"Julie!" I heard Liam yelling for me from downstairs. I hopped off my bed and ran toward the sound of his voice, my foot catching on air as I stumbled into the hallway.
"Yes?" I bounced off the last step. Liam was standing in front of me with his normal seriousness. He pulled me into the living room and sat me down on the couch next to him. He spoke quietly so the others wouldn't hear.
"I just got a call from Jax. They don't have any openings in the fights this weekend, so they are doing it closed-door tonight." I nodded, and he told me how we would have to go as hard as we could. This was to see if the newbie has enough talent to be a fighter there.
I felt good that I made it. Not only was I now an official fighter, but I was going to be the determining factor on whether someone else got in. This would either confirm my worth or convince everyone I never should've made it in the first place. I got dressed in my fighting clothes, still not comfortable changin
I hugged Liam and whispered in his ear before pulling away. "Kick his ass for me, bro." He smiled and nodded before swiftly climbing into the cage. I walked over, closer to Jessie's side of the ring, and yelled, "Good luck, Jackass. If Slasher lets you live, then I'll be the one to finish you off the next time I get a go at you." I smirked, and he just stared at me for a while, his face filled with pain before he masked it, shook his arms, and stretched out his neck. I glared at him before walking back over to Liam's corner, cheering for him to kick Jessie's ass. They knocked knuckles, the bell rang, and the music started, but no one threw a punch. They danced around each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. It was a smart strategy on Jessie's part, knowing that Lima's style was to let them tire out before striking. Liam, sick of waiting, took a step forward and swung at Jessie, but Jessie ducked and ran to the opposite corner.
We were all pushed into a cell very aggressively. It was dark outside already, so the first thing that happened was everyone fighting over the benches to sleep on. I grabbed the last one that was free in the women's cell. It shared a wall of metal bars with the men's cell, but I wasn't concerned about that.For some reason, the tall stranger leaning against the back wall made me feel safe."Move, bitch! That's my bench." I looked over and saw two guys the size of Liam, arguing for the bench on the other side of the bars from me."Fuck off! You don't want to mess with me. Walk away!" I chuckled at his comeback. What are they, three?I laughed from where I was stretched out on the bench against the bars to the men's holding cell."You could just share." My sarcasm dripped from every word. Compared to the three women in my cell who each got their own bench, their cell had at least a dozen guys. Both men looked at me like I was crazy, then they laughed
When we got home, they dragged me into the living room, yelling for everyone else to clear out and for Liam to join me as I sat down on the couch. As tense as I was, a small sigh of comfort came out of my mouth as I sank into the soft cushion of the couch. My back was sore from the night in the holding cell, and the cushions were heaven. "Do one of you want to explain this?" Ryan said quietly but with a firm voice that let me know he was at his breaking point. His voice raised to a yell as he continued, and I flinched back into the couch. "Do you want to tell me why two of my kids went out last night to go to a friend's house and only one came home? Then, this morning…" He let out a bitter laugh as he stood over us. Terry was sitting on the couch across the coffee table with her elbow on her knees. One hand curled in, her thumb holding her chin up with the knuckles on her fingers pressed against her mouth. "This morning, I received a call that the kid that wa
Do you know how hard it is to say goodbye to the only family you have left after everyone else died or left you? I held onto Bri as she cried into my shirt. "It's okay." I cooed while rubbing her back. "Julie! You can't leave!" She rubbed her face into my shirt as she cried. "I will come to visit you every chance I get, but I'm going to need you to take care of Liam for me." I heard Liam chuckle, and we both looked over at him. He shook his head sadly before gesturing for Bri to go over to him. When she didn't let go, I picked her up in my arms and walked over to him. He was surprised at first when I wrapped my free arm around him, but then he returned the gesture and placed his arms around me too. He whispered in my ear, "I will get you back for taking the blame." I smiled into his shoulder. I would miss him. "Not happening." He chuckled and patted my back. "Stay away from boys, or I'll come down there and lock you away in you
