Don't Hate Me If I Say I Love You

[IceQueen]

A soft beeping sound came up with the rising sun, causing a loud groan to come from the bed with a large shifting shape underneath it. A lazy hand reached out of the sheets, smacking the table a few times before she hit the alarm. A soft sigh came out of the sheets and the form moved as it sat up, the blanket falling off the back of the bony figure, who was wearing a thick shirt and fluffy pants. Her long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, a few strands trailing down her back as she shifted out of bed. She was careful getting out of her bed, not wanting to hurt anything. She flinched as she hit a bruise on her thigh as she slid out of bed and onto her cold floor, keeping her grip as she walked towards her closet.


Grabbing a large black sweeter and a pair of light washed skinny jeans, she slipped them on, making sure she had covered most of her scars. She then walked over to her vanity and pulled up her sleeve halfway and exposing the scared skin. Some looked fresh, probably because they where, and others where older. She let out a shaky sigh and she began applying the cream with a huge brush, adding powder on top to make it look real. She then repeated the process with her other arm and her face, covering up a bruise she had on her cheek from being shoved into a wall the day before. She added eye liner and all the other things that she needed to make herself look alright, or mostly alright as she heaved a sigh, put in her contacts, and slapped on her signature black fading to blue beanie and heading downstairs.


The house was empty, and Alex swooped her headphones off the counter and put them on her head, plugging in her phone as she started to play Pheonix by Fall Out Boy as she prepared her toast and spread the jelly on it. She shoved it in her mouth and picked up her messenger bag, shoving open the door and heading towards school.

 

[grey987]

"Ethan. Ethan! Wake up, it's time to go to school."


"And why should I care?" The figure under the covers of its bed rolled over onto the side opposite of the one he was previously lying on, but he just couldn't get some damned privacy for himself as the woman pestering him abruptly threw the covers off of his body. "Ethan. Up. Now." The boy let out a groan, rolling onto his back and prying his eyes open to look at the woman standing on the opposite end of his bed, her arms folded as she glared at him with messy brown hair tumbling over her shoulders and dark circles under her eyes that indicated a lack of sleep.


"I'm surprised that you're even awake to get me out of this bed so that I can go to school." Before Ethan could say anything else, which he was originally intending to, she cut in again and prevented him from speaking.


"That doesn't matter right now. Get your lazy ass up out of bed now. I'm not going to ask you again." His eyes remained lidded, heavy from sleepiness, but his gaze was still piercing nonetheless as he finally swung his legs over the other side of the bed and stretched out.


"Whatever you say, Mom." Ethan made sure to put an emphasis on the word 'Mom', not even bothering to give her a second glance as he looked for something to wear in his closet while she proceeded to leave the room. He was currently wearing a pair of black sweatpants and no shirt, revealing the fairly muscular build of his upper body as he scanned over what he had available for him to wear. Eventually, he settled for a pair of black cargo pants, a white t-shirt with a black star in the centre of it and a dark blue hoodie that he left unzipped, pocketing his phone and grabbing his headphones in the case of which he decided that he wanted to listen to some music, going downstairs so that he could get some breakfast for himself. All he had was one piece of toast, eating it quietly as he kept himself immersed in his thoughts.


A while later, Ethan finished with what he had, stuffing his headphones in his black and red backpack before slinging it over his shoulder and heading out the door. He hadn't even told his mom that he was leaving.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex walked at a calm pace to school, the breeze nipping at her exposed face. She pulled up her sweeter a bit in attempt to keep herself free from the cold, though it was to no avail. She let out a sigh and pulled her hands inside her sweeter, relaxing as she let her "emo music" make her life better. She may have looked pretty and dark on the outside, but it didn't mean that she listened to that rock and roll screaming stuff.


As she pulled up to school, her heart sank a bit. Of course she had to come back. She always came back. It had been three long years of torture already, but apparently that was just not enough for them. She flipped aside her bangs, glaring at some of the freshman who were whispering as she walked in. They all immediately scuttled away from her, and she huffed, moving on and into the school.


Walking up to her locker, Alex could already hear the popular girls gabbing about how their lip enhancing product had worked so well last night, or that Green Davis was going out with Jamie this weekend or how much one boy or another was kissable. She turned the corner and just her luck, the girls where standing in front of her locker, their big mouths spewing as much gossip that it made sense why it looked like someone had punched their lips. She heard the annoyed sound of popular people scoffing at her. "Look, goth girl decided to show up today." The worst one, Britt sneered at her. Alex made a mock barfing sound, turning to face her. "Oh look, fat lips showed up today." She said, smiling sinisterly before shoving the girl aside and opening her locker.


