Chapter 7
CC POV
The next morning I woke up in an unfamiliar room, with my band mates around me on air mattresses.

Looking around I couldn’t see Ashley but I saw a small dog and a brown cat snoozing nearby. Where’s Ashley? I thought, and then I remembered what happened yesterday.

We went to a McDonalds for breakfast, went to the school that booked us for a graduation concert and was introduced to the girl who’d be stuck with us for a few weeks.

Turns out that girl is the one Ashley is all in love with, which was awesome, they did look great together. Then we hung out at the hall, Gabby managing to tease Ash into oblivion which was hilarious.

Then she played a few songs for us, ‘Bad Reputation’ and ‘Cherry Pie’.

I heard her tell Ashley one time when they were skyping that she’d been told numerous times by people that song described her pretty well, I was curious to see how that happened, I think it has something to do with the pop brats at her school.

Cherry Pie was funnier cos Andy made the mistake of asking whether she and Ash had similar mindsets.

At the time I was thinking ‘Dude, she’s pretty much a female version of him, except she plays guitar rather than bass. From her behaviour earlier, it’s kinda obvious they do – especially since they’re doing Cherry Pie!’

Then later on he stuck his foot in mouth AGAIN, this time by insulting her favourite series from when she was a kid. She even has that cool dark mark thing on her arm!

Then we picked up a heap of stuff including costume accessories, groceries and a new guitar then we went back to her place when we found out she was vision impaired.

She was wearing contacts then took them out, and accidentally ran into a wall, forgetting she couldn’t see too well without them and that she wasn’t wearing glasses. Then we all had a drink after she introduced us to her friend J5 and their pets Zeba and Jemima.

After that she got changed, driving Ash crazy again then she dyed and cut our hair as well as her own and a few of friends who came over.

Though before she dyed it she and Ash had a moment when I accidentally crashed into him, causing him to just about face plant on the tiles (which would have hurt) when Gabby dropped what she was holding and caught him.

Andy made a comment about her strength cos she was holding him up by herself and he was bigger than she was! She didn’t seem to notice though as they were in their own little world, being adorable with each other which Jinxx took a photo of before Jake cleared his throat, getting their attention.

Gabby instantly stood up and helped Ash up before tying her hair out of the way, taking out her ear piercings (not the ones she got done today) and put on an apron.

Then she told Andy to say what I did earlier, seeing as he was itching to say it too. Then Ash complained that Andy probably had a mic hidden on him, we laughed and she started mixing the colours for her friend J5 as he instructed us to take out any ear piercings and bandanas we had on then to put a towel around our neck then this funny cape thing.

While we waited for Gabby to mix up the colours, Ashley, Jake and I played superheroes, making her laugh while she chattered with Andy and Jinxx. Then a friend of hers rang up and turned out to be behind her while she mixed the yellow dye.

She quickly finished mixing it and the other colours for J5 and put them in, sitting Jake on the stool next. She trimmed his hair and dyed it, clipping it up out of the way.

Then Jinxx got his hair cut and dyed, adding dark red foils as well as re-doing the black.

Jinxx looked really funny with the bits of tinfoil in his hair; I couldn’t resist taking a photo of it. Andy got his hair re-dyed and cut similarly to Ashley and Gabby but way shorter, it looked pretty cool actually.

Then I got my hair trimmed and some chocolate foils added, to go for something a bit different from what I usually do. Then Gabby nearly wet herself (not that way..... yet) from laughing, and then she took a photo of me and Jinxx and tweeted it.

Then she dyed and trimmed Ashley’s hair and got onto Mariah’s.

I think she has a crush on Andy, she kept looking at him for one thing, plus she had a batman shirt on with BVB shorts & shoes.

Then she did her other friend April’s hair, cutting it completely different and dying it like mine.

Then April did Gabby’s hair – they said April was studying a hairdressing course so she knew what she was doing, Gabby was helping her out with it every now and then, though supposedly Mariah knew a fair few tricks from a hairdresser friend (not Gabby).

Then she started rinsing the dye out of our hair and washing it, beginning with J5 while we sussed out the straightener and dryer Mariah & April had gotten out, ready to use on our hair.

