Julie's P.O.V.
I curled up in a ball with Bri was next to me, sound asleep. She had joined me in bed at Liam's insistence that I needed cuddles. To be fair, I did. When I woke up to a light tapping noise, Bri was still curled up to my stomach.
"Julie," I heard whispered. I looked around, careful not to jostle Bri and wake her. Liam was standing in the doorway. He gestured with his head for me to join him. I looked back at Bri, before climbing out of bed and tucking her back in carefully. I tip-toed over to Liam, where he handed me a ponytail. I looked at him confused but then put my hair up.
He smiled in approval, and led me down the stairs and out back. I shivered when the cold air hit me in short sleeve shirt I was wearing. He guided me over to his punching bag and then stood in front of me.
"You need to take all of the emotion you keep bottled up and do something productive with it. Between you fighting everyone who looks at you wrong and how fuck
We spent Sunday laughing and playing at the park. Liam and Bri were the best family I could ask for. It was kind of funny when a guy came up to me to try to flirt. Liam ripped him a new one. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself at the poor guy's reaction. He looked like he wanted to hide under a rock. We talked about school, Liam has dropped out and got his G.E.D instead, and Bri was about to start second grade. He made me promise him that I would go still try to go to college after high school, which meant I had to start going to school again so I wouldn't be truant. He made it clear that he wanted assurance that I was going to have a good future. When we got home, we ate lunch, and then Bri fell asleep while watching television. As soon as she was out, Liam and I went out back for our daily lessons. We only work with the punching bag today, because he said I wasn't ready to fight him yet. It only made me more eager to learn. I was exhausted by the end of
He smacked his hand down on the ground three times with a proud look on his face. "You win! I'll let you fight. The fights in the cage won't end like this. It will be by knockout only so be prepared to finish it." He let out a breath as we sat on the grass together with our arms resting on our knees. After we caught our breath, we got up. "Damn though, Julie. You're fucking impressive." It felt good to make him proud after all the work he had put in to teach me. I smiled. "I'm a fast learner with a good teacher." He chuckled. "How do you feel right now? You didn't take too many hits." He scanned me over, and I jokingly flexed at him. "Good enough. Tonight I'm going to take you to your first fight." My jaw dropped. "Really?" I asked in a small voice. This time he chuckled harder. "Really. They'll make you fight three people. If you beat all three, they'll let you be a fighter there. You don't have to sign any contracts or anything, but they do expect y
I watched the guy's every move. The way he shuffled his feet, his posture and even the way held his fists. The bell rang, and some music started blaring again. It was 'Awake by Godsmack'. He jumped for, and I ducked just in time for him to miss. I shot back up and remembered what Liam said. Kicking is my strong point. I can thank six years of soccer for that. I slammed my foot into his side, but he didn't even stumble. It seemed to anger to giant instead. He stepped towards me and swung his fist into my rib cage. I looked up and saw Liam standing there yelling for me. I gained back my strength and slammed my fist into his face. This time he did stumble back. I used his stumble and kicked him square in the chest. He fell on his butt, and I jumped on top of him. Liam had told me not to let him take me to the ground, but as long as I held control, I was confident that I would be fine. I hit him in the face with all my force. After about three hits, he ma
Julie's P.O.V. Jax pulled Liam and me into his office. The well-dressed man pointed to the couches for us to sit down, so we did. Jax sat on the loveseat across from us, looking very pleased. "You have skill, my little friend," Jax said to me. What was up with him calling me little? I just kicked ass out there. "Thank you," I replied simply. "Okay, so I'm sure that Slasher has told you that you are required to fight at least once a month." I nodded. "Now, just a warning, all of the guys are probably getting cups now that they saw what you did to Slam. You should find another attack. Every time you fight, you get to keep all the money you win. I don't charge the fighters. I only charge the audience." I smiled, and he nodded. "If you get involved with any of my fighters, keep it out of the gym. Church and State." I laughed and nodded to him. He shook my hand. "Welcome to the family." He handed me some money, and I took it eagerly.
Jessie's P.O.V. After school, I grabbed my swim trunks and sped to Tim's house, eager to spend as much time with her as possible. He laughed when I got there so first. I used his bathroom and got changed. The guys were there in their swim trunks too when I got out, waiting for Julie. We sat there for about half an hour when the doorbell rang. We all ran to open it. Julie was standing there in a pair of guy's swim trunks and a tank top over her black bikini. She looked hot as Hell. She glanced passed me as if I didn't exist and walked around us to get to the pool. After a minute, we all got our heads on straight and followed after her. She was taking off her tank top, showing her perfectly flat stomach. Damn, how come I never noticed how hot she was before I dated her? She looked over at us with daggers as we all just stared at her. She had a girl six-pack and toned legs. She still wore the guy's swim trunks and ignored us, walking into the water. Afte
I parked where Liam had showed me we could park for practicing, and I raced inside. Liam had wanted me to be here fifteen minutes ago, but I had gotten stuck helping Terry with some housework for a couple minutes. I half walked, half ran into The Cage, waving hello to Jamie at the door as I passed him. Liam was beating the shit out of a punching bag. I walked over to the wall behind him and sat my bag down. I threw my keys in it and stripped down until I was in my sports bra and workout shorts. I noticed a couple of guys that I hadn't met last night watching me like I was crazy. I walked up to Liam, and he grunted as he threw one last punch on the bag. "Where were you?" He said with a death glare. "You're late." "I know. I'm sorry. Terry needed help with a little housework. I tried to get down here as fast as I could though." At the mention of helping Terry, he lightened up. He threw his arm around my shoulders and smiled down at me. "
Jessie's P.O.V. "What the hell is this?" My father screeched as he held up my pack of cigarettes. He threw them against the wall as hard as he could, smashing them and wasting my money. "Dad, it's just cigarettes. It's not like I'm doing drugs!" My dad sneered at me. I stood up off my bed, and my father walked up to me. I pointed to the pack of cigarettes and yelled back at him. "It's not that big of a deal. You always have to try and find something to get pissed off about. Why were you going through my bag anyway? What is your problem with me? You can go around fucking every woman you meet behind Mom's back, but I can't smoke every once in a while?" He grabbed my hand that was pointing at him, and he was about to push it out of his face, but then he froze. His eyes locked on my wrist. I struggled to pull away, but his hold was too tight. My hand moved forward to push against his chest, trying desperately to get free. He spoke quietly.
"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
"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-