Take A Chance On Me [boyxboy]

Take A Chance On Me {22}

            “I'll be right back, okay?”

            “I'm coming with you.”

            “You'll just scare her even more.” He sighed, crossing his arms.

            “I'll stand close then, and keep a look out.” I nodded, letting go of his hand reluctantly and making my way over to Ashley. She couldn't see me, what with her head half buried in her locker.

            “Ashley?” I said when I came up to her. She jumped, hitting her head and hissing.

            “Sorry!” I said, my hand drifting my own painful head wound. For some reason seeing her hit her head made it throb. Great. She peeked out of her locker at me, her eyes shadowed.

            “What do you want Tate?” She said, looking around in paranoia just as I was. My expression became grim.

            “What did they do to you, Ashley? And don't try to deny it. I see the same fear in your eyes that's in mine.” She cringed, looking almost green in the fluorescent lights of the hallway.

            “It doesn't matter what they did. They'll never be caught. Eric is an idiot, but Tabitha is too tricky, too smart.” That much was true. Back when I was in the group, and we needed to get out of trouble, Tabitha was always the brains behind it. Eric was just the figure head, though he's just as bad.

            “Look, there's got to be something we can do. I don't know what he did to you, but what he did to me can get him put in jail. If I went to the police, we could both testify against them and-”

            “No! Are you crazy? What if they find out? What I one of them gets probation or something since Eric committed the actual crime, and they come after us? It's a formula or disaster, Tate. Don't even think about it.” I pursed my lips, looking away. All those things had been running through my mind as well, but I couldn't give up hope. For me or for Ashley. I know she's not perfect, but she's obviously got some kind of heart and conscience, otherwise they wouldn't have targeted her.

I've got to do something, and fast. I didn't think going to the police was a good idea, but what choice do I have? My parents won't give a crap, even if they did believe me. Maybe Callum will know what to do. I watched Ashley cower against the walls, slinking along like she had a secret. I sighed as the bell rang, realizing I would have to talk to Callum about it later.

            After school was over, I found Callum as quickly as I could. I didn't eat lunch with him because he got detention for flipping Eric's desk over. While he was sitting in it. They both had to stay in class for lunch, so I couldn't tell him about my conversation with Ashley.

            I met him by his locker, quickly rehashing what I talked about with Ashley. He frowned, shutting his locker. “That doesn't sound good. I'm not sure I want to know what they did to her.” I nodded in agreement, keeping an eye out as we walked down the halls.

            “I know that feel. But what are we going to do though? It's not just about me anymore. If they have no qualms about doing this to people they don't like as teenagers, what will they do when they're older? I can't risk that. We have to do something.” I said in frustration. We stepped outside, and I immediately spotted the evil little bunch leaning against Eric's showy Cadillac. Callum's hand quickly formed a tight fist, but his faced showed little emotion.

            “Callum, I think we do have to go to the police for this. I don't know how though. Eric talks a good game, but unfortunately backs up what he says. Mostly thanks to Tabitha. There's no way we can bust them without it affecting ourselves.” We arrived at his car, where he leaned against it as well and thought for a moment. Suddenly his eyes brightened and he turned to me with a grin.

            “I think I’ve got it. Maybe we don't have to tell the police.” I looked at him in confusion, wondering where that wicked glint in his eyes came from.

            “The hell are you talking about?” He smirked, glancing over at where Eric, Tabitha and Rupert were spreading evil vibes.

            “You said Eric talks a good game. This is true to exponential levels, so why don't we use it to our advantage?” I was still fuzzy on what he meant, but I knew one thing.

                                  Eric is going to pay.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

            A couple of days later, we had gotten what we needed to bust Eric. It wasn't easy, but we got it. Now, all we need to do is get Eric to run his big fat mouth, which shouldn't be very hard.

            We decided to do it after school, corner them when everyone was gone so they wouldn't be afraid to taunt us with what they'd done. Fortunately, they still roamed the halls like a pack of hungry hyenas, so we didn't have to round them up. When we caught up with them, I was actually scared out of my wits. I hadn't faced them since...well, you know. I ended up half hiding behind Callum, not meeting any of their eyes.

            “Eric.” Callum said calmly. Eric eyed us with disdain, looking gangly and a little pale to be honest.

            “Trash. What do you want?” I was surprised, he looked like he didn't feel like insulting us. He looked tired, worry lines creasing his forehead. Was he really worried...? But about what? He's always been so cocky and sure of himself. I felt less scared, and inched out a little bit more from behind Callum.

            “I just wanted to talk. You know, since we never got the chance.” I glanced at Rupert, and he looked almost as weary. Tabitha was the only one who looked positive. Positively malicious, but positive nonetheless. In fact, she even looked suspicious. She looked at Callum up and down, as if looking for something.

            “Talk? What could you possibly want to chat about, you loser? Unless, of course, this is about Tate, and his little...accident.” The familiar nasty look returned to his eyes. I felt Callum tense as Eric's eyes met mine, his smirk growing at the obvious discomfort in my expression.

            “Hi, Tate. Did you miss me?” Callum growled, moving forward.

            “You don't have the right to speak to him after what you did.” Eric put his hands up to his shoulders, raising his eyebrows. He was about to speak again when Tabitha put a hand on his shoulder and turned her steely eyes on the two of us.

            “We don't know what you're talking about.” She said, her voice colder than an arctic tundra. My jaw dropped in disbelief.  

            “Tell me you're joking. You tried to kill me!” I shouted, fists clenched and shaking in anger. They would actually deny it? Right to my face?

            “Now, Tate. We know you've never liked us, but surely you wouldn't make such a ridiculous accusation when it doesn't hold any...water.” Tabitha said, staring straight into my eyes. It felt like looking into the cold stare of a snake. Right then I knew we'd been made. We couldn't fool her like we could fool Eric. She was cold, calculating, and dangerously observant.

            “Fine.” Callum snapped, realizing it too. “Lie all you want, but we won't let you get away with this.” She looked like she wanted to laugh, but we both knew she wouldn't. Not with the wire carefully taped to Callum's chest. See, Callum's cousin Julia works for the police, so we went to her and asked for a favor. She provided us with the wire, but she said we had to give it back right after, and this would be our only chance. And we blew it.

            I grabbed Callum's hand, pulling him away and struggling not to attack her in anger. Evil cunt bag. I could feel their eyes on us as we walked away, finally out the doors of the school where they couldn't see us. I slowed my steps, eyes stinging.

            “Tate, don't worry. We'll get them. It'll be okay.” I nodded, and he squeezed my hand reassuringly. I didn't see how, but I trusted Callum. Even though the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to have dimmed considerably.