Chapter two

Brax

God, I hate this place so much. I can't wait until I can leave here. What is the point of school? We learn nothing that is going to help us in real life.

I'm in the principal's office for the tenth time this week. One of the stupid teachers sent me here for skipping class and smoking on school grounds.

So now I'm sitting here listening to him rave on about how smoking is bad for me and that if I don't start taking school more seriously, then I'm going to get nowhere in life. Like he really cares, he hates all the kids in this school; I'd have to say that I'd be the one he hates the most. You can tell by how he looks at us that he hates us.

"This is your last warning, Mr Young,"  he says as he pushes his glass up his nose.

I just nod my head; he always says that. He won't kick me out. My father pays this schools fucking bill.

He points to the door. Gesturing for me to leave. I don't waste any time getting out of there. I don't think I can take another second of his stupid voice. Repeating the same thing he has said to me a million times before like you'd think he'd at least change it up a bit.

Stepping out into the halls, the sound of laughter drowns out my thoughts. I look around to see what they all find so funny. My eyes fall on this small, pathetic girl falling. They always pick on her; someone most likely tripped her again. The sad thing is she isn't even going to try and stop herself; grabbing her around the waist, I pull her back to her feet. She's so tiny my hands nearly wrapped right around her.

I've seen her around school before, and at her house, I could see into her room from my window. Sometimes, I find myself just staring over there, watching her, not in a creepy way; I'm just curious about her. She is just so different from everyone else. She is pretty. I have never been able to understand why they pick on her. I've never spoken to her before, so maybe she is just weird or something.

Slowly letting go of her waist once I know she's stable on her feet. Everyone stopped laughing and looked over at me in shock. She slowly started to turn around, bumping into my chest as she did.

I can't get over how small she is. She'd have to be like five foot nothing.

Her big blue eyes met mine; they are so full of sadness. I want to hold her, to comfort her. How could they all tease someone as beautiful as her? Her long jet-black hair and toffee-coloured skin made her ice-blue eyes stand out.

Looking her up and down, I was disappointed there wasn't much to see: a baggy jumper covering her little petite body. My eyes landed on her neck; I can see a purple hand-shaped bruise wrapped around her neck. By how her body tensed, I can tell she knows what I'm looking at. Her hand came up slowly, grabbing her hood and pulling it around to cover her neck. I went to stop her, but that only scared her, making her jump back. Fear covered her face, sending chills through my body. I have never seen someone so scared before. Maybe I looked mad or something? My mum has always said that I can look very intimidating at times.

She shifted on her feet before turning and running away. I didn't mean to scare her. It was written in her eyes that she'd been scared by enough people in her life.

I need to know who put those marks on her neck. How could anyone want to hurt someone as beautiful as her? How could someone wrap their hands around such a small, delicate neck with so much force? There has to be something wrong with the person that can do that to her.

Me kissing her smooth, beautiful neck comes into my head.

I need to find out more about her. Something inside of me is drawn to her and wants to protect her. I have never laid my eyes on anyone like her before. How had I not noticed her better before this?

"Brax, you coming to lunch? " Dillon yells at me.

I shook my head to get the picture of her out of my mind.

"Yer!"  I yelled back before following my two friends. I took one last glance to see if I could see her, but she was gone.

I searched the cafeteria for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. I have no idea what I'd say to her when I find her; I'll have to work that out when the time comes.

I know I have science with her. I was going to skip that class to go down the street, but if there is a chance that she will be there, it would make going to class worth it. The whole of lunch, I couldn't get her out of my head; I couldn't stop thinking about the bruisers around her neck. Were they the only bruises that she had? Was someone hurting her all the time, or was this just a once-off thing?

The first bell rang, so I decided to go and have a smoke before class. I don't know how, but at some point, I lost track of time, lost in my own thoughts, thoughts of her, this mystery girl that I knew nothing about. I ran to class, getting there ten minutes late. Luckily, the teacher was late too, so I won't be sent to the office again today.

The room was filled with the usual chit-chat people gossiping about what had happened at lunch. I scanned the room until my eyes fell on her, sitting in the back corner of the room, staring out the window. A guy was sitting next to her, trying to talk to her. She never looked at him; whatever was outside that window was way more interesting.

Is he the one that gave her the bruises? That was the first thought that came to my head, and I wanted to go over there and hurt him without asking a question, but I had to hold back and use my head here. I'd already scared her once today. If I did it again, then she would never come near me. I also didn't want to come across as some weird loser; I still had to play it cool. I started walking towards her, making enough noise so she would know I was there. As I reached the table, I could tell by the way she became tense that she knew I was there. She pulled at the bottom of her sleeve in discomfort, but she didn't turn to look at me. She just kept her focus on whatever was outside that window.

