the summer after eighth grade year was supposed to be exciting for carmen. however, one night changes everything for her. in a way she would never expect
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☮︎⋆˙❀⟡☾𓋼𖤓⟡𑁍˙⋆𖦹
"Oh God, you know that hurt," O'Bannion's voice echoed through the air as Carmen and Pink made their way to the parking lot. Mitch is bent over the car, O'Bannion and the rest of the older boys standing above him with their paddles. From what Carmen can see, Mitch has tears welling in his eyes.
She hurried over to him, pushing O'Bannion out of the way. She placed her hand on Mitch's shoulder. "Shit, I knew I should have stayed with you after the game. I'm sorry, Mitch." He stands up, sniffling. Carmen brushes the hair out of his face and wiped his tears with her thumb.
"Pink, man, you missed it," O'Bannion said with a wicked grin.
He brushed off his comment. "What are you guys up to now?"
"We're going to the Emporium. Are you coming with us?" Benny asked as he turns to walk away with Don.
"I'll see you up there."
Before the rest of the guys leave, Melvin hands Pink his paddle. "You're next, man." Pink took the paddle. "Say, man, real bummer about Pickford's party, huh?" Pink nodded his head. "Total rip-off, man."
Carmen is still standing beside Mitch, her eyes locked on Melvin's paddle. She's waiting for her brother to swing at Mitch. As he swings it in the air, she gives him a look of disappointment. However, he just lightly taps Mitch, making Mitch let out a deep breath.
"God, they're such assholes. I don't know how you hang with them," Carmen said as she looked at her older brother. He just shrugged his shoulders at her. "Anyway, Mitch do you need a ride?"
"Yeah, I think they left me."
Pink picks up Mitch's hat and glove and hands it to him. "Here you go, man. We can give you a ride home if you want." He nodded at the older boy.
The three of them walked to the car, Mitch taking the passenger seat. Carmen rolled down the window, letting the summer breeze flow through her hair. She reached her hand over the seat, placing it on Mitch's shoulder, squeezing it. "You doing alright, Mitchy?"
"Yeah, it's just a little embarrassing."
"Well, there's always one senior who has to be the badass," Pink spoke up, "I think O'Bannion's going to be the first senior in history to take that honor two years in a row."
"That guy's a dick, right?" Even though he couldn't see her, Carmen nodded from the backseat.
"Yeah, he's kind of a joke. He's not a bad guy to have on your side though blocking for ya."
"Did you get it bad when you were a freshman?"
"Shit man, ah." He let out a chuckle. "They waited for my ass after baseball practice and got me. God, it was vicious. I mean it is best to get it all at once you know, because after about ten licks your ass gets so numb you might as well get it over with. I don't know, I had some pretty cool seniors though. They'd take you out and bust the hell out of you then go get you drunk, you know stuff like that." Mitch nodded at Pink. "But man, did they show no mercy. You remember me coming home, tears running down my cheeks?" he asked Carmen with a chuckle.
"I do. I remember being so confused, though. I still am. I don't get the thrill of beating on little boys anyway." She paused for a minute. "I'm just glad you're not one of those assholes."
Soon enough, they reached Mitch's house. Carmen got out of the car, as well as Mitch. They walked up to his front door, pausing before he goes in. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened to you. I knew I should have stayed with you."
"It's okay. Besides, they probably would have tried to get you too, and I wouldn't want that to happen to you," he said with a smile. She playfully nudged his shoulder.
"We're gonna head up to the Emporium. You want us to come back and get you before we go?" He nodded at her. "Okay, I'll see you in a little bit." She stood up on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to Mitch's cheek before turning to walk back to Pink's car.
As she sat down in the passenger seat, Pink started to laugh. "What?" She turned to look at him, raising her eyebrows.
"Nothing, just you and Mitch is all." He began to back out of Mitch's driveway, keeping his eyes on the road behind him.
"What do you mean me and Mitch?"
"He's into you, Carmen. Isn't it obvious?" She looked out the window, Mitch's house disappearing from her view. "And it's not like you don't feel the same way." She whipped her head around, looking at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "Don't give me that look. You know what I'm talking about. I mean hell, you just gave him a kiss on the cheek."
"That's what best friends do."
"Hm, okay." He laughed to himself, making her huff. "We're meeting up with Wooderson, gonna take his car tonight."
Carmen let out a groan. "He's a creep, Pink." He knew he couldn't deny that. Every time there was a new class of freshmen, Wooderson would scope out the girls, seeing if any caught his eye.
"I won't let him say anything to you, I promise." He sped off down the street, making his way to Wooderson.
