Knockout Boys

Chapter 21: They Stack the Odds

You better come straight home from school, Rocky. It was a text from Mom. I arranged River to pick you up, and you better not pull any more stunts or so help me God I will ground you for a month. Love, Mom.

I shoved my phone into my pants pocket with a sigh, resigned to watching my teacher drone on about the unit circle. Finally, the bell rang to signal the end of the day, cutting her off mid sentence. Students stuffed books into bags, ignoring her dejected attempts to cram one more fact into our minds. Nerd that I was, I usually stayed late. But today, I wasn't interested in getting that last fact. Today, I was on my guard, ready for an almost certain attack. Kevin couldn't protect me anymore, so I was fair game for the bullies. Paul and the others got discharged from the hospital, weakened, yet meaner than ever. But I was meaner too, and stronger, and angry. I grit my teeth, the very thought of anybody hurting Kevin sent a rush of hot anger through me. I was going to smash Paul to a pathetic pulp. Until then, I would train. I would be cautious, I would be vigilant, and ready for any attack.

A tug on my sleeve jerked me from my thoughts. I hissed and instinctively shoved whoever it was, scrambling backwards. Then I saw it was Josh, his eyes flung wide in alarm. "Sorry," I muttered, lowering my guard. Then my eyes narrowed as I took in Josh's face, the bruises from the fight had bled out to battered blues, ruining his pretty face like a crushed flower. "Your face," I whispered, for some reason my hand moved on its own accord to rest on his purpled cheek. Josh jerked away, his messy straw-blond hair flopping into his eyes.

"Rocky," he said, eyes narrowing. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, learning. Getting my education." I didn't even try to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.

"People are talking shit." He glanced over his shoulder. I followed his gaze to see three football players glance our way. "I heard Kevin got his ass handed to him."

I rolled my eyes. I should have expected as much. "Not exactly, Josh."

Josh shook his head. "You should be careful." He touched my arms lightly. "They're staring at you."

As if I hadn't noticed. "Yeah, whatever," I shrugged him off, trying to appear casual, but my stomach twisted into nervous knots. I turned and started walking down the hallway, Josh at my heels. I pretended not to notice another pack of jocks emerge from the stairwell, their lips pulled back in toothy grins. Paul was with them, his arm in a sling, his face even more beat up than Josh, bruised to all the colors of the rainbow. The crowd of students stepped back nervously, giving them a path to approach.

"They're corning us," I hissed under my breath.

"S-stay calm. I have an idea," Josh stammered, then grabbed my hand and broke into a run. Footsteps thundered behind us as we ran. Paul and his gang were gaining on us. Josh yanked open a classroom door and dashed inside to a window. He pushed up the windowpane and looked back at me expectantly. "Fire escape!"

"What the hell?"

"Escape!" Josh hissed and hurdled over the ledge, disappearing onto the metallic staircase below. I glanced over my shoulder as Paul charged through the door, eyes burning in rage. I squeaked and ran to the window, tripping over my feet and crashing into the window frame. My nose took the hit, and I was blinded by a burst of red pain. I whimpered and clutched my nose. The warm liquid spurted through my fingers like a broken faucet, splashing onto the floor. I was pulled to my feet, dragged out the window and dropped on the hard, rusty metal. My bag fell over my head, blocking my vision. I tugged it off just time to see Josh slam the window shut on Paul's good hand. I couldn't help let out a laugh of shock as Paul screamed a string of curses and struggled to free his bruised hand.