Lucas ✔️

Eighteen

I turned the corner, making my way along the streets as the sun finally begun to dip below the horizon, the sky painted a mix of orange and purple. It reminded me of his bruised face after days underwater, the purple blotches of rotten skin and orange, festering cuts across his skin. I shook the memory from my mind and looked at the ground, deciding to focus on the concrete footpath and the ghouls hanging from my clothes instead.

I was only five blocks from home - two blocks from the bar - when a loud screeching echoed behind me and a car pulled up beside me.

"Hey girl, you alone?" A guy yelled, hanging over the passenger side window, his friends looking over eagerly. 

A loud sigh left my mouth and I turned to him, sending him an unimpressed look. I was really not in the mood for lame pickup acts tonight. It was obvious these guys were from out of town - their large ute, trashy stickers, and out-of-town number plate were dead giveaways. The other giveaway was that no one from this town ever hit on me, they didn't want anything to do with me.

"No, thanks," I said coldly, turning away and continuing to walk, hoping they wouldn't bother to follow.

"What was that?" He yelled angrily and the sound of car doors slamming made me stop, turning slowly.

I groaned out loud at the sight of the three of them lining up menacingly. My whole life I had been dealing with scenarios like these, but I still didn't get any more used to their weird pick-up tactics. I was like a magnet for slightly insane 'nice guys' who struggled to understand that a girl would turn them down. Dad used to tell me he couldn't sleep properly after the first attack, which was why he started me in defence classes. Even up to the day he took his own life, he was still worrying about my safety and had told me not to go out alone.

You obviously didn't care that much, Dad.

"You heard me," I said, sending the group of three guys a small grin. The driver was still sitting in the car but he also looked ready to jump out. "No. Thanks."

"What's wrong with hanging out with us?" One of them said, whilst another nodded their head.

"Yeah! Why're you making us out the be bad guys, we just wanted to hang out," the first one sneered and I let out a deep sigh.

This was eerily similar to the scenario I had experienced just weeks ago, but I couldn't be too annoyed as it was rare for me to go so long without some type of harassment incident. I guess I should be happy it had taken life this long to send another my way. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and held it up quickly.

"Guys, look, it's still bright out, I have milk here that needs to get to the fridge, and I'm just not in the mood. Let it go?" I asked, wishing they would agree. My phone was flat, but they didn't need to know that. I was hoping just having it there would make them back off.

"How about we get your number first?" One of them said, breaking away from the others and stepping up closer. He was smirking at me, a sleazy grin that sent chills down my spine, but if all he wanted was a number I could do that - giving a fake one was easy.

"So, does this happen to you regularly?" A voice asked lightly from next to me and I looked to my side quickly, feeling happy for the first time ever to see Shax's grinning smirk.

"God, more than you know," I said with a chuckle, letting out a sigh of relief and relaxing slightly. Shax may not be the bulkiest guy in the world but he was definitely tall and intimidating and, better yet, he was on my side. "Sorry guys, I have plans," I said with a fake smile, looking back at the three guys who looked unimpressed. 

"Yeah, she's with me," Shax said, walking up closer and throwing his arm across my shoulder. I didn't even mind it, even though his jacket buckle was pulling my hair, because he made the three guys turn and hop in their car without so much as a word of protest.