The Girl Who Can't Say No

Fight or Flight ♔

What am I going to do now?

I could hear yelling from behind me and in that instant, I decided I had to run, even if I didn't know exactly where I was.

I ran and when I turned around, I could see him gaining speed to my horror when he caught sight of me.

I took a hasty left and sprinted down the sidewalk. As I ran, I heard even more yelling but couldn't make out exactly what he was saying.

I didn't stop for a breather and even my sore body was soon forgotten out of adrenaline, my only thought then was to create as much distance between us and to get away as far as possible while I still can.

It must've been already a mile of zigzags before I stopped to gulp in air and stop my rapidly racing heart. I was even more lost now since I still didn't recognize where I was but I assured myself I could find help.

At least being lost here was better than being lost there, right?

I just had to find a way to contact someone.

The only problem was that I could only see houses within houses from here but I refuse to give up so fast.

When I was running, Connor was obviously much faster than me and he was only a few feet - if only a few feet - and quickly gaining up on me. It was only the many twists and turns I've made that he didn't end up in line with me.

But still, I knew he couldn't be far behind and I had to do something fast. I was already out of breath though and even if I could keep running, Connor would eventually catch up to me, he wasn't the star football player for nothing after all.

Still buried in my thoughts, I unintentionally checked if there was anyone behind me and my eyes soon grew wide.

Connor caught my eye in that moment and raced after me.

In a fight or flight mode, I chose flight and ran up towards the road ahead.

But that choