The Khigir Hunters

22. Deal or no Deal

It was difficult explaining how I got my bruises to Charlotte and Brayden; it was even more difficult explaining how I stayed up till 3AM watching the Rocky movies.

"So, you actually haven't watched them before?" Brayden asked incredulously.

"It's true." I admitted. My mom never liked having me involved with anything to do with violence, not even if it touched me with a ten-foot pole. "I must say though, it really makes me want to run up a snowy mountain and yell Drago!" I exclaimed, emphasizing the Russian's name. I stood up triumphantly from my cafeteria chair and raised my arms in imaginary victory. 

"Really?" Charlotte asked, an amused smile gracing her face.

"No." Me and Brayden began laughing wholeheartedly. I plopped down back in my seat, happy to be spending time with my friends.

"Hey!" A boy suddenly ran up and leaned on our table. His blonde hair nearly reached his shoulders, and he wore a very nerdy Star Wars shirt. His braces were too easy to notice, and so was his lack of deodorant. Bleh.

"Oh hey, Doug." Brayden greeted, clearly familiar with this individual.

"Hey man. Listen, Emily's party has been moved to next Friday, I repeat, next Friday!" He pointed at Brayden like he just appointed him to headmaster. And with that he was off to alert the next table.

"Uh, okay." I chuckled. "Hey, you guys aren't actually going to that, are you?" Brayden quickly found interest in staring at the table. "No way, you are?"

"Only because of Emily." He quickly retorted. Brayden looked a bit unsure of himself.

"Ah, only because of Emily." I repeated, throwing a wink at Charolette who giggled in response.

"It's not like that." He argued.

"Oh? What's it like then?" I teased.

"Why don't you just ask her out already?" Charolotte spoke up. Brayden sighed and scratched his head.

"What if she says no?"

"What if she says yes?" I pushed. "You gotta stop expecting the worst to always happen, sometimes good things happen too you know."

"I know... You know what?" Brayden stood and pushed in his chair. "You're right, the worst thing she can say is no." With a newfound confidence, he began making his way over to Emily's group.

"Wow, I didn't think he'd actually do it." I looked at Charolette.

"I think Rocky motivated him." She giggled, watching him talk to Emily a couple tables away. The two of us observed our friend on his important mission. Just as we saw Emily begin to smile, our view was obscured by a red shirt.

"Hey princess." Javier greeted. Lord save me now. "Oh wow!" He mocked as though he just saw my bruise for the first time today, placing his hand on his chest. "If I would've known those books would beat you up so bad, I would've stuck around. Man, that sucks."

"Leave her alone, Javier!" Charolotte spat. Javier simply smirked down at her. 

"Are you done?" I asked the redhead.

"Hm, let me think." He placed a finger under his chin. "No."

"Yulia." My name was suddenly called behind him. Oh no. Judging by the sound of it, Jay was standing directly behind him. I watched as Javier paled and did a 180. Low and behold, Jay stood in the flesh with a killer look written all over him. His black jeans and white top did nothing to hide is fit physique, not even with his denim jacket. Jay effectively towered over the bully like he was Goliath.