The Lost Queen

Chapter 11. Stay away from me

Kayla

I was bored to the death in the biology class when, ten minutes into it, doors opened and “my friend” strolled in. He looked tired and pissed at the same time, but when he caught my eyes, the crease in between his eyebrows disappeared and, for an unknown reason, he looked less angry and way much lighter.

I wasn’t sure why he looked at me with such affection, but it was making me nervous, not in a good way. He went through my desk and into the back of the classroom. I could hear how he slumped down on the chair and dramatically took out his notebook. His eyes bore into the back of my head, and I wanted to turn around and show him my middle finger, but instead of that I straightened my shoulders and grabbed my pen.

Today was the first day that I didn’t take my medicine from the unmarked bottle which was being sent to me every month. The need to distance myself from the orphanage and Dr. Camden became important as breathing and medication was the first thing that I threw into the trash bin. I nervously tapped my foot on the floor and looked at the clock.

Five more minutes and the black-haired guy will stop burning a hole in my head. Five more minutes and I will be able to teach him good manners and boundaries.

“Don’t forget, we will have a test on Monday.” the teacher chirped and everyone groaned around me. A quiet laugh slipped through Ms. Alpin’s lips and she dismissed us before the bell rang. I jumped out of my seat and was the first one to leave the classroom. I sprinted through the hallway right into the girls’ bathroom and slammed the doors shut. My heart thumped in my chest, and I needed a second to breathe normally again. Unexpectedly, my eyes caught a bruise on my left arm, and I bit my lip in response. I tied the knot way too hard and bruised myself while I was sleeping yesterday.

I hid my wrist in the jacket’s sleeve and went to the sink to wash my hands. The break was almost over, but I couldn’t force myself to go back into the full hallway and feel all of the students’ eyes on me. I had to solve my problem with Ace’s brother, but after his emotions in the classroom, I wasn’t so sure anymore. Of course, he needed to understand the boundaries. He couldn’t just barge into my home and start asking questions, especially when I told him that we weren’t friends.

I wasn’t sure from where he knew where I lived. Maybe he followed me? But that’s really creepy and if he did that, he has way more problems with his head than me. When I was ready to leave, I breathed a few long breaths and opened the door. The hallway was still bustling with activity, but in a comforting way no one was looking at me.

“Kayla!” A deep voice echoed in an open space, and I started to move faster. “Oh, c’mon. Stop running from me.”

After his words, I stopped in my tracks. For sure, why was I running? I never ran from anything, so why do I have to avoid that bulky guy and constantly run out of fear to talk with him?

“What do you want?” I managed to spit the words out when he stood in front of me.

“Where were you all this week? What did you do at the orphanage?”

I raised my eyebrows, surprised at his straightforwardness, and after a second thought, I turned my back to him. How did he know that I was in the orphanage? Did he follow me? I tried to act nonchalantly but thoughts were spinning in my head.

“As I said last Friday, it’s none of your business.” I said firmly and faced him again. “Don’t you dare to go to my house ever again and if I find out once more that you followed me I will accuse you of harassment.” I was sweating profusely but also I was mad, and I needed to warn him properly, so he won’t do anything stupid. The bell rang and I left the harasser standing in the middle of the hallway alone.

Classes went slowly and boringly. My thoughts occasionally drifted to what happened in the past week and that I couldn’t remember most of it. I felt like I skipped a piece of my life and it sat wrongly in my stomach. At those kinds of moments, I was always so vulnerable and so alone that I just wanted to hide and forget that I existed. Why am I not able to establish some kind of relationship? Some friendship? I always felt so alone and unwanted…

My vision became blurry, and I managed to silence an audible hitch in my throat. I excused myself and went to the bathroom while tears were freely falling down my cheeks. I clamped my hand over my mouth and tried to be quiet and still in the small cubicle. I heard some rustling in the other cabin and I felt how my breathing became erratic.

It was a serious meltdown for me, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Everything was overwhelming, the sounds more pitchy and my heartbeat reminded me a hammer being used on a wall. I lowered my head wanting to calm myself down, but it wasn’t working and when the bell rang, everything was out of my hands again.

