•24•

3rd Person

Dixie anxiously said, "Make it quick, I have school, and where's Halley?" She believed that if she maintained a solemn demeanor, he would be unable to readily intimidate her.

"I'll try," Bryce said, "I know you have school and Halley's already there."

"So, sure, he did lie to you," Bryce continued, but Dixie had to cut him off.

She moaned angrily and rolled her eyes, "God, I fucking knew it."

"But not in that way. As you can see..." It was now or never for her to hear everything, and all she could hope for was that it wouldn't break her as badly as everything else had.

"Let's go find a seat and don't worry about being seen. Everyone knows I'm taken," he muttered as he made his way over to the chairs.

In that way, he reminded her of Noah. Both were adamant and straight to the point. Dixie could have laughed, but Bryce's reaction might have made her even more nervous.

Dixie joked, "You're pretty rude to me," as she and Bryce headed up to the eating areas.

"Yes, he knows Alissa, but it's not for the better. You can see, she-"

"What did she do?" Dixie was nervous, and Bryce was talking at a tortoise's pace.

"How will you know if you don't shut up?" He was becoming increasingly irritated by her impatience. Dominant guys aren't used to it, but he does have more control than Noah.

"Noah won't appreciate that you told me to shut up."

These were the characteristics he despised in a brat. Bryce praised God that Halley was no longer like this. Her attitudes and behavior altered as she remained his obedient for a longer period of time.

"Well, there won't be a you and Noah if you don't shut up," Bryce stated vociferously. She was properly subdued and shifted her focus to listening. He could see the terror on her face and how worried she was. Anxiety was taking over her being, palms sweating, legs shaking, and body jittering.

"As I already said, he is aware of Alissa's existence, but it is not for the better. Noah met Alissa when he was approximately your age, and they got along well," Bryce began with a regular tone. Dixie preferred not to learn about her "current love's" old love, but she was interested to know the history between the two of them.

"Alissa is a dominant, and Noah was her first submissive," he says. "She controlled him by using, abusing, and manipulating him. She abused him both physically and mentally. He tries to avoid her and forget about her. You're probably asking why he doesn't report her. Alissa is a powerful lady, although Noah is now, he wasn't at the moment. Alissa was nowhere to be found when he eventually became three times as powerful as she was. She destroyed every aspect of my bestfriend. There are burn marks and scrapes on his body, but they aren't from knives, fights, or any type of intercourse. She was the one who did it to him," Bryce sadly admit. This was hurting him more than he care to admit but he wanted Noah's happiness back.

"Bryce," Dixie sighed, "you don't have to keep talking if it hurts you." Dixie knew better than anybody else how difficult it was to speak about certain subjects, and she's pretty sure she'd heard enough of it. Alissa is a disgusting woman and Dixie's thoughts came to this conclusion.

He assured her, "No, no, it's alright," as he sipped his coffee.

"Are you sure?" she asked, expressing her doubt.

"Yes," he gave her a sure smile and nodded "Now, whatever you saw the day you walked in wasn't what you believed he was doing. He told her she was to go, but she needed to make a statement first. She's a troublemaker and a vengeful whack job as unbelievable as that sounds. He and I had no idea she was hosting, but Halley had heard via her stylist, who works with Alissa. Noah didn't tell you because it's a difficult subject to broach, especially when it involves abuse or sexual assault. There's no reasoning as to why he lied and I'm not telling you it's ok to lie, but he was in a tough place and didn't want to ruin what you guys had going on. The whole trip he spoke to me about keeping you happy and involving mentions of that bitch, would've changed that big time. So that's what he kept from you. I'm telling you this because my bestfriend sobbed real tears for you and is now an alcoholic cave guy," Bryce remarked and concluded, "You do whatever you want with this information."

Her eyes welled up with tears. She only wanted to give Noah the biggest hug. She despised every aspect of Alissa even more than she did before. She felt horrible since she knew what it was like to have a crazy ex or, for that matter, a crazy friend. Overall, she was speechless. She leaned in for a hug and thanked Bryce for telling her. They were forming a brother-sister bond, and Bryce hoped that Dixie and Noah would be able to mend their relationship.

"Now go get your man," he jeered, "You know, it's doah for life."

