The Girl With The Tattoo

50. the last time

Lexi

"What were you thinking?!" He asks me as he takes a seat at his desk "You could've killed her!"

I don't reply because I'm still trying to process what happened.

"And you still won't speak! Talk to me, Lexi!" He demands.

I finally open my mouth "I don't know."

"You don't know what?"

"I don't know what I was thinking!" I raise my voice at him because of how irritating he is "I- I wasn't thinking! It just happened!"

"What just happened?"

"She came at me. She threatened to hurt me, what was I supposed to do?! I couldn't have just stood there and let that happen to me! I- I had to fight back! I had to do something!" I try to explain to him why I acted the way that I did back there.

"No, you didn't have to do anything!" He tells me "And the knife, why did you have that with you? Why on earth would you possibly need to bring such a weapon to dance!?!"

I shrug "I don't know. To protect myself..."

He laughs "Protect yourself?"

I think about the way that I left Isabella. I can still see the blood that covered her face and how messed up she looked. I didn't even know that I was capable of doing so much damage to a person. But now I can't stop wondering what will happen next.

And because I want answers, I decide to ask him some questions.

"Is she gonna be okay? I mean, are they gonna be able to fix her?"

He nods "Thankfully, she's fine. I mean, her face isn't but she came around in the ambulance and seemed to be okay."

I breathe a sigh of relief as he tells me that. But then I have another question as something is worrying me.

"So, what's gonna happen to me?" I ask him "I mean, am I gonna be questioned by the police? Am I gonna get into trouble?"

He furrows his brows as I ask him that question. The thing is that I'm terrified of the police. I still remember how they would come to my house to collect my mom after she'd gotten into trouble. I still remember the fear that I felt as I watched as she was taken away by them.

I remember crying and begging for them to let her go. Back then, I didn't know that my mom was a piece of shit. I mean, I knew that she wasn't there for a lot of things but I didn't know that it was because of drugs.

I was so innocent and I just wanted my mom.

"No, you're not." He tells me "Don't worry, I sorted it for you. All they have to know is that it was a brawl between two kids that just got out of hand. Plus, Isabella isn't going to say anything other than that."

"She isn't?" I question him, surprised that Isabella isn't ready to destroy my life.

He shakes his head "No, she isn't. You're gonna be okay."

But then he says something that makes my stomach drop instantly "But you no longer dance here anymore..."

"What?" I ask him, sitting upright as I feel a rush of panic wash over me.

"I said that you no longer dance here anymore, Lexi." He repeats, stabbing me in the heart one more time "We do not tolerate that sort of behaviour here and I thought you'd be smart enough to know that."

He can't do this to me! Even though I don't take dance too seriously, this place is my home. This is the only place that I can go to to get away from my dad and everything that's going on in my life. Plus, Sophie is here and I don't know what I would do if I couldn't see her every day.

"You can't do that! This is all that I have!"

He shakes his head "Well you messed it up for yourself, didn't you?"

"No, you can't do this to me!"

I watch as a grin appears on his face "But I can do whatever I want. You should know that already."

I shake my head in disbelief, professing the fact that he's going to take away the only good things that I have going for me.

"Look, I already told you that it wasn't my fault! She was the one that started it, not me!" I try to convince him to give me another chance "If someone has to leave then it should be her!"

He shakes his head, scoffing at me. I then watch as he takes a seat on the desk, moving closer to me. He looks down at me, staring into my eyes for a while. I then furrow my brows as I'm confused as to what's going on.

"I know that it wasn't your fault." He tells me "And I know that you'd do anything to keep your place here."

"Wouldn't you, Lexi?" He asks me, confusing me even more.

I then feel his hand at the bottom of my chin, pushing my head up so that I look at him. I watch as he admires my face, taking his time to look at my lips.

"Look, we can make this all go away..." he whispers whilst licking his lips "I'm sure that we can figure something you. Maybe you could do something for me."

I'm a smart girl. I may look like I have a few screws loose but I'm certainly not that dumb. If he thinks that I'm gonna let him fuck me so that I can keep my place then he's so wrong. So I take a hold of his wrist, pushing his hand away from my face.

"No." I look into his eyes with disgust "I'm not gonna suck your dick."

He furrows his brows.

I then get up out of my seat so that I can leave. I walk over to the door yet I hear his voice behind me.

"You're making a huge mistake!" He shouts over at me.

I turn my body to him "Go fuck yourself."

And as I turn the handle to leave, I hear his voice saying "You can't just leave! You need me!"

But instead of staying in that room, I walk out of there. I feel the pain in my knuckles as I walk down the hallway. I then notice that there's not a dancers insight. I figure that they all left terrified after what happened. Even if they weren't there to see it, news spreads and they definitely heard about it.

So I walk out into the open, looking back at the building as I think about the fact that this is the last time that I'll ever dance here.