I'll admit, I was worried about how Rachel and Marco would handle the situation at school.
Turns out I definitely should have been.
I found Marco's body opening Rachel's locker first thing that morning.
"Uh, Marco? Marco? MARCO!"
Rachel finally realized I was talking to her. "Oh, hi, Jake."
"What are you doing in this locker?" I asked.
"Well, it's not like I was going to give him my combination," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm getting my books for him."
"Oh. Have you seen him yet?"
"Nope. If you do, let me know I'm looking for him."
"Actually, I think you and I should stick together. You're my best friend and all, remember?"
Rachel raised one eyebrow at me. "Jake, you only have like five friends, and two aren't even human. I don't think anyone's going to think it's weird if they see you walking around by yourself."
"Low blow."
"Yeah, well--oh my God." Marco's face had a look I don't see very often. In fact, the last time I remembered seeing it was when we were 11 and I got mad at him and put his favorite comic book through my mom's paper shredder.
"What?"
"I'm going to kill him." Rachel said, very low and calmly.
I turned to see what she was looking at behind me.
It turned out we didn't have to look for Marco. He was coming down the hall right towards us.
Clad entirely in black leather.
Mini-skirt. Bustier. Knee-high boots. What looked suspiciously like a whip.
"Oh..."
I turned back to Rachel. She was breathing very heavily. "Rachel," I whispered urgently. "Don't do anything. I repeat: DO NOT--"
Before I could do anything, Rachel was running. I grabbed at her arm and missed, so I took off after her. Her target was pretty clear.
She tackled Marco in the middle of the crowded school hallway.
He went down, not surprisingly. The heels on those boots must have been three inches. Rachel must have been beyond fury at that point, because she was punching him. Punching him in her own face. I grabbed her shoulders and tried to pull her off, and she swung at me, too. There was a crowd gathering around us. This was bound to attract attention.
"MARCO!"
Oh, no. Anyone but...
Mr. Chapman. He used to be our assistant principal in middle school, but in the middle of our first year of high school he was promoted to dean of students of the high school. Which meant he took care of disciplinary matters. And broke up a lot of the fights.
He was also a Controller.
He helped me pull Rachel off Marco, then shoved her up against the locker since she was still fighting to get back at Marco. "Young man, you calm down RIGHT NOW. You are in a big heap of trouble, do you hear me? Attacking a girl in the middle of the hallway..."
Rachel calmed down, evidently realizing just how much trouble she was going to be in. Or, more specifically, how much trouble Marco was going to be in.
Marco climbed slowly to his feet. "No, no, it's really ok, I'm fine!" He said, smiling brightly to show just how fine he was. The bloody nose kind of ruined the affect.
"Mr. Chapman," I said, talking fast. "Marco's bipolar, remember? He just forgot his medication today, and his condition is especially strong on, um...Tuesdays."
Marco looked at me like I was a moron. I winced when I realized what I said.
"Rachel, I'm surprised you're defending this young man."
"It was really my fault," Marco assured him. "I provoked him, it was all my fault. I knew he hadn't taken his medication. And that it was Tuesday." He added, definitely struggling not to sneer in my direction.
"All three of you in my office, now." He said, letting Rachel up off the locker but still keeping a hold on her arm. He more or less dragged her in the direction of his office. Marco and I trailed along behind him.
"Why the hell did you wear that?" I hissed at him as quietly as I could.
"Hey! Don't even try and blame this on me! I'm in dress code!"
I glared at Marco. "Do you even realize how serious this is? We really need to be keeping a low profile here. Was it really that important to you to try and piss her off?"
"Something you two want to share?" Mr. Chapman, asked, turning his head to look at us.
"Nope."
"No, sir." I said, shaking my head.
"Great." He lead us into his office. He steered Rachel towards a chair and handed Marco some tissues to clean up his bloody nose.
"Now," he said sternly. "We have a very serious situation here."
You don't even know half of it, I thought. "Marco, you have attacked a young lady in the hallways."
Rachel bit her lip but didn't say anything.
"Rachel, you have been trying to defend the young man that attacked you."
Marco fidgeted.
"Now, I've been working with young people for a long time. I know an abusive relationship when I see one."
A vein popped out on Rachel's forehead, but she managed to keep silent.
"I am very upset with all of you. Marco, I'm going to have to report this to the police."
"No!" Marco protested.
"Now, Rachel," Mr. Chapman said, turning to him. "I am very disappointed that not only would you not report this abuse, but that you would defend your attacker. I always thought you prided yourself on being very independent."
"I--" Marco started.
"I have the names of several counselors of abused women. I'm going to recommend you be sent to one of them."
"I am NOT an abused woman!" Marco yelled.
Mr. Chapman patted him on his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. The counselors can help."
The he turned on me. "Now, Jake, I realize you may have been in a difficult position here, caught between your cousin and your friend."
"Uh..." Where the hell was he going with this?
"But that does not justify trying to cover up your friend's abuse. I hope you understand how serious this is."
"There was no abuse." I said stubbornly. "Marco just forgot his medication."
"Yeah," Rachel agreed. "My medication. This is definitely not an abusive relationship. It's not a relationship at all."
Mr. Chapman shook his head pityingly.
Rachel and Marco both had to talk to the police. The end result was that Marco was suspended for two weeks. It would have been a lot longer, but he had nothing prior, and "Rachel" had kept repeating that it was her fault and she had started the whole thing. Rachel, by the way, was going to be going to the abused woman's counselor.
And I got a month's worth of detention for not reporting the case of abuse earlier.
Overall, I was NOT happy with my friends.
