BLOODY LIFE

I leaned my back against the brick wall of the coffee shop and watched as a car passed by. My stomach dropped as the reality of me walking home in the dark set in. I decided I’d give him a few more minutes …

even though I was off work twenty minutes ago.

This was right up there with one of the worst days of what felt like a never-ending semester at Westfall Community College. Everything was going surprisingly well until my professor slapped down that piece of paper with the bright red, glaring letter F on it. What was this, the third grade? What teacher still graded with the infamous red pencil? Mrs. Brooks did, she and her oversized glasses couldn’t seem to figure out she wasn’t teaching elementary school anymore.

She promised she’d let me off easy being that I had just buried my grandmother a week before our winter break was over, but apparently, my grace period had run out.

Not many people I knew were as connected to their grandmother in the way I was, but she was practically my mother. Now, I had no mom at all, or at least that’s what it felt like.

My mother might’ve been physically present in my life, but she had been mentally checked out for years. She had allowed alcohol to ruin her life, and if I weren’t careful, it would end up ruining mine too.

I did my best to care for her when she would come home black-out drunk every night from Brown’s Bar. Sometimes I wondered why she ever bothered coming home at all. I hated everything about that place, and the owner’s son—my boyfriend—was about to make that list as well.

It seemed like he was never around when I needed him, especially tonight when he was supposed to pick me up from working late at the coffee shop. This was yet another awesome addition to my shitty day.

I glanced down at my watch again, no beat-up Honda Civic around or any vehicle in sight for that matter. Damn you, David. I should’ve taken the offered ride from my boss. Now, I would have to walk close to three miles to get home on this freezing cold, misty night. I sighed and tried calling the jerk for the last time—straight to voicemail.

I could’ve tried calling the only other person in the world I could count on, my best friend, Jen, but it was late, at least that’s what I told myself. The truth was that I didn’t want to bother her because I didn’t want to hear about how worthless David was because he couldn’t deliver on his promises… again.

I lifted my chin and took off toward Mixon Street, the road that led to home. I was tough, and maybe walking off the ending to this nightmare of a day would be good for my sanity. Perhaps tonight I’d be in a better mood to deal with my mom when she fell through the front door drunk again, babbling incoherently.

Crossing the street, I almost jumped when I heard a loud whistle come from my right. “Work that ass for me, baby!”

Give me a break! I glanced over and noticed Jackson Cross and his group of friends—I liked to call them his shadows—slowing down the car just enough to play games with me.

“You’re an asshole,” I snapped, picking up my pace. The last thing I needed was the most popular guy on campus and his friends pestering me, especially tonight.

“Where’s that geeky boyfriend of yours? His car break down again or something?” Paul Rice, one of Jackson’s shadows, called out.

I wasn’t going to deal with this. I stopped, turned to face Jackson’s sleek black BMW, and planted both hands on my hips. “Why don’t you do us all a favor and just get the hell out of here!” I demanded.

“Oh, little Ellie is feisty tonight!” Jackson said with a slur followed by a laugh. He shifted his head back to Paul sitting right behind him. “Hey, bro, you should walk the bookworm home tonight.”

This wasn’t good. My heart started to race as I felt the bad vibes coming from these guys.

The car door shut, and I grabbed for the phone in my pocket, wondering if calling the police would do any good. The guy approaching me, Paul Rice, his dad was the Chief of the Edgewater Police Department, and this kid got away with everything.

Without warning, he ripped my phone out of my hand and shoved it in his back pocket. He smiled and twisted a strand of my long, brown hair between his fingers. “Wow, Ellie, you are actually pretty sexy for a nerd.”

“Don’t call me Ellie,” I stepped back and shoved my hand out, “and give me my phone.”

That prompted two more doors from the car to open and shut. Shit! More asshole jocks! My five-foot-six height wasn’t going to be enough to intimidate their tall six-foot-plus muscular builds. Damn it, think, Elle!

I looked over to see Jase and Luke jogging over to Paul who was still screwing with me. These guys were douchebags, and there was no telling what they were going to do to taunt or bully me tonight. They knew I was out here alone, and this was apparently their idea of a good time. The perfect way to spend a Tuesday night at 10:30 p.m. …for dickheads.

Jase stepped up to me, cocked his head to the side, and cupped my chin with his hand. “Listen, Ellie, we just want to get to know you a little better.” “You’ve known me since the first grade, you jackass. What the hell are you doing?” I looked over at Jackson who was slowing the car more. “Call

your minions back to the car and get out of here.”

The black BMW screeched its tires and practically drove up onto the curb before Jackson threw the car in park. He jumped out of the car and marched toward me, and that’s when I realized these guys were tweaking pretty hard on something.

All these blonde haired, blue eyed jocks were now after me for something, and I had no plan to get out of this situation.

The guys stepped aside, giving Jackson full access to me. I turned to run, but I was stopped when I felt a strong hand clamp onto my shoulder. In less than a blink, Jackson forced my back to the fence that lined the sidewalk. The guys all grouped around, laughing while Jackson clenched down on both my shoulders.

“Listen, Elle,” Jackson said in a weird, raspy voice. “You’re a book nerd, we get that, but damn you are hot, you know that?”

“What the hell are you on?” I said, my voice shaking.

Jackson shook his head and laughed, his eyes met mine again, “That’s none of your business, Ellie,” he said with another laugh.

All I had was adrenaline on my side right now, and after this, I’d be the first in line to sign up at the martial arts class for self-defense. My fight or flight mechanism had me paralyzed and at the mercy of what these jerks were planning.

“Don’t,” I pleaded softly, hating that I was scared out of my mind and that my body wouldn’t react appropriately to defend itself against these tweaked out pricks.

I felt Jackson’s lips press onto mine, his tongue trying to pry my pinched lips open. I gained some strength and wedged my arms in between us. As hard as I pushed, the star quarterback wasn’t budging. In fact, all I did was spur the asshole on.

The sound of a motorcycle roaring down the street gave me a moment to react. The distraction caused Jackson to turn, and I used it to my advantage. I brought my knee up, but unfortunately, Jackson was too quick for my impulsive decision to knee him in the balls.

Jackson’s eyes were fierce, staring into mine while I heard the loud motorcycle screech to a halt. “Get your fucking hands off of her,” a male’s voice boomed.