Bathroom Beatdown

Bathroom Beatdown

Arabella

SINCE AGREEING TO this entire thing with the guys, I haven't really seen them around campus. The only time I do is when I take a wide lap around the main courtyard and hide out in the trees as I move from one area to the next. If I can get away with avoiding that area, I do at all costs. Brock has been escorting me around campus even more than before and it's nice to have him at my side. Especially since the rumors going around about some new girl warning everyone away from Kash are running rampant among everyone. It's impossible not to hear that she's already beat the crap out of one girl and threatens everyone else she can get to. The guys she comes into contact with are another story altogether though. It seems she can threaten the girls even though she has been said to have fucked multiple guys here on campus already.

Today is a day that our math class has been canceled for some reason. I wish I would've known about this development before I left Mrs. Andrews' house. I could've been there taking care of my brother for a few more hours. Instead, I'm here with nothing to do. Thankfully, Brock is here with me. We use this time to get in some tutoring since he's got an away game this week and won't be around from Thursday until Sunday. My days are short ones on Thursday and Friday so I'm not worried about being on campus without him near me. Hell, even when we don't have class together, Brock always shows up to escort me from one class to the next. Or to the library if I have to meet with Danny or him.

"How have you been, Arabella? The truth?" Brock questions me, the second we're locked in our study room.

"I've been okay. My brother and I have been staying with our neighbor and away from our house. It's not a good environment for my brother and I keep him away as often as possible. Eventually, I'll be able to leave that part of town behind me. I just don't want too many people to know what I've just been given. There's a part of things that I didn't tell you, Brock," I answer him, nervous about what I'm about to admit to the one person who has had my back since I met them.

"What's goin' on? Did somethin' bad happen?" he immediately questions me, sitting up straighter in his chair and staring me down as if he can take all of my pain and worries away with a look and nothing more.

"No, nothing bad has happened. Well, I mean, I don't think it's bad. Others might not feel the same way though. Especially my cousin when she realizes how little she truly has," I respond, taking a deep breath as I prepare myself to open up a little bit. "It seems Kash discovered my grandparents" real will. In it, I was left everything. I'm talking about a mansion, all of their money, every asset they own, and so many other things I don't even understand. The money alone is more than I'll ever be able to spend in my lifetime. I haven't touched it yet and there's nothing I can see having to buy that would ever make me use that much money."

Brock doesn't say anything for a few minutes. He simply stares at me and worries his lip as he processes what I've just told him. For the first time in my life, I've got money, a place to get away from my mother, and a safe area for my baby brother. I will eventually figure out how to get Collette out of the house, it's just going to take me some time because I haven't ever been in this position and I don't know what to do. This is honestly something I might have to consult Kash and the rest of the guys about. I'm sure they know how to get rid of her and make sure she understands the mansion is not hers and she will no longer be living in it.

"Fuck!" Brock says, a smile covering his face as he folds his arm over his chest and continues to look at me. "That's not what I was expectin' you to tell me. So, you're rich. Like as rich as Fallon and the rest of the guys now?"

"Yeah. Apparently my uncle and Collette have been trying to access the money and they've had no luck so far. I know it's just a matter of time before they succeed or find out that the money is now in my name. I want to have things in place before that happens. Again, it's just something I don't know how to do. Once Collette knows, it's just a matter of time before everyone else finds out what's going on and I'll be ripped apart by Karmen, my cousin, and everyone else," I answer him, my voice barely above a whisper at this point because the rooms next to us are now occupied.

"Well, if you need help figurin' things out, I'm always here too, Arabella. I might not know everythin' about you, but I know enough to realize some bad shit is always happenin' to you. That you're not safe where you currently live and that you are too fuckin' good for anyone in this town. They made a grave mistake when they turned their back on you so many years ago. Now, it's time for you to get what you deserve and that's nothin' less than a happy, safe life filled with love and everythin' you've ever dreamed about," Brock says, a note of finality in his voice as he tries to convince me that he's speaking the truth.

"You don't understand, Brock. I'm just a girl. There's nothing special about me at all. I've been given a shit lot in life and now I find myself completely changed in terms of circumstances and nothing more. I don't deserve more than anyone else in the world," I tell him, not believing I even deserve that because of how worthless I feel on a daily basis.

It's all because I've been told so often how worthless, useless, and everything else my mother can think of to hurt me daily. Nothing I ever do is good enough and there's no way that will ever change in my mind because it's been beaten into me so often. And I mean that literally.

"One day, you'll see yourself the way I see you. The way others see you even if you don't realize how you're viewed by others," he states with a smile on his face because he knows what my next question is going to be already. Brock can read me better than most and doesn't hide that fact from me.

"What are you talking about now?" I ask as he starts laughing because he guessed right what I was going to ask him.