She mentioned that we were getting free head massages out of this and that J5 had fallen asleep there more than once which was funny.

Then she started on Jinxx’s hair (J5 was long since done, Jake’s nearly finished drying off, just needs it straightened), removing the bits of foil, grinning out how they turned out.

He was obviously enjoying the massage he was getting cos we looked up when he had to stifle a moan which Gabby heard and laughed at, making Ashley glance over curiously.

Jinxx then said that Gabby was good with her hands; Ashley said he knew that all too well and couldn’t wait to get her hands back on his body. She agreed and stated that Jinxx was related to a tomato which we all laughed at before she sent him to Mariah who was drying as April finished straightening Jake’s hair.

She got onto Andy’s hair next and he asked why she wasn’t a massage therapist. She said she wasn’t one but that Ashley would say otherwise, Ashley smirked and Andy grimaced.

Then it was my turn to get rinsed out which was done pretty quickly, though the massage was quite nice.

Though we both laughed our asses off as our stomachs as well as Ashley’s all grumbled at the same time. She laughed again and started on Ashley’s hair.

Somehow I knew she was gonna take her time with his which she did, both of them lost in their own world again. THOSE TWO HAVE TO GET TOGETHER AND SOON!

April and Mariah in the meantime dried & straightened mine and Andy’s hair and told us what Gabby was like when she got home. Reminds me of when we had to go to the airport and drag Ashley out of there – literally – and get him back to the hotel which was the same one she was staying in.

Later on the girls had their hair finished and we went out for dinner and came back a few hours later, Gabby and Ash going to bed upstairs in her room. “USE PROTECTION!” Andy & Jake jokingly yelled up the stairs, but with no response.

J5 gave us some PJ’s to use until we got our things from the motel and soon after we went to bed.

Though as we were going to sleep I thought I heard Gabby and Ashley talking upstairs (couldn’t tell what they were saying though), then I hear someone squeal and both of them laugh.

I wonder what that was about... I thought as I crawled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, then to the kitchen for a drink. I heard someone shuffle in behind me and I turned to see Jinxx.

“Morning Jinxxy” I said, leaning against the counter. “Hey C” he croaked back as Andy, Jake & J5 made their way in.

“Mornin guys” said J5, grabbing a can of monster from the fridge.

Andy shot him a questioning glance, “It’s how I get Gabby up in time for school, she’s a zombie in the morning – literally” he explained, going upstairs and coming down empty-handed and grabbing some frypans.

“What you cooking?” Jake asked as Gabby and Ashley walked into the kitchen, hand in hand, Gabby drinking from the energy drink, indeed looking like a zombie.

“Hey you two” I said. Ashley grinned and waved; Gabby just grunted a greeting and slumped onto the table, obviously not in a good mood. “I’m cooking bacon, hash browns and things like that” J5 replied, digging them from the fridge.

“Need a hand?” Jake asked, “sure, you do the eggs, I’ll do the bacon & hash browns – miss zombie over there is picky about how they’re cooked though I might throw in something else for her, she’ll most likely need it with the girls she has to put up with” “Hey, you ok baby girl?” I heard Ashley murmur as he sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

Jinxx, Andy and I glanced at each other, ‘baby girl’? Andy mouthed, I shrugged. “Sort of... just not looking forward to hospitality, tutorial & SEP parade. Though last night was awesome as hell” she said, looking up and smiling.

“Now that I gotta agree with” he replied, kissing her a few times, the pair of them rubbing their noses together. “Like whoa, did we miss something?” said Jake, turning to see what was going on.

“He asked me to be his girlfriend last night” said Gabby cuddling into Ash, him holding her close.

“And she said yes” he finished, smiling widely. We all cheered, dancing around the kitchen except Jake & J5 who were still cooking.

“Don’t screw this up Ashley, she’s had her heart broken once, I don’t want that happening again” said J5, pointing to Ashley with a spatula. “I would never do anything to hurt her; I love her too damn much to do that” Ashley said, completely serious, before kissing her again.

Then Jake and J5 put the food on the table with various sauces along with drinks, plates & cutlery.

“BACON!” Gabby yelled, claiming a fair few pieces, Ashley trying to hide his laughter. We just stood there as she ate it with her fingers, occasionally dipping it into sauce.