She could hear the disgusted sound from the girl as she snapped her hands, her friends gathering around her. "You can't just say that to me bitch." She said, batting her false lashes at her. Alex smiled and reached in with her painted nails, plucking off one of her lashes and throwing it over her shoulder. "Watch me." She threatened, smiling as she slid her headphones and walking towards her class, tuning out the gasps and crying from the popular girls behind her as she marched strait into class. She pulled herself into her seat, leaning back as she started pulling stuff out from her bag, getting ready for class.


@grey987

 

[grey987]

Admittedly, Ethan had begun to feel rather cold not long after he stepped outside, shuddering once almost violently before he zipped up his hoodie and lifted the hood up over his head, shoving his hands back inside the pockets of his cargo pants. To say that he found school distasteful would probably be an understatement; people ran their mouths too much and what was taught there was just generally uninteresting for him... Oh well. At least there were plenty of people for him to take his irritation out on, and the thought actually made a wicked smile cross his lips as he kept on walking.


Upon entering the courtyard, a number of faces turned to look at him, many of whom began to whisper about him amongst their small little groups. Ethan met with the gazes of some of those people, looking piercingly into their eyes even if it was for a brief moment and causing many of them to turn away or lower their heads. It was satisfying to have this sort of effect on others, but sometimes he really wished that he wouldn't have gotten such attention. To put it plainly, it was just damn annoying. Perhaps even more annoying were the few girls and guys that either swooned over him or wanted to be him (respective for each gender), although those people were the ones who were also mean like him, not having a problem with stepping on others. The big difference, though, was that Ethan was on a level much higher than any other bully to exist at the school; he was beyond cruel and didn't know what boundaries were, spitting on those who he believed were beneath him.


Entering the building and removing his hood as he did so, he headed straight to class, this time ignoring the people who sent stares his way as he strode through the fairly busy halls. But it seemed like he couldn't get through the day without having someone step up to him, and Ethan found himself slowing to a complete stop when a boy with black hair and blue eyes blocked his way and gave him what was supposed to be a menacing glare.


"So you're the guy that picks on other people around here, huh?" he asked, cracking his knuckles. "I thought you'd look tougher."


"And I thought you'd look better, but clearly something went wrong when you left your mother's womb," Ethan retorted calmly, lifting his right fist and swinging the back of it into the other boy's cheek. He stumbled into the other wall, yelping in pain as he clutched the side of his face and groaned in pain while hunched over. "Just stay out of my way. Pest." The halls had gone quiet and people stared at him in either fear or disgust, but Ethan paid no heed to any of them and continued to class. He arrived there not long later, entering the room and seeing a few people already seated. One person in particular that he'd taken notice of was Alex Cross, a girl at this school who served to be his rival and a continual victim for him. A smirk crossed his lips as his eyes fell upon her and he chuckled quietly, going to take a seat beside her.


"Well, if it isn't Little Ms. Temper," Ethan said quietly. "I gotta say, I'm more and more surprised every time you show up here. I guess you do have balls, for a weak girl such as you."


@Icefox11

 

[IceQueen]

Alex could hear the hallways go quiet, a thick silence falling over the entire area. And soon enough, the door burst open, revealing none other than mister sarcasm. He thought he looked tough, but he was nothing against her façade. She smirked and kept her things in order, not even looking at him as he sat down. She listened patiently to his seemingly rude comment, and she snorted loudly, not even looking at him.


"Please, at the least I have more balls than you. I mean, it doesn't even sound like the boys down there have dropped yet! Are you sure your 18?" She asked, turning to him with her signature smirk planted on her lips. "Because to me, looks like you might just be a weee little sixth grader." She mocked, smiling evilly.

 

[grey987]

Ethan's face twitched slightly at the retort Alex shot at him, but after that another sinister smile crossed his lips, accompanied by a short chuckle that passed through them as he leaned back in his seat with closed eyes and his arms folded over his chest. She truly was an interesting person to play with... An interesting challenge to overcome and combat every single day he saw her.


"Wouldn't you like to know," he said with a smooth tone, keeping his temper even. "You should keep in mind that I'm the one people fear around here, not you. You're just a little fish in an ocean of sharks; anyone and everyone in this school could pick you apart if they wanted to. I'm sure that they just don't want to because you're recognized as the poor little girl who can't fight for herself, the one who has to use the words in her mouth to worm her way out of every single problem."

