I wrenched my arm away as Adam tried to hold me back.Oh hell no. I just found out that the man I didn’t beat to a pulp the previous night killed my brother and almost ended my life in the process.Ain’t no asshole going to hold me back.Fuck this shit.I swiveled away from Adam and turned towards the guy. Someone’s dying tonight.When I was finally a couple of feet away from him, I could finally see how his eyes blazed with anger as if I have somehow offended him. I stared into the depth of his eyes, willing him to try and taunt me one more time.“What are you trying to say?” I managed to spit out whilst holding myself back on punching him. By now, it was a miracle that I haven’t pummeled him in.“I am the truck driver, you foolish bitch.” He snarled and although I expected the answer, it didn’t faze to throw me aback my knees buckling a little. But this doesn’t make sense. All of th
I sipped on the hot chocolate, staring on the bottom part of the wall, letting my eye muscles relax and focus on nothing in particular. The heat of the drink seeped through the ceramic glass and onto my fingers causing me to sigh in exhaustion, untangling one hand from the mug and raising it to my face to try and rub all of it away.After the last two sleepless nights I had, sleep was catching up on me but I promised Adam that I would go accompany him to visit Carla who was still in the hospital since her vitals weren’t showing any signs of improvements. Her doctors suggested that the Jones family to let her stay for some nights to be supervised.Sleep wasn’t an option after what happened three days ago. It didn’t help that I had another fight coming up tomorrow. I looked at the clock that was hung on top of the wall across me and watched the seconds pass by, letting the light tick of it soothe me.Tick. Tock.Tick.Tock.I
His eyes stared at me so intensely that he’s probably leaving a hole on my face. I gulped nervously at the sight of that look. This was not going to end well.“Okay, what do you want to know about?”“Those guys, three nights ago, they seemed to know you and you seemed to have recognized them.”A look from him and I knew he suspected something that I’m not ready to tell him yet. I didn’t want to share it with him because I knew he would make me stop fighting and stop accepting the money. I kept his gaze even though all I wanted to do was cower away from his stare and avoided his eyes. It was as if he could see right through me and in that flitting second, I felt truly vulnerable.I forced my eyes to remain neutral. Not expressionless enough for him to suspect something and not hard enough to tip him off that I was hiding something from him.The last thing I wanted him to do was stop accepting that money a
“Don’t shit with me, Adam.” I growled at him while marching past the counter, not even bothering to glance at him. Why was I being a bitch, you might ask? Guess.Yep, it was Monday. I might be known as a nerd but I was not necessarily a school lover. The people hated me and the feeling was mutual. I might hate them even more actually, considering the fact that I wouldn’t be able to punch the living shit out of them for every insult they threw my way.“Oh come on, babe, don’t be like that.” Adam mocked and I made a face at the nickname. I liked the guy — what? The dude’s hot, — but I was not one for couple pet names.Adam chuckled when he caught a glimpse on the ridiculous gagging face. I kept a straight face, scooping up some bacon, eggs and chocolate chip pancakes from the counter.“You do know I made those,” he pointed out and I huffed out an annoyed breath. You do not mess
I stayed silent the whole time. I clenched my jaw and kept my heartbeat in check. I stuffed my hands into my hoodie’s pockets and shuffled on my foot, not sure on what to do.Sonia was still staring at me like I was some extinct animal and I felt my conscience growing antsy, the alarm bells were ringing inside my head and every instinct screamed at me to drop everything and get out of there, flee the state, change my name, forget my past and strike up a new start for myself.But no one could escape from their past.A girl can damn try. My conscience said in a snarky tone and I mentally agreed, thinking of all the things I could do to ensure a better escape from this life. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in jail. They’ll find out, sooner or later but I’d prefer it to be the latter.She was still gaping at me and I casted a glance to the clock that was on the opposite wall from where we were standing, realizing tha
How the fuck did that bitch know about my secret.I mean, she wasn’t sure. Thank God for that but she did suspect it.‘Of course you can’t fight. I can’t believe I even thought of it.’What? So just because I liked to read and get good grades I couldn’t fight? What the hell was that about? What did that had to do with anything? Did I have to be weak to get good grades and gain a liking towards reading? Or did I have to be stupid and a complete airhead to be a fighter?But on top of everything, what could have possibly popped that question? How could that thought occur to her in the first place?This smelled like Penelope all over. I swear that if she was the one behind all this gossip, I will beat her up so bad that even her mother wouldn’t be able to recognize her. I trusted her and let my guard down.Damn her innocent look. They were playing a coy game; one that I didn’t wish to participate in.
I walked out of the school, hoping to avoid Sonia and Maddison on the way. I kept my head lowered and eyes fixed on the ground.Once I stepped out of the building, the sun hit my eyes and blinded me momentarily, forcing my sight to adjust to the change of lighting and when I could finally see again, I looked around in search for Adam so that he can give me a ride home but I finally noticed that something was wrong.Something in my gut told me that this wasn’t good, that something bad was going to happen. I stayed rooted on the spot, trying to grasp the faint shouts and yells in the distance. I tried to pinpoint the direction they were coming from. My head whipped to the side, finally able to distinguish where the noises were coming from.Looking around and seeing that Adam hadn’t appeared yet, I made a fleeting decision and jogged around to the side of the school where the stadium was.The second I saw how big the crowd was, I knew so
The night seemed to stretch longer and I found myself wishing I could fast forward it all to get it all over with. I was exhausted from the day’s events what with Sonia almost finding out and having my parents call me 10 minutes ago, saying that they’ll be back home soon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that they would be around. We would have movie marathons, eat some sushi, grab a few ice creams and pig out together but it would undoubtedly get harder for me to sneak out into the night for these fights and God knows how much I couldn’t afford missing out on these fights.One missed encounter and you’re out.It was a huge tournament and although I wasn’t aiming to win the whole thing for pride and fame, I did aim to collect enough money to fund Carla’s medications and ‘enough money’ wasn’t just two grand. Two grand can probably get her two treatments at the most but to actually giv
The car had toppled over and had landed on its side. Casey was under me. I could feel the liquid that drenched my eyelids, preventing me from cracking my eyes open. I felt the pressure on my arm that laid under Casey's head to protect it from the jostling that happened as the car swerved and fell sideways. I couldn't feel my lower half either but from the movements that Casey made under me, I knew that I've successfully cocooned her.Through the blinding pain, I heard Casey's cries and screams over a faint hissing noise. Every movement she made that nudged any part of my body would flare a new set of pain that threatened to knock me out. But amidst the unbearable pain, I felt relief in my heart.My little sister was okay. She was alive. She was moving.That was all I needed.
