Together.

Chapter Four

The next day, school goes by without much difference to your usual routine unfortunately. But like you had thought last night, the gang no longer asks you any questions about who you were texting and what you were doing yesterday afternoon; however, you still wonder if they hold their suspicions.

As your lessons drag on and you find yourself staring out the window unintentionally, you think about last night. You think about Gally. You start to hope that it was just a one off fight that guys sometimes have when they disagree, or maybe that the other person was drunk and attacked him. Would it have been self-defence? Your hands clench into fists, what if it wasn't?

***

When you're at your locker, you see Teresa and Newt heading on over. You sigh, very quietly, and continue to shovel in books into your backpack. "Hey, Y/N!" Teresa exclaims as they both halt by you, Newt watching intently on the almost over-flowing backpack you have.

He chuckles, "Got a few essays to write or something?"

"Tu— You pause mid word and look to your feet in uncertainty. "Yeah, something like that."

"So... Can't hang out with us again?" Teresa asks, but you don't see annoyance in her eyes like you expected, you instead see concern and worry.

"Uh," You close your locker quickly, your eyes darting away from them both, "Probably not today, sorry." You hear them mumble a goodbye, at least you think it was a goodbye, as you walk away from them and out the front doors. You walk down the same path as yesterday where you first met Gally, the usual crew hanging around smoking daringly or laughing discreetly while looking down at their mobiles. You spot his car, but Gally seems to be nowhere.

"You're that pretty little Junior that Gally's been seeing, right?" One of the taller and lanky almost looking Seniors calls out to you. You only barely glide over his eyes out of confusion but also intimidation. "You're a quiet little thing aren't you." He walks on over, ditching his smoke, and settling beside you against the brick wall. "Gally's not here."

You feel yourself shrink into yourself, further and further, especially after getting a whiff of his smokey breath and feeling his hot stare linger too long upon you. "D-do you know where I can find him?"

"Shouldn't be too far, he didn't take his car." He says, suggesting to the worn down thing that you sat in yesterday. "You should probably get used to this kind of thing, though."

You furrow your eyebrows and manage to look up at him as you ask, "What do you mean?"

You sense an amusement deep in the creases of his smile. But not the endearing kind, the kind of mockery but also... something else. And it intimidates you; more than usual. "Him running off like this, it's a common thing with him. So don't be shocked if he doesn't show up for one of your dates." He laughs even louder at this, his ugly thin lips stretching to let the unpleasant sound out; thankfully though, he walks away from you as he does this. But as you stand against the wall, a coldness coming over your body, you can still feel the nameless senior's stare, and all of his buddies' too.

You rifle through your bag and pull out your cell, and walk away from the scene, following the old, cracked path down towards the train station. If Gally isn't around then there's no point waiting for him, especially if you have to be around those creeps.

"Aw, where are you going? I told you to get used to it, not run away from it!"

Your pace quickens, but so does the one behind you that only now do you notice. Your steps are on the verge of breaking into a run as your heart beats faster inside your chest, your surroundings suddenly becoming blurred. As you round the corner of the school building in hopes that maybe there is a group of other students still lingering behind, something behind you grabs for your arm. Your first reaction by instinct is to pull away, and you spin around in the process, but it is not the leering, pathetic Senior student who called out to you earlier. It's Gally.