 

[IceQueen]

Alex let out a tick of annoyance at his words, shifting slightly in her seat. "They could all pick me apart, but since even you can't, no one stands a chance." She snorted, rolling her eyes. "I may be a fish, but I am a Lion fish, and if you were actually smart you would know they are feared by most creatures, and are poisonus. So I would advise keeping your trap shut." she said snarkilly and turning to her work as the bell rang. Honestly, she could feel the sting of his insult on her pride, but she didn't show it, remaining one hundred percent calm in the situation of her being picked on. She really did hate the other bullies too, but she wasn't going to let him see that.

 

[grey987]

Unfortunately for Ethan, he did not do as well when it came to feeling the sting that came with Alex's words, and another more visible twitch showed in the side of his face before he opened his eyes, sitting upright in his chair and unfolding his arms as he simply began to focus on the school work that the students had been tasked with doing. This girl really got on his nerves sometimes... Just thinking about her at this point was making him burn all over, and he tried to tear his thoughts away from her but he couldn't. That really hurt his pride. A physical altercation would have to wait, and he held himself still for now as his gaze remained pinned to his paper.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex smiled in victory as the class started and she began to work on her printed paper. Making the bully seem dumb was her strong suit, of course that usually came back to bite her in the butt later, but she was good for now. Smiling, she continued to do her work until the bell rang, and she began to pack up her stuff. She finished shoving her sketch book and all of her notebooks and papers inside her messenger bag before picking it up and slinging it over her shoulder and walking towards the door.

 

[grey987]

It's about damn time... Ethan thought to himself as he heard the bell ring, shoving all of his things inside his bag and standing up from his seat after it had been slung over his shoulders, waiting until Alex got up and left before going after her. It wasn't long before he was directly behind the slightly smaller girl, whirling her around before grabbing her by the collar of her sweater and pushing her into the wall on their left, his lips pressed into a thin line as he gave her a deadly glare through relaxed eyelids.


"I guess you've really forgotten who you're talking to," he growled, his grip on the fabric never loosening as he stared deeply into her eyes. "I can and will hurt you, because I've done it before and I'm not afraid to do it again." His words sounded firm and decisive, but there was still something about the way he spoke that indicated that he was bluffing. That he was perhaps hesitating, contemplating something. It wasn't really any surprise, though; Ethan was known to be a confusing individual as much as he was a bully.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex wasn't surprised hen the bully flipped her around and grabbed her collar, pressing her to the wall. She smirked at him. "Aw, no I didn't forget." She said in a mock tone, not even trying to fight him. Her body was to weak to resist against his, but she had a few tricks of her own. She smiled evilly at him, seeing that he was thinking. As soon as she heard his voice, which didn't sound to strong, she smiled. "What? Fallen for the little dame in the seat next to you? Well I am off limits, though I might consider if you get a life, or actually study for once." She said, batting her eyelashes in mock flirtatiousness.

 

[grey987]

Ethan's face tilted off to the side slightly in warning as his grip on Alex's sweater became even tighter, his other fist clenching and unclenching as he resisted the urge to just land a hard blow against the side of her face. He'd never gone to that extent before, knowing that the school's piss-poor staff would actually notice that and no doubt punish him for it, but she was tempting him quite a bit to do so right now. Then, at her next remark, he narrowed his eyebrows at her incredulously. Fall for her? Who did she think she was talking to, and what did she think she was talking about? However, his facial expression relaxed and simply turned into one of sarcasm.


"Haha. Funny joke," Ethan snarled, pulling her back slightly only to push her back into the wall while letting go of her collar. "As if anyone would fall for you. Just look at you! Everything about you is ugly, from your head down to your toes, to the clothes that you wear. Why would anyone want you? Why would your own parents want you?" He clenched his jaw for a second, staring at Alex for a while longer before scoffing and walking away. "Bitch. Just learn your place already," he muttered as he sauntered away. "Fallen for the little dame in the seat next to you"... Unbelievable.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex was quite shocked by his reaction, though it only took her seconds to recover. She put up a mask of her generally bitchy face, and she stared back at the people in the hall, keeping her face impassive. Though inside her heart throbbed and she was glad that she didn't have her parents at home, because she was seriously thinking going home. She was about to head to her locker when another group of girls swarmed around her, all looking similar to Britt, because they where her posy. "We need to talk." They sneered before snagging her arm and pulling her towards the door.