"Let's just say that the guys you pretend to hate so much aren't as unaffected by you as you think. They're always watchin' you when they see you on campus. At practice, I know three of them are constantly whisperin' about you. They always stop when someone gets close enough to hear them, but don't think for one second that they don't want you, Arabella. I can only guess that it's the same for Dante. He's just better at hidin' his emotions and what's goin' through his head. I think they still see you the same way they used to and have to push that shit down deep because of whatever they've got goin' on. Just like they don't know anythin' about you now, you don't know them either. You can only take a guess at things and make assumptions based on what you see and hear," Brock says, showing how smart he is when it comes to this kind of shit. I'll never be at his level and see interactions with others the way he does.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I tell him, needing a few minutes to process what he's just said without having him right in front of me.

Getting out of my chair, I leave our study room and make my way across the library to the bathroom that's in here. It's nice I don't have to leave the building in order to go to the bathroom when I'm here. I don't look at anyone sitting at the tables around me or anything else. My eyes are firmly locked on the floor I walk across and I try not to take anything in as I get to the bathroom and let myself inside. Quickly making my way to a stall, I handle my business before making my way over to the sink to wash my hands. As I reach over to pull some paper towel out of the dispenser, the door of the bathroom opens. Karmen and a girl I've never seen before enter and lock the door behind them. This isn't about to end well for me at all. Especially with the look of pure hate and rage on both of their faces.

"Marianna, this is the piece of shit I've been telling you about. She's the one who stalks the guys and believes they all want her," Karmen says, her voice filled with evil laughter as the girl she called Marianna steps forward.

She's fucking identical to Karmen in the way they dress. Short as hell skirt, a top that barely contains their chest, and heels that are taller than they need to be. Both of them have make-up caked on so much you can clearly see it outlining their jaw and the dark colors of their eyeshadow makes them look even more sinister than if they weren't wearing it. The new girl's eyes are pitch black as she rakes her eyes from the top of my head down to my toes and back up again.

"What the fuck could you possibly think you have to offer them? You're less than nothing and won't ever be able to handle men like them. I hate to burst your little fucking bubble, but Kash is going to be my husband. We're to be married within a few months. If not sooner. A few words to his father and the wedding will be moved up quicker than hell. I suggest you stay the fuck away from the guys and don't even think about them. Eventually, they'll all be mine and no one will stop me from having them all," Marianna states, pure evil filling her voice as Karmen whips her head in the girl's direction to glare at her.

I want to laugh because these two are so fucking predictable. Neither one of them know what's going on around them and truly believe their crazy delusions. They should make the best of friends along with my cousin since they're all the fucking same. Though it is kind of surprising that Collette's not here with them at all.

"I don't have anything to do with the guys and don't see them at all. Karmen doesn't know what she's talking about. I don't stalk them and want nothing to do with them," I say, my voice shaking as fear fills me with the look I'm being given by this girl. It's one that would kill me if her eyes were able to actually make it happen. I've never seen a look so evil on one person's face. Not even Karmen or Collette. There's something seriously wrong with this girl.

"You wanna talk back to me? Are you fucking serious right now?" the girl shrieks, her voice echoing off the bathroom walls and making my head hurt with the loudness of it. I wince out of reflex and don't see her attack coming.

Grabbing my hair, the girl pulls my head back while spinning my body and slams my face down into the edge of the sink. Pain immediately radiates through my head and the crunch of my nose is audible as Marianna shrieks and yells obscenities at me. Karmen remains in the background for now cheering her on. Slamming my head once more into the sink, I'm then tossed to the floor at Marianna's feet. Karmen joins her and they start kicking the hell out of me. The spiked heels of their shoes feel as if they're puncturing holes in my body. I don't know if that's the case, but it's how it feels to me.

Karmen bends down and pulls my hair in order to pick my head up from the nasty bathroom floor.

"You'll learn one fucking way or another to leave the fucking guys alone. They don't want you and will never fucking want you. You're a piece of shit and it's time you realize where you fucking belong in life," Karmen screams in my face, spittle hitting me in the face and making me gag because it's her and she's such a vile person.

I would try to defend myself, but there's no way in hell I can even think about talking right now since Marianna slammed my face into the sink twice already. Blood covers my face and the pain isn't letting up at all.

"And if you even think about getting near Kash, I'll gut you in the courtyard so everyone can see what the fuck happens when you cross me. It's time for you to leave the guys alone and that includes Brock. He'll be mine as well," Marianna adds in as she drops to her knees at my side and proceeds to repeatedly punch me in the side.