I walked into my room and looked around. It was huge. There were three beds spread out around the room. It had its own little, I mean really little, kitchen, plus a bathroom and three small closets. I walked over to the bed with nothing on it and dropped all of my stuff. Opening the closet door next to my bed, I started unpacking. My speakers were taken out first. I set them on my tall, skinny dresser and connected my phone. The music blasted through the speakers, helping to take my mind off of everything. So far, the school didn't seem too bad, but I wasn't happy about having to start over again. It was a new place to live, new people to meet, and a family I had to leave behind. It wasn't like I would never see them again, but it wouldn't nearly be as often. I started to sing the chorus as I bounced around, taking everything out of my bag and finding a home for it. I heard the door open, so I stopped singing and turned towards the entrance to the room once it was closed. She had
"Well, Cheyenne," I said as I pushed my empty tray forward an inch and leaned back with my hand on my stomach. "What are your plans today? Want to go on a tour of campus? I'll need one, or I'll get lost." "I'm free for the rest of the day. I only had two classes today. A tour would be good. I can walk off all this food. Plus, I can see you as the type to get lost all the time." She laughed, and I shrugged because it was true. "What about you?" I nudged Mark's side with my elbow, still loving that he was close enough to me that I barely had to move to touch him. He turned to look down at me. There was silence between us as I got lost in his green eyes. In just the right light, I could see the flecks of yellow and blue in them. They were mesmerizing, and I didn't want to look away. "I could hang out for a little bit." Turning away, so he didn't see my blush, I stood and grabbed my empty tray. Cheyenne lifted her eyebrows at me as we walked to the trashc
I won the first game, and so she challenged me to another. She racked this time, and I went to break. I leaned over the table and lined up the cue ball. I pulled my arm back to take my shot when someone came up from behind and placed their hands on my waist. "Hey, baby. How you doin'?" I groaned in disgust, and Cheyenne heard and saw my face. My tongue ran over the front of my top teeth as I tried to hold back my anger. I stood up straight, and he turned me around, pushing my butt against the table. "It would be wise for you and your balls to walk away." I looked up at him and glared. He smirked down at me. "Sounds like you like to get rough. I can get down with that." He smirked bigger and added a wink. "Seriously, Trent? You have no clue what she can do. You're going to want to walk away now." He smiled at Cheyenne over my shoulder as I lifted the pool stick, ready to skewer it through his foot if he didn't let me go. "I like a girl with ski
"Cheyenne, how many times do I have to tell you? I don't know!" I turned over in my bed and pulled my blanket up and over my head. She was silent before she started talking again. I groaned. "All I'm saying is that I think you guys would be cute together." She laughed at my annoyance. I was over the embarrassment of my obvious crush and had moved on to the frustration of being pushed to do something about it. "Cheyenne, I get it. You think I should go out with him, but I don't know him that well, and I don't even know how he feels. Can we please just drop it?" I grabbed my phone off of the top of my dresser next to my bed and began to scroll through social media. "You're just like, Deidra. It took her months to man up and approach her boyfriend." I looked at her, eyebrows pulled together. Deidra and I hadn't met yet. She ended up spending the night in her boyfriend's room and hadn't been back to the dorm. "It's only been a week for me. Calm do
"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
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
Julie's P.O.V.I took a deep breath to relax as I felt the SUV pull to a stop after at least half an hour of driving. I heard doors opening, and I tensed back up. Someone grabbed my legs while another pair of hands reached for my arms.I squirmed and struggled. They had pulled me halfway out of the car, and I started screaming. A cloth was shoved into my mouth, but I kept hitting and fighting with all I had. I felt a sharp pain in my leg. Not even thirty seconds later, my leg went numb, followed by my other leg, abdomen, and everything else as it worked its way up my body until I couldn't move or speak, but somehow felt everything.I collapsed onto the ground with a thump. My limp legs were lifted up off the ground, and I could feel my back and hands scrapping against the hot concrete as they pulled me to our destination. I heard the door open, and I was dragged once again.My back held a searing pain, and if I could, I would have screame
