Escha Rose

Mines To Protect

ESCHA POINT OF VIEW

I hear an alarm ringing but I don't cut it off. Instead I hug Ava tighter to my body. I feel her reach out and silence her alarm. She slowly takes my arms off of her and then stand up. I peek my eye open and watch as she stretches and makes her way to the bathroom.

I close my eyes once I water running. I have my eyes closed for a few more minutes and then I sit up. I can't ever go back to sleep once she leaves. I stand up and make my way to the bathroom. When I open the door I hear singing. I stand there for a moment, just listening. I recognize the song as Ruel's Hard Sometimes. 

oh I .. try to be happy but it's hard sometimes. 

but life .. just seems to happen right before my eyes.

cause I feel like I'm not there

cause my head is up somewhere

far away from all my friends

I just want that back again

oh I .. try to be happy but it's hard sometimes.

it's hard sometimes 

I love her voice.. that song fits her. I listen to her sing the song all the way through and then I go to the sink to brush my teeth. the mirror is all foggy from the shower once I finish, so I decide to write her a little message. 'love your singing, and good morning xoxo'

I walk back out of the bathroom and put some clothes on. I got up earlier to take a shower while she was asleep. She walks out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, with her skin flushed. I can't tell whether its from the shower or from my little message and the fact that I caught her singing. we pick out vice versa  matching out fits. I have on black timberlands, grey sweats and a black shirt with the letter A on it. Ava has on grey timberlands that I gave her, black sweats, and a grey shirt with the letter R on it.

We head down to the kitchen and see Lacey over the stove cooking breakfast. I look over to the clock and see that its only 7:15.

'' Lace.. aren't you going to be late?" I question looking at her setting up plates. She looks up at me and Ava and then shakes her head no while smiling. "No, I go in at 8:30. Come sit down and eat. I made , potatoes and some bell peppers. I know you both don't like meat, so I made y'all that. and I made me some eggs and blueberry pancakes. " she says handing us each some plates. 

I look at her surprised while Ava gratefully took the plate and sat down at the bar. I gave Lacey a weird look while taking my plate, but she just smiled at me and winked. I sat down beside Ava and starting eating. Lacey put some water down beside me and some juice beside Ava. I took a sip and another one.

"I have a date tomorrow." she states out of the blue, causing me to choke on the water that was going down my throat. 

"W-what?" I choke out with Ava patting my back. I look up at her and she has a s**t eating grin on her face.

she nods her head still smiling. I clear my throat and take another sip of water. "Do I know him?" I asked 

"No, I know him from work.. " she says her smile faltering. I'm happy for her I just want her to be careful. 

"That's good. is he nice?" I ask getting into a protective sister role. She nods her head.

"how does he make you feel? Any bad vibes?" I ask again.

"I wouldn't have said yes if he had bad vibes, Rose." she says trying to convince me.

"What about Kate? Huh? You thought you were fine with her. Look what happened." I snap. she looks at me with so much hurt and betrayal. I know it was a low blow but she has to be careful. 

"I just wanted to tell you.. I wanted you to be happy for me." Tears are pooling in her eyes. 

"I am happy for you Lace. I just need you to be careful. I don't want you hurt. I can get really...I get out of control. promise me you will be careful." I say getting up from my chair and walking over to the other side of the island to hug her. I hear a muffled 'I promise' and I bring my arms around her. 

"Now, lets eat so that Ava and I can go to school, and you can go to work with 'Hot Doc'." I say winking at her. She just laughs and brushes me off.

*

Ava and I get to school around 7 30 and make our way through the front of the school.

"Ava?" I call out, and she looks at me questionably while raising her eyebrow. that's hot as hell.

I put my hand out for her to grab it  and she just looks at me and then takes a look around the hall.

"Ava, grab my hand or I will kiss you to oblivion right here  in front of all these people" I say motioning to the crowded hall full of hormonal teens. She blushes a dark crimson before grabbing my hand.  instead of me taking her to class, I pull her to the office. I walk up to the front desk before asking if the principal is in.

"He should be in there, go on around.'' she says looking at Ava and I's linked hands. Ava just keeps her head down while I laugh and lead us to the principals door. I knock and hear an authoritative 'come in'

I open the door and close it back once Ava and I are in. 

''Goodmorning Sir" I say gaining his attention.

He looks up at me and does a double take. "Well look whos back. Hello Rose." he says getting up smiling to  fist bump me, before sitting back down 

over the time that I was here, he has been the only one I really talk to, since the whole Ms.Wonder accident.

"What can I do for you today?' he says looking over at Ava. Her skin is starting to turn back to its normal color. 

