I woke up as the door slammed open, and the lights came on, peaking in from the edges of my blindfold. I would have tilted my head back and looked over to see who walked in from under the fabric, but I still couldn't move.
"Please! Why are you doing this? Why can't you just kill me? Don't do this please! Don't do this to her!" Mark's voice would have been calming if it wasn't full of panic and fear.
The sound of someone approaching was followed by the blindfold being ripped off my face. I could see three men pulling Mark into the room from the corner of my eye. I wanted to tell him I would be okay, but couldn't. He had to know that I was stronger than anything they threw at me.
"She had nothing to do with it! If you're going to kill me, just kill me! She wasn't even there! Please, I'm begging you! Don't touch her!" He was slammed down into a chair that another man dragged in behind them, and was quickly tied down to it.
A hand wrapped around my ankle, but
"Bye, Julie!" The ten-year-old screamed with laughter as she ran into her bedroom, slamming it behind her to prevent her older brother from getting to her with his can of silly string. A smile stretched across my face at the sight of my family celebrating Bri's birthday. It had been a relaxing day enjoying the barbeque and pool party with all of her friends and family. Ryan and Terry had been present, and while we were civil for the sake of Bri, we tended to avoid each other at these types of events. Ryan held a grudge against me for being such a troublemaker and reflecting negatively on their family name. Meanwhile, I held a grudge against them for trying to put me back into the foster system to find a new family after I was released from the hospital. I knew it would happen eventually, but that didn't make it hurt any less. They never made it that far. I had been able to petition for my independence and emancipation as I was only a few months from turning 18. Luckily for me, this
Beep. Beep. Beep.I smacked my snooze button and rolled back over. With how many times I've hit that alarm, I am surprised that it's not broken. I glare at the tiny box from one squinted eye, the numbers all a blur. Closing my eye again, I snuggled my head back into the pillow and slid my limbs across my warm sheets. Shivering when I hit a cold spot, I readjusted my position before succumbing to the temptation of sweet slumber once again.When five minutes passed, I heard the protest of my alarm ring out. I rolled over rubbed my tired eyes to be able to read the blurry numbers on the clock. 6:15. So much for snoozing it again.Standing up, a chill shot through my feet when they left the warmth of my comforter and ran up my legs. I quickly ripped the entire blanket off my lap like a bandage and made my way over to my dresser. I popped in my contacts carefully and blinked a couple times until they adjusted.Moving over to my walk-in closet, I grabbed a pair
"Hey! Watch where you're going, Geek!" He yelled at Chrissie. His deep black hair was only a few inches long, framing his sharply defined face.It was the straw. Camel, meet straw.My patience had run out, and the way he was talking to Chrissie made me snap. I walked up to him, getting right in his face. He was the one who hit her! He should apologize! My face turned red in anger."Why don't you make us?!" I shot him a cold glare which he happily returned."Or you can just move out of my way, dumbass." His voice was flat, cold, and hard. It was emotionless as if he could care less that he just hit someone with a door or that he was getting yelled at. It was infuriating."Or you can drop act, drop to your knees, pick up her stuff, and apologize like a decent human being!" I returned his cold flat voice and stare. I just glared at him, and he stared back at me. I broke our eye contact to look down at Chris. She was trying to crawl through th
"Oh my God! I don't care if he hit me with the door. That man is still so cute!" Chrissie whispered in awe as she peeked around the girl in front of her to look at Jessie. Go figure, he just had to be in another one of my classes."Jules! Do you know what this means! I mean, I haven't seen him talk to any other girl all day, just you. That has to mean something!" She repeated for what I believe to be the tenth time. Well, I mean she worded it differently each time, but she was dead set on the fact that after our stare down, he had to be interested in me. But I mean, we didn't actually talk. We just passed a note."Chrissie, sweetie, you need to breathe. I mean... yeah, he is kind of cute, but I don't think he is worth it with his attitude. I'll stick to my little bubble, of which, he is not a part of." He was sitting only two seats in front of me, so we had to be quiet to prevent him from overhearing us."Jules, I love you and everything but sometime soon, that
"Welcome to The Shack! What can I get for you?" I looked away from the menu and right into the face of Jessie. Good for him for having an afterschool job, but did it have to be here? Plus, whatever he was doing in the back with the other server was definitely a violation of the health code.He stopped walking a couple feet away from the counter, a look of irritation when he realized it was me."What do you want?" His voice was flat and cold. Nothing unusual, but it was starting to irk me that he was so rude all of the time."Ice cream. What do you think? This is an ice cream shack." I looked up at their menu and then back down at him. "I want a scoop of The Reese's Runaway." Giving him a small smile, I quickly added, "Please.""Why would I get you anything after what happened today?" He just stared at me dumbfounded as if he actually thought I was the one in the wrong. He was the one who hit Chrissie with the door and then refused to apologize. He was als
What did he say to her? Why the heck is she so sad?"So, do you guys want to go to the park or something?" She forced out. I watched as she swallowed hard to bite back the tears that lined her eyes.Should I ask her why she is upset? Most of the time, she liked to take a minute to calm herself before we talked about anything emotional. If she didn’t she wouldn’t be able to contain herself and she hated crying in front of people."I think that would be fun." I scooted back in my chair and stood up. Cole walked around to Chris's seat and pulled it out for her. Awe. He likes her so much. It's so cute.We walked down the street slowly, enjoying our ice cream. Cole was on one side of Chris, and I was on the other."So, what were you and Jessie talking about?" Cole asked. I wasn't sure if she was ready to answer, but it seemed like she was no longer on the verge of crying. She turned towards Cole."Do you mind if I talk to Julie alone
"What?" Her voice was strained as if she were trying not to show the hurt. She practically just threw herself at him, and he straight out rejected her.For the hundredth time in the past twenty four hours, I had to ask myself, ‘what is his problem?!’"Look, I just met you! It's kind of pathetic how you threw yourself at me so quickly. I thought we were just messing around back at work." Her eyes filled up with tears, and she didn't move. It was like she was frozen.I quickly left my hiding place and went to confront him. He immediately saw me stomping over and groaned. This kid has an attitude problem, and I'm so sick of it."What do you want?! What, are you stocking me now?" He glared cold and hard."Um, excuse me, but I was here long before you were," I said with as much venom as possible, but not sounding as confident as I thought I would have. "What the heck is your problem?! Why are you being such a jerk to everyone?" He let out a
"You do know who started these rumors, don't you?" Chris's music was blaring in the background, making her have to shout into the phone."If I had to guess, it would be the same assholes as always, but I don't really care. I don't even know what the rumor is this time. I'm so sick of it all." I looked down at my homework as I packed it up into my backpack so it would be ready for tomorrow. I'm finally done!"Why wouldn't you want to know? The rumors are spreading fast." I could tell that she was frowning. Her voice wasn't the normal high and happy Chris, and she turned down her music."I really don't care anymore. These people who keep starting rumors about me just to make me miserable, don't realize that they aren't hurting me. I just want to do my time and be done with it." I sighed.For a brief moment the thought actually popped into my head, 'Why does Jessie hate me so much? How can a man be proud of himself by bullying a woman he didn't even know