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When were these delinquents ever not partying?

I'd been here for two weeks and I'd been to about four 'gatherings' and that was only the ones I attended. I had returned the towel and was now hanging out in Colin and Chase's dorm, alongside the rest of the boys and some of the girls.

We all had huddled into a group, in the centre of the room. We were all in a circle, facing each other, a cup of alcohol planted in our hands. Imogen and Chase had voiced playing the game 'I have never'.

"I have never..." a girl whose name was Alyssa I think, trailed off, cocking her head slightly, thinking about what to say. "Never slept with a teacher."

I glanced over at Imogen, who sheepishly raised her cup. Chase narrowed his eyes at this, but it was only fleeting. I smirked. I wonder if they would ever label themselves and actually just go out. They practically were a couple anyway.

Just like I had been with Gabe...

Another girl drank, much to my surprise. I really didn't think affairs with teachers were that common. The next person was another girl, with bright, red hair whose name I really couldn't remember. She grinned. "I have never... slept with someone in the bathroom at a party."

A couple of people snickered and Johnny and I exchanged a guilty glance. We both drank and I felt the hard stare of someone. I looked over at Colin who had his jaw clenched. I raised my eyebrows at him and he swivelled his eyes from me and death stared his cup.

"I have never..." the next girl said, tapping her chin, in deep thought. "Had a threesome."

I almost choked on my own saliva at the number of people who drank to that. I widened my eyes as Imogen took a sip. What hasn't the girl done? I shook my head. Yeah, I had been wild, but I had never done that. Eyes fell onto me and I stared back in confusion before realisation dawned on me. It was my turn to play. I bit my lip, contemplating on what to ask. I should have thought ahead because now I was stuck.

"I have never..." I began, my eyes darting around as if something in the room would give me some sort of clue. I concluded it with a genius response, "Er- never graffited something."

To my surprise, almost everybody in the circle took a gulp. I quirked an eyebrow. "Really, guys? Really?"

A couple shrugged. "It's the norm here."

"Fair enough," I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Clearly I missed the initiation."

"We'll hook you up," Chase informed me. "We'll take your graffiti virginity."

I snorted, alongside a couple of the others.

Glancing over, I met Johnny's eyes. He gave me a nod and I pretended I didn't see it. I drew my thighs up to my chest and rested my chin on the top of my right knee. I rolled my lips into my mouth as the game continued. It went for about another twenty minutes before it got old and we all moved onto something else.

The music was turned back on and the floor beneath began pulsating once more. I swayed my body to the movement. Imogen came over to me, stumbling slightly. She interlaced our fingers together. I grinned at her as she almost tripped over, in her ginormous heels.

After making fools of ourselves, we removed our bodies from the space we used as a dance floor and I followed her to the mini fridge that was set up. I withdrew a drink and took a couple of swigs, embracing the buzz it brought with it.

"Jer Bear," I boomed, giving him a toothy grin. I jogged over to him and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders. I rested my chin on his shoulder. "Hi."

He chuckled, his chest vibrating underneath my arms. "Hello, Hales."

"How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Never better."

"That's good," he laughed. He shrugged my chin off him and turned so he was facing me. Without realising, I reached for his hand and began playing with his fingers. I never realised how attractive he was.

Okay, I was getting drunk.

He smirked down at his hands, obviously liking how flirty I was being. Don't get too used to it buddy, a voice whispered in the back of my mind. I never let myself be this open when I was sober. I ran my hands up his arm.

"You're so strong."

He rolled his eyes. "I could show you exactly how strong I can be."

I nodded enthusiastically. I bit my lip in anticipation as he leaned closer to me. I closed my eyes as I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead, his lips went to my ear, instead of my mouth. I pouted slightly at this.

"I'll show you..." his voice whispered and a shiver ran down my spine.

"When?" I asked almost breathlessly.

"At..."

"At..." I prompted, getting impatient.

"The gym."

With that, he reeled back and patted me in the shoulder. "I'm not Johnny. I won't take advantage of you when you're drunk. I know you're not like this sober."

I stared at him in surprise. "Most boys wouldn't do that."

He shrugged. "Sometimes I can be nice."

I smiled at him. "You are nice."

With a wink, he sauntered away, probably to get more drinks. I was glad he said that. It woke me up a bit. I turned and saw everyone beginning to form one big group again. Excitedly, I ran up and pushing my way to the middle.

"What are we doing?"

"Shots," Johnny answered, handing me one. He smirked at me, a dimple appearing on his left cheek. He really was cute, I shouldn't have been so harsh to him. "Ready when you are."

