Can I Have This Dance? (Book One in the Nicki and Alex series)

Can I Have This Dance (13)

Can I Have This Dance?

Chapter 13

The next morning I woke up feeling normal. I decided to wash my face so that I was fully awake. I got to the bathroom which was luckily unoccupied and looked at my reflection in the mirror which I do every morning.

It was then that I saw my cheek that was slightly, but hardly swollen and a bruise was starting to form. Yesterdays events started to replay in my head. School, Clair, the football game, the party, Alex, the guy and...............

I didn't let myself remember the next event in detail as I felt tears starting to form in my eyes. All of a sudden I felt disgusted by myself, I provoked it I guess. I felt revolted by my own reflection and decided to take a shower, making sure that I washed and conditioned my hair since it smelt of the swimming pool.

When I had finished I brushed my teeth and went back to my room to get dressed. I threw on a pink vest top and black linen shorts which rose about 3cm from my knees, also making sure I put some make-up over the bruise, I didn't want questions being asked.

When I was done I said a lame morning to Aaron who didn't bother asking why I was acting like this, which was good. I grabbed cereal and went to eat it upstairs.

When I had finished it, I went straight downstairs to put my plate in the sink and then went back to my room, running when I heard my phone ringing. I checked the caller ID which read Alex

"Hello?" I asked out of breath

"Hey Nicki, you alright?" Alex asked

"Yeah, I was just running," I replied

"Oh alright, how are you?" he asked

"I've been much better," I muttered

"Right.......er, why didn't you let me beat the sh** out of that guy?" he asked sounding frustrated

The rest of the events following my almost rape popped into my head. Me screaming, Alex beating him up, me crying, lying to the guys, Alex asking me 'that' question and me asking him to stay until I fell asleep. I smiled first at the fact that he did it without hesitation, but then realised that he probably did it out of sympathy.

"You already beat him unconscious," I reminded him

"But that means that he can wake up," he said sounding as dangerous as yesterday when I answered his question.

"Can we just........stop talking about this," I said getting more and more unwanted images popping up in my head of him dead...........

"Yeah sorry, sorry. What are you doing today?" he asked

"Dunno, just gonna stay away from everyone," I stated

"Why?" he asked and I could tell he was confused

"I don't want to disgust them with the face that I provoked that guy to do that," I said my voice cracking as tears started to flow down my face.

"WHAT?! Nicki, you didn't provoke him, that guy was a psycho. How could you provoke him..........," he sighed

"Did you flirt with him?" he asked again

"If asking him for a towel is flirting?" I asked trying to joke even though I'm sure that the pain was evident in my voice.

"It's not, therefore you didn't provoke him. Don't ever think about yourself like that. It wasn't your fault there's just some crazy people in this world. Ok?" he asked trying to reassure me that it wasn't my fault. When I didn't answer he repeated himself.