Chapter 22: The Results

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height




"Oh my god Athena! What happened to your face?"

I looked at Via whose face was in pure and utter shock. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and her mouth was hanging open. "You know if you don't close your mouth you'll start catching flies," I replied. I wasn't sure if I should tell Via or not.

I mean on one hand she is my best friend but on the other hand she is also Leo's twin sister. What if she lets it slip about why I'm injured? I don't want anything to distract Leo from basketball tryouts.

"Come here." Via closed the door behind her and sat down on my bed. "What happened Athena? And don't you dare lie to me. I can tell when you're lying."

So, I told her.

"I was leaving the school when Jenny and her followers approached me and pulled me into a nearby janitors closet. Then Jenny started yelling at me for taking 'her man' to Homecoming. She called me a bitch and slut and then she had her minions hold me down while she kicked me."

"I was too scared to call for help or show any signs of weakness. I thought that would just make them attack me more. Eventually she stopped and they left me in there. I'm not sure how long I was in there but eventually I dragged myself back to my car and here we are."

For the first few minutes after I finished she didn't say anything. Via sat there in a state of shock listening to what I had said.

The silence in my room was deafening. "Say something please," I pleaded with her "this silence is scaring me."

"Sorry I just don't know what to say nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I mean your face isn't too bad it just looks really scary. Are you sure your face is the only injured part on your body? I will take you to the hospital if you are injured anywhere else."

Via kept on rambling. It was surprising that she wasn't getting mad. By now she would've been in a rage, ranting about the ways she was going to get Jenny back, calling her all sorts of colorful names. This is so unlike her.

"Via why aren't you getting angry?" I asked.

"I'm too worried about you to be angry right now. Are you sure you're okay? You can stay home from school tomorrow I'm sure your father would understand. Are you going to tell Leo? He kind of has a right to know."

I grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look me in the eyes.

"Via I assure you I am perfectly fine. These are all superficial injuries. They'll be gone in a couple days, they're just bruises after all." Slowly, she nodded her head but she still looked worried.

After awhile I finally managed to convince her that I was perfectly fine. Reluctantly she left my room. She didn't want to but I made her leave because I have to take a shower. She was so worried about me that she offered to help me clean myself.

It's sweet that she's so worried but I can wash myself off. It doesn't hurt that bad.

I turned on the shower and hopped in. It was a little difficult to stand but I managed. I was leaning heavily on my right leg and my ribs were starting to throb in pain.

Once I got out of the shower I gingerly put some clothes on and walked over to my desk to do some writing. Maybe working on my story will help me take my mind off the pain.

I decided to work on this new short story idea that I've had for a while. It's about an artist that gets sucked into her painting. She has to figure out how to escape before she gets trapped there forever.

Honestly, it was probably one of my best works so far, and I'm not even done writing it. It sounds so professional and mature to me. Sure there are mistakes littered throughout the chapters I've written so far but there's something about this story.

---

I worked on my story for the rest of the night. A couple hours in Via brought me my dinner. It was just some grilled cheese with tomato soup.

I ate as quickly as I could then set the plate off to the side so I could continue to work.

I was so absorbed in my work that I didn't notice how late it had gotten. It was already 11:30 at night. If I don't go to bed now then I won't get enough sleep and then I will be grouchy in the morning.

Trust me when I say you don't want to see me when I'm grouchy.

---

Getting ready for school the next day was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Somehow my left side hurt worse than it did last night and I could barely stand. But I have to go to school. If I don't show up then Jenny will think that I'm weak and continue to pick on me.

I slipped on a fuzzy light pink sweater, some light blue denim jeans, my pink Converse. I could barely raise my arms, so I brushed it slightly and just left it down in it's natural waves.

I didn't bother with any make up either.

When I could go downstairs Via pulled me into her room and locked the door. "Are you going to tell your father?" she questioned me. "I wasn't planning on it. I don't want to give him any reason to worry about me."

Then, she pulled me into her bathroom and whispered, "if that's the case then you need to let me do this." She pulled out a tube of concealer from a drawer and showed it to me. The bruise on my right cheek and chin was a blue-ish/purple-ish color and looked really ugly.

"Fine. Otherwise he'll start asking questions and I don't want to lie to him," I sighed and sat down on the edge of the bathtub.

"Just sit still and let me work my magic."

I did as instructed. 10 minutes later Via was done and she allowed me to look in the mirror. Not only had she made my bruises virtually disappear but she also added a bit of mascara and lip gloss. "I figure it wouldn't hurt to add a little something extra."

"Thank you so much Via!" I exclaimed. I rushed forward and hugged her. She really was a magician. Maybe she could turn this into a career.

We walked downstairs and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading to school.

---

As soon as we got out of the car I could feel Jenny's hateful glare trying to burn me into hell.

She was standing near the front doors talking with her friends and a couple of the people on the basketball team.

When we walked past her she snickered and whispered 'slut' low enough for only Via and I to hear.

Without warning Via turned around grabbed her by the collar of her designer shirt and held up her fist like she was going to punch her. "What was that? Say it again. SAY IT AGAIN!" Via screamed. Her fist was shaking and her face was turning red.