She could feel her shoes dragging against the ground as she was pulled towards the door, loosing the will to fight. She couldn't face all of this hate at once, her heart still hurting from the insult Ethan had given her. They pulled her up to a wall, and the main one smacked her across the face. "Watch who you mess with bitch." She seethed, before snapping her finger as the others swooped in, and started beating her up, per usual. One girl raked her fingers across her face, and everyone passing just watched. No one could get to them, they where rich. Where they couldn't charm their way out, they would pay it out. They tossed her aside as they finished with her, leaving her coughing in the dirt. She could feel the sting of blood trickling down her face as she slowly got up, her thighs hurting. She groaned and started heading back towards the school, walking though the hallway and towards the girls bathroom.

 

[grey987]

Many people were staring at Ethan as he strode through the halls, giving him loathsome glares while he stared straight ahead of him. He had clearly gone way too far with that last insult, and he'd successfully managed to infuriate many people who had bore witness to the scene. And since gossip had a tendency to spread quickly throughout the school, he knew that there were likely to be many more people that would want to come after her.


Whatever... she deserved it! She doesn't know what she's talking about. Like I would ever fall for some stupid girl like her... He shook his head in disbelief of what was going on, grappling with other thoughts that had suddenly come to light in that one moment. But in the end he pushed them back into the deepest, darkest corners of his mind where they couldn't be found; he knew what he had done and what he had wanted to do from the beginning, and there would be no changing that.


And unaware of the rather brutal beating that Alex had received afterward, Ethan went to his locker and put some of his books away, closing it shut before roaming through the halls again.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex slowly hobbled down the hallway, ignoring the glares from others at her beat up face. She slowly walked to her locker, where Britt was standing in trumph. She just ignored her and grabbed her things, heading towards the exit. "Where are you going slut! I'm not finished." Britt called to her, but she kept moving, even past Ethan with no comment, a slow trickle of blood streaming down her face, and splattering on the floor. She ignored everything that was going on around her, and kept walking towards the exit, flicking off the blood in Ethans direction.


As soon as she had walked out the door, she let out a sigh, hobbling over towards the side of the school and gently setting herself down on the grass. She heaved a sigh and got out a small first aid kit that she always brought with her, taking out an alcohol swab as she started dabbing her wounds, not even flinching.

 

[grey987]

Ethan kept walking through the corridors with his hands in the pockets of his unzipped hoodie, admittedly unsure of where he was going when he looked up and abruptly saw Alex limping towards her locker, a familiar looking girl leaning against the one beside it. "Where are you going slut! I'm not finished," he heard the girl shout as Alex gathered her things, walking towards him once more and flicking off some blood on him. Putting two and two together, he realized that the girl who was normally his victim was beaten up by someone else... badly at that. And that someone, Britt, was standing not far from him, stepping away from the locker and pursuing Alex in an attempt to finish the job when Ethan suddenly grabbed at her throat, eliciting a choking noise from her.


"Ah... So you think that it was okay for you to have some fun with my plaything, huh?" he snarled viciously, slowly turning his head to give Britt a gaze no doubt filled with violent intentions as he felt something snap within him, having no real control over what he was doing. "That it was okay for you to just... utterly ruin her and leave me to clean up the mess you left behind so that I can toy with her again." Ethan lifted Britt up off of the floor with his hand still firmly clasped around her throat, causing her to kick out with her legs every which was as she was being constricted of even more of her air. "Don't do it again. Okay? Or you'll be the one hurting."


He let the girl go then, watching the pathetic little thing as she collapsed to the floor and gasped for breath while also coughing a fair bit. Ethan's facial expression relaxed, taking in and letting out a deep breath as he felt satisfied with his work before he decided that he too would be leaving, turning and heading towards the exit of the building. Stepping outside, he headed down the sidewalk towards his home when he saw Alex sitting against the side of the school, tending to her wounds. He stared at her for a while, observing her wordlessly, then he moved his gaze in front of him and continued walking.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex heard the door slam open, and she looked up, seeing Ethan who looked quite pissed. She looked at him for a moment before she turned back to her wounds, seeing that they had mostly bleed out. She sighed to herself and pulled out the bandages, winding some on the scratched on her arms, and then a band aid on her cheeks and forehead to cover up the blood. She then picked up the rest of her things heading home.


She pulled out her headphones, sliding them on and turning up her song Safe and Sound, trying not to cry a little bit as she walked back towards her house. She was absolutely miserable, but there was nothing she could do. Her aunt wouldn't be home for a few days, and there was no one else to care. She just wanted to play her cello, or do something creative, escape all the horrible things she had seen that day.

