When Winter Arrives

Chapter 4

The Next Day

Bridget got a text message from Himari. She opened her phone. The text read, "Meet me at the park."

She replied with, "Okay." And she got up from her bed. Bridget put on her purple sneakers, her favourite shirt, her blue, baggy, ripped jeans and her favourite sweater. She grabbed her phone and her wallet, just in case if they went shopping. Bridget left her room and slowly went down the stairs. Her dad was sleeping in the room beside hers and she did not want to wake him. She finally was downstairs. She opened the front door and went to the park.

When Bridget got to the park, she saw Himari. She was not alone though; she saw Claire and her friends. Himari was yelling at Claire. She sounded like she was furious. Bridget stood at the entry way of the park and watched. She was afraid to enter the conversation. She could hear Himari yelling like she was an aggravated mother.

"You cannot just do that! Do you know how much that will ruin her life!?"

"So what? Are you just her angry mom?" Claire and her friends cackled like witches. Bridget could see the anger that Himari held.

"No, shut up! Just because you are popular, you think you are invincible. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but you are not invincible." Himari stared Claire dead in the eye.

Claire turned and saw Bridget. "Oh hey, did you call for backup? You called that tweak?" Himari turned and saw Bridget. She turned back to Claire.
"You really should pick better friends. That thing over there, is nothing but a dingbat. She thinks she is strong, but everyone knows that she is just a friendless loser." They started laughing again. Himari clenched her fists and punched Claire. Himari stared at Claire, who was holding her face. Bridget's pupils shrunk; she knew something bad was going to happen. She stood back. Claire looked up. She jumped onto Himari and started punching her with all force. Claire's friends cheered her on. Himari tried to fight back; she punched Claire's eye and her nose. Himari kept punching Claire's back. She kicked Claire's stomach, but Claire would not back down. Bridget's heart was jumping like a rabbit. She did not think, she just ran. Bridget ran towards them and threw her body onto Claire. Claire got off Himari and landed on the ground, Bridget sat above her and started to punch her. She was rageful. She did not breathe, she did not think, and she just kept punching. Bridget got up and grabbed Claire's arm and she threw her into the metal picnic tables. She walked over toward Claire who was trying to crawl away. Bridget turned her over and grabbed her collar of her white shirt. She lifted her fist and got ready to punch. Then she realized, Bridget looked around her. Himari had a worried look.

Himari shook her head, and mouthed, "Don't do it." Bridget looked back at Claire. Claire's eyes were watering. Bridget became a monster. Bridget's hand weakened and she let go of Claire's shirt. She stood back up. Claire looked up at Bridget with a frightened face. Bridget looked down at Claire and her eyes were tearful. Bridget turned and looked down at Himari. Bridget wiped the tears from her eyes. Bridget walked out of the park. Himari watched as she walked away.

Claire got up. "I... I should go." Claire said while whimpering. Claire and her friends left the park. Himari sat on the ground. Her face covered in her own blood. She stood up and held her arm. She looked around the area. She sat down at the picnic table and tried to steady her breathing.

Bridget walked home in silence. She had thoughts in her head. When Bridget reached her front door; her vision turned blurry. She started to cough, and her chest tightened. She coughed out blood onto her hand, and she blacked out. Claire was walking home, and she looked back at Bridget. Then she saw she was on the ground. Claire's friends were trying to comfort Claire.

"Get out of my way!" Claire pushed her friends out of the way and ran back to Bridget. She saw how Bridget was blacked out on the ground. She knocked on Bridget's front door in panic. Nobody answered. She looked around for something. She grabbed her phone and called the ambulance. The ambulance arrived within 20 minutes. They took Claire and Bridget to the hospital.