Evelyn's POV
The next day, I stayed in, since I actually had gotten a cold. My nose was stuffed up, I was sneezing like crazy, and I was utterly confused about what Ryler had said. After about an hour of pondering, my head started hurting. I went to the kitchen to find some Advil, but we were all out. I groaned. I threw on my Uggs and my coat and began to walk to the Wal-Greens that around the corner. When I got there, I grabbed some headache and cold stuff and left after I bought them. But as I was walking home, I bumped into some guys.
"Oh, sorry" I said, and then sneezed. The guys laughed.
"Bless you, Evelyn" One hissed. I froze. Had I done something wrong? Were these the guys Ryler were talking about? I turned around and ran.
"Get her!" The same one yelled. I ran harder and faster. I didn't bother turning my head, because I was already on my front porch. I fumbled with the keys, but managed to get the door open. I closed it just in time. I ran to the backdoor and locked it, as well as all the windows. The guys banged on the doors and windows. After about ten minutes, they stopped. I ran behind the couch and closed my eyes. I knew they were outside. I prayed for them to go away and for this to be over. Then, I heard clanging on the window. I peeked my head out from behind the couch. They were throwing rocks at the window. I smirked. They couldn't break those windows even if they had a crowbar. I heard a crash and I saw the one who blessed me had a crowbar. Okay, maybe they could break the windows with a crowbar. As he leaped through the window, I was scrambling up the stairs to my room, but the guy had grabbed me by the hair and was pulling me to my feet. I struggled against him, until he brought a broken piece of glass up to my neck. I froze.
"She's a nice one. One the best that Ryler's gotten" One said, grabbing my chin. I turned away from him, careful to make sure not to cut myself on the piece of glass. The one who held the glass against my skin chuckled. He dropped the glass and turned me towards him. He had short brown hair and had dark brown eyes, if they were any darker, they'd be black.
"Evelyn, Evelyn, Evelyn. You can't hide from us. I think you know that wherever you run, we will always find you. Barricading yourself in your house doesn't help either" He said, dragging me out the window. I hissed in pain as the broken glass cut the skin on my legs.
"Oh, are you hurt? You might want to get used to it" He whispered in my ear. I shivered at his closeness. This was a habit of mine. Whenever anyone gets to close, I shiver, and most of my friends know this, so when they see me shiver they know to step away. Anyways, the guy smiled and threw me to the ground. As I got onto my knees, he kicked me in the gut. I fell to the ground. The entire group of boys, which was about eight to ten boys, began to kick me repeatedly. I cried out once or twice, but never actually screamed. The lead boy was not happy about that. He still had the piece of broken glass in his hand, so he grabbed mine and quickly ran the blade down my hand. I screamed in pain as the blood spilled out. They grabbed me. I began to scream for Ryler, my dad, my neighbors, my mom even.
"You're dead mommy can't help you Evelyn. Neither can Ryler. He's probably going to join her soon enough" The guy said, grinning evilly. My eyes hardened. I balled my bleeding hand, and faster than I had time to think about it, I had punched the lead directly in the jaw. I shook my hand out, since it even rattled my bones and I ran. Straight for the hospital. I knew he was there. I figured they probably got him when he went to grab his car. I looked back and saw three guys get into their cars. All three of them. I looked back at the lead guy, who had an evil look of fury in his eyes. I pushed my legs harder, running as fast as I could. I blocked out everything, as my track and field teacher taught us during a segment we learned in P.E. a few weeks ago. I began to add a rhythm to my running, to keep my pace. I counted my steps up to six, and then started again at one. I began to go from one to six in a very short time. I blocked out the pain, the sound of the cars next to me, everything. I only focused on my pace, my breathing and counting. Soon enough, I reached a landmark that I saw when Ryler and I were walking home. I smiled to myself. We were almost there. I looked back at the guys. They had slowed down, some of them even stopped, but the lead guy was still on my tail. I ran even harder, reaching the hospital in a matter of minutes. I saw Ryler lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious. I skidded to stop and kneeled down next to him. I listened for his breath. It was slow and wheezy. It began to slow down. I listened to his heartbeat next. It was very slow and scary. I began to do CPR.
"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.
"I'm going to drive you home and make sure you stay safe" He said. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Then why did we drive over here?" I asked.