"Move, I want to sit here!" I said forcefully to the guy that was sitting next to her. 

"I'm sitting here. Go find another seat," he said back without a second thought.

It was hard not to lose my cool with him. I know I have anger problems, and most of the time, I let them control I had to work hard right now to keep them from doing that. But honestly, who does he think he is talking to me like that and in such a tone. If it wasn't for her, I would put him in his place, but there's something about her that makes me stay calm. I don't want her to be scared of me; I don't want her to run away again. I want to be close to her. I'm drawn to her for some reason.

"I want This seat so fucking move," I said, placing both my hands on the table next to him, making it known that if I had to ask again, I would be removing him from the chair whether he liked it or not.

The black-haired girl turned around to look at me, but it was like she was staring straight through me. "its okay, Brody, just let him sit there", she said so quietly that I almost couldn't make out what she was saying

He looked over at her. I couldn't see his face, but by the way he moved, he was shocked. I don't blame him there because I was, too.

"Fine, but I'll be right there if you need me, " he pointed to the chair in front of her as he gathered his things and moved.

He tried to act tough by pushing past me, but I hardly noticed him. She was all that I could focus on. I was nervous and had feelings that I couldn't understand. I've never felt anything like it before. I had never wanted to know someone as much as I want to get to know her; all of this was new to me. I have never wanted to get to know a girl before; I have never had a girl ignore me. They usually throw themselves all over me. She was so different from any other girl. Maybe that's what draws me to her. She's a mystery that I needed to solve.

I sat there staring at her, trying to work her out. She was not a normal girl at all. She's so different and beautiful I can't take my eyes off her.

Her attention quickly goes back out the window in an attempt to pretend like I'm not here. How she hunched in her seat and playing with her sleeves tells me she can feel my eyes on her. I can see the bruise on her neck. It wraps all the way around; she's tried to cover them with makeup. They are way too dark; they look as though they couldn't be very old at all.

How could anyone wrap their hands around such a beautiful, perfect neck and do so much damage? A neck like hers should only be kissed and teased.

The room becomes quiet as the teacher enters. My attention is only on this beautiful girl who is sitting next to me. Nothing else mattered to me right then. I can't take my eyes off her. I must know her story; I need to know who is hurting. I have this uncontrollable feeling that I need to protect her.

"How'd you get those bruises? "  I ask softly, never once taking my eyes off her.

Her hand comes up, grabbing her hoodie and pulling it around to cover them. "I don't know what you're talking about." She never looked over at me; instead, her eyes went to the desk in front of her.

"The bruises on your neck that you just covered. I'm not stupid; I sore them, so don't play dumb" When she doesn't answer me, I reach for her hand that is gripped tightly around her hoodie.

As soon as she felt me touch her, she jumped up, sending her chair flying backwards, making a loud bang, startling me. I jumping to my feet, never looking away from her.

She stood there staring at me with her back pressed against the window. I have never seen someone with so much fear in their eyes; why is she so scared of me touching her? What has happened to her to make her fear the touch of another human so bad? Her big blue eyes were locked on me; I wanted to grab her and hold her and tell her everything was okay; I just want to comfort her and take away all her pain. She looks so broken; it hurts me to see a girl that I don't even know be like this. 

"Brax, Willow, please sit down", the teacher yells from the front of the room, snapping both of us out of our thoughts. I had forgotten that there was anyone else in the room. I kept my eyes on her as she scanned the room, realising that everyone was staring at her; the fear left her face as the embarrassment overtook her. I stepped closer to her, hoping it would make her focus back on me and maybe comfort her, showing her she isn't alone. As soon as I moved, she took off pushing past me, the teacher screaming at her as she ran out of the classroom; she was gone before I could even turn around, leaving her bag and everything else behind.

"What Did you do to her?" the boy that had been sitting next to her before yelled at me.

I just stood there staring at the door she had just run out of; I didn't know what I had done to her, I didn't know why she was so scared of me. Was it only me that scared her, or was it everyone? Before today, I hadn't even given her a second look I don't even think I have ever said a word to her. The only reason I know her name is because the teacher had just yelled it.

I grabbed her stuff and mine rushing out of the room in the hope that I would catch her. The teacher screamed at me. I don't care how much trouble I will be in for leaving class like that; I just have to find her. I looked up and down the hall for her. She was nowhere to be seen. She moved fast for such a small person