I was so engrossed in my own breakdown that I didn’t hear anything else and when the knocking sound scared me, I jumped from the floor near the toilet. Tears were still falling down, and I felt tired and weak. My legs were shaking, my fingers were trembling, and while I tried to stop sobbing, I remembered that I didn’t have any of my stuff; nor my backpack, nor the uniform jacket which I left in a classroom. The cabin’s door cracked when I opened it and after seeing dark eyes watching me, I almost let out a frustrated scream.

“Go away! That’s a girl’s bathroom you, f*****g p*****t!” I shouted, wanting to release all my anger to Ace’s brother. “Why the hell can’t you stay away? I’m begging you…” My voice became quiet, and my vision blurred again. “Just leave me alone.”

A burly guy grabbed me by my wrist, and I started trashing like a feral animal. He was way stronger than me and I still didn’t feel well after my week of unconsciousness, but I didn’t give up and managed to punch him somewhere in the shoulder.

“Calm down!” He hissed, trying to tame me.

“If you don’t let me go, I will scream!” My bruises from last night were on fire and when he squeezed my hand I could see a small trail of blood mixing with my white school blouse.

“If you don’t stop, you will hurt yourself! I’m just trying to soothe you.”

“Oh yeah? Just let me go!” I pushed him with all my might and surprise flashed through his black eyes. He stumbled back and I had a small gap to slip through the door. I found my things on the floor and while grabbing it I looked one more time at the doubtful expression on a burly guy’s face.

“You’re done.” I exclaimed firmly, and ran away from the toilet.

I still had a few classes left, but I didn’t want to spend even a minute in that wretched place and left in a hurry, but to my surprise, I was stopped at the front door by some blonde guy. With his black clothes, he looked strange here.

“Are you feeling okay?” He examined my red face and puffy eyes. Of course, he had to see blood on my blouse’s sleeve and his eyebrows immediately shot up.

“Do I look like I’m feeling okay?”

Blue eyes found mine and his eyebrows furrowed. I tried to go past him, but his hand shot up trying to catch my wrist and I dodged it quickly.

“Don’t you dare to touch me. One asshole is enough for today.” I warned him without breaking eye contact. For a moment I thought he would go for it, but the guy lowered his head, and I was shocked by the motion. I walked past him quickly and went outside, leaving the school and shitty guys inside of it. I breathed fresh air into my lungs and instantly remembered Ace’s number on my phone. He did say that I could call if his brother harasses me. Should I do it? Or should I just sort it out with the black-haired guy? It’s so annoying that I still don’t know his name! How did I manage to drag myself into this mess?

Without overthinking it, I found Ace’s number in my contacts and for a second I thought it through. What if he was polite and wouldn’t take this seriously? What if he laughed at my allegations to his brother?

What if…

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a dialling sound and  panicked right away. Oh s**t…

“Hello?” His voice was husky with an autorotative note on the other side of the phone. I breathed a few times and closed my eyes before talking.

“Hello Ace. It’s…”

“Kayla…” He caught me by surprise with the breathy sound.

“Yes. It’s me.” I blurted awkwardly. “I want to speak with you about your brother…”

“What that dickhead did this time?” His low growl sent a shiver down my spine, and I needed to keep my hand still to avoid letting go of my phone.

“He… um… Can we meet up?” I suggested kind of shyly, but then found my confidence back and looked at my left wrist. The bleeding stopped but it still hurt as f**k. “If you are busy…”

“No, no. Everything is okay. I said you could call me, so sure. We can meet up for a coffee if it’s okay?”

I nodded feeling too weak to speak, but then I remembered that he couldn’t see me, and I vocalized my answer.

“That’s… that’s great. I’m already free, but I can wait for you if you don’t have free time now.”

I hated that conversation! I sounded like a cheesy schoolgirl who had a crush. My breath hitched in my throat and my voice was way too shaky. I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks while sticky sweat covered my forehead.

“Give me half an hour and I will be ready. Shall we meet in the Artemis café?” Ace sounded thoughtful and I tried to imagine his gold eyes looking at his watch. I nodded again and, remembering that he couldn’t see a f*****g thing, I wanted to smack myself.

“That sounds perfect. Thank you Ace.”

A strange feeling inside my chest made me sweat more than I would like, but when the call finally ended I was in a better mood and even managed to smile after thinking about this meet-up.