"Why did we put all our hopes in a box in the attic?"
M I L E S
Daisy, a curvaceous red-head, snickered at me. She was Liam's girlfriend and I hated her as much as I hated him. I was sitting at my desk, watching as Daisy and her friend talked in hushed tones across the room while looking in my direction.
What could they possibly have had to say about me? Apart from the fact that Liam occasionally made me his floor wipe, there really was no excitement that surrounded me. I refocused on my paper in front of me and decided to let it go. It was the second to last period of the day. I could hold out a little longer.
When I heard the bell ring, it almost made me rejoice. I shoved my class work into my backpack and hurried to the door before Daisy and her friends could stop me.
The hallway was crowded with students shuffling from one class to the other. It was a perfect blending mechanism. My next class was History, it was on the opposite end of campus and the building with only three rooms, meaning that hardly any students were around.
"Ah, look who it is," Diego's taunting voice rang from behind me. I tensed.
I didn't even have to turn around to know that Liam, Sam, and Frank were also with him. They traveled together.
I slowly met their expressions of triumph. If I ran, they'd catch me. I was old enough now to know that running from Liam was a bad idea.
"My sister says she invited you to my party next week," Diego neared me.
"Your party?," Liam rose a brow at Diego. He still hadn't fully looked at me, I noticed.
Diego rolled his eyes. "Fine, Liam's party," he amended. "Point is, you're not going."
I laughed dryly. "Wasn't planning on it."
Diego seized my shirt roughly and threw me to the floor. "I don't know what the fuck my sister see's in you," he growled. I looked to Sam and Frank behind him, they were smirking, ready for the show. Liam had a stoned expression. "But whatever it is, I think it's time I beat it out of you."
Not good. Definitely not good.
I shoved away from him roughly and ran, fast. Faster than I'd ran in a while. Before I could get far, though, my arm was yanked back. I looked up and realized that Liam was now holding me in place. Something fierce gleamed in his deep blue eyes. It made me panic.
Without a word, he shoved me to Diego who caught me roughly.
Liam's voice was like stone when he spoke. He rolled his shoulders once. "You shouldn't have ran, Miles." I wanted to kill him for saying my name. I wanted to stab him, in the heart— "I don't like to chase you," he taunted, a flicker of arrogance in his eyes.
"Fucking tell him to get off me," I growled at him.
He arched a brow at Diego who was holding me in place, then refocused his calculated eyes on me. "No."
I thrashed around in Diego's steel grip, which I noticed wasn't as firm as Liam's; but to my inconvenience, just as restricting. I huffed, putting an end to my thrashing. Liam seemed to take pleasure in seeing me defeated.
"Just hurt me already," it came out slightly above a whisper. It wouldn't serve me well to keep fighting.
Diego shoved me into the nearest wall and landed a blow to my stomach. I coughed in response.
"Traitor," he growled. "Such a fucking little traitor."
They were never going to let me forget it.
Sam and Frank approached me and threw punches to my face and stomach. I doubled over, gasping for breath. I eyed Liam who was watching the whole thing with a cold stare.
"Hit me," I coughed. "You're going to let them do your dirty work? I know you want to hit me."
Why I was encouraging him to bust my face in, I would never know. It was like I wanted him to hurt me. To drain all his anger so it could all be over.
Liam tilted his head slightly, observing my broken form. He brought his deep blue eyes to my face, scanning it. It made me shift uncomfortably.
Maybe I shouldn't have encouraged him, maybe I could deal with being guilty.
He spoke. "If I hit you, I might never stop, Medley," his voice was cold. "Do you want to limp all the way home?"
Nothing I've never done before.
I didn't get a chance to respond because Diego landed a punch into my abdomen. It was unexpected and it left me coughing on my knees.
The sound of the late-bell rung through my ears and I turned my attention towards the boys in front of me. Diego shouldered his backpack, sent me a final murderous look, and departed the scene. Sam and Frank did the same. Liam pulled his hood over his unruly golden hair and sent me a hard look before following the direction that his teammates went.
When they were out of sight, I cursed. Loudly. No one was there to hear it. Not only was I going to be late, but I was going to wake up unbearably sore tomorrow morning.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Are there sizes?," I asked my sister through my cell phone as I stood in the 'women's isle'.
Maddie sighed. "Just get the overnight tampons."
I scanned the large wall dedicated to countless tampons and pads. They seemed to all be the same, but the odd thing was, they each had different names and colors.
"What color are they?," I asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw more attention to myself.
"The box is green," she explained. "It should say 'overnight'."
Green. Overnight. Green. Overnight. Green. Overnight. Gree-
"Found them," I said as I snagged them form the shelf.
"Thanks, M," Maddie said. "See you at home."
I ended the call, and briskly made my way down the isle, desperately trying to be discreet. Just as I turned the corner, I rammed straight into someone, causing the box of tampons to tumble to the floor.
Perfect.
I hastily grabbed the tampons and met the gaze of the person whom I had collided with. He looked around my age, his hair was dark, and he had the most prettiest teeth I had ever seen. He was handsome.
He eyed the box of tampons in my hands with an amused smile. "Girlfriend?," he questioned. His voice was like honey.
I flushed and shook my head. "Sister."
"Ah," he said, grinning. "Of course."
I looked down at his sweatshirt, I gulped. It read, Eagles Baseball. The Elkwood Eagles were our schools' biggest rivals, especially in baseball. The subject didn't matter much to me, at least not anymore, but I knew of a person who'd be livid this very moment. Liam.
"You go to Elkwood," I stated, meeting his cheznut-colored eyes.
He quirked a brow. "I do," he said. "I'm guessing you don't."
I shook my head. "Ridgeview," I said, giving him a shaky smile.
He laughed. "They told me about you guys. They said I had to 'trample' on every Ridgeview Raptor. Apparently, I'm not supposed to be talking to you right now."
It was my turn to laugh.
He shrugged. "Guess I can make an exception," he winked.
I pushed down the flush that threatened to wash over my cheeks. "Yeah, I don't do the whole school rivalry thing anymore. I think it's pretty overrated, if you ask me."
He nodded slowly. "So you're not going to tell me your name, little Raptor?"
I rolled my eyes. "Miles. Now, you."
He grinned, "Jake."
Jake's grin faltered. "I just noticed your bruise. That looks...not so good."
Time to go, Miles.
I forced a chuckle. "Well, this Raptor needs to be getting home soon. Don't want to keep my sister waiting."
Before Jake could say anything more, I rushed to the cash register. He didn't follow. I sighed in relief.