Guardian Angel (A Jade Thirlwall Fanfic)

Chapter 1

-Chapter 1-

I exited the pristine, translucent glass door of the Taco Palace, waving good-bye to my co-worker/friend Aiden. She was working late again while I was able to get off early. I tugged my keys from my pocket, arriving in front of my white, partially filthy, Grand Prix. I hopped in, sticking my key into the ignition. The car came to life as it purred quietly like a kitten. I quickly pulled off, turning the radio on to the station I frequently listened to. The drive home was 10 minutes away, so I could slip in a few songs on the way.

  ***

The streets began to look familiar as I was getting close to my destination. Just a couple more streets up ahead and I would be able to take a nice, warm, relaxing shower. Then afterward, I'd be able to curl into my queen size bed and rest from an exhausting day of serving Mexican food to almost-starving customers.

That's when my instincts suddenly told me to look down an alley to my right. Down the dark, dimly lit alley stood, what I could make out from the streetlights glowing, were three high school guys towering over a girl. The girl's facial expression was grimace and she appeared frightened. I could just make out a single, sparkling tear running down her face. I stopped the car, observing the scene that was taking place. I also cut the music off and rolled my window down to see if I could hear any dialogue coming from the somewhat hidden area.

I watched as the girl pleaded for mercy on her knees, begging them not to hurt her. "Look you stupid bitch," one of the guys shouted,"I don't have time to play games. You either give me your purse and your homework for tonight, or we'll have to take it by force." I felt my fist clench fiercely as I watched in disgust. My heart began to pump fast and my body warmed up, anger and adrenaline spreading through my body.

"No! I can't....this purse is all I have left of my father! Take the homework, but please let me keep my purse," the girl squealed in distress with a hint of sobs forming in her throat. Her clothes were slightly ripped and muddy. I assumed the guys had ruined her clothing.

"Give me the damn purse now before I have to get physical," the guy yelled down where the girl was laying on her knees, helpless and outnumbered. "No," she said, now fully sobbing. Suddenly, the guy's hand connected with the cheek of the girl and she hit the ground hard. My stomach clenched greatly and I was left in shock, my mouth halfway agape. At that moment, my horrifying past flashed within my eyes. Memories of my dad hitting my mother,  just as the boy did to the girl, played in my head. When I saw the girl hurt, I saw my mom through her eyes and couldn't take it anymore. I unbuckled my seat belt and jumped out of the car, sprinting towards the scene. I could see that all three boys were now stomping, kicking, and crushing the poor girl with their large feet.

"Hey, get off of her!" I yelled, my voice making them stop and whip their heads in my direction.  "What the hell are you going to do about it faggot?" said the guy who seemed to be the leader. "Only faggots wear beads in their hair," he added. The two other guys chuckled loudly at the comment.       "Ha ha, very funny," I started, "But guess what? I still get girls. As for you, I don't think so. Only weaklings and punks hit women." 

I was now, about two feet in front of them, eyes ferociously piercing their's. My hands were balled tightly into neat fists, ready to strike. "Oh, really? Well I'm neither of those, I'm a man," he said, a smirk tattooed across his face. "Real men don't hurt women. Real men treat women gentle and delicately with respect. No real man puts his hands on a woman unless it's out of love," I shot back at him with lots of emphasis in my voice.

"Oh shut up with that gentleman bullshit! A question I would like to know is, what are you gonna do about it?" the guy said, shoving me to the concrete sidewalk. "Leave him out of this! It's between me and you Jared," the girl screamed from the ground. Jared swiftly, turned around and planted his foot in the girl's stomach with full force. I silently growled, leaping off of the ground. My heart was now racing. "I'm warning you, don't hurt her anymore," I firmly spoke, getting into my fighting stance. "Or else?" The guy questioned. "I'm going to kick your ass, and then rein act doing it," I told him harshly. All three of them chuckled. "Wow, I'm terrified of you now! Who are you supposed to be? Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid?" He said sarcastically.