With a grin, I shot it back without hesitation. It burned my throat, but I was used to it. I hardly waited for a second to get my hands on another one. We all did shots this time. After a couple more, a few people began to peel from the group, obviously having enough. By my last one, I spilled it all down my top as if my body was protesting against me. I laughed it off and stumbled to the bed, collapsing onto it and gazing up at the ceiling. Colin came over to me, frowning deeply.

"Do you have to be on my bed?" he asked.

"If you don't like people touching your stuff, don't hold get-togethers in your dorm," I responded flatly, not moving to look at him.

"It wasn't my idea," he remarked, narrowing his eyes.

"Then go."

He reached down and grabbed my wrist, enclosing his fingers around it. My skin burned at his touch. He pulled me so that we were looking at each other in the eyes. My head spun and I swayed slightly, but soon got my feet right. I ignored how my skin automatically heated up. We were so close that our breaths mingled as one, God knows how much mine reeked of alcohol and that the tips of our noses were brushing against one another. I let my eyes dip down to his red lips. Jeeze, I was all over the boys tonight.

"This is my dorm. I decide who comes and who goes," he said firmly, his eyes never leaving mine. I gulped slightly at the intensity before my drunken state began to flood through the gaps of my brain again. "Not you."

"Then shut up, stop complaining and join in for once.," I snipped, shaking my hair over my shoulders. I hated how I got when I was drunk, but at the moment, I couldn't help it.

"You're unbelievable."

"I'm drunk, Colin," I ground out. "You knew you would get a reaction out of me."

"I always do when I speak to you."

"Get out of the way," I shoved past him and went over to Johnny. I planted my butt on his lap. I glanced over to Colin was staring daggers at me. I leaned down and passionately smashed my lips to Johnny's, feeling absolutely nothing as usual. It was bizarre, I kiss Johnny and feel empty. Colin touches me and my skin burns.

I pulled back, completely ignoring the fact that I just hooked up with Johnny, and looked back to Colin. His eyes flashed with fury and his upper lip curled. I smirked at him and pulled Johnny back towards me.

It seemed to me, that every time I am drunk, it is my main mission to make an idiot out of myself in front of Colin. I winced as I replayed the Johnny scene over in my head. I used him to make Colin jealous. I was playing on Johnny's feelings for me and it was wrong. I shook my head, disappointed in myself.

I needed to stop drinking.

Striding down the corridor, I made my way to English. Of course, my first class of the day was the one I was positioned with Colin. Sighing, I glanced down at what I was wearing. For our school uniform, we just wore a white shirt with 'Downright High' written in cursive writing on the left breast. We could wear any bottoms and as it was cool today, my comfortable boots had come out from the cupboard and my black tights were hugging my legs.

I entered and widened my eyes in surprise as Colin was already there. Now that was a first. He either never showed up or was late. I raised my eyebrows as I sat down. I looked at him, expecting a reaction. He vacantly stared to the front, not moving a muscle. I frowned at him and sighed. Okay, I guess I deserved the silent treatment. I grabbed a pen from my bag and a book. I placed it on the table and leaned so that my lower arms were resting on the edge of the desk.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, hating that I was apologising. "I was rude to you the other day."

"I don't care."

"Yes, you do."

"I don't like you, Hayley," he said in a low voice, his eyes flickering over to me fleetingly. I flinched at his tone and was annoyed at the pang of hurt I felt. "We're not friends. I don't care if you screw Johnny. I don't care if you get drunk and do whatever. Just leave me out of it."

"Alcohol and I don't really work well."

"Really?" he asked sarcastically. I pursed my lips at his attitude. "Never would have assumed otherwise."

"Look, I'm trying here."

"Want a medal?"

"You're a jerk."

I turned away from him, folding my arms across my chest childishly. I decided ignoring him would be the best response. Mr. Johnston then arrived, sipping on a cup of coffee. He placed it down and tucked his shirt into his pants, giving me the impression he had been in a rush this morning.

"Morning," he greeted, which earned him no response in return from anyone. Was that lip gloss on the corner of his mouth? "Today we're going to study..."

Thoughts of Mr. Johnston possibly being with a student faded from my mind as soon as he began talking about literary techniques. I began zoning out and fiddling with my pen. Colin's foot began tapping, shaking the desk. I gritted my teeth and tried to think of something else, to distract me. He began hitting his thumbs, making some sort of beat. I rolled my tongue across my teeth. Think of something else. Think of anything else. The beach... shopping... Mr. Johnston hooking up with a student... anything. He began hitting the desk with his pen and I snapped. I reached over, grabbed his pen, and snapped it in half. I half smiled in satisfaction at the crunch. He glanced over at me, one eyebrow raised.

