We stood there stunned as Kyle Williams, with his hair ruffled back, took a seat in a lonely table, holding out a form of shuriken that I couldn't see too well, but I could've sworn that it was Aria's second hairclip.
"Um, Aria. Who is this guy?" I asked her as I could see that her face turned pale.
"I... we'll explain later. Just keep low for now." Aria answered as she started picking up her eating pace.
I still stared at Kyle, what made him so intimidating? He was just plain old, 13-year-old Kyle.
Right?
I then noticed that Sugarcoat went up behind him. They started talking and I started getting ready to leap out and save him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Autumn, sit down." Adagio said putting her hand on my shoulder.
"I gotta help him." I said silently.
"You can't!" Aria whispered back.
"I am not letting him get either raped or beaten. He's innocent in all of this." I said.
"We can't afford any risks now..." Aria said.
I saw that Sugarcoat was a bit more forceful as she soon grabbed Kyle and pulled him into an unseen room. Soon, the other Shadowbolts followed. A few minutes later, I heard the blows being hit. Without saying a word, I got up and bolted in. The Shadowbolts looked in shock as I stood there with the door open.
"Stop. Leave him be. You need to let anger go, you see ME." I said as I closed the door.
"No. Cinch ordered us to get him." Lemon Zest said.
I was now trapped, in a room with about 7 people who want to beat my brains out of my eyes. I saw that Kyle was bruised and unconscious.
"Yeah, he didn't take much. Weakling." Sugarcoat scoffed as she kicked his stomach slightly, triggering a jolt from Kyle.
That was it. I threw a punch at one of the Shadowbolts. I was too slow, they punched back. Just as I started blacking out, Adagio and Aria opened the door.
"Let. Him. Go." I heard Aria say as I saw that she had some form of a weapon.
They backed away from me. I stood up and saw that the Dazzlings now had paper-clip shanks. I slowly got up and Aria handed me a shank.
"You're not going to beat me anymore." I said as I coughed up blood.
The Shadowbolts then nodded as soon as I said it.
"You're pissed, I get it. But guess what? You don't always have to win. Tell that to Cinch." I said as I picked up Kyle to bring to the nurse's office.
We closed the door and I dropped Kyle to the nurse's. Without saying another word, I got up and limped out the door.
"Shouldn't you get that looked at?" Aria asked me.
"I'll be fine. It's the same everyday." I said.
I could tell that Aria was shocked about this. Adagio was too, but not as much.
"W... what do you mean 'everyday'?" Aria asked.
I was trapped. I had to tell them; I wanted to.
"After the Friendship Games were a tie, the Shadowbolts AND Cinch were all-around-pissed. At first, Sugarcoat and Sour Sweer payed Joel a visit. Joel's one of the Shadowbolt Juniors. Cinch still has that damn tape... After that, they paid ME a visit. Beat me until I couldn't bleed. After, they kept on doing it; I still have some bruises." I said to them.
I then saw Aria do something that confuses me to this day. She turned around and put her hand on her eyes.
She started to cry...
Adagio stepped up and sat down.
"Is there something we can do?" She asked.
"...No. There's nothing you can do." I said.
"But there's something you can do." Adagio said holding my amulet.
"How do I do it?" I asked.
"Play the tune. When they start beating you, play the tune. It'll stop them."
"How?" I asked.
"It causes them to turn on each other, giving you the time to go. But if you're cornered. The amulet will draw the negative energy for you. You can use it to defend yourself." Adagio said.
I noticed that Aria was still crying.
"Aria? You okay?" I asked.
When I put my hand on her shoulder, she turned around and held me in an embrace. I didn't know what else to do but hold her back. We stayed like this until the bell rang.
"We should go. We'll be late for class." Aria said to me.
I nodded and we went to our classes. I went to Mrs. Harshwinny and she was clearly shocked to see me. On time, and covered in my own blood.
"Hi, Mrs. Harshwinny." I coughed as I went to my seat.
"Um... good afternoon, Autumn." She simply said.
