The Silence She Speaks✔

Sixteen-Mason

Around school, word spread about Quinn. Somebody had made a rumor about her and all of the kids were wanting to know if it was true or not. They would come up to us in the halls and ask Quinn eagerly, having no care for how she felt. Quinn would hide behind me and close her eyes, trying to make them realize she was uncomfortable.

Nobody could get her hints.

I hated it. They continuously asked Quinn if she was really secretly dating Alex, which disgusted me! Alex is her brother, nothing more! Why would anybody think that? And how are people so stupid to believe it?

I tried shooing them off, but it didn't work out so well. Some of the kids were older than me, and I couldn't scare them away. I wasn't sure why high schoolers were trying to talk to Quinn over a stupid middle school rumor, but I knew it probably wasn't anything good. I especially struggled with the older girls in Alex's fan club. They looked so furious with innocent little Quinn, and that made my blood boil.

Quinn hasn't done a single thing wrong! Why does she deserve to have people constantly bombard her with questions? Why do kids have to be so cruel to make up lies and hurt her? Hadn't she been hurt enough?

Quinn's hand slipped into mine. I gladly took it, squeezing it a bit so the raging storm of thoughts in my head settled down. They spiked up when she pulled her hand away. I whipped around to see that she had completely disappeared. Panic flowed through me as I opened my hand. Quinn had left a small note.

It said: I'll be fine.

Would she really be though? I started searching around the hallway until I came across a large crowd of people. I noticed Devin trying to get past some seniors to reach the front and called out to him.

"Mason, Quinn needs help," Devin said quickly, panic evident in his eyes. "She's getting beat up."

"What?" I asked.

"I can't get past these guys, please help me out," Devin begged desperately. I swear I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "Please, I can't get to her! You're smaller, so you can get past! Please, Mason, help our sister!"

I nodded and started slipping through the crowd. It was easy because I was so skinny. When I finally made it to an area that I could see the center of the crowd, I saw poor Quinn curled up into a ball as a boy kicked her. Her notepad had been ripped up, and her bandages were undone. A second guy was forcing the bandages off her arms completely.

"You think you're all that?" A red headed girl asked while tearing up more pages of her notebook. "You aren't, you're worthless!"

"Her arms are crazy messed up," a second girl sneered while picking up the bandages and inspecting them. "She probably did it to herself!"

Tears streaked Quinn's face as she was humiliated and beaten in front of the entire school. Rage overcame me as I shoved past the crowd of kids, ignoring the insults they threw at me. When I made it to the guys, I punched the kicking guy as hard as I could, making him fall back and slide against the floor, hitting his head on the wall. Then I grabbed the other guy by his hair and threw him away. He hit the wall and groaned, sliding down to the ground.

The girls squealed and tried to run away, their tails tucked between their legs. Luckily, with the crowd, they were trapped. I ignored the girls as they shook and slowly made their way to the boys. Did those idiots really think they would be protected by even bigger idiots.

Quinn stared up at me with pained eyes as I helped her up. I made sure to hold her upper arms so I didn't hurt her burns. I grabbed her bandages and the remains of her notepad, then walked her towards the groaning boys. They weren't beat up enough, though. Honestly, no beating will be enough for what they did to my little sister. But I can try to get close, right?