"That was my favourite pen," he chided, but there was a smirk evident on his face. I wanted to wipe the floor with it. My upper lip curled at how amusing he found this. He really did love toying with my emotions.

"If you don't stop tapping, I'm going to get your 'favourite pen' and shove it in your eye, got it?" I threatened, my jaw clenched.

"Threaten me again and I will..."

"You will what?" I sneered.

He stood up suddenly, his chair knocking back onto the ground. My breath caught in my throat as he snatched it up and raised it over his head. He twitched as though he was going to strike down at me. All I could imagine was hands, continuously beating down on my body. My whole vision filled with that, allowing me to delve back into unwanted memories.

Six Months Earlier

I gazed vacantly out at the waves. I rolled my lips into my mouth as a tear slid down my cheek and onto my lips. I licked it off and sighed heavily. I wonder what it would be like to go under and never come back up.

Have you ever thought about that?

What people would do if you died?

How they would react?

If they would react at all?

I bit my lip, contemplating my options. I really only had two. I sighed, processing them through my head, running a shaky hand through my jet black hair. I had a red streak through it and my nails painted black. My arms and fingers were littered with black jewellery.

Option One: I turn around, go back inside to my uncle's house, and pretend I was okay. Pretend that I didn't miss my Dad every day and was willing to kill myself to join him on the 'other side'. Pretend that life would go on and I would have a happy ending, like everyone in movies.

Option Two: I take the plunge. I walk across the sand, into the water, go under and never come back up. I join my Dad, where my life would return to the happiness and perfection it once was. I could go back to being a model... back to having a guy who loved me... back to best friends who would do anything for me.

I took a step forward, deciding Option Two had more of a positive outcome. Just as I took another one, a heavy hand hit my shoulder, causing me to stumble. I knew it was my uncle. I took in a shaky breath and swiftly wiped the tears from my cheeks. I turned and plastered a fake smile onto my face like I had been the last few days.

"Hey," he said warmly, his hand caressing my shoulder. I glanced down as he began rubbing all the way up and down my arm. "Why don't you come on inside? I have some warm milk for you, to help you sleep."

My ears perked up, the words 'warm milk' and I trailed behind him wordlessly into his cramped house, hardly big enough for two. I smiled politely as he handed it to me. I took a few tentative sips, before downing the lot. I washed it up and put it away. With a nod good night, I turned and made my way to the bathroom. I scrubbed my teeth and rinsed my mouth out. After that, I returned to my room. I stripped down and into some loose shorts and a concert shirt I had picked up a couple of years ago.

I heard the familiar creak of my door opening and glanced over my shoulder. Thomas, my uncle, came in. "Did you want me to sleep with you tonight?"

My eyes widened involuntarily at his words. Did he really just ask me that? That was a bit creepy. On quite a few levels. I tried to remind calm, he was just trying to be supportive. A father-like figure in my life as I don't have one anymore.

"Um, no. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice low. He took a few steps and let his fingers trail up my arm. I looked at him, getting an extremely bad vibe. "It sure would help me."

"Er-"

Without one more word, his mouth was forcefully shoved on mine. I yelped out in surprise as I fell backward onto the bed. He roughly ground against me with his hips. Memories of the night my Dad was murdered crashed down around me. In one fluid movement, he struck his hand out and ripped my shorts from my legs. I gasped as his hand entered the waistband of my underwear. I finally wedged my arm from his grip and slapped him hard across the face. He rolled off of me instantly, coughing.

I jumped up and began to run, but his arm wrapped around my waist, reeling me back to him. I was flung back onto the mattress once more as he climbed on top of me. He shoved his face into my neck and roughly bit my skin. I cried out in pain. My heart was rapidly beating against my ribcage. My hands were trembling as pure panic spiked through my veins. I began wriggling and squirming under his grip before he snapped. He punched me hard in the face, causing my head to snap back. He wrapped his hands around my throat and began squeezing, effectively cutting my breathing off.

Gasping for breath, I attempted to remove him from me, but he was too strong. Just as I was about to pass out and my arms went limp, he let go. He began hitting me. He thumped down my arms, legs, stomach, chest, but worst of all, my face. It suffered the most brutal impact.

I slowly felt myself fall into unconsciousness. This was only one of the many times this had happened to me before I was removed and sent to my Nan's.

I still don't know today, what he did to me after I passed out.

Today 

I gasped, wrapping my head protectively with my arms. I tried to keep the whimper from escaping. I waited for the blow, but it didn't come. Slowly, I removed my arms and Colin was staring down at me, his eyes had softened.

That was the same look Imogen had given me. She knew and now he did too. I felt ridiculously over-exposed and vulnerable right now, which I hated.

