Find me

Chapter 5

Aria POV

“Hello, ugly.” I heard a voice behind me as I closed my locker.

I turned around, keeping my head low.

Here we go.

Every school I’ve attended has had at least one mean girl who enjoyed calling me ugly, poor, mute, or stupid. I was used to it, and I found it best to just let them talk. There wasn’t much I could do anyway. I didn’t have it in me to talk back. Talking back always led to physical violence. I had enough of that at home.

My eyes caught three pairs of legs standing in front of me. All of the girls were wearing heels. One of them was wearing a skirt. The other two wore jeans. I couldn’t see past their waists.

“Who the hell are you?” the same voice asked me. “Why the fuck did you come here?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. Why did it matter who I was?

The middle girl grabbed my arm. I winced and tried to stop myself from whimpering. I hit my arm pretty bad as I fell down the stairs yesterday. I had a huge bruise on my arm, and the girl was just putting pressure on it.

It wasn’t the worst pain I’ve felt, though.

“Didn’t you hear me, you poor little thing?” she asked angrily. “Who the fuck are you?”

“No one.” I mumbled quietly, keeping my eyes on the floor.

“Look up at me, little bitch.” the girl said, squeezing my arm even tighter.

I did as she said. I was allowed to look up if the person asked me to.

She was a lot taller than me, so I had to lift my head to look up at her face.

Her eyes widened slightly. She looked up and down my face, and her eyebrows furrowed.

I heard a few gasps around us. It confused me, and I wanted to look around to see who gasped. I didn’t. I wasn’t allowed to. I could only look at the girl in front of me because she asked me to.

“Why the fuck do you look like him?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

My heart rate picked up, and my eyes widened. I look like someone? They were talking about me yesterday? Who do I look like?

Her grasp on my hand tightened even more. Involuntary tears started gathering up in my eyes. My arm was hurting like hell.

“Let her the fuck go, Janet.” I heard a deep voice say.

The girl let my hand go, and I immediately looked back down.

“Grayson.” I heard her say. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m saving her from your bitchiness.” the guy said angrily. “Leave her alone. Don’t piss me off.”

“Why the fuck do you care?” the girl sighed angrily. “Who is she to you? Who is she to him?”

Who is he? Why would I be anything to anyone? I was nothing. I was no one.

“Stay the fuck out of our business, Janet.” the guy said. “Leave the girl alone.”

“Why?" the girl snickered. "Are you speaking for Gabriel now?”

She took a step closer to the guy who defended me.

“Is he speaking for you, Gabriel?” she asked, raising her voice a little.

There was another guy here? He must have been standing a little bit further away. I only saw four pairs of legs. That’s probably why the girl raised her voice to speak to him.
I didn’t dare to look up. They could punish me.

“You heard Gray.” another male voice said, sending shivers down my spine. “Leave the girl alone.”

“I am your girlfriend, Gabriel.” the girl said angrily. “I have the right to know who she is.”

“You are not his girlfriend.” the guy who defended me laughed.

“Shut the fuck up, Grayson.” the girl said.

I heard footsteps approaching, and a fifth pair of legs came into my view. I pressed myself closer to the lockers behind me. I had nowhere to go, and I was really scared. What if they hurt me? What if they punished me? What if they told my parents that I looked up at the girl?

My heart was racing impossibly fast, and my stomach kept turning.

“Leave my friend alone, Janet.” the guy said. “He is right. You are not my girlfriend. Stop implying that you are.”

“Gabriel...” the girl spoke, but he interrupted her.

“Enough, Janet.” the guy said angrily. “Leave. Now.”

A few moments passed, and nobody moved. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“Fine.” the girl said angrily. “We will talk about this later, Gabriel.”

I watched as three pairs of legs started walking away from me.

My gaze fell back onto the floor in front of me. I clenched my fists and tried to calm my heartbeat down.

The two guys in front of me won’t hurt me, right?

“Hi, Aria.” one of them spoke softly. “I’m sorry about Janet. She is a bitch.”

I stayed silent. I wanted to thank him for helping me, but I was too scared to speak.

“My name is Grayson, but you can call me Gray.” the guy spoke again.

I forced myself to speak. I didn’t want him to think that I was ungrateful. He could hurt me if he thought I was ungrateful.

“Thank you for helping me.” I said quietly, keeping my eyes firmly on the ground.

“There is no need to thank me.” he said softly. “Friends always help each other.”

Friends? Did he want to be my friend? Why? We couldn’t be friends. My parents would never allow it. They would punish me like never before.

I was never allowed to have friends. My parents were scared that someone would find out about the abuse. I can’t even count the number of times they’ve told me what they would do to me if I had a friend. The only reason they sent me to school was to stop people from asking questions. They knew that Child Protective Services would come knocking if they didn’t send me to school.

“Can you look up at us, Aria?” the nice guy asked me.

Can I look up at them? Why? Would they hurt me if I didn’t? Was it a test? Would they hurt me if I did?

My heart raced, but I did look up at them.

The first guy I looked at had a big smile on his face. He was tall and muscular. He had dark hair and brown eyes.

“Hi.” he smiled at me. “It’s very nice to meet you, Aria.”

It was? Why?

“It’s nice to meet you too.” I said quietly, keeping my eyes on him.

“This is my friend, Gabriel.” he said, pointing to the guy standing next to him.

I looked at the guy he was pointing at, and my heart stopped beating.

He looked like me.

What?

My eyes widened as I watched his jaw clench tight. Was he angry because we looked alike? Why did we look alike? Who was he?

“Hello, Aria.” he said.

I was too stunned to speak. I was staring at my eyes on his face.

I should have said something. I didn’t want him to get even angrier.

“Hi.” I mumbled quietly, unable to move my eyes away from his.

“Do you want to sit with us at lunch?” Grayson asked me, making me look away from Gabriel.

Sit with them? At lunch?

No.

My parents would kill me if they found out I spoke to them. I didn’t even want to know what they would do to me if they found out I sat with them at lunch, not to mention that I didn’t have any money to eat something. I planned on spending lunch at the library like I did yesterday.

“I’m not hungry.” I mumbled quietly, shaking my head.

“You don’t have to eat.” Grayson said, smiling. “You can just sit with us. We would like to get to know you.”

My eyes widened, and my heart raced.

No. I couldn’t sit with them. I couldn’t let them know anything about me.

“No, thank you.” I said as politely as I could.

I lowered my head and looked back down at the floor. I turned to my left and ran away before they could ask me anything else.

I hoped that I didn’t offend them. I hoped that they wouldn’t hurt me. I couldn’t handle being hurt by someone else. I didn’t know how I would survive a few more months with my parents. I didn’t know what would happen to me if these guys started hurting me as well.