Page 36 of Friend
But how to explain…
“I already talked to Headmistress Roberts.” A statement which wasn’t entirely untrue. “I’ve been told that it’s all right to fight, just so long as I’m not the one who starts it.”
Bianca looked at me, a faint flicker of hope in her eyes. “You’re… not going to get into trouble?”
Maybe at first… But Dad would never stop me for this.
“No,” I said, crossing my arms. “So, talk to me.”
She looked away again, and I could see that her resolve was already weakening. Bianca, by nature, was independent and preferred to take care of things herself. However, in certain things, she’d learned to trust me throughout the years.
This was one of them. Probably because it’d been us against them for so long now.
Bianca sighed, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. She wrung her hands nervously in her lap.
“H-he’s been cornering me when I’m alone, so he can call me names,” she began, and, briefly, I was stunned. Besides coming back to term late, I couldn’t think of many occasions when she’d been alone. “Sometimes he’ll make me go with him. He didn’t start touching me until recently.”
My vision flashed as every worst-case scenario passed through my thoughts. “Touch you?”
Bianca looked up at me, surprised by the urgent venom in my voice. “He’s grabbed me a few times.” She brushed her fingers over upper left arm—a place that would have easily been covered by an elbow-length sleeve. Was she bruised there too? “He’s only started hitting recently. I don’t know what he wants.”
“What’s he been saying?” I forced the question through my clenched teeth.
“Well…” Bianca’s attention wandered as she looked past me. “He…” Her words trailed off as the door opened.
“What the hell, Abernathy?” Cory stormed into the room, closing the door behind him. “This is where you’re hiding instead of coming to me yourself?”
“I’m not hiding,” I told him, barely glancing in his direction. Did he know what was going on? It was difficult to hold myself back—to not go after him. “I have no need to hide fromyou. I’m helping Bianca.”
“Why did you attack Adrian? He came back with McCarthy, all fucked up.” It was obvious that Cory was already too far gone in his anger to even register my words. “That was too far! We had a code of conduct—and you broke it. How dare you…” His accusations trailed off, his attention drifting to Bianca.
She was pressing her clasped hands into her lap and looked to the floor. Even the casual observer could see that she’d just been attacked.
“What happened toyou?” Cory asked her, his tone accusing. It almost sounded as though he might have been even slightly concerned too, which was impossible.
Bianca’s shoulders tensed, and her voice was small as she responded, “N-nothing.”
“Collins cornered her.” I watched his reaction carefully, trying my best to discern his mood. He didn’t disappoint; his eyebrows drew together in surprise, and he scowled.
“He’s been doing it for months now.” I crossed my arms, making sure to keep myself between the wolf and Bianca—just in case. “You didn’t know?”
Cory glanced back at me. “No,” he snapped. “She’s been off-limits for days.”
Only for days?
“Well, whatever. He’s been ramping it up,” I told him. “I think he hit her today.” I frowned at Bianca, noting the way she’d begun to pull at her skirt. When she was especially nervous, she tended to play with her clothing. “Right?”
She flinched at being singled out and hesitantly replied. “W-we were talking…” she began, and I glared at her harder. She sighed. “He was upset. I-I think he lost his temper.”
“Did he hit you?” I asked. Sometimes with Bianca, the only way to get an answer was to present her with a clear-cut, pointed yes or no question.
“Technically, no.” She looked out the window, her shoulders squaring. “There was more fist.”
“He punched you?” I was briefly unable to feel anything but rage—I should have killed him. “What else? You said he was saying stuff.”
“I-I don’t understand,” Bianca mumbled as she trembled with frustration. “A-about it being a game. He’s waiting his turn.”
My blood ran cold and a shiver shot down my spine. I glanced at Cory who seemed similarly surprised. “You take care of it,” I told him, “or I will.”