"Mr. Denver," Mr. Johnston's voice bellowed. "If you don't drop that chair, this instant, I swear I will give you a month worth of detentions."

"Don't tell me what to do," he bit out, his voice sounded hoarse. His eyes never left mine though and it felt as though they could see through me and into my soul. Like he knew what had happened, without me having to explain. I only then realised my heart was galloping in my chest and sweat was beginning to form on my forehead. I was too worked up to see how much I would have been embarrassing myself right now.

"I can and I will."

A strangled scream left his lips and he propelled the chair at Mr. Johnston. My eyes bulged out of their sockets. Mr. Johnston ducked just in time and the chair soared over the top of him and collided with the window. It shattered into pieces, showering broken glass all over him. He slowly stood up and I saw glass had hit him on his arms and his back. My jaw was hanging open. I knew Colin was angry and had issues, but I never imagined he was capable of something like that. I slowly turned my eyes to Colin, whose chest was rising and falling.

His eyes were wide and ablaze with fury. Mr. Johnston didn't say anything. I think he was in too much pain. In a way, I was thankful. This commotion took the unwanted attention from me and onto Colin. Did he do it on purpose or was I reading too much into it? Colin calmly grabbed his book and walked to the front of the room, as if nothing had happened. He went up to him and I was surprised Mr. Johnston hardly even flinch at his presence.

"I'll see myself to the office," he said.

He looked back at me. My mouth was unattractively hanging open as I gaped. The look he gave me was confusing. He had been mad at me and now he wasn't? Dread began spreading through my veins as I realised he must know I've been abused before. He nodded as if we had organised the whole thing and shrugged at me as if to say this was normal. A few people glanced over at me and my face was just reflecting confusion. He gave me a knowing smile, turned, and strode from the classroom.

As soon as he disappeared through the door, chaos broke out through the room suddenly, causing me to jump in alarm. I heard something break and cringed. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and block everything out. A couple of kids jumped out of the broken window and that started it. Desks were knocked over, more chairs were sent flying. Mr. Johnston backed up and disappeared into the storeroom. He slipped the blind closed and locked the door as if he had practised the method a hundred times.

Paper was going everywhere, pens flying past. I got hit in the back of the head by someone's book and stumbled sideways, feeling disorientated. I grabbed my stuff and slipped out of the room. The disruption in my classroom must have triggered an outbreak in others as well because students suddenly came flying out of every room, their eyes lit with adrenaline.

I got pushed over and I hit the wall. I stuck my fist out, socking the person in the shoulder. They rounded on me. It was a solid girl, from a year above me, with streaked purple hair and her septum pierced. She sneered at me. With both hands, she shot forward and shoved me roughly at the wall. My head smacked back and connecting with it. Black dots dancing across my vision and I began blinking furiously.

Pain spread through the back of my head and I felt hot, liquid run down the back of my neck. I was bleeding. I swung my fist forward again, jabbing her aggressively in the cheek. She grabbed my wrist and bent it painfully backward. A yelp escaped my mouth and she brought her hand up, back-handing me across the face. My head ricocheted off the wall a couple of times and everything began to turn fuzzy.

I gritted my teeth, preparing myself to tackle her. Just as my body twitched to do so, she stepped back and sighed. "I don't have time for this."

With that, she turned on her heel and began jogging away. I watched, trying to keep from blacking out. She went to a group and grabbed a joint, taking a few puffs. I cradled my head in my hands, trying not to let the tears well in my eyes. I felt my left cheek swelling, and I was dreading getting up in the morning. I knew I was going to have an ugly, black bruise. It was actually a scary thought, to think someone had a hold over me. She was stronger, and I knew this wasn't going to be our only encounter.

I watched with wide eyes as people began casually ripping out cans and graffiting on the walls and lockers. They weren't kidding when the other's said everyone grafftis here. I saw a couple of people throwing cigarettes which were lighted. I shuddered. The building was on fire any second! Suddenly, a piercing scream wailed over the rooms and I slapped my hands to my ears, dropping to my knees automatically.

Guards flooded the room with batons, hitting anyone who looked aggressive. Some people were handcuffed and taken away. I looked up and saw the purple-haired girl, running a finger across her neck as though slitting her throat, her eyes piercing mine. I tried not to gulp as I glared viciously back at her.

A guard came close to me and raised a baton. As fast as I humanly could, I crawled underneath a bag rack and hugged my knees to my chest. I began rocking back and forth, burying my face deep into my thighs.

I think it was safe to say, I seriously underestimated this place.

This was so much fun to write! Riots sound fun, don't they? ;)

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