I pulled up at the spot where I dropped Casey off earlier and got out of the car. I jogged to the front door where Casey stood, one of her friends hanging a few feet behind her with what looked like my sister's purse in her hands.I locked eyes with Casey and she started walking. I couldn't read her expression as she looked straight ahead and power walked towards me. I slowed down, ready to spread my arms to give her a hug, but she stepped past me and walked towards the car instead. I turned to look at her back as she continued walking before turning back to her friend, handing me Casey's stuff.Casey's friend gave me a look and shook her head, tipping me off on how bad it went. As I took Casey's bag from her and ran after my little sister who was already walking towards the car, I watched the drag in her steps, as if they were the heav
"Yeah, just drop by any time you feel like it, Bryant. I've got no plans tonight so I'll probably be home. I'll text you my address." General Reeves said through the phone."Thank you, General. I'll call you when I'm on my way there." I spoke into the phone before hanging up.It's been a few days since I last heard from Dom. If our fight the other day didn't happen, I wouldn't have thought much about his silence since we weren't the kind of friends who had to talk to each other every day to stay close but how we left things off the last time we met made me worried.I checked his social media account to see if he was active or had made any posts lately but found nothing that eased my worries. Maybe I was too hard on him..But wha
I shut the front door and locked it before taking off my shoes. Casey was laying sprawled on the living room couch in her pajamas, covered by a layer of blanket. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, head resting on a pillow propped up against the armrest and hands holding a spoon and an ice cream tub. The TV was playing one of the episodes of 'Salvation' on Netflix.When she heard me stroll into the living room, she raised her head and craned her neck to look at me. "You're home early," she commented, looking at the time displayed on her phone screen.It was only 6 p.m. so technically it was early. After staying for a few hours in the park, watching the sunset together, I told Maddy what I was planning and she understandingly agreed without any objections or complaints. I was lucky to have a supportive and understanding girlfriend.
I tilted my head up with my eyes closed, trying to just absorb the fresh air and let it cool my insides and help me relax.I opened my eyes and watched as the wind shook the branches of the tree we were sitting under. Fall was already here and winter was just right around the corner, approaching fast. The branches were already balding, giving it a bare look, making the tree seem almost naked without its green. The leaves that managed to stay on the branches had already turned colors, pulling different shades of orange, yellow and sometimes even a beautiful bright red. The sight made by the tree branches reaching out and creating a web right above us, mapping across the space between us and the sky, was entrancing, at least to me. I could never get enough of it.The sun was nowhere to be seen today, hidden behind some clouds. The air aro
"Leaving?" Casey asked me as she stirred her cereal and milk in a bowl for breakfast."Yeah, I'll be back by 10 p.m. tonight." I told her over the jiggle of my keys as I pocketed them. "Do you have any plans today?"Casey shook her head, "Get home as late as you'd like, I'm not a kid, I'll be alright. I'll just be chilling inside, binge watching netflix and enjoying my ice cream."I didn't want to argue with her about going home later. It was more for my peace of mind than anything else. For the past year, I've tried very hard to never let Casey be alone. Especially in an empty house late at night. Of course she didn't understand where my worries and anxiety was coming from but that's alright. I'll do the worrying and being the anxious one, she can live in blissful ignorance that comes
"You haven't forgotten what day tomorrow is, right?" Casey asked me while she dumped her things on the foot of her bed.I plopped on my bed beside hers and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I hummed in response to her question, laying my arm over my eyes to block the light streaming in through the window by my bed.When she didn't continue speaking, I raised my arm slightly and took a peek at her.Casey stood over me, staring me down with her hands propped on her hips."You totally forgot what tomorrow is, didn't you?" She asked again.I grunted in annoyance, prompting her to stop speaking in circles and just get to the point.I felt a slap l
I rang the doorbell and waited for a few minutes for Dom to answer it and let me in.I had the urge to look around to check if anyone was watching me while I was waiting but I didn't want to tip off the people watching if there were any. I didn't want to give them further reason to suspect that I was hiding something.Because I was, and they're not supposed to know that.It was a Saturday afternoon and it was way too shiny than I'd like it to be. The sun was beating down my back and it was starting to get uncomfortable, so I knocked on the door to rush Dom."Coming! Hold your bloody horses!" Dom cursed from behind the door as the door jiggled and swung open. Dom stepped aside once he saw it was me and let me in. "You're here."
We stepped into the restaurant and told them we had made a reservation under Johnson.A waiter led us to a table where a man in a collared shirt sat, talking into his phone.When he saw us approaching, he waved and said a few words into the phone before hanging up and stashing the device away, smiling widely at my parents."I thought you stood me up!" He joked, standing from his seat to warmly greet my parents with hugs.Dad slightly turned his body to let the man see Casey and I clearly."This is Bryant, my oldest." I smiled as Dad made the introductions, stepping forward and offering my hand.He took my hand and shook it firmly. H