As I made my way to the door of the classroom, my eyes eerily glanced to the parking lot on my right. This building was the closest to it, so I was worried. I picked up my speed a little bit when I heard footsteps quickly following behind me at a faster pace than my own.The logical side of my brain was telling me that someone was just late for class, but the panicked part of my brain told me to run. The footsteps grew louder as the person got closer, and I turned my walk into a brisk jog, my backpack bouncing as I did so. The door to my classroom was only four doors away, and it was open. I just had to make it a little further before breaking down and having my panic attack.The squealing of tires caught my attention and sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight off of my body. My breathing came out in small pants as I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.A large black SUV came into view and slammed on its breaks not more than 50 ya
I backed up towards the door. Unfortunately for me, we didn't keep the cleanest room, and I tripped over a pile of clothes landing right on my butt. When I looked up, Mark was smiling at me, the humor of me falling taking away from the seriousness of the situation…for him at least."Mark? W-what . . . what the fuck is going on?" I stammered as my throat closed up. He stood with the gun still in his hand and walked toward me. I started to shake. He stopped a few feet in front of me and looked down at me with his other hand outstretched in my direction, palm up.When I didn't take it, he narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Julie, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never, ever hurt you." He said as he crouched down next to me. "Why would you think that I would?" He sounded honestly hurt."You just pulled out a fucking g…" He placed his hand over my mouth."Julie, no one can know. Please, just let me explain. Plus, this gun isn't mine. This gun is
His Adam's apple bobbed harshly, and I met his stare as he scanned my face over as if judging how serious I was. Then, he nodded his head to the side and turned to resume walking. I moved with him, knowing that he needed a minute to collect himself. We made our way back to our dorm slowly, but he stopped me before we reached the front doors."I know what you mean. It was so hard…everything we went through, but we did it together. I don't think I'm ready to let you go yet, but I know I have to. I can't keep holding onto you and what we used to have, because that's gone now." He nudged the tip of his shoes against mine, and I looked down just as he pulled his foot back. "You do seem happy with him. I don't want to be in the way of that.""I really am." My voice was soft, as I didn't want anyone to overhear us.Jessie cleared his throat, and I fiddled with the hem of my shirt between my thumb and forefinger. He gave me a sad smile and let out a chuckle while
I flipped through the television, rather violently, much to Deidra's annoyance. After several minutes, she got to her feet, announcing that she was going to go visit her boyfriend (who I had yet to meet), and left me alone with my thoughts.Why would he stand me up?Was this payback for me not forgiving him sooner, or was it because of how poorly the conversation went last night?That petty, son of a bit…The sound of knocking broke me from my thoughts, and I turned off the baking show I had landed on.I got up slowly and walked over to the door. I swung it open."Hello?" I looked up, and I saw Jessie in a clean white t-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans."Are you ready?" He asked with a big grin.I kept a straight face."I'm sorry I'm late. The headmaster called me into his office. I tried to get out sooner, but he just kept babbling." I smiled at him and nodded."It's okay. I'm ready. Let me just grab
I wanted to pull Mark to the side of the hallway and tell him everything involving Jessie from yesterday to today, but with the crowd around us trying to get to class, it didn't seem like the right time.Maybe, I should wait and tell him after I cleared the air with Jessie this evening and everything was settled. If he knew about my meeting with Jessie beforehand, I figured it would make him stressed and frustrated wondering what we were doing, and if I was being faithful, even though we weren't technically together. As far as I was concerned, Mark was mine whether we placed a title on it or not. If another woman tried to make a move on him, she would have to deal with me.The entire second period, I was flooded with guilt that I hadn't talked to Mark yet, that I couldn't even enjoy the feeling of his hand on my thigh throughout the class.I pretty much ran to World History for third period so I could talk to Chey and Deidra and not have to worry about Mark over
I burst through the door to my first hour at the last second with my backpack slung carelessly over my shoulder and my half-finished coffee in my hand."Nice of you to join us, Ms. Sanders." The teacher said with sarcasm.I just sent her an apologetic smile, and she nodded as I sat down in my seat."We're going to be studying the magical work of Romeo and Juliet for the quarter." The males groaned, but I had a huge grin on my face. I was still a nerd at heart. Plus, my old school had already covered this curriculum months ago."Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDo with their death bury their parents' strife.The fearful passage of their death-