Jenny however didn't look the least bit fazed. "I said 'slut'." That must have snapped something inside Via because next thing I know Jenny is lying on the ground nursing her bloody nose. "That's what you get bitch. Don't ever mess with any of my friends again. If you do you will be sorry."

Via flipped her off and then stormed inside the school to her locker. "BITCH!" I heard Jenny scream as I followed after Via. Hopefully she doesn't get in trouble for punching her. It wouldn't be any fun if my only friend got suspended or something for defending me.

During the day stares followed Via and I where ever we went. There were rumors spreading around the school about how Via had punched Jenny in the parking lot. Some people were saying that she deserved it and others said that Via should be expelled for her actions. There was even a rumor going around that said Via broke her nose.

God I hope she did. Jenny honestly deserved it for what she did to me.

Leo hadn't talked to either of us today. Maybe he hasn't heard the rumors. If he had he would've confronted us by now.

Jenny wasn't in school for the rest of the day. I'm glad. She probably would've made my life a living hell for what Via did.

Getting from class to class was hard. I was doing my best to not limp but it was impossible. The only time I could walk was when I leaned on my right leg and used the wall to keep me steady.

Nobody seemed to be noticing my limp, or at least nobody said anything about it to my face.

I really need to ice my side. I should've taken some medicine this morning. That would've helped, but of course me being my dumb self I forgot. Only I would forget to take medicine when I can barely walk.

At the end of the day I was glad I could finally go home. But of course luck wasn't on my side today. "AJ can I talk to you?" Leo asked.

"Sure."

"So I was wondering if you could wish me luck for tryouts today. It would make me feel less nervous." Leo was looking down at me expectantly. "Good luck at tryouts today. I know you will do great. Any team would be lucky to have you. You are an exceptional player and I know you will be the best player out there."

Leo was smiling at me. This smile stretched all the way to his eyes. Speaking of his eyes, they were sparkling with so much hope and happiness that it made my heart swell. How could somebody be that good looking? It wasn't fair. He had the perfect face, the perfect body, the perfect grades, the perfect personality.

Before I could talk myself out of it I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Good luck Leo."

I ran away from him before he could say anything.

My cheeks were burning red from what I just did. Why did I do that? That was so dumb. He doesn't like me and now he's going to reject me and then we won't even be able to be friends anymore. Then it will be awkward since his sister is my best friend.

This isn't good. I just ruined our whole friendship. I'm so stupid!

I slammed my head against my steering wheel. I just need to forget about what I did. Hopefully I didn't distract Leo by kissing him on the cheek.

I drove myself home and left the memory in the school parking lot. I'm just going to act like nothing happened. It's the only thing I can do.

---

It was around 7 at night when we were all gathered around the table getting ready to eat. My father made lasagna with a salad as a side.

I was in the middle of setting the table when there was a knock on the door. It was Leo. "Hey AJ can I come in?" he asked politely.

"Uhm sure," I said unsure of why he would come here. "Hey AJ's dad." Leo waved at my dad who had just taken the lasagna out of the oven. "Hey Leo. What are you doing here?" my dad asked.

"Well, I actually just came to drop off this package for your daughter."

Then I noticed that he was holding a box that was the size of a large book. I wonder what was in there. And why was he sudden;y giving me a gift? It's so random.

"Would you like to stay for dinner? I made plenty of food."

"Sure. It looks great."

What just happened? Why is Leo eating with us now? And where was Via? As if on cue she appeared in the kitchen next to me. "Hey Leo."

Pretty soon we were all digging in to the delicious food and talking about how school was going for us. My dad was the first to ask Leo the question "So I heard you are trying our for the school's basketball team. How did that go?"

"I think it's time for Athena to open your present." He handed me the box and I took it gingerly. If it was something fragile I didn't want to break it.

I untied the ribbon and took off the lid. Inside was our basketball team's jersey with the number 19 on it. My breath caught in my throat as stared at it. "You made the team." I whispered. Via squealed in excitement and ran over to hug her brother. "Congratulations! I knew you could it. All that practice paid off." My dad patted Leo on the back and congratulated him too.

For the rest of dinner they talked about what they did at tryouts and when all his games were. I sat back in silence eating my food. I was extremely happy for him but I didn't want to disturb their conversation.

Before Leo left he pulled me aside and said. "What no kiss? I thought if I made the team you would give me a kiss." I could tell Leo was joking because the corner of his lip was quirking up, like he was trying to stop himself from smiling. "Nope sorry. Thanks for the jersey. I really like it."

"So does this mean you will come to all my games?" he asked hopefully.

"I will go to all the home ones. The away games are too far," I responded. He pulled me into a hug and rested his chin on my head. "Thank you for what you said before tryouts. I think it actually helped me."

"You're welcome," I mumbled into his chest. He was really warm. He also smelled good.

"You know you are going to be wearing that jersey to all my games right?"

"Yeah I know. Otherwise what was the point of you giving it to me."

Leo chuckled into my hair and let out a long breath.

"You're the best," he whispered so quietly that I almost didn't catch it.

-----

What's going to happen at Leo's first game? Will Jenny retaliate? What about Athena's injuries? Will she be okay?

I hoped you guys liked this chapter. I finally figured out how I want this story to end. It will probably have around 40 chapters. Maybe a little more. You will be seeing more of Leo (and Teddy) in the next chapter.

Don't forget to vote and comment!

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net