I Go To School. . .With The Vanoss Crew

Part Two

Emma
I watch as Evan and the others walk down the alley toward me. I press my back against the outer wall behind me. Johnathan reaches me first. He kneels down in front of me. "You okay?," he asks. "Evan and Marcel told me it got a little rough this morning."
"It's fine," I say, "I'm used to Drey doing that. He's been doing that for seven years." Johnathan grimaced.
"Aren't you only sixteen?," Johnathan asked. I give him a strange look.
"Well, we all are John," I say, "but yeah." Johnathan's quiet for a minute, his eyes pointed at the sky.
Suddenly, Johnathan says, "that means he's been bullying you since you were nine!". I roll my eyes.
"Nice math skills Sherlock," I say. This earns a chuckle from Brock. Johnathan looks at me for a good, solid minute. Then, he stands and pulls someone forward. The person has long, curly orange hair and glasses.
"This is Craig," Johnathan says, "but we call him Mini Ladd, or just Mini." I shake Mini's hand and the others sit down with me.
"How many more classes do you have with Drey?," Evan asks.
"All of them," I say. He cringes.
"Oh," he says. "Well this is bad." Johnathan shakes his head.
"No not really," he says. "I have third and fifth period with Emma. Marcel's got fourth period with her. Brock's got sixth period, and you and Mini have seventh period."
"Guys," I say, "did you ever think maybe I didn't want the help?" Marcel looks at me.
"Why would you not want help?," he asks. "Aren't you sick of him bullying you?" The others look at me. I shrug.
"I don't really care anymore," I say. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just part of the schedule." The bell rings and I stand. I look over at Johnathan. "Whatever you see in third period, ignore it. Okay?" Johnathan looks like he's about to protest, then sighs and nods. I nod my head at him, then turn and walk into the building.
I walk into third period to find Johnathan already there. He looks up and nods at me. I nod back at him and sit down. Johnathan's desk is only two away from mine. How did never notice these guys in my classes?
Moments after I sit down, Drey walks in. I feel his fist clunk against my head. I grip my head in pain. Drey yanks me out of my desk and begins to beat me senseless. Suddenly, someone pulls Drey off of me. I hear a slam. I look up to find Johnathan and Drey. Johnathan has Drey bent backwards over a desk, knocking him over the head. "Sorry Emma," Johnathan says, "but I couldn't just sit back and watch you get beaten." He strikes Drey in the gut. He pulls Drey up a bit, then slams him against the desk.
"Johnathan!," says a loud voice. John and I turn to find the teacher standing at the door. "Johnathan. Drey. Emma. Office. Now." Johnathan's about to say something, but I grab his shoulder and shake my head. Johnathan sighs, and we follow Drey out of the classroom.
"Sorry I got you in trouble," Johnathan whispers to me, keeping a close eye on Drey.
"John I could care less," I say. "What were you thinking? Drey is like twice your size. He's going to murder you later."
"You want to know what I was thinking?," Johnathan asks me. I nod quickly. "I was thinking of how he was going to murder you if I didn't do something. So I apologize for trying to save your life."
"John I could care less if I died!," I say loudly. I slap my hand over my mouth. Johnathan just stares at me, mouth gaping.
"I'll keep that in mind," Drey says from ahead of us. Johnathan glares at him.
"Come on," Johnathan says grabbing my hand. "Let's go."

At the end of the day, I grab my things from my locker. Slamming it shut, I'm met with the face of Evan. "Evan! Don't d-"
"Save it," Evan says, cutting me off. "Johnathan told me what you said." For a minute, I'm confused. Then it comes flooding back. The hallway. . . I look at Evan.
"Well I'm sorry," I say, "but it's true. Now please move." I push at his chest with one hand, but he grabs my wrist. I look up at him. "Come on Ev," I say.
"You're not going anywhere until the others get here and we can talk about this." Yeah, no. I pull my hand out of his grip, quickly duck around him and race out the front doors. I soon hear multiple pairs of shoes racing after me. I bolt across the road into the forest on the other side. I expertly weave my way through the trees, leaping over creeks and logs and jumping over ditches.
As soon as I'm sure no one's following me, I roll behind the cover of a bush. Gasping, I lay back in the grass and catch my breath. Suddenly, I feel a hand grab my arm. I try to scream, but a hand gently covers my mouth. Two more hands grab my other arm, and I'm dragged away. I'm sat up against at tree, and somebody ties what feel like vines around my hands so my arms are stuck around the tree.
From behind the tree, Evan, Johnathan and the others appear. "Sorry about this Emma," Brock says, "but this is the only way we could get you to talk to us without you running away." I just glare up at them, slowly shaking my head.
"You don't get to glare at us," Evan says, a bit angry. "You took off when all we wanted was an explanation. If anybody gets to be angry, it's us."
"Evan calm down," Mini says. Evan whips around and looks at him.
"No Craig I will NOT calm down!," Evan yells. He turns back around and takes a deep breath. "Now spill it Emma," he growls.
"The answer's simple really," I say calmly. "I just hate life. There's nothing more to it." Immediately, Evan goes from angry to sad.
"Why do you hate it?," he asks.
"There's nothing for me here. The only emotions I ever feel are sadness or anger. Or nothing at all."
"What about love?," Brock asks. "Surely you must feel love?" I shake my head.
"My parents are dead, and I don't trust anybody enough to be in a relationship." They look at me in shock.
"Wow that's. . .really sad," Brock says. Suddenly, the vines around my wrists snap. I stand up and go to run, but Evan wraps his arms around my waist before I can make a break for it.
"Anything else?," he asks in my ear.
"No," I say, squirming at the feeling of his lips practically touching my ear. His lips get closer.
"Are you sure?," he asks softly. I feel myself beginning to panic.
"Yes I'm sure now please let me go," I say quickly. Evan's lips come a bit closer, so close I can feel his hot breath fanning over my face, then he pulls away and sets me down. I look at him. His face is straight and flat. Showing that he's not the least bit startled by that encounter we just had, unlike me. I just shrug and leave. Wether the boys follow me or not I'm not sure. And you know what? I don't care.