Both girls continue to spew nonsense about me leaving the guys alone and it's fucking nonsense. Other than the two times I've talked to Kash about what he found, I haven't had a conversation with him or anything. Fallon and Dash are the only other two that I've seen since they came with Kash to the study room here in the library the last time I spoke with him. None of that was my fault and if I could've gotten away with not talking to them at all, I would've done so. Well, I guess the last time was my fault since Brock got Kash for me so I could talk to him.

The hits and kicks continue to happen. I don't know how long this continues on for as the girls beat the hell out of me. I can barely hear from their hits and the screaming and shrieking echoing off the walls of the bathroom. I can't move even as they stand up, both of them breathing heavy from the attack against me. One of them spits on me before they turn and leave me lying on the bathroom floor.

After several minutes of me laying still on the floor to make sure they don't return to continue beating on me, I try to push myself up. I'm in so much pain that I can't get up on my own as I collapse back against the floor once more. My cheek bounces off the cold, nasty tiles and I close my eyes the rest of the way. Tears slide down my face and land on the floor under my head. My hair is a matted mess based on the way it pulls my scalp tight and hurts along with everything else on my body. I'm sure them digging their fingers into it more than once didn't help the situation any. If anything, it only served to tangle the strands even more than they already were.

"Arabella!" I hear Brock's frantic voice as the door of the bathroom slams open and someone else yelling that he can't come in here since it's the ladies room. "Arabella, what the fuck happened to you? Who did this?"

I can't even answer him as he tries to help me stand from the floor. Again, I almost collapse. The only reason I don't is because Brock holds me up. In seconds, I'm lifted into his arms. He leaves the bathroom almost slipping in the blood covering the floor beneath his feet. There's a gasp from the side of him as he carries me from the bathroom and somewhere else. I can't even open my eyes to see where he's taking me. Hell, I can't open my mouth to argue and tell him I just want to get cleaned up so I can go about my day. Brock isn't going to let that happen. I know he'll have me checked out in the infirmary where they'll ask all sorts of questions I won't answer. Karmen and this new girl will get what's coming to them, but it won't be because I told on them at school.

"What the fuck happened to my Song Bird?" I hear Kash's voice suddenly and it makes me jump slightly in Brock's arms.

He's carrying me as if I weigh nothing at all. I've never been in the arms of anyone before. Not since I was a baby and my dad held me. I can't even say my mother held me because there's no evidence or memory of her holding me at all.

"I don't know what happened or who did this shit. She told me she was goin' to the bathroom when we were in our study room at the library. When she didn't come back after a long time, I went to make sure she was okay. I found her on the fuckin' bathroom floor covered in blood. There's blood everywhere in there. Whoever beat the shit out of her didn't' leave any surface untouched. Includin' the sink if the blood is any indication," Brock answers and I don't need to see his face to know how angry he is. It's clear in the tone of his voice and how he answers Kash's questions.

"Fuck! This isn't supposed to happen at all. We need to do better about takin' care of her," Kash states, devastation mixed with anger filling his voice.

"Kash, let's go to the courtyard. I have a feelin' we all know who did this shit. They'll be runnin' their fuckin' mouths about it there. Brock, keep us updated as to what you find out when you get her to the infirmary. Fallon has your number from football. I'll send you a message so you have my number. Kash will as well. Only message the two of us. We'll let Fallon, Dash, and Braxtyn know what's goin' on when we see them. This isn't news you give through a phone call or text message," I hear Dante growl out as someone gently wipes the hair out of my face.

With my eyes closed as tight as I can keep them without causing more pain, I can't tell who's doing what to me. All I know is that Dante and Kash ran into Brock as he brought me out of the library. The pain consumes me so bad and I want to sink into the oblivion I know is coming. At the same time, I don't want to leave myself so exposed and vulnerable while I'm out in public. It's one thing to let myself pass out when I'm at Mrs. Andrews' house. Doing the same thing here at school could mean another attack on me and no way for me to curl up and protect myself from the hits and kicks.

"I need help!" Brock calls out, his voice frantic and loud as I shrink back in pain while trying not to wince because that hurts even more. "Someone help me with her!"

"What's going on, young man?" a woman asks, gasping when she stops next to us. "Oh my! Do you know what happened to her?"

"No. I found her like this in the bathroom of the library. I don't know what happened or who did it. She hasn't said a word since I rushed in and found her. Please, help her," Brock pleads with the lady as I barely register her leading him to a bed and helping him lay me down carefully.

Finally, I let the blackness consume me and pull me completely under. I let go of feeling all the pain and hearing how upset and angry Brock is. All I want is to forget the pain for a while and not have to deal with it any longer. Maybe I should tell Kash that I can't marry him because I'm not about to have Marianna come after me on a daily basis in order to get what she wants. It's not worth this amount of pain and knowing nothing will ever be done to stop it from happening over and over again. For now, I let all thoughts go and simply let the blackness clear everything away once and for all.