“Either stand there and go to school hungry or eat up boys” she said, looking up at our expressions. We all sat down and started eating. Not long after that we all got dressed into clothes Gabby & J5 leant us.

To no-one’s surprise Andy had a batman shirt on, Gabby mumbling that she was never gonna see that shirt again, but she was grinning so we knew she didn’t mind.

The rest of us had various band shirts on – I had a Judas Priest one, Ash had Mötley Crüe, Jinxx had KISS and Jake had Metallica.

We put on our jeans and boots and waited for Gabby to get read and soon she came downstairs in sneakers, socks, green shorts with the school logo on them, a tube top and her hair styled as she usually did with a bandana tied on, particularly around her ears.

“What’s with the bandana?” I asked as she covered the tattoos on her arms.

“Hiding my ear piercings, not supposed to have these but who cares... though it’d be nice to not have to hide all the time. Besides I can't take them out for a few weeks, otherwise they’ll heal up completely and I’d have to get them re-done which I’d rather not do” she grumbled, putting on her school shirt and double-checking we had everything we needed – our instruments and equipment was dropped off after we left yesterday according to Andy, apparently Jon messaged him about it sometime yesterday.

Then we went out the door and drove to Gabby’s school.

She scowled before getting out with her things and we sat around J block where her locker was. Then when the bell rang she sighed and walked to her locker, bringing her bag with her.

Gabby POV
Yay, SEP parade, hospitality and tutorial... with two people I cannot stand at all.... least today shouldn’t be too bad with the guys around and my tattoo appointment this arvo, not to mention I have work tonight, which will probably be dull again seeing as it’s off-season for the footy fans that come in to watch the game, though I think the guys’ll come to keep me company.

I opened my locker, grabbed my book bag, hospitality binder and diary that we all had to carry with us.

Then I dug my drink bottle from my bag that J5 refilled for me this morning while Ashley was trying to coax me out of bed.

I also grabbed my design & lyrics books, I never go to class without them, and I grabbed my pencil case and put my laptop into my book bag with my sketch books before putting my schoolbag into my locker and shutting it.

“Come on guys” I said sadly, leading them to Q block and sitting at the picnic tables outside the classroom.

“Hey Gabby” I looked up to see Tamika, a redhead girl in a wheelchair moving toward me. “Hey Tim-Tam” I said, still a bit sad, even with Ashley holding my hand and kissing it every so often.

“Who’s this?” she asked. “This is Ashley Purdy, Black Veil Brides bassist & backing vocalist, who is also my boyfriend” I said smiling at Ashley.

He smiled back and kissed me softly. “Aww!” I heard Tamika exclaim. We laughed as we broke apart.

“And those four guys sitting over there are Andy Biersack in the batman shirt, he’s the vocalist. Jake Pitts in the Metallica one – lead guitarist, CC in the Judas Priest one, he’s the drummer and Jinxx in the KISS one, he’s a guitarist too and also plays violin and piano” I said, pointing out each of them.

“Hi” said Jinxx, waving. Tamika looked like she was on the verge of a fan girl moment.

“Oh god here it comes” I said, laughing as she squealed. The guys all laughed and signed our school diaries (Finally, a use for it! Lol). Then along came the yr 12 guys in the SEP.

“Hey Gab” said this guy called Andrew, he was always pestering me to go on a date with him which was extremely annoying. “What do you want Burrows” I said, my mood souring again.

“Not much aside from you going on a date with me” “Well you can forget it, it’s never gonna happen” I snarled, Ashley rubbing my back to calm me down which worked, “Calm down baby, I’m right here” he whispered in my ear, I noticed Andy, Jinxx, Jake and CC glaring at Andrew.

“Oh it will” he said, cocky and arrogant as ever. “It. Won’t. Know why?” I said, glaring at him.

“Why” “Cos I have Ashley and I’m very happy with him” I said before kissing Ashley passionately. Andrew just sat there and sulked.

Then the girls I couldn’t stand came around the corner; Andy, Jinxx, Jake and CC now sitting around me, shielding me from them in a way. “That’s them, the tall skinny one is my rival, the leader of the pop brats, the other one is her side-kick” I said indicating to them, as the teacher I hated walked out of the building.

