Stuck Between Them

Chapter 16 - Stitches

the story has gotten to 500 views. It feels big and minuscule at the same time. Big because I hadn't thought I would ever go past four maybe five chapters. Small because it feels like after sixteen chapters I feel like there should be more views. 

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The golden hue of the sunset slightly blinded me as I headed towards the convenience store to grab a drink. After I had my soda in hand, I took a step outside and started chugging my drink when I heard a familiar voice shout out, "Get your filthy hands off me, you fucking retards!"

I spat out my drink and started coughing, clearing my lungs as I looked for the source. It must've come from the parking lot behind the store. Cautiously, I made my way around back and peeked around the side of the store to see what was going on. There was no denying it now; that was definitely Heartbreak Hailey's voice, although that was the first time I have heard her cussing. In University, she was well mannered, never shouted, always smiled, and always answered as politely as possible, even when she rejected guys.

Then again, I think this situation might've called for it. Three pretty beefy-looking guys surrounded her, and one of them had a tight grip around her wrist.

"Shut the fuck up, you loudmouth bitch. Where do you get off acting all high and mighty? You think you're better than me?" the guy holding her wrist barked.

"I don't think; I know I'm better than pigs like you. Now get your hands off me, or else!"

"Or else what?"

"I'll call the cops!" she took out her cell phone, and I immediately facepalmed. I didn't even need to look because what happened next was obvious. "Hey, that's my phone!"

I heard a small thud sound as her phone was no doubt hurled against a wall.

"You're going to pay for that jackass!"

And she's still insulting them? Holy shit! I thought she was smart, but the level of stupidity she's showing is blowing my mind. Does she not understand what's going on? I should probably step in before things get worse.

"I think we know just how to repay a mouthy bitch like you."

Yep, I definitely need to step in now.

"Hey!" I rounded the corner as the group turned to look at me. Of course, Hailey was more surprised than anyone that I was here.

"Max? W-What are you doing here?"

"Grabbing a drink," I shook the bottle. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," the man that had his hand on Hailey said. He had arms the size of cantaloupes with surfer length long blonde hair and was easily the tallest of the three as well as the biggest. "Just having a little chat with your friend here."

"He's not my friend," Hailey said matter-of-factly.

"Ignoring that," I mumbled. "You guys should probably just walk away. It's not worth it."

"And if we don't?" the man on the right asked. A smug-looking mother fucker with a sleeveless shirt and sunglasses. I thought he looked like a douche bag, to be honest, but that's as far as I'm going to judge him.

"I'm going to have to stop you."

"Why?" the guy on the left piped in. A normal-looking dude with black hair and a black sweatshirt on. "She ain't even your friend. She just said it. You really gonna stick your neck out for someone as snobby as this cunt?"

"I'm not gonna just up and abandon her, man, sorry."

"Why the fuck are you apologizing to us? You're the one about to get your ass beat."

All the time spent training with Dad will come in handy for the first time.

"Then hit me already," I taunted, mainly because I wanted a wake-up call, and my wish was granted as the normal-looking guy took a shot at my face that sent me tumbling back. Admittedly I wasn't ready for them to hit me right off the back, but it wasn't that hard of a hit anyway. "Least I know you hit like a bitch now."

He didn't take too kindly to that, rushing forward and cocking his arm back. I ducked underneath his haymaker and knocked him on his ass with a quick combo. After he hit the ground, I realized something very, VERY important.

The sleeveless guy blindsided me and got a couple of free shots off before I could refocus and deal with him.

A quick sidestep brought me in close, and I completely hammered the guy's stomach, forcing him to hunch over and giving me a clear shot of his face. By the time he hit the ground, I was already getting hammered from behind, and the process only seemed to repeat itself after that. If I knocked one down, I would get blindsided by the one that got up, and it was starting to take its toll on me. My ribs were aching, my knuckles had opened up and were bleeding down my hand, but God was it exhilarating.

The good news was that I was pretty sure I was winning because, after a solid right hook to the surfer guy's temple, he crumbled lifelessly to the ground. And the one average looking guy hadn't gotten up in a while either, so that left-

"Max behind you!" Hailey shouted out, and I turned around only to be rocked by something that definitely wasn't a fist.

There was a sharp ringing sound in my ears as I fell face-first into the ground like a ragdoll. It was tough, but I managed to push myself to my knees, bringing my hand up to my forehead, where I received the devastating blow. Because things weren't already bad enough, I discovered that I was now bleeding from my forehead. Now what I really wanted to know was what the fuck just hit me.

I fought my way to my feet and lazily looked back at the douche bag which hit me; using my one working eye that wasn't filling with blood, I noticed the object in his hand.

"Where the fuck did you get a two-by-four in the middle of a parking lot?" I asked, honestly curious as to where the fuck came from. He didn't give me an answer, however, dropping the foot-long piece of wood and getting the fuck out of dodge as I struggled to stand upright. Thank God he did, too, because I don't think I had the energy to go another couple of punches. Although it felt like I had just fought a war, the truth was it didn't last more than two minutes, but holy shit, did it hurt.

I glanced over at Hailey, who was still standing in the same spot since the fight began, apart from being completely useless.

"You ok?" I asked

"I-I'm fine. Are you ok?"

"I'll live. You need me to walk you somewhere?"

"You're not fine! You're bleeding!"

"I'll take that as a no then," I turned and started hobbling out of the parking lot.

"Wait!" I looked back at her. "Why'd you do it?"

"Why'd I do what? Stick my neck out for a girl that hates me?"

"I never said I hated you!"

"But you do. You said that you hope I die. It doesn't get any clearer than this without actually using the words 'I hate you" I couldn't see clearly, but I could tell that I hit the nail on the hammer with my sentence, "So if I gotta answer your question, then I'll give you the truth. Even if you don't like me, I'm not going to abandon you when I know I can help. And if you're wondering, I won't tell anyone about what happened here. Consider it our secret."

She didn't get a chance to reply, or she didn't want to; either way, I walked with a bad limp like an old school pimp. Of course, I wasn't going home; I was bleeding and beaten pretty badly. I looked for my phone, hoping it wasn't trashed; I dialed Sarah's number.

"I need a little help, come pick me up, and you can stick wounds, right!"