My eyes immediately became blurry again, burning and tearing up horribly.

"Open your eyes." He pulled something out of the backpack.

"Look at me."

I tried my best, but I could still barely see and everytime I opened my eyes I immediately felt a burning sensation.

He peeled my eyes open, letting water fall into them. It felt way better, but I still couldn't see. My face didn't burn much anymore.

"Are you good?" He helped me up from the ground, making sure my balance was steady.

"I- I think so. I can see." I went to touch my face, but he stopped me.

"Don't. You'll make it worse." He grabbed my hand, shooting water from a bottle onto both my hands. We both walked to where the other protesters were sitting.

"What's your name?" I turned to look up at him, my voice still scratchy. He gave me a cold water bottle, opening the cap for me. I gulped it down quickly, feeling a strong cooling sensation running down my throat.

"I can't tell you." He finally said and rubbed the nape of his neck.

"Oh."

"Call me Tank." He looked down at me, but I could only see my tragic reflection on his mask.

"I'm Melanie." I shook his hand, ignoring how bad I looked at the moment.

I smiled slightly at him, running my hand through my hair.

"Mel! I'm so glad you're okay. What happened?" Tiffany ran up and gave me a big hug.

"Oh my gosh are you okay? I was trying to look for you."

"I saw the bomb explode in your face but the crowd pulled me away before I could get to you. I assumed you got away when I looked back and you weren't there." She winced at my red skin and black under eyes.

I remembered that Tank was behind me, and I wanted to introduce them to each other.

"Oh this is Tank, he helped m-" when I turned around he was gone. I looked around frantically for him, he wasn't hard to miss. I couldn't find him.

"Girl, what? Who are you talking about." Tiffany looked around confusingly.

"Was someone with you?" She scratched her forehead and tucked her loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"No one." I frowned. He was gone. Would I see him again? Why did he leave?

"So anyways," she started.

"Tell me everything. Your face looks horrible." She giggled and we both walked to the place everyone was at.

People all around us were still protesting, this time keeping distance from the cops. I honestly grew tired of this scene. I was getting a headache, and I needed to take a shower and rest. Of course, I loved being here for a good cause. I knew things could change if we really tried.

Tiffany looked exhausted, but I could tell she wasn't done yet. This was something she was extremely passionate about, and she finally got a chance to share her voice as an ally.

"You look dead, do you wanna leave now? We can always come to the next one." She ran her hand through my now-tangled hair and grimaced when her hand got stuck.

"Thought you would never ask." I rushed to the direction of the car, followed by Tiffany as she waved to everyone.

*

I ran into the house and started the water in the shower. I had read that cold water helped after getting gassed or maced.

The cold water immediately soothed my face, making it not itchy or rough anymore.

My hair was slowly coming out of tangles and becoming smooth again.

Tiffany was sitting on the couch when I walked out and sat next to her, applying lotion on my legs and arms.

She was scrolling through twitter, watching videos of the protest we were at.

"Remember that super tall dude that had full military gear on?"

She showed me the full video of Tank yelling and talking to the police officers. I found it quite funny, how short and scrawny they looked compared to him. I felt sad, though. I wanted to thank him, he was so caring and I felt bad that he left without a proper farewell. Whatever. He probably helped everyone, why would I be special?

"Dreamy, isn't he?" Tiffany liked the video and continued scrolling.

"Yeah, he is."

"So tell me what happened, I've been dying to know!" Tiffany brought a bowl of popcorn and sat down next to me.

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