“And that’s the teacher I hate” I added as we all walked in and sat in the back row together. The teacher whose name was Ms Dettwiler did the roll and read out the notices, OK so far so good I thought, but I wasn’t relaxed yet. Ashley’s hand on my thigh kept me from lashing out and he took my hand in his and ran his thumb over my hand, which helped calm me down and Andy did the same with my other hand.

Then the bell finally rang and I darted out the door before she could say anything, Ashley hot on my heels, the others close by as I nearly sprinted toward H block. “Wait up Ashby!” CC called after us. We slowed up so the guys could catch up, “Blimey you’re fast” Jake panted, leaning over and breathing deeply.

I snorted, “Boy, you ain’t seen nothing yet if you think that’s fast” I said, laughing and hugging Mariah and April as they came from wherever their PCG’s were - they were mainstreamers while I'm in the SEP. “What's up?” Mariah asked, wondering why the guys were all short of breath, not so much Ashley. “I ran down here after SEP parade and these guys think that was fast, I said they haven’t seen anything yet” I explained, sitting in a sunny spot.

Mariah almost pissed herself laughing as she realised what I was talking about – I was also pretty athletic and competed in the running races in the athletics carnival the school does, I also did long jump, shot-put & javelin too, not to mention I was pretty good at swimming.

“You ok Mariah?” Andy asked as he helped her stand up from her laughing fit, she blushed. “Yeah, just remembering what made her say that, she’s pretty athletic” “Seriously?” Jinxx asked, glancing at me – I knew I didn’t exactly look like the type for athletics but hey, it was just another thing I'm good at.

I nodded, “Yup, I compete in the running races in the athletics carnival, both mainstream and SEP along with long jump, shot-put and javelin. Plus I may or may not have gotten a bunch of 1st, 2nd and 3rd ribbons from them” I said, grinning at their gobsmacked expressions.

“Not only that, she’s a champion swimmer too, got a few blues and reds from that too this year” chimed in Alexie, a girl in a few of my classes that I got along with, but didn’t necessarily consider a friend. “Blues & reds?” asked Andy, a little confused.

“Blue ribbons are given to whoever comes 1st, red to 2nd and green to 3rd” Logan (another classmate) explained, I had quite the collection at home, from both primary and high school.

“She has a heap of blues with a side of red and green, along with some medals” “Those were only for showing up to the SEP athletics carnival, they weren’t really for anything” I added as we went in, me immediately becoming bored seeing as I’d already finished my assignment and handed it in which was bit unusual but I was a bit paranoid about getting them in early so they wouldn’t keep me back which I’d had enough of from primary school.

Mrs. Daley, our teacher (though she let me call her Carol, seeing as I was 20 and all that) knew I was getting bored and quickly so she gave me some puzzles to do even though she knew they weren’t my favourite thing to do when I was bored.

So I shrugged and grabbed my highlighters from my pencil case and grabbed a word search. I looked up when I heard Ashley giggling (yes – giggling) and CC nearly wetting himself from laughing.

“What?” I asked, “You have the cutest expression on when you’re trying to figure out that puzzle” he said, still laughing.

I laughed and said “If you think that’s cute then wait til I work on the lyrics to Devil’s Choir & Bulletproof, seeing as neither of them are done but are pretty close. Wretched & Divine and Lost It All are though” as I gave up on the puzzle, it was NOT entertaining me at all.

Looking around the room, it seemed like I was the only one finished as all the other girls (yeah my hospitality class only has girls in it) were rapidly typing on their designated laptops which I wasn’t terribly fond of using.

I snickered, getting the attention of my boyfriend (HE IS HOT!!!! Ok mini-fangirl shutdown, girlfriend is allowed to think that!) and my brothers (yes we all think of each other like siblings) as I covered my mouth while laughing.

“What's so funny?” Jake asked as I dug through my book bag for my lyrics book. “I’m the only one who’s finished the assignment, everyone else is working on it like crazy” I said, flipping to where I’d written out the lyrics for a song I’d written that I called ‘I Am Bulletproof’.