"Something like that, now I'm serious. You can either leave her alone right now and walk home unharmed, or you can do the opposite and get your ass beat," I said in an infuriating tone.          "Wow, you really got a set of balls kid, talking to me reckless. Ha, boys, hold the girl up in place. I'm gonna show this punk that I'm not listening."

The two other boys followed Jared's command in a heartbeat, picking the girl up with a slight struggle. They held her arms out so her torso was out in the open. Jared extended his middle finger to my face and then swung his large fist into the girl's gut with all his might.

The girl let out a heartbreaking moan of pain. Suddenly, vomit spewed from her mouth, accidentally landing on a pair of expensive-looking shoes Jared wore. "Aw, you bitch!" Jared yelled furiously. He tried his best to knock the vomit off of his shoe, then he quickly extended his foot behind himself. A powerful kick rammed into the girl's crotch. "Ahhh," the girl screamed out in a sob. That right there was the last straw.

I sprinted toward the brick wall of the building that was parallel to a building next to it, which together they formed the alley. I then hastily sprinted up the wall, when high enough, I launched off of it swinging my leg into the side of Jared's skull. The force of the kick swiveled his entire body around, him end up on the ground unconscious as the result. The two boys watched in astonishment, letting go of the girl. She fell to the ground, slowly crawling to the opposite wall, getting away from the remaining guys. I was sick to my stomach and still enraged.

One of the boys then accelerated towards me, throwing a right jab. It was aiming directly for my jaw, no doubt about it. Suddenly, my reflexes kicked into gear as I swiftly caught his fist in the face of my palm. I followed it with a lethal uppercut to his chin and a strong knee to his gut. He dropped to the ground releasing a groan from his red painted lip while holding his stomach in pain.

I tossed a deadly glare to the last boy standing. His knees were slightly shaking. I told him coldly, "Now, you either get the hell out of here, safely, or you can end up unconscious like your woman-beating partners." An ample amount of fear crossed his face as he studied the injured bodies lying on the cold ground. He looked up at me, decision made, and began to cautiously slip pass me. "Go!" I screamed. He immediately began sprinting past me, flinching at the tone of my voice.       "And don't ever come near her again!" I added.

When I heard the last of the boy's footfalls, I waited a few seconds, calming down. My heart rate slowly started to decrease. I examined the bodies lying on the ground, then my right hand. My knuckles ached and were smeared with blood. I wiped it on my dark-colored skinny jeans and went to approach the hurt girl.

The left side of her cheek had a fresh, bloody scar on it from when she landed on the concrete ground. The scar was from the impact of the ground when Jared had smacked her. She looked up at me, tears poured out all over her face. "Hey, you alright?" I asked in a whisper. She had a very grimace look placed on her face. "P-Please don't take me to a hospital," the girl begged softly. Her British accent made me subconsciously bite my lip. It was so adorable and turned me on a little. 

"Don't worry, my mom is a nurse and is off of work today, so we can just go to my house and you can be treated there. I promise I won't hurt you," I told her. She gave me the best smile she could manage through all the pain she just experienced and attempted to get up. I helped her raise to the ground. "Thank you.....f-for saving me," she told me with a shiver in her teeth, grasping her arms for warmth. I took off my jacket that I wore over my Taco Palace uniform and placed it on around the girl's shoulders, giving her a warm smile. "Here, put this on." 

She put her arms through the sleeves a bit hesitantly and zipped the jacket all the way up. I spotted the mini-purse that the guys took much interest into and picked it up. "This is yours," I said. She took the mini-purse and tightly held it to her chest. "Th-thank you again." She said softly. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and cautiously walked her to my car. "Hey, I know you," I said remembering her gorgeous face. "You live right across the street from my house. You live in that blue house, don't you?" 

I see this girl almost everyday, unboarding a yellow school bus and entering her house. She always looked kind of sad to me though, maybe this was the reason. "Yes, I-I do." She replied sofly. We both got into the car and I started it up. "So no wonder you look so familiar. Hey, you have a name?" I asked.

"Jade." She answered in reply. "Pretty," I said truthfully. "I'm Tre'." I extended my hand out in front of her. She hesitantly took my hand into her's and we firmly shook. I then pulled off and we drove to my house in silence.