"In case Roy followed us. I'm planting a fake trail" He explained. I nodded, still not understanding. He pulled out of the neighborhood and drove me home.
When we got to my house, the place looked terrible. The windows were shattered, there was blood on the sidewalk, and somehow, it was already dark.
"Night" I said, getting out of the car and stepping up on my porch.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"Inside" I stated, as if it was obvious.
"You need protection. I'm going to stay here with you" He said, pushing past me and making his way into my house. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed, exasperated. I walked inside, closing the door behind me and found Ryler in my kitchen eating my dad's fruit loops.
"Seriously?" I asked, tiredly.
"What?" He asked with his mouth full. I smiled and rolled my eyes. I jogged up the stairs to my room and threw on some sweats and a t-shirt over my tank. I put my hair up in a messy bun and walked back downstairs, where Ryler was now sitting on the couch, watching TV.
"You have a nice house" He said, not looking at me. I sat in a chair and shrugged.
"I guess. I had to do everything myself since my dad works so much" I said. It was kind of nice telling someone what's happened to me in my life. No one knows about my dad. Not even Emma. I know it was kind of a stupid choice on my part for telling a complete stranger that my dad barely even spoke to me, but he had just saved my life and I felt so alone.
"Evelyn?" Ryler asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry, I kinda zoned out." I admitted, blushing slightly. He smiled.
"You look like a rabbit when you blush or get embarrassed" He said. I froze.
"Um..." I hinted.
"Sorry. I refer girls to cute animals instead of calling them cute. I guess I feel more comfortable doing it that way" He replied sheepishly. I was silent for a moment, and then I laughed loudly. He scowled at me, but said nothing. I smiled, and we continued to watch SpongeBob until nine o' clock.
"Well, I'm going to go to bed" I said, standing up, and heading upstairs.
"Okay. Goodnight, rabbit" He said, still in a daze by the TV. I rolled my eyes and entered my lavender bedroom. As I did my nightly ritual; brushing my teeth, showering, brushing my hair, etc.; I constantly peeked my head out my door to check on Ryler. When I had finished everything, I checked on Ryler one last time, and then climbed into bed. I tossed and turned for a couple of minutes, before Ryler came in. He sat down at the foot of my bed and sighed.
"What?" I asked.
"You can't sleep. I think I know why" he said.
"Well?" I asked, after a few moments of silence. He smiled.
"You can't sleep because you’re afraid. You’re afraid of getting hurt again. But don't worry. I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen" he said, patting my leg. It was awkward, but it was reassuring.
"Thanks" I said, smiling.
"Remember, I'm here all night" he said, walking out the door and closing it. To be honest, I didn't think what he said would help me get to sleep, but, in a matter of minutes, I was fast asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryler's POV
I know what it feels like to be afraid of being alone. The first time I was beaten, I didn't sleep for a week. I skipped down the stairs and back to the TV. I honestly didn't watch anything, but the feeling of flipping through channels was comforting. At about midnight, I went upstairs to check on Evelyn. She was asleep and I had a strange thought.
Was she always this beautiful? I shook the thought out of my head. There were tons of hotter chicks just falling to my feet, but I could have them with a snap of my fingers. But Evelyn...she wouldn't be so easily tricked. She knows I'm a player, a bad boy, a curse to any girl who layer their eyes on me, so I've been told, but I had the unsettling feeling that I knew I couldn't have her. And I didn't mind it. I don't want her. I stepped inside her room and closed the door behind me. I didn't know exactly what I was doing, but I had to do something. I was here now. I crept over to her bedside table and picked up a leather bided notebook, with small flower patterns painted on the cover. I opened it and saw what I assumed to be Evelyn's simple cursive writing. It was a list! But for what?
1. Likes my friends (as friends)
2. Funny, but knows when to be serious
3. Likes to read
This is garbage! I can tell that these are things she's looking for, but this is ridiculous! I skim down to the last one.
11. Doesn't look through belongings.
...Whoops. I smirked, but froze as Evelyn shifted. I looked back to the journal.
'These are insane!' I thought to myself, shaking my head. But then, I had an idea.
"I have none of these outrageous traits on this list, but I WILL get you to like me. Then you'll see the stupidness of this list and we'll be done." I whispered to Evelyn, even though she couldn't hear me. I smirked as I realized how easy this was going to be. I could get any girl I want. And I "want" Evelyn.