“Watcha got there?” Andy asked, seeing what I’d written, “Lyrics, what’s it look like smart one?” I said, grabbing a pen to edit the lyrics if needed. Next thing I knew I was staring at the floor rather than the lyrics I’d come up with.

“Seriously Andy, was that really necessary?” I asked, crossing my arms and pouting as Andy read through what I’d come up with, muttering to himself under his breath, most likely seeing how they sounded to him. Ashley laughed and took a photo of it, I just poked my tongue out at him, and he just poked his back at me.

Andy just pulled a funny face and grabbed my pen, I just sat there wide-eyed, “Come on Andy you better not snatch things off me all day, who knows what I’ll be holding..... or who. Wouldn’t want the fans to think Andley’s real!” I said, grinning evilly, smirking at Ashley and winking at him.

Andy had a horrified expression, catching onto what I meant Ashley just grinned insanely after grimacing at the mention of ‘Andley’. Jake, Jinxx & CC just shook their heads in amusement, I sat back in my chair, a smug grin on my face – my work here is done.

“Relax Andy, I don’t ship Andley, that would be a bit weird if I shipped my boyfriend and twin... it’s Cake that I ship” I said, whispering the last bit so CC and Jake wouldn’t hear me. Then my phone vibrated against my leg, scaring the shit out of me.

“Son of a Qwark!” I exclaimed quietly, as I jumped slightly. “You alright?” CC asked as I dug my phone from my pocket. “Yup, just my phone scaring the shit outta me. Oh hey Nikki tweeted me again” I said, reading through the tweet I’d been mentioned in.

“Nikki?” asked Ashley, a little jealous. “Yeah Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe bassist. I met them a few years ago at a concert that I’d gotten VIP tickets to a concert of theirs and they even got me onstage to sing a few songs with them, it was the funnest thing until Soundwave & Download” I explained, that concert was sooooooo much fun!

“Really? Way cool” said Ashley, jealousy gone – we both knew how we felt about each other and pretty much poured our hearts out to each other so yeah. Plus I was a big fan of Mötley Crüe and Ash knew it so yeah.

“What songs did you end up doing?” Jinxx asked curiously – Andy was still reading my lyrics intently, Jake was texting someone (maybe Ella) and I saw CC eying April, trying to be discreet about it. “Girls Girls Girls and Sex” I replied, grinning – that was the highlight of the night for me, aside from meeting the band after the show. Ashley laughed and fist-bumped me.

“Then they followed me on twitter and tell me how they liked my covers of their songs on YouTube” I finished as Andy scribbled something on the corner of the page. “Andy what did you write” he grinned and handed my book back to me, I looked at the page to see ‘ANDY LOVES THIS SONG!’ I laughed, “Thanks Batmandy” he grinned and hi-fived me, “No problem kid” I just rolled my eyes when he called me a kid.

Then I showed the other guys the lyrics and they all wrote the same thing but with their own names, ‘CC LOVES THIS SONG!’ ‘ASHLEY LOVES THIS SONG!’ ‘JAKE LOVES THIS SONG!’ & ‘JINXX LOVES THIS SONG!’ as the bell rang, telling me it was time for period 2.

“Ah fuck!” I whined, remembering I had tutorial with my rival. “Tutorial time?” Ashley asked, taking my hand and squeezing it.

“Yup.... I have next to nothing to do, handed in my maths assignment final copy yesterday, presented my English oral yesterday, handed in my ICT project last week, printed out the labels and artist statements last week and got them completely ready to go too, handed in my hospitality assignment last week, so yeah I have no schoolwork to do... may as well work on music stuff or a tattoo design that’s been floating around in my head for weeks that I'm gradually getting onto paper” I said, walking back to Q block, Ashley’s hand still in mine, the guys behind us.

“Oh here she is, the stupid slut” I heard Tahlia say to Katrina as we got back to Q block. I rolled my eyes; they never seem to think of anything new. “Are you sure you don't need a mirror? Perhaps that would help you find the slut here, from what I hear of the conversations in some of my classes that have guys in them that is” I replied, smirking when they stood there with their mouths open.

“Oh and close your mouths, wouldn’t want you to swallow flies... actually on second thought, please do” I said, sneering at them and sitting with Ashley & the guys snickering, Ash put his arm around me when I sat down, I leant into him.

