[|]

I wasn't sure what he said was what I heard and all I could do was stare at his face in confusion.

"Huh?" I finally spoke and he sighed, rubbing his face.

"I've been plagued with what happened that night and I am very confused about who is trying to frame me. I swear to you, Jackie. I didn't—"

I jumped when he got pulled away from my body. He also looked startled and when he turned around, I craned my head to the side and saw an angry-looking girl around my age. Her eyes held pain with tears that were about to roll out of them. I was confused about who this girl was until she slapped him. I gasped at the deepness of the slap as it made Lucas stagger backward.

Who was this girl and why did she suddenly interrupt us when I was about to hear what Lucas had to say. I shifted my eyes to Lucas who rubbed his cheek with his hand and then looked at her.

"Why did you slap me?" He asked and she hissed.

"Is that supposed to be a question?! I just saw you kissing someone and you dare ask me why I slapped you?!"

Now, I picked offense at her words. The tone in which she had said it made me feel weird. It was almost degrading and I wanted to leave their presence. I had more important things to worry about especially with the revelation Lucas had just made.

"Who do you think you are to lay your hand on me?" He whispered and I could hear the anger in his voice.

"Stop trying to play the victim, Lucas. I want to know why you invited me to this game and then go about kissing someone else! For fuck sake, you asked me out on a date and—"

Oh, wow. This was my cue to leave because it was just another one of the girls he mingled with. With one last look at Lucas, I sneakily walked away.

Once I got to the hallway of the other side of the school building, I leaned against the wall and thought back to what Lucas had said. I tried to convince myself that what he had said held some truth but I couldn't bring myself to believe him.

"Jackie?"

I wiped my cheeks when I realized there were tears on them. I turned around and spotted Axel walking up to me with a smile which immediately dropped when he saw my face.

"What happened? Why are you crying?" He asked and my lips wobbled.

"Just... Just take me out of here. I want to be far away from here. Take me somewhere I can think, please," I whispered and he grabbed my hand.

[|]

Axel drove to the edge of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. When he parked his car, I got out and walked over to the rocky edge. I heard him open and close the door of his car, followed by the crunching sound of him walking toward me. I wrapped my arms around my body and sighed, taking off the heaviness in my heart.

"Are you okay?" He asked and I shook my head. "You can confide in me if you want. I'm here for you."

"I don't even know where to start, Axel. Right now, I just wish I could disappear. My life is nothing but a cycle of confusion and disappointment," I said and looked at the glistening reflection of the moon on the surface of the water.

I felt a slight warmth on my shoulder and looked out the corner of my eyes. Axel had his hand on my shoulder and a smile on his face.

"It's your brother," I started to say and he dropped his hand. "I don't even know what to make of this situation. I wish I was closer to graduating. At least, I'd know that I am done with this phase of my life."

I turned my body so I could face him and then started to tell him everything from the locker room incident down to what happened minutes ago. All the while, he had a deep frown on his face and had his hands clenched by his sides. When I was done telling everything to him, he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled through his mouth.

"My brother keeps getting himself in trouble. How dare he do that to you!" Axel yelled out in anger that which shocked me. "I'm sorry for raising my voice. As you already know, I'm not on good terms with my brother and it's all because of him."

"What happened?" I asked.

"My brother doesn't have a good relationship with our parents. Every day, they fight because Lucas is a very stubborn son. He does things that get him in trouble. Our parents have bailed him out of prison one too many times and I'm surprised he hasn't spent years in prison. He has bad friends, he is just bad personified. I used to be close to him but when I saw the things he did, I drifted. I kept warning him to stop what he does and when I do, we always get into physical arguments. I moved out because my mental health around him wasn't doing so well."

I felt pity for him, for the way sadness took over his whole being. For Axel to move out, I knew that Lucas was the worst and I hated myself for letting him control me which led to me almost being raped.

"But I know there's good somewhere in his heart and—"

"No, don't give excuses for the type of person that he is. Just don't. You did the right thing by moving out and I wish I was in the position to do the same; moving away at an early age," I said wistfully.

"Why?"

"Nevermind," I quickly added. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"You're welcome."

We stayed quiet for two minutes before Axel sighed.

"Listen, Jackie. I know my brother is a horrible person but he can do anything else, probably kill to protect the ones he loves but he would never sexually harass or plan to rape anyone, irrespective of what they did to him," Axel said and I rolled my eyes.

"How are you so sure?" I didn't like how he was trying to save his brother.

"Because he's my brother and I've known him far more than you do. We had our differences, yes but that doesn't mean I stopped trusting him. Lucas has his demons but those demons would never push him to plan such. And if he says someone is framing him, you should probably hear what he has to say in case he has a clue on who did it."

I saw a point in what he was saying and chastised my stubbornness. The only reason I didn't want to hear anything from him was that the incident reminded me of what my stepfather always does. I would never believe people like that whether repented or not.

"How am I sure he isn't lying to save his face?"

"Gah! You're so stubborn," Axel said in genuine annoyance. "Look, we just met but I won't tolerate anyone calling my brother names that he isn't. I also want to deal with whoever is trying to defame him so, go to him and talk. It's left for you to believe it or not. Besides, my brother would never do that when my sister was sexually assaulted at a young age."

I froze at his words. I suddenly felt guilty and bowed my head in shame. I barely knew any of them and it was wrong for me to simply move with one mentality. I raised my head and looked at a frowning Axel.

"I'll hear him out and after that, Lucas has to stay away from me for the rest of his life," I said and Axel nodded.