicked tears raced down my cheeks at an aggressive speed. My hands fisted the blanket on my lap so tight that my knuckles turned white. It was like watching my life flash before my eyes.

"Zach, you can't," I beggingly wept. My arms frantically felt around for my crutches. "You can't-"

"I'll be back," Zach whispered, turning away from me. When he walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed his car keys, my breathing grew hysterical.

"Do not walk away from me," I demanded in a shaky tone. "You can not go over there. Zach, please listen to me."

Still, he continued to walk towards the front door.

"You are going to get me killed. Please, Zach!" I wailed desperately.

His hand reached the doorknob.

"Please, Zach. Please don't- Chris Matthews! His name is Chris Matthews! Just don't- " I sobbed, choking on my own tears. I keened over myself, my body raking with convulsions as I wept.

Zach was at my side immediately, pulling me into his arms. He rocked us back and forth as he breathed soothing words into my ear.

"It's okay Avery. I'm going to take care of it now." He promised gently, stroking the back of my head.

I pulled away just far enough to where I could see his face. I gripped his shirt tightly in my hands.

"Sophia cannot find out. Promise me she will not find out." I urged, searching his eyes.

Zach nodded in confirmation then cradled my head against his chest.

"She won't find out. I promise." He assured in a whisper.

And then a few moments later, the events of the day took over, and I passed out in my brother's arms.

Δ

"Seth, you secure the perimeter. Drake, you stick to Avery. I don't want anyone getting within five feet of Avery." Sophia barked out her orders as we walked into the school.

Seth and Drake both rolled their eyes, and it was so contagious that I couldn't help join in. I think everyone could agree that Sophia was being a little overprotective at the moment. I wasn't going to say anything to her though, because then her overprotection would turn into anger.

And an angry Sophia is much more terrifying.

"Sophia don't you think that-" Seth bravely tried to interrupt, but Sophia shook her head at him before he could really begin.

"Avery isn't walking on both of her legs right now because of some dipshit at this school who obviously has a death wish. And I have no idea who this person is because someone won't tell me." She paused to give me a pointed look, and I immediately looked elsewhere.

"So I think what I'm doing is completely reasonable," Sophia concluded, before continuing to walk down the hallway with us trailing behind.

Drake and I's eyes met over Seth's head, and he gave me a reassuring look. He already knew that I told Zach about Chris last night, and we were both confident in Zach's ability to fix everything. He didn't tell me how he was going to do it and, to be honest, I didn't want to know. As long as Sophia isn't involved, I'm fine.

I couldn't tell if Zach had already gone through with his plan or not because I hadn't seen Chris yet. I didn't know whether to be relieved or afraid.

"Sophia, I can take Avery to her locker." Drake offered, moving to take my backpack from Sophia's hands. However, Sophia immediately jerked it away from him.

"I'm taking her. You two can go to class." Sophia insisted, waving them away.

I cast Drake a concerned look behind Sophia's back, as she led us away. He gestured towards the parallel hallway and gave me two thumbs up.

I sighed in relief and nodded in understanding. He'd be close enough to where I could yell out for him if anything went wrong. Not that I didn't believe in Sophia, I just think she'd find it very difficult to take on Chris and his goons on her own.

"Did you talk to Zach yesterday?" Sophia asked as we weaved through the crowd of people with slight difficulty. Normal people would move out of the way of someone on crutches. But these people were more homophobic than anything and took joy in making my life five times more difficult.

"Yeah. We're okay now." I answered once we finally reached my locker.

"Well, technically you're not okay. You have a crutch." She reminded me, bitterness seeping through her tone.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm actually using it." I joked, trying to bring a smile to her face. Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite.

"You shouldn't have the damned thing first place!" She growled, throwing our backpacks on the floor next to our locker.

I watched her angrily turn the dial on my locker, and I leaned against the locked next to mine with a quiet sigh.

"Soph," I whispered. She ignored me, and I watched as she became more and more frustrated with the fact that my locker wouldn't open.

She repeated the combination a dozen times more, before finally screaming in frustration and giving up. I deemed ten attempts ago that Chris had most likely glued it shut; it was a cheap prank that he'd done hundreds of times before.

I wanted to be surprised that they were doing this so soon after my hospital visit, but I couldn't be. Chris was obviously devolving at a disturbing pace. Nothing was too soon or cruel for him.

Sophia slid onto the ground in front of my locker and placed her head between her knees. I decided to join her, leaning my crutches against the wall and situating myself next to her. My leg had to be fully stretched out, so it took up a piece of the hallway, but I couldn't bring myself to care right now.

"This isn't your fault you know," I commented, watching dozens of legs walk back and forth past us.

"I should've driven you to school." She muttered, reprimanding herself. "What were you doing here so early anyway?"

I hummed, leaning back against the lockers. "Zach and I were fighting about something, so I didn't want to see him. I walked." I recalled.

"What were you fighting about?" She asked innocently, turning her head to face me.

My immediate thought was to lie and make something up. But I've been feeding her enough bullshit lately. She deserves some truth.

"He was asking about us. What we were." I explained simply, refusing to look at her. I wouldn't be able to stand the look of rejection on her face.

I could feel her stare boring into the side of my head. It stayed that way for an excruciatingly long moment.

"I guess we should talk about that." Sophia resolved with a quiet laugh.

"Not here." I immediately decided. Maybe it was because my paranoia was through the roof, but I couldn't help but feel like Chris had people watching and listening to us. The last thing I needed him to find out about, was Sophia and I's maybe a relationship.

Sophia nodded and turned back to face the crowd of people.

"Come over to mine tonight. I'll invite everyone. We'll talk about what we need to talk about and get to relax. I think that's what we need. To relax." Sophia suggested quietly.

I turned to look at her and gave her shoulder a slight squeeze. It was a wonderful idea. Maybe my nerves would finally have a chance to breathe.

"Okay." I agreed, and Sophia turned to give me a smile of her own.

We stayed on the floor until the bell rang and the hallways were clear. It was easier to move in the emptiness anyway.