“Hmm you’re comfy Ash, not moving until we have to” I said, making them laugh, Ashley kissed me again – that was something I’d never get enough of... not to mention what else we got up to at Download in that hotel room...

“Awww!” I heard someone exclaim. I broke away from Ash with him grumbling to see Tamika sitting nearby. “Why dont you join us Tim-Tam? We don’t bite! Though Andy screams” “Like you?” “Yeah but a bit deeper, my voice isn’t as low as his to begin with” “Ok cool” she said, wheeling over toward us.

“You can scream?” Andy asked, surprised. I nodded, “Yeah I told you yesterday remember? Besides it didn’t Ash long to discover that either” I said, grinning at Ashley who grinned when realised what I meant. “Oh yeah” Andy said as we all went inside, the 6 of us sitting in the back row.

“Alright, now who here needs to work on a computer?” said Ms Dettwiler, speaking to us as though we were four-year-olds as she usually does.

I groaned, “Here we go again” I grumble, annoyed. “What's wrong?” Jinxx whispered. “She treats us like we’re in fucking kindergarten! I’d had enough of it from primary school when I had to repeat” I explained quietly, an annoyed expression on my face. Tahlia and Katrina immediately jumped onto a computer along with Tim-Tam who had to finish her ICT assignment. Burrows grumbled before doing the same.

I just sat at the desk, fiddling with a spare pick I had in my pencil case. It was a white one but I drew a Van Halen stripe pattern on it with a black sharpie. “Gabrielle Anne Metcalfe. What are you doing?” “Holding a guitar pick, what’s it to you? I haven’t got any work left to do and we’re not allowed to play games on the computers so I’m just sitting here” I replied, glaring at Ms Dettwiler, moving the pick through my fingers and holding Ashley's hand.

“Get to work on your maths assignment right now” “Nope. Handed that in yesterday, besides I work on my assignments elsewhere and I prefer to get my work done quickly, a habit I got into in primary school” “English then” “Did that yesterday, though I’d rather be playing Destroying Gryffindor than sitting here wasting an hour of time that I could be using elsewhere”

“ICT then” “Handed that in too, I have the same software at home that I use for my covers” “Work on your hospitality assignment” “Done that, too easy, handed it in last week. If you don’t believe me, then ask Mr. Wareham, Ms Slatter, Mr. McMillan, Mr. Dawson & Mrs. Daley” I said, crossing my arms and resisting the urge to stand up, scream profanities at them and leave tutorial for good. Though that was pretty tempting I’ll have to admit.

“Stupid bitch” I heard Tahlia mumble under her breath. Ok then. I was already still pretty tired from staying up late when we went out for a few hours last night mucking around at a park for a while, then staying up even more talking to Ashley then us two getting together. When I'm sleep-deprived, I tend to have a quick reaction to bullshit, such as now when I muttered, “Shut the fuck up, you whiny pop brat” only loud enough for Tahlia to hear.

“Fat, ugly, emo, whore” she muttered, this time loudly so we could hear her if we were quiet. “SHUT. UP” I growled, this time making her tremble slightly. Good. I don’t like it when people call me names like that. On the outside I don't appear to give a damn, but on the inside, it’s like a dagger to my heart. CC has a point when he says ‘words can mean nothing or be daggers in someone’s heart. Choose them wisely’.

“Stupid bitch should just go and cut herself, no-one will care about her” she mumbled, louder again, attracting Tamika and Andrew’s attention as I started shaking and my expression was one of cold fury. Not even comforting hugs from Ashley and the guys could calm me down. I never really bothered trying to hide my scars from when I used to cut myself, so it wasn’t a secret around here especially in my year level that I used to cut.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tamika gesture Jake over frantically and heard her whisper to him “If Tahlia says anything like that again, get Gabby out of here, she’s lost it in here before, it wasn’t pretty. Bring her things with you though, she'll avoid this place at all costs” he nodded and came back over to us, relaying the message.

“You know what? No-one’s ever gonna care about you. You’re just a stupid ugly whore who wasn’t even loved by her parents. You were so pathetic that you cut yourself and dye your hair black. Your guitars suck, you can't sing, rock is stupid. Just go fucking die and do us all a favour” she said, standing up and smirking at me.