 

[grey987]

Ethan arrived back at his house sometime later, letting out a sigh as he shrugged of his backpack before unzipping it and taking his headphones out from it, wanting to listen to some music of his own so that he could drown out the memory of what had happened today. Looking around, he couldn't see his mom anywhere and assumed that she was out, heading upstairs to his room and lying down on his bed. Plugging in his headphones to his phone, he did a bit of searching through his playlist until he found "Saving Me" by Nickelback, deciding to put that on and folding his arms over his chest while he stared up at the ceiling.


It was a sad fact really, because Alex was mostly right when she'd implied that he didn't have a life. He had no friends, no hobbies to take up (other than drawing, which he didn't presently feel like doing)... There was barely anything for him to do when he was home other than just lock himself up in his mind, which was always busy with thoughts in one moment or another. But then there was the other thing that happened from time to time...

 

[IceQueen]

Alex sighed as the door slammed shut behind her. She looked around the empty home, sighing as she saw nothing, not a sign of life. She threw her backpack against the wall and grabbing her headphones. She slid them until they where around her neck and she shoved the plug for her speakers into her mp3 before turning on her favorite song, at the moment. It was very powerful because it was kind of a metaphor for her life. As the song came on, she began to dance something she had prepared for this. She had only made it herself, though it was pretty good. She smiled as she danced, having fun as she let go.


[media]



[/media]

 

[grey987]

(Loving the song references. That makes for two new songs that I now like; unfortunately I can't put up a link for my next reference since I'm on mobile)


Eventually, Ethan decided to pass whatever time he had by grabbing his sketchbook and a pencil with an eraser on the top of it, his headphones still sitting on his ears as he listened to "New Religion" by Black Veil Brides. One of his favorites, although it didn't have too much symbolism in relation to his life. It was more of a mindless pleasure thing for him as the lead tip of his pencil ran across the paper, intending to sketch an assassin. However, one overall detail that he was particularly focused on was his face; Ethan wanted to show that he wasn't perfect, that he'd suffered through a fair bit of pain that he had to receive throughout his life even if no one else would see the sketch.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex finished the dance in a powerful stance, breathing hard. She gradually stood up, listening to the silence that followed her performance. Brushing the sweat off her head, she went into her kitchen and pulled out a bottle of juice and setting it on the counter, before grabbing easy made craft macaroni and cheese and began to make herself some early lunch. She would already be home before her aunt would be, so it wasn't a problem.

 

[grey987]

A scribble here, a scribble there, a scribble in another area... Ethan had become trapped in this activity now (as he'd been several others times throughout his life when he drew), trying to sketch his character as precisely as possible. He was getting a bit tired of hearing all the noise in his ears, but he decided to let the headphones remain sitting there for now and played one last song for him to listen to while his fingers gripped the edge of his pencil. This time however, he began to hum to the tune almost unconsciously, his voice mimicking that of the lead singer in the band. He wasn't feeling very hungry right now so he decided to delay the time when he'd be eating, remaining seated cross-legged on his bed and keeping his gaze pinned to what he'd done so far. This life... Why did he even need to live it? It was a question that he asked himself almost frequently; there seemed to be no reason for him to be here. There was just nothing useful for him to do.


[media]



[/media]

 

[IceQueen]

Alex looked at her food, stirring the pot of noodles as she added in the other ingredients, making a cheesy soup like thing. After she had finished, she poured a large bowl and grabbed a spoon, starting to eat. She was enjoying her little meal, mostly, but her arms still hurt pretty bad. Since she had been dancing around, her upper arms where exposed, showing the red and scarred skin.

 

[grey987]

Minutes later, Ethan decided to make a few simple sandwiches for himself, leaving his sketchbook behind in his room as he chewed absent-mindedly on his food. As expected, his mom still wasn't home, off in God knew where. It wasn't like he cared though; he resented her. With every fiber of his being, he resented the very woman who gave birth to him... Who brought him into this damn world.


Many other thoughts stirred within his mind; the contemplative side of him that people in school almost never saw showing as he continued to eat his food. This was the only thing he felt that he could do outside of drawing, and going to school when he needed to.

 

[IceQueen]

Alex sighed as she finished her food, utterly bored. She wasn't going to go back to school if it killed her, but that didn't mean that she had to stay cooped up here. She got up from her chair and tossed her dish in the sink before heading up towards her room, her feet thundering against each step as she ran up, shoving the door to her room open. She picked up her case, which was for a cello. She checked really quickly to see if the black cello with silver swirls was still in tact, which it was. Shutting the case with a slam, she pulled it up and started heading out the door to play on the corner in town.