Celia Thorpe

Where loyalties lie

Celia kept her head down on the way up to school. When they reached the school gates, Xavier led her around the back up to his dorm room.

"Ok. Let's see how bad it is."

Celia removed her jacket. Her crop top showed off the worst of the damage. Celia's stomach was covered in bruises. Her arms had hand shaped bruises that were already turning purple. Celia's nose was still bleeding, and a trickle of blood was running down from her split lip. On her cheek, a red and purple lump was swelling up just above her cut. And purple hand marks adorned her neck like a sick choker. Xavier's eyes clouded over with tears.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry, Ci-ci."

"Not your fault."

"You shouldn't have stuck up for me."

"I know. I'm going to be in more trouble when term ends."

"We just need to keep fighting. Keep pushing until we can leave and never go back."

"I don't want to fight anymore, Xavier. I'm too tired."

Xavier gently hugged her.

"Here, we need to get you cleaned up." He handed her a tissue.

"Thanks." Celia held it to her nose. Xavier quickly sorted through his spare clothing trunk. It was full of turtlenecks and long sleeved jackets. As he stood up, holding a navy blue top, the door opened. Ajax and Enid came into the room.

"Hey Xave, we just wanted to-" Ajax's eyes found Celia. His mouth dropped open in shock. Enid gasped.

"Omg! What happened to you?"

Xavier sighed.
"She stuck up for me. Please can you go? I need to clean her up before lunch."

"Your dad did this?" Ajax asked.

"I've had worse," Celia responded.

Ajax and Enid sat on Xavier's bed. Celia finished wiping away the blood from her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some foundation and a brush. Quickly, Celia applied makeup over the bruise on her cheek. Xavier handed her the turtleneck, which she put on. All the evidence of the attack had been covered.

"We should go." Celia said. Ajax and Enid looked at her pityingly.

"Shouldn't we tell someone?" Ajax asked.

"We can't. Our father has too much influence. No one would believe us." Xavier replied.

"But Celia's covered in bruises!" Enid exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter," Celia said, "People don't want to cross him. We don't have anyone on our side."

For a few minutes, the four of them sat on Xavier's bed in silence. A bell sounded from the quad. Ajax stood up first, followed by Enid. Silently, they left the room. Xavier got up, offering a hand to Celia. She took it. Holding hands, they walked downstairs to lunch.