That was it, I don’t care if I get suspended again, but I'm not letting this slide. I stood up, fists clenched by side where you could visibly see the muscles in my arms tensing up as I shook with fury even more than before. Tahlia and I had never gotten along but our rivalry had gotten worse over the years, I'm pretty sure today would be the day I had my major breakdown.

“DON’T. YOU. EVER! TALK. ABOUT. THAT. EVER. AGAIN! YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?! LET GO OF ME ASHLEY! DON’T TOUCH ME ANDY, CC, JAKE AND JINXX” I screamed/growled as he held my arms, the guys coming forward to help hold me back.

I yanked my arms free as Tahlia and I glared at each other. “Emo. Fag. Slut. Worthless, stupid emo boys, shouldn't even be here in the first place” Tahlia said. Then I snapped and punched her in the eye & nose, sending her to the floor. I stood there, panting as that familiar but very unwelcome urge overcame me again, almost taking control. I stood over her, breathing deeply, fist still clenched beside me, as she clutched her bleeding, broken nose and black eye that was rapidly forming.

“NOW YOU WILL STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, MY BOYFRIEND ASHLEY AND MY BROTHERS ANDY, CC, JAKE AND JINXX, OR I WON’T HOLD BACK AT ALL. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” I growled. She whimpered, “UNDERSTAND?!” I yelled. “Y-yes” she squeaked as Katrina helped her up.

“And that Dettwiler is why I’ve been expelled twice, for standing up for myself. Make it a third, see if I care. I’ve had enough of the stupid SEP; they’ve done nothing to help out, except for Andrea, Kim, Phillipa and Christy. Don't expect me to turn up to any more tutorials or SEP parades, cos I won’t be there” I said, glaring at her, Tahlia & Katrina and sending an apologetic glance at Tamika before sniffling and walking out of the room before running to a small area I often sat in when I was pissed off.

I tripped when I got there and didn’t bother getting back up other than to sit up when the dam broke and I let out everything I’d kept bottled up. Thankfully the urge to cut started easing off as I just sat there and cried, not noticing or caring when I heard Jake call out “I found her!” and felt someone’s arms wrap around me and lift me off the ground.

I just kept crying and repeating “why?” over and over again. Then I was passed to someone else’s arms, Ashley from what I could tell, the person smelt like him and felt like him. “Are you ok?” I heard CC ask me gently, rubbing my back which always helped calm me down.

I nodded, “Yeah, but my hand hurts... so does my heart. Why do they do this? Go out of their way to make people like me feel bad?” I replied as Andy started singing The Mortician's Daughter which I listened to when I was sad to help calm me down.

Ashley rocked me in his arms as I cried until I ran out of tears and had calmed down, kissing my forehead occasionally. I sighed once I’d calmed down, “I had a feeling that was gonna happen sometime soon” I said, snuggling into Ashley. “What do you mean?” asked Jake, he had a concerned expression, hell all of them did.

“Usually when someone insults me like that I just flick it off and get through my day, though the impact of the words doesn’t go away... anyway all that builds up throughout the year and all it takes is one word or anything like that and I lose it. I tend to suffer in silence and bottle things up and around the end of the year I have a breakdown like I did today” I explained, enjoying the warmth and comfort I got from Ashley cuddling me.

“Oh” they all said, understanding what I meant as I drifted to sleep, all that yelling then the punch I threw took a lot out of me as well as the small amount of sleep.

Ashley POV
“Guys, keep quiet, she’s asleep” I whispered. “You two stay up?” asked CC. “Yeah we were talking for a while and we all went to bed pretty late anyway. Then all that yelling she did and that punch along with how tired she was would’ve made her exhausted” I said, holding her closely, feeling her heartbeat and her chest rise and fall with every breath she took.

Even with tearstains on her face and mud and what looked like blood on her hands, arms and knees I still think she looks beautiful. “It’ll be alright baby” I whispered to her, even though she probably couldn’t hear me, but I was surprised when she smiled in her sleep and nestled even closer to me if that was possible.

