So What?

After school we had practice for an hour and I found some time away from Jasmine to talk to Rayne and Ashley. They were really nice. We liked a lot of the same things and seemed to share the same annoyance with Jasmine. I complained about her smothering me and every time she called me over to show me a new cheer the two made a show of pretending to smother one another with an invisible pillow.

Practice ended at four thirty and the other girls on the squad went to change out of their uniforms but I head straight for my car. I’d changed my clothes when I got home and had a chance to shower. As I walked to my car I noticed a group of guys in a small circle next to it. From afar they looked like a big black glob. They were all wearing letterman jackets. It was the schools colors, obviously, black and white.

Once I was within hearing distance I knew what was going on. I raced to where they were and grabbed the arm of the guy closest to me. He swung around almost hitting me but stopping short once he saw who it was. I recognized the face. It was Jasmine’s boyfriend Bryce.

He smile at me and opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off angrily.

“What the hell do you and your friends think you’re doing? Stop!” I screamed and pushed past Bryce so that I was now standing in the center of their makeshift circle. I saw one of the guys pull his leg back to deliver another bone breaking kick. I ran in front of him and pushed him hard on the center of his chest causing him to stumble back. Then I turned to the boy on the floor. He was curled up with his knees to his chest and his head tucked in protecting himself from the eight football players that were attacking him.

“Are you ok?” I asked bending down so that my face was closer to his. Of course I knew he wasn’t. He was bleeding a lot, cuts were all over his arms, and his clothes were destroyed. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the kick I had stopped was the first attempt.

He grunted in response. “I think you need a medic,” I said as he unfurled and looked up at me confused. “Come on. I’ll take you,” I was still whispering.

I went to help him up and felt an arm softly pull me back. When I turned around I was met with Bryce’s smirk. I jerked my hand from his arm and snarl viciously at him. He jumped back in surprise. A minute later I had the boy in the passenger seat of the car. He didn’t look. He was still clutching his side and he had slumped over with his head pressing into the side window. The football players were still standing there. None of them had moved and no one had said anything.

I began gather his things which were strewn all over the floor. A moment after scavenging the floor I noticed someone else helping me gather his things. I looked over and was met with bright green eyes. I looked down and noticed he too was wearing a letterman’s jacket. I was grateful someone had decided to help me. Maybe all football players here went enormous assholes. That thought was quickly washed out of my head when he spoke.

“A girl like you really shouldn’t be helping a guy like that.”

I was instantly furious. I snatch the papers out of his hand, stuffed it into the boys backpack, and then zipped it shut. I grabbed my messenger bag from the ground and threw both bags in the back seat.

I was heading around the car to the driver’s seat when I felt yet another hand take hold of my upper arm. I spun around, silenced by the rage that pulsed through my veins.

“You really shouldn’t worry about him, babe,” The boy said while gently stroking my cheek. That was it. My cheeks must have turned fire engine red. With everything in me I pulled my arm back, balled my hand into a fist making sure to keep my thumb on the inside, and swung directly at his face. There was a loud crack and then more blood only this time it was from the jock and not the kid who was once huddled on the floor.

“If you guys ever decide to gang up on some poor kid again I’ll have my step dad here in minute to deal with you,” The ferocity of my tone startled the guys and they took a step back from me and were shocked into silence once again.

Bryce recovered first and saw the seemingly emptiness of my threat.

“And who is your step dad?” he asked haughtily.

“The sheriff of this stupid town,” I spat. “And we both know how he feels about guys like you.”

Bryce’s attitude immediately changed and he now looked a lot more worried. My step dad was the sheriff and normally a really nice and sweet guy, but he had been brutally picked on in school and definitely had a sore spot when it came to bullies. Everyone in town new that.

I stomped to my car and slammed the door shut one I was inside. I started the engine and glanced briefly at the boy bloodying up my seat. He was still breathing and conscious but it looked like his side hurt pretty bad.

“The hospital is only about ten minutes from here right. I’ll go to the one on the west side. I think that idiot and his friends will probably go to the one on the west to take care of his nose,” I said as I pulled out of the schools parking lot and onto the highway. I wasn’t sure he even heard me. I didn’t expect him to respond.

“You throw a really good punch.”

I turned to see him looking at me. He was smiling a little and I couldn’t help back to smile back. I quickly returned my gaze to the road. I was going 80 mph and praying I didn’t get pulled over.