Ch. 61: The Strength to Fight

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
Monday morning came around and I was waiting near the end of the line to get on the bus. Sophie was there, clearly glaring at me. But I couldn’t remember why. Was she still mad about me changing schools months ago? Get a life, girl.
I got on and made myself comfortable in my first seat, putting my backpack down next to me and pulling my earbuds out. Ready to drown out the world. I was exhausted. I didn’t sleep well the night before and couldn’t remember why. I have been forgetting a lot of things lately.
The bus pulled away from the curb and I closed my eyes hoping to snag a few minutes of sleep.

Nick~
Well my life just blew up. Jake had spoken to the Goddess, and she had confirmed Jake and Rachel were mates. Evan’s wolf, Xavier confirmed all of that, as well as the fact that Jake had something surfacing in him that wasn’t all wolf. My mind kept racing back to the hellhound-wolf hybrid from our pack’s supposed history. I had more questions than ever. But at least we had been given some orders. Orders I could do.
Evan, Jake and I had rushed onto the bus to take the seats behind Rachel’s reserved spot and across from it. I sat across, and Jake and Evan sat beside her. I saw how it killed him not to talk to her but we knew the Goddess wouldn’t have told us to do all this without a reason. She didn’t just go interrupting werewolf daily life.
As soon as I heard her breathing change I nodded to Jake. Evan looked away like we could give any privacy at all, which was impossible with our senses but hey, there’s still decorum.
“Rachel, this is so not the way I had wanted to tell you this, but here goes. I love you. I have loved you for years, and I love you more every day. This is literally killing me right now, but I know I will always do what is best for you. Right now it’s keeping my distance. But soon, I promise, we’ll be together, and I will tell you all about this. And Goddess, I hope you choose me too. You’re my soulmate Rachel, and I will love you always,” he said in a whisper.
My heart ached for him. I heard her breathing deepen, she must have fallen deeper asleep. I wondered what this bit was for. It was very specific. But it wasn’t my place to question our Goddess. At least not yet.

Rachel~
The bus stopped and I woke up feeling rested. It felt like it was going to be a good day. I got off and followed June, Melody and Angela to the cafeteria to wait for Ally.
After some minutes I got a text from Ally and frowned at it. She wasn’t coming in today. I wondered what that was about. She didn’t say she was sick or anything… Odd.
I went to the library still, and did some homework while I waited for Sean. Film went by quickly. Maxine looked at me a lot throughout it but refused to explain why. Odd. She did however ask me where Ally was. I just told her what I knew.
After break there was Humanities and I knew all would end soon. Vance was in this class. But I still took a determined breath when I went through the door. I would have a good day, dangit. Class ended before I knew it and I felt great about being able to ignore him. Maybe this was it. The day I could fight back for real. I felt the pull and pushed against it but it was rather pointless. I ended up in the dark hall before I knew it. He pinned me once again.
“I was thinking about you all weekend,” he whispered in my ear.
I shivered from pure disgust. He seemed pleased.
“Yes, I’m getting to you, I know it,” he added, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.
I had a flash to a warm pair of dark eyes I couldn’t place and I pushed back.
He fell back.
Holy crap. I pushed him!
I ran for it. I slammed on the floor as he pulled on my ankle.
I kicked him and kicked him, trying to get him to loosen his grip.
“That’s it!” He seethed in my ear, leaning over me. Straddling my back.
I froze, repulsed by the contact. He grabbed my wrists and spun me over as I thrashed and thrashed. I was losing whatever strength I had.
He straddled my waist and fear struck me. Panic had me wild.
“You keep wiggling like that and I won’t be responsible for what I do,” he said leaning down, I felt his hard member against my stomach.
This was it, he was going to kiss me, to force himself on me. My tears filled my eyes and in my haze I saw them again. A pair of deep, dark, kind eyes. Shining. Full of love. Strength filled my chest and I pulled my right arm out of his grasp, suckerpunching Vance right on the jaw.
He hissed and I hit him again and again, and again. I was wildly attacking him and once he was off I got to my feet and ran out the door.
I heaved up my breakfast outside, by the office. The sound seemed to get the janitor’s attention and he called for help inside the office before kneeling by me and putting a hand on my shoulder to keep me from falling over.
Feet sounded next to me and I heard voices. Then it went dark.

I woke up to overhead fluorescent lights and a soft female voice in the distance. I sat up slowly to find myself on the couch in the office, by the nurse’s station.
“Ms. Arnhem, she’s up!” someone called from nearby.
My eyes tried to focus. Ms. Arnhem came into view as she pranced over to the couch.
“Hey there, Rachel. We’ve got an ambulance on the way, okay? Try not to move too much,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
I cleared my throat but it felt dry.
“Here drink this,” she handed a tiny bottle of water to me. I took a few sips and winced at the pain of it going down.
“Thanks,” I whispered out. “What happened?”
“That’s what we were wondering, Sweetheart. Mike, one of our custodians, found you by the office door puking and looking really faint,” she informed me.
“Oh - oh wait, no. I don’t need an ambulance, we can’t afford-” I started.
“It’s okay, really. People fainting on campus is something that always needs to get checked out. Okay? It’s on the school,” she reassured me.
I nodded.
“Ms. Arnhem, the EMTs are here, they're coming this way,” the secretary behind her said.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Ms. Arnhem asked again.
I knew then what had happened. It hit me all at once. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to tell her. Tell anyone. The doors burst open and I thought, why not try again?
“Vance,” I said clearly. Surprising myself. My eyes opened up.
I could talk. There was no pain. No voice disappearing.
“Vance, hun?” Ms. Arnhem asked again for clarification.
I nodded my head up and down furiously.
“He’s been harassing me for weeks, cornering me in the hallway. Pushing his body against me. He won’t leave me alone. I’ve been trying to fight back but the sicko thinks I like him. I haven’t been able to tell anyone,” I spoke so fast, afraid I would lose my voice again. I started to cry. From relief, from fear.
Ms. Arnhem stood up as the EMTs reached us and started asking me questions, shining a light in my eyes.
“We’ll take care of this Rachel, I promise. I’m glad you told me,” she said as she walked back to her office. I saw her pick up her phone and dial.