I smiled, probably a goofy one but eh. “Aww, that’s so cute” Andy said, smiling softly. “I think we should tell Dave about this” said Jake, Jinxx agreeing. “Good idea, but we dont know where his staffroom is” Andy pointed out. We decided to walk around until we saw someone who could give us directions. Walking near N block we saw Mariah.

“Mariah!” Andy called out to her. She turned around and ran to us, “OMG Gabby, what happened?” “Tahlia happened” CC growled, he was like a crazy but protective older brother to her. “She went too far didn’t she...” said Mariah. “Yes” Jinxx confirmed. “That bitch!” “Don’t worry, Gabby gave her a black eye and broken nose before getting out of there” said Jake. Mariah laughed, making Andy smile.

Hmmm I wonder what's going on there, Andy was pretty happy with Juliet as far as I know, but I noticed before we came here that they’d been drifting apart. Hmm maybe Andy will find love down under, like I did... I thought, and then I remembered CC was eying April, maybe something might happen there I thought, watching the interaction between Mariah and Andy.

“Uh guys hate to interrupt but we really need to tell Dave about this, can you lead us to his staffroom? We don’t know where it is and Gab’s passed out at the moment” said Jake. “And I don’t want to wake my girlfriend up, she didn’t get much sleep last night” I added, readjusting her in my arms. “Wait, did you say girlfriend?” Mariah asked, a smile breaking out.

I nodded, she squealed quietly. “Oh My Batman Ashby’s finally real!! Me and April were hoping it would happen and it has” she exclaimed quietly, that made Andy grin with the batman thing in there. I just shook my head in amusement as she lead us to E block and up the stairs then down to the other end of the block before saying she had to get back to class. We nodded and waved her off, Andy with a small smile on his face.

“Andy’s got a crush!” Jake teased him. “Shut up no I don’t” Andy tried to deny it but when we all gave him a ‘seriously?’ look he relented. “Fine I do, happy?” “Yup now let’s see Dave” I said as Gabby was stirring, probably starting to wake up. Jinxx knocked on the door and a few moments later Dave opened it. “Hey guys, what I can I do for you?”

“Well for starters is there any chance you can get Gabby out of the rest of her tutorial classes? She had her breakdown earlier” Jinxx said as understanding dawned on Dave’s face. “Ah, I’ll let Maryanne and Libby know it’s time, this has been building up all year. I take it someone set her off?”

“Tahlia to be specific. She insulted all of us which we’re used to and all, but she said some stuff that triggered something in Gabby and she punched Tahlia, giving her a black eye and broken nose. Then Gabby told ms Dettwiler that was why she’d been expelled twice, for standing up for herself and she didn’t care if it became a third” Jake explained as Gabby opened her eyes, groaning.

“Hey baby girl” I said to her. “Hey” she mumbled back, “Why are we at E block?” she asked, looking around and recognising where we were. “Filling me in on what happened and can I just ask, what’s with the ‘baby girl’?” “Me and Ash are dating” she said, hopping down, wincing at her sore hands, arms and knees. “What happened to your hands?” “After I left the classroom I ran to that spot I always go to when I'm mad and tripped, getting my hands, arms and knees” she held holding her arms up.

“Ow, let me grab the first-aid kit” Gabby nodded, flexing the fingers of her left hand which I noticed were taped up along with part of her right hand which was clenched in a fist. “You alright Gab?” “What's the tape on your hands for?” “I'm ok guys and I tape up my hands like Kirk Hammet when I'm playing my guitar insanely, sometimes I make my fingers and hand bleed when I play non-stop for a while, especially when I use a heap of hammer-ons and pull-offs, tapping etc.” she explained.

“Ah that makes sense” Jake and Jinxx agreed. Then Dave came back out and we helped clean her hands, arms and knees, with her cursing colourfully in what I'm guessing was another language. Then she said “Any chance I can quit covering up my arms all the time? I’m sick of hiding who I am all the time and covering my ears with my bandana is getting annoying”

“I don’t see why not, you do finish up in a month after all. We’ll ditch the restrictions for the year 12’s” “Sweet!” she said taking off her bandana only to re-tie it with her new ear piercings visible, then she wiped off all the foundation on her arms to reveal the tattoos underneath. “That’s better” she said, all of us laughing as we went off to her locker.

Notes