I grabbed a few tissues to wipe my face off so I could see through the blood. I placed the tissues in the trash can.
"Uh... Autumn, I think you should see the nurse." Harshwinny said.
"I'm fine." I coughed back.
"Autumn... I insist." She said.
"You said if I was late again, I would go see Cinch. She gets me in the office, I'm dead." I said; possibly more brutal then I intended.
Then, I saw Kyle walk down the hall with Cadence by him. She looked at me and probably told Kyle to wait in her office. She walked in and asked for me. I couldn't say no to Cadence, I just couldn't.
Her husband would force me.
I got up and limped to see Cadence in her office.
"Sit down before you fall down." She said to us.
We sat down and I finally started to notice things about her office.
"You two are here because you are bloodied. Is it your blood, Kyle?" She asked him.
"...Yes." I said.
"Autumn?"
"I don't know if it's mine, or one of the Shadowbolt's knuckles on my face, Cadence. It's most likely both." I said.
"Now, Kyle, do you want me to call your parents to pick you up? You don't have to be here. I'll talk to Cinch about it." Cadence said.
All Kyle did was nod.
"Autumn? Do you wanna go home?" She asked me.
"No. My home is as just as bad as here." I said.
"What do you mean by that? Autumn, what do you mean?"
I was silent. I got up and walked out of the office and into the bathroom to wash my face off. I looked up and saw Trenderhoof, one of the Shadowbolts. He was silent, so I was. I finally finished and I limped back into Harshwinny's class. I took a seat with a clean face, but it was soon bleeding again.
"Autumn, please..." Harshwinny said.
"I'm not going to the nurse." I said.
"Why?"
"Because I'm DONE being beaten everyday! If they wanna beat me, they're gonna have to bleed me DRY!" I said back.
"Autumn--"
"NO. I know that you know. Why do you care all of a sudden?" I asked.
"Because I heard of what happened."
"Yeah, you do know. You always HAVE! WHY DO YOU SUDDENLY CARE ABOUT ME, HARSHWINNY?!" I screamed.
In the aftermath, I was sent home due to what they said was a mental breakdown. When my mom asked me what happened, I just slammed the door and locked it.
I sat on my bed, knowing that my face was bleeding. I soon found some bandages on the nightstand. I decided to use them to stop the bleeding. I hear my mom knock on the door.
"Autumn, please. Tell me what's wrong."
I was silent for a few minutes until I answered.
"You know what's wrong. You always knew. You just don't CARE." I said.
"Autumn, I do care, I do."
"Then why is HE with us, mom?" I asked.
"Because he has nowhere to go, sweetie." Mom said.
"SO WHAT?! He's beating you, beating me because he HAS NOWHERE TO GO?!" I asked angrily.
My mom was silent until I heard footsteps. She left my door.
Thank God.
I noticed that the time was 2. School ended a few minutes ago. Then, my phone went off.
Heard you had an outburst. You okay? Aria texted me.
I'm fine. Just riled up, that's all. I replied.
You wanna come over and talk about it? Aria asked.
I knew that I had to get my face cleaned if I was going. I tore the bandages off and saw my mom in the kitchen, with the chair still ready.
"What made you change your mind?" Mom asked me.
"...I wanna see some friends later."
My mom pounced back.
"You made friends?! Oh, I knew it'll come! Who is she, who is she?!" Mom jumped with joy.
"She's not my girlfriend! Not after Sunset..." I said.
"Oh, right. I get it, it's hard to find a new love after the last one took your virginity and then dumped you."
In that moment, I turned so pale, I looked like the wall.
"You know about that?" I asked.
"I'm your mother, of course I knew. You were 17 and asked to spend the night at your girlfriend's house, do you think I was stupid?" She asked me.
"Okay, that was dumb." I said.
"You can go. Just pack the Trojan again; just in case." Mom joked.
I laughed it off and told Aria that I'll be there before 5.
K see you there. Aria said back.
I drove until I found the address. I parked the car and knocked on the door. Aria answered and let me in.