The List

IV: Beatings

"C'mon" I whispered, listening for his heart. Still slow. I punched him in the chest. Nothing.

"Crap. That always works in the movies" I muttered. A hand grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. It was the lead guy. I narrowed my eyes at him and turned back to Ryler. I listened for his breath again. Slow, but not as slow as before. I continued to do CPR.

"Evelyn, leave it alone" The guy said resting his hand on my shoulder. I shook it off and continued with CPR. I listened for his breath. It had stopped.

"No...No!" I cried, continuing to hit my hands against his chest. I was crying now, and the rest of the boys had gathered. I closed my eyes.

"Evelyn, please. Just leave it alone" He whispered.

"No!" I cried, and I pressed my lips against his, blowing in air. I flew back as he sat up, his eyes wide. He looked around at all of the guys, until his eyes landed on me. I smiled. He smiled back. I launched myself at him, hugging him. I pulled back quickly.

"Sorry" I said. He laughed and hugged me gently.

"How...how are you...alive?" The lead guy asked, obviously confused.

"Well, Roy. I think the fact that your plan of beating Evelyn here to a pulp failed" He said, grabbing my bad hand. I winced, and then shivered. Ryler frowned and looked at the large gash going across my hand. He grinded his teeth and stood up.

"Let's just go Evelyn" He spat at Roy. Roy glared at Ryler, but said nothing. I helped Ryler limp to his car, and we got in. As he drove off, I caught Roy's eye through the rear view window. His eyes were filled with both regret and longing.

"Thank you" Ryler said, bringing me back from my thoughts, "For saving my life Evelyn, but, what exactly did you do when you brought me...back"

"Oh...um..." I thought for a moment. I couldn't tell him that I kissed him.

"Well...I...uh...I was doing CPR and I got kinda pissed 'cause you weren't waking up, so I kinda...hit you in the chest really hard with my fist" I stuttered. He laughed, his eyes twinkling. I liked that.

"Cool. But, the reason I asked, is because, what woke me up was this spark that raced through my entire body. I felt like I had found something that I had been searching for my entire life" He said. Before I could say anything, I got a text. It was from my best friend, Emma.

'Where are u??? U werent at skool!' She texted. Her spelling and grammar in her texts was absolutely terrible, and it constantly got on my nerves.

'I was sick. And I would prefer if you used correct grammar and spelling' I replied. I set my phone down on my leg and looked over at Ryler. His eye was black and swollen, his lip was cut, and his cheek was swollen. I jumped as my phone vibrated on my leg. Ryler laughed, but didn't look over.

'Sorry. And I figured u were sick. But when I dropped by ur house, u werent there' she texted. I couldn't tell her about Ryler, I knew he'd have a reputation for being the 'bad boy' of the school.

'I was running an errant for my dad'

I replied, and then turned off my phone so I wouldn't have to deal with her.

"So, is this where you live?" I asked when Ryler stopped.

"Not really. Its a few blocks away. But this is as far as I can take you without you getting robbed" He said, smiling. I smiled and opened the door.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" He asked.

"Getting out of the car. I think I should get home" I said. He rolled his eyes and reached over to pull the door closed.