"Doah?" She asked.

"Halley and I came up with a ship name," he smiled, as she walked away. "Go get your guy and try to fix things before you both die on the inside."

She wiped her tears away and proceeded to school, not even finishing her coffee. At the very least, she had a reason to be grumpy now. She arrived late to school, and psychology class had already begun.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Noah's sadness rose as he noticed she wasn't in class, but Kate's skepticism grew as she noted how often he glanced at the empty place that belonged to Dixie D'Amelio. His heart brightened just a little as the classroom door opened.

"Good morning, sir; I apologize for being late. I had a tough morning, to say the least." She spoke up with apprehension. Her voice sounded as if she was choking on the tears and emotions she was experiencing. As much as she believed it would be simple to ignore and not feel anything, she was mistaken.

"Don't worry, it's all good," he remarked as he faced the white board. Noah couldn't make eye contact with her right now, he wanted to, but he couldn't. He had to maintain his cool and separate his personal feelings from the need to maintain professionalism at work.

Her heart shattered when she saw him. Not because of what happened before, but because of his current state. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, not to mention his unkempt appearance. Noah Beck was not the Noah Beck she knew. This was a different version of the same person.

They'd both had a tough couple of days in the aftermath of the event—which turned out to be the century's worst misunderstanding—but they understood they needed to improve their communication. He needed to speak up more, and she needed to pay attention to what he was saying.

The topic of today's lesson was Methods of Abnormal Psychology, and all she learned was the definition by the end. Her thoughts and heart were on other things, one of which was that she needed to talk to him after class to find some common ground and clarity.

"The homework assignment has been posted to the platform, and class-"

"Good day, students. This is Principal Williams. Please go to the notice board to see your midterm grade and placements if you are in Dr. Beck's class. Thank you."

Dixie was shocked but mildly impressed at how quickly the midterm marks were released. Noah's papers had been marked a long time ago, but she wasn't sure about the others.

"You're free to go check your grades now. Keep in mind your homework is due the next class."

She went out the door with the rest of the class to check her grades. The notice board was often overflowing with students. Some students are fighting for their grades, while others are being pushed around by the bundle. She didn't like being in enclosed areas, so she just waited it out. After seeing their grades, everyone's countenance was smug. Was it truly as horrible as it seemed? She even overheard one of the smartest students comment, "Damn these teachers grade hard." This made her terrified. Kate and Larray were the first to go, and they came back to her.

"How did the exams go for you guys?"

"I got two C's and two B's, there goes my scholarship. Fuck, "Kate expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation. She worked her best on these tests but did not receive the mark she desired. It wasn't that she was stupid, but her anxiousness had taken over and clouded her judgment.

"Kate, I'm so sorry. I know you gave it your all. Larry, how about you?"

"Bitch All of my grades were C's, which is understandable, I didn't study. This is something I don't have time for. Are you going to check yours, ms. gurl?"

"I guess so," she murmured hesitantly as she approached the notice board. She was taken aback when she searched the board for her name. Her mind wondered if her eyes were misleading her or if she had actually received those grades in the examinations.

"What the fuck," she exclaimed, her voice surprised.

"Yo you good D'Amelio?" Unexpectedly, a young boy yelled.

"Yeah."

"Then why did you yell?"

"I got three A's and a B plus in History," she revealed startlingly. She didn't doubt her ability, but she didn't expect to perform as well as she did. It is true that hard work pays off.

The students were taken aback. She was one of the few persons who received a perfect average grade. The rest was a miracle because she was only sleeping with one of the teachers. Dixie couldn't believe she'd gotten such good scores. She was happy, but then she remembered that she needed to speak with Dr. Beck about something.

"Guys I'll see you soon; I need to speak with Dr. Beck about my grade; I believe he marked something wrongly. I'm not sure how I got this high."  Her words were met with laughter, and she continued on her approach to his classroom.

"How bad will it be?" Her thoughts had won the battle yet again.

"I'm expecting a class shortly, so- oh hi Dixie, did you leave anything?" Noah was shocked when he noticed she had returned to the class to see him.

"No, I didn't. I came to talk to you. Do you know why I said my safe word?"

It's now or never. Let's see what happens.