"I was wondering if I could change her schedule to fit mines." I raise Ava and I's conjoined hand. He raises his eyebrow at me. "What for? I need a valid excuse, Rose."

I turn back Ava and lean down to whisper in her ear."i'm gonna be honest so that he can change your schedule to mines. Is that okay?"  i ask her. she looks at me for a moment before nodding her head slightly. I squeeze her hand and turn back to the principal. 

"sir, this is Ava Thomas. she .. gets bullied for being different in a lot of things. I took a liking to Ava, and we became friends. Long story short.. she means a lot to me. I cant lose her from bullying. when she with me she is at peace as am I. " I pause to take a breath. "She has been abused, bullied and off the record raped.. and I don't want her to lose her free self with me. To be blunt, I don't want her to die as  result of what she is going through." I finish.

He looks at me for a moment before looking at Ava for conformation. 

"...How soon do you need it changed?" he asks after a few beats of silence. 

"As soon as possible sir." I say pulling Ava into my side. 

He nods his and roll over to his computer and starts typing around for a few minutes. It seems like hours when he is finally done and prints out a single sheet of paper. I take it from his out stretched hand and give it to Ava. 

"Ms. Thomas, I am terribly sorry that you have had to go through all of that. I am here for you, but seeing as though you have Rose here, your all covered. If you ever need any help, you can come to me. Again, I am very sorry." 

"its okay, sir"

I thank Mr.Erikson once more before me and Ava make our way to our first block. 

We walk in and go straight to the back corner. She looks at me like im crazy but I just smirk at her. She knows what im doing. I put her all the way I the corner and I scoot my desk closer to hers until both of the desks are touching. I pull her chair to mines and smirk again at her blushing face.

"You okay ?" I ask her reaching for her hand again. 

"Yeah, I'm okay.'' she responds.

"I'm sorry for not asking you before asking for the change. I just wanted to be with you all day. Being with you means your safe." I say to her. She leans into me gives me a side hug. "it's okay, I don't mind it. Now I get to calm you down whenever you get to the point that you almost take some ones head off. " she says laughing and pulls away.  I look down in embarrassment, while my face heats up. I look back up at Ava and her smile seems  so bright. "I like when you blush, Rose. It makes you look so cute" she coos at me pinching my cheeks.

"And I like your singing, you should sing for me again some time." I say quietly. I bring my lips to her ear and whisper "I like you in a towel too, you should do that a lot more often." I pull back and watch her face light from embarrassment.

I pull away and chuckle but I get cut off when someone-quite literally- yells in my ear. 

"WHY THE f**k IS THE FREAK IN MY SEAT?!

That pisses me off, and I can tell that she knows when she tries to stop me.

"Rose don't-" 

"Excuse me?" I say standing up. The look on her face is amusing. 

"You heard me. Why. Is. The. FREAK. In. My. Seat." she repeats again, putting emphasis on the word freak.

She doesn't see my hand coming to hit her in her throat. She makes a sound close to a gurgle and grunt and reaches for her neck. The class has gone quiet as they watch the whole thing play out. I grab her hair and speak loud enough for the class to hear. Where is the teacher?

"If you ever-and I mean ever-call her a freak again, I will drag you down the hall by your dry, s**t colored hair. Do you understand?" I ask her. She just nods her head unable to speak. I turn her around and push her forward. "You need new friends, the ones you have didn't even try to help you" I say motioning to the other teens standing behind her. I turn back around and sit back down beside Ava. My hand seeks hers and when I find it, I hold on so tightly. She squeezes my hand and rubs my arm with her other one. 

She reaches up to me and whispers in my ear, "guess I didn't have to tell you not to rip her head off."

I chuckle and kiss her cheek. Turning back to the class, I notice they are all still watching us. I raise my eyebrow and everybody turns around. I don't even see Barbie and her minions. 

The teacher comes in a few minutes later talking about it  was backed up in the copy room. No one listens to her as she rambles on and on. Ava lays her head on my shoulder and I turn to look at her, but she has her eyes closed. The teacher passes out a paper and people get in their groups to do the work. 

"Thank you, Rose. For taking up for me.." I hear Ava say quietly...

"No problem, baby girl." I kiss her head. "Your mines to protect." she laughs and pulls her head off of my shoulder.

"Alright, time to get some work done." she says enthusiastically. She sits up and pulls two pencils out of her bra. I stare at her chest and she snaps her fingers in my face to get my attention. 

''Huh?'' I say coming out of my shock. she giggles and hands me a pencil. 

God she is gonna be the death of me I groan inside my head.

"alright.. lets get to work." I say and we spend the rest of class doing work, talking and making each other laugh.

God.. My baby.