If Not for You (Completed)

Chapter 2: Kazzi

2Kazzi

My hands shook in the cold as my thumb swiped over my phone, looking at nothing in particular as I waited impatiently for school to start. I was in a pissy mood, with a growing headache and just enough cramps to hint at my impending period, putting school at the bottom of my list of desirables for the day.

"Look who's here." Brad said from a few feet away, and I pulled my eyes from my phone to follow his pointing finger.

Huddled against himself, head low against the wind, Creepy Kale Jackson sauntered across the schoolyard, seeming to do his best to resist looking in our direction. Rolling my eyes, I closed my phone and shoved it into my pocket, crossed my arms as I leaned against the cold bricks of the building.

"Oh, Kaaallee!!!" Brad sing-songed out to him.

Kale froze mid-step, his eyes lifting to us for a split second before turning away and hurrying toward the doors. Beside Brad, Cody started laughing, the two of them shouting as they ran after him. A moment later, they returned, each of their arms strung through one of Kale's elbows as he tried and failed to wrench himself free. The kid was by far the most pathetic person to walk the face of the Earth, and I rolled my eyes as he stopped resisting. Like a chained dog, he slumped within their hold, putting up no resistance whatsoever as the boys slammed his back against the wall.

"How pathetic." Lisa said from beside me, having finally lowered her phone long enough to realize that there were other people around. Brushing a strand of brown curls off her forehead before crossing her arms, she scoffed at him. "Kale is the sorriest piece of crap I have ever seen."

I snorted as I agreed, watching as Brad and Cody hovered on either side of him, whispering sweet nothings in his ears that I knew were anything but sweet. At one point, Kale mumbled something in return, sounding like a loosely hurled eff-you, and I flinched as Brad's fist impacted his face with enough force to crack the back of his head against the bricks.

"I'd watch that mouth if I were you, freak." Cody warned.

Kale slumped his head, eyes closed as he spit blood from his mouth, where I could see his lip split. He didn't say anything else; didn't move, not even when Brad and Cody taunted him to, and it ground on my nerves that he was willing to just roll over and take it.

"Hey, Kazz, check it out. Someone's trying to fit in." Brad said, and I cocked my head as he and Cody began pulling on Kale's coat.

It was then that I noticed he had a new one, and it was nice; a far cry from the thin, holey, nasty one he'd worn every single day since the beginning of winter. Arching a brow, I watched as Brad began unzipping it, a broad grin on his face as Kale began struggling again.

"Please stop." He grumbled.

If my eyes could roll back any further, I'd see my own brain, and with a huff, I pushed away from the wall and approached him. He didn't meet my eyes. Even though he stood at least a foot above me, he managed to avert his attention just low enough to avoid looking at me.

"You're so pathetic, it makes me sick." I spat, and he actually managed to drop his head even lower. "So, you know what? I think I'm gonna help you out."

At that, he raised his eyes ever so slightly, as Lisa came up to my side to leer a malicious grin at him, making him look away.

"Lees, his jacket look a little small to you?" I asked, and she chuckled as she nodded.

"Hell yeah, it does."

She dug through her pocket a moment, where she pulled out a tiny pink switchblade. Swinging my backpack around my shoulder to my front, I dug one out as well and popped it so that the blade was barely a hair's width from the tip of Kale's nose.