He Called Her Angel

Taking the Jump

Chapter 23

Taking the Jump

*Carter's POV*

She just punched me! She punched me!
The throbbing on the side of jaw was confirmation that she did in fact punch me. She punched me!

Suddenly one of the fears hidden in the back of mind slammed forward and it was like someone had punched me again. I knew this was coming. She never forgave me for what I did and who I was. Instantly a good day became sour.

I stood in front of my mirror observing the growing lump along the side of my face. "Damn that girl packs a punch." I thought. It wasn't the first punch I had ever received of course. Actually I used to be the one throwing the punches. I don't know why I did it to be honest. The mere adrenaline rush from a perfect left hook always had me spinning. It was a release of power and a gain of control. It was like drugs and I wasn't the only one dealing it.

A year ago I was a different person. I was not who I am today, I swear on it. There was a group of us. We fed on the innocent and became intoxicated from the bloodshed. We weren't human as there was no empathy towards our actions. We got high off of the people who feared us. I don't even remember my victims faces. There is only one that stuck in my memory, Wren. The first person I encountered that fought back. I realize now that it was because he had something worth fighting for.

The guilt consumed me. In hurting Wren, I hurt Cassidy.

What did Cassidy think of me? Why would she befriend me? 'I forced her to. I forced myself upon her.' I thought to myself. My guilty conscious brought me no peace when I tried to sleep. The numbers on my clock turned rapidly and before I knew it beeped letting me know another day had arrived. I debated skipping school because it was a half day anyway. No I need to face her. I need to face my mistakes even if it's the last thing I want to do.

I took a quick shower in order to rejuvenate myself, but as I stepped out I realized it was useless. My pain can't just slip away down the drain like the dirty shower water. I looked into the mirror and realized the bruise was somewhat large and I am pretty sure I couldn't dodge the questions about it. I changed quickly into a large white shirt, and some black basketball shorts. I put a cup of coffee on and quickly and tried to complete some last minute homework. I took the still hot coffee and chugged down ignoring how it burnt my throat a bit. I then proceeded to hop on my bike and head to school.

As I pulled in I saw my buddy Conner talking with one of Cassidy's friends. I parked my bike and walked over to Carter right as the girl said goodbye.
"Hey man what's up," I said as I slapped his back. "Hey!! I was just.... Woooh," he said as he looked at my jaw. I quickly racked my brain for an excuse, but came up empty. "Cassidy is getting rough, isn't she?" He said with a wink. "How did you know it was Cassidy?" I questioned. She didn't tell everyone did she. Man if she did my ego is also gonna get a beating. "Wait! Cassidy actually did that!!?" He said while laughing. Damn I gave away the truth without even realizing it. "What happened?" He kept pushing. "Don't worry about it okay." I said while hoping he would just back off.

Luckily, he said nothing more and we walked to our first period. Two classes had went by and I still wasn't ready to face Cassidy. During break I was putting stuff into my locker when someone gave me hug from behind.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sooo sorry, I'm soooo sorry." Cassidy mumbled into my back. She released me and I turned around to face her. "No, I'm sorry Cassidy. This is all my fault." I said while avoiding eye contact.

"Carter look at me." She said. My eyes slowly met hers and the guilt resurfaced.
"What happened yesterday had nothing to do with you okay, well a little, but I forgave you and I'm not going backwards here. I'm sorry for what I did, it was completely wrong. Your a good person and deserve to be happy. I just took out some anger on you, okay?" Cassidy said with complete honesty. The guilt was lifted off my shoulders, but something wasn't right and that feeling kept me on edge.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Huh?" She questioned confused.
"Why were you angry?" I specified.
"Oh you known teenage hormones and all." She said. It sounded like she was forcing herself to say it. A rehearsed lie. Something was up and I was going to get to the bottom of it.