My Life in Rosewood

Chapter Fourteen

I fall onto my knees out of breath and gasp for air while toppling onto my side into the cold wet ground. It had been pouring out earlier, now just a drizzle but the pavement still leaked of moister. I had no ride home when I got done with the store and now it's almost completely dark. I went with the girls to pick up Hanna from the hospital after being cleared to go home from spending time at there for a week. She is doing well despite the broken leg and in a wheelchair, mainly seemed a little cranky when we dropped her off at home and helped her bring some things she needed into the living room, where she will be sleeping since she can't get up the stairs at the moment. So after I brought in the last few things she needed from her room she asked us to leave, not in the mood for company despite seeming scared. It was all over her face, the fact that the person who ran her over could still be out there. So on the way home I asked them to drop me off at the store to do some inventory and now I regret it, because once I locked up and turned to head home before the weather could get bad again a fist connected to my stomach hard, making me lose my breath before another fist connected to my jaw and I was down for the count.

I groan as my hands grasp onto the pain of where I was hit, gasping for the air that got knocked out of me. Laughs swarm me and my eyes slowly go upward till I see a group of kids staring down at me. Amber, her brother Tommy, and their two senior friends named Brock and Ellie. By the looks of it, the boys had nothing to do with those hits as they are standing above me, but more behind the girls who are both hovering over me completely.

"Four Eyes. Nice of you to drop into our fists." Amber laughs and nudges Ellie.

"Such a loser, Brant. I forgot how fun it is to knock you around." Ellie adds.

I glare slightly at all of them, but especially the two girls. Ellie, another person in Alison's back pocket and who happened to be Amber's best friend. From the two of them, Ellie scares me the most. Amber has always felt more like the backup whenever they were all together. Amber is the bigger of the two, Ellie being slim but tall and works out. She doesn't have as hard of a hit as Amber, but it's easy to tell that she knows what she is doing compared to the others who just swing without really aiming.

I take a breath, sitting up a bit and then manage to get to my feet painfully. "Guys come on. It's been a long day and I'm not up for putting effort into entertaining you."

They all just smirk and half laugh with amusement. "Cute." Ellie says, "Making it seem like you're the one who helps us have fun. Rather than us just enjoying it." She cracks her knuckles.

I back up a bit, hitting the wall of the store with one of my hands raised up in a 'please stop' motion while the other is still clutching my gut. I knew it was too good to be true that I hadn't been bothered by any of them since Noel's cabin party. I know for a fact that this is payback for Noel banning Amber and her goons from ever being invited to his parties again. He made it clear that anyone who picked on me was not welcome.

But then, as if a miracle happened something wizzes towards us and whacks Tommy on the back of his head, making him grunt from the hit and his hand goes to the spot he felt the pain. "Ow. What the fuck?"

This gets everyone else's attention as we all look at him, the girls having their backs to me now. Someone in dark clothing is standing in the middle of the street, a lamp shining down on them enough to see that they aren't moving. I can't tell who it is, but I notice there's something in this person's hand. That's when the dark figure hurls it towards us and the second object gets Amber in the nose.

"Ow!" She yells, grasping it right in her hands.

I take this as my cue to leave, tip-toeing away before they could notice and then haul ass, speeding down the block at a full paced run. I have no clue what happened but I don't stop till I reach The Brew, checking to see if they are behind me completely out of breath before walking inside. I try to keep my cool so no one inside notices that I'm hurt, ordering a coffee and then sitting down at the back of the cafe to hide away. My hand is gripping onto my sore stomach as I bring the other to my pocket to grab my phone to text someone to get me. That's when I notice there's a missed message from the same unknown number as the other times.