Once winter break ended and they were back in school, Alyssa had returned to casually avoiding Bruno unless they were in the music room together. They were able to do so quite easily until someone bumped into Bruno after school.

“What the fuck, watch where you’re going!” A girl cried, a spilled drink covering her shirt. Bruno recognized her as one of the friends they hid from in the alley.

“I’m so sorry,” Bruno apologized, placing his guitar case down and opening his bag to find some napkins. “I’ll pay you back. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Ha, as if! You seriously think someone like you could afford this?” She laughed at Bruno as he froze, kneeling on the ground while searching through his bag.

A tall man quickly joined her. “What the hell are you doing to my girlfriend?”

“I’m sorry, I spilled my drink on her, but I’ll pay her back. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He got closer to Bruno until he was standing directly in front of her. “You’re right. You are going to pay her back.”

Bruno froze and looked around desperately, watching as people began to surround him. He stood up and grabbed his guitar case, gripping the handle so tight it left deep imprints on my hands. Before anyone could make a move, that thrilling voice withdrew them from their anger.

“What’s going on here?” Alyssa emerged from behind a corner casually walking over to them. Her voice took on a contralto edge, teeming with even more luxury than it had before.

“This idiot spilled a drink all over me!” The girl cried, showing Alyssa her shirt.

Alyssa nodded, not once glancing over at Bruno’s trembling self. “I’ll pay for it. No reason to get in a fight over something like this.”

“What are you defending him for?” She shot back, angrily staring at Alyssa. “Do you know him?”

Alyssa finally looked over at Bruno. “Never seen him before.”

“Huh, so you’re a liar now, too. Who knew Ms. Perfect was hanging out with scum like him. Your kind never changes, no matter what your family does.” She snarked. She turned around and nodded, causing one of the men who surrounded Bruno to shove him to the ground.

Without a flinch, Alyssa continued to stare at the girl. Bruno thudded against the ground, skinning his knees and elbows, but he quickly got up again. “This isn’t that big of a deal. It’s just a drink.”

The same guy who shoved Bruno kicked him back down, stepping on his hand to pin him to the ground. “So, you don’t know him, huh? Then, you won’t mind if I do this to the poor music boy.” He placed more pressure on the back of Bruno’s hand as he cried out, trying to claw his foot away. He continued to press harder, bending down and pulling Bruno’s fingers farther and farther back until they were threatening to snap. Bruno shrieked, seizing on the floor as he tried to get out, tears streaming down his face.

Alyssa lunged forward, shoving him to the ground before punching him repeatedly in the face, the sound of her knuckles crunching against his face. “You fucking asshole, she shouted before turning to Bruno. “Get out,” she hissed at Bruno, the disdain and disapproval giving her voice a ringing tone. “I said get out of here!”

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Bruno stumbled for a moment before running away, leaving his guitar and backpack behind as he searched for a teacher. Some of the group tried to hold Alyssa back while others decided to pummel her while her movement was restricted.

When he finally found a teacher, they quickly pried all of them apart before sending them to the disciplinary office.

“I’m telling,” the girl cried, “Alyssa threw the first punch! She’s been meeting up with that boy in the music rooms every single day!”

Alyssa’s bruised and bloodied face remained completely emotionless as she stared on. “I don’t know who he is. I just met him.”

Bruno couldn’t do anything but desperately look on, petrified. If he said anything, confessed to his relationship with Alyssa, things would only get worse for the both of them. In the end he was a coward, and there was nothing he could do then fearfully rub his arm. When he finally gained the confidence to speak up and claim accountability, to lessen the burden on Alyssa, she quickly stepped on his shoe.

The principal sighed, grabbing the bridge of his nose with his two fingers. “I’m disappointed in you, Alyssa. I would have never suspected this behavior from you.” He cleared his throat before shifting forward on his desk. “Make two things clear to me. Who were you with in the music rooms, and what happened today?”

“I was with someone else. Not him. And, she’s right, I threw the first punch. It was my fault.”

The girl’s face contorted with anger at Alyssa’s response, but she remained silent, knowing that this was the best outcome for her. The principal disapprovingly shook his head before dismissing all of them, giving Alyssa a week-long suspension and contacting her mother.

“Alyssa, please, you didn’t have to do that. What can I do to help you?” Bruno begged as they walked down the hallway. “You didn’t need to do that for me. Tell me what you want, and I’ll go back in there and fix it.”

She continued to walk down the empty hallway, going to the locker to pack her bag. “I won’t be able to contact you for a bit, since my mom knows now. I just have one request from you.” She looked at Bruno’s pleading eyes. If I ever seem exhausted, will you grab my hand and pull me into the snow again?

“Stay safe,” is all she ended up saying before throwing her bag over her shoulder and heading home.

When Alyssa finally arrived home, her mother was already waiting at the front door, absolutely fuming.

“You got a haircut today,” Alyssa said, “It looks nice.”

Her mom violently raised her hand and slapped Alyssa across the face. “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe this! Everything your father and I have ever done has been for you. It’s always been about you, you, you, and now you come out and jeopardize everything because of your disgusting selfishness!”

“I’m sorry.”

“You would have never done this as a child. Never!” her mother shouted, her voice cracking at how hard she was exerting it. “What is wrong with you? You have everything you could ever want. I raised you to be independent and strong, not whatever you’ve become.”

For the first time ever, Alyssa shouted back. “I was a child! I didn’t need to be strong, I needed to be safe!”

“Don’t you dare try and manipulate me again.” She suddenly grabbed sheets and sheets of paper from the kitchen island, some fluttering onto the ground. Alyssa’s eyes widened in fear as she scanned for a notebook, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was only loose sheets of paper.

“You’ve wasted all my money to write crap like this!” Her mother howled, tearing up the sheets of handwritten music before stomping it into the ground. “You’re failing school and going back behind my back to producing all this fucking shit!”

Alyssa watched the torn pieces fall to the ground like a feather being blown into the wind. She watched her mother’s shoes tear into the paper and stamp it with a dirty family seal that once more shackled Alyssa to her family.

“You are going to an academy every single day after school. I will walk you there, and I will walk you back. Every. Single Day. Get out of my sight” she finally spat, shoving everything off the table. Alyssa trudged upstairs, the cold marble branding her feet in lavish money and wealth. Money, status, wealth, luxury, status. Status.