Saved By A Bad Boy

[22]. Bathroom Encounters...

I walked into school with slightly higher prospects and even lower energy. Usually, the two don't go hand and hand, but I've gotten used to not sleeping. Last night was horrible. I woke up in a cold sweat twice, memories of Troy flashing in my subconscious. There was nothing I could do about the dreams now. I would rather stay up all night than be awoken by them. I was terrified at the idea of waking up from a nightmare one night and then seeing Troy above me, the real deal, ready to strike.

But for now, I could only pray.

Maybe a smarter girl would've gone to the police. Maybe. A part of me desperately wanted to. But if he reached us before the cops reached him...we wouldn't make it out of this. I knew we wouldn't. And I had feeling that, either way, I probably won't escape the wretched fate that's looming over my own head. But there was no way I would ruin the slight chance that my mom might get out in one piece. I just hoped that I could take care of her. These sleepless nights and panic attacks were wearing me down, little by little, and I feared that by the time Troy came, there would be nothing left for him to take. And if that was the case, then he would just take what was left of my mom, and I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't.

So coming to school became less of a dreaded time. As long as I was at school, Troy couldn't get me, right? At least that's what I told myself. And I couldn't imagine Troy ever coming to my school.

Besides, if he did, Jax would be there.

I hadn't dared to think about asking him to the dance. I was definitely not doing that, and I had no idea why this little part of me almost wanted me to. Why would he go with me? I mean, we could go as friends, but no one would see it like that. If I asked him out, I could only see him respond with a rolling laughter, and then he'd make fun of me about it for the rest of my life.

"Alyssa, I've got it!" Maya abruptly shouted the moment I reached my locker. Oh boy. Here we go.

"What?" I asked, even though I already had the dreaded feeling that one of her plans was about to be explained in full detail.

"Okay, so I sneak some onion into my mom's kale smoothie on Friday morning-"

"Maya-"

"Just hear me out! It's great. My mom turns all red and itchy-"

"She'll itch too?"

"Yes but that doesn't matter. The point is, she'll freak out and stay home from work, and then later that night, you can bring your mom over to 'check on my mom.' Then we get ready for the dance together, my mom asks your mom to stay for dinner, and we meet up with Jax and whoever my date is at the dance-"

"For the last time, I'm not going with Jax," I hissed. Maya just pursed her lips and waved her hand.

"Of course you are," she stated, very matter-of-fact. I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I think I'm going with Dave." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Who's Dave?"

"Dave. Ryerson," Maya repeated, a dreamy look appearing in her eyes. Realization hit me and I groaned. Darn you, Red Bull Guy.

"You're going with him?" I gasped. "I thought you were just a party thing. You know, get drunk and forget?" Maya glared at me.

"Well we did not forget," she muttered.

"But somehow you 'forgot' the fact that he supposedly went around kissing other girls and left you sobbing on the floor?" I said, more as a question than a statement. Maya stuck her nose up in the air dramatically.

"He was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing," she said smugly, turning swiftly and marching away.

"You were both drunk!" I shouted after her in exasperation. Sometimes, Maya made absolutely no sense at all. This was one of those times. Running a hand through my thick dark hair, I sighed and returned my attention to my locker, shoving books inside with more force than necessary. Suddenly, someone abruptly leaned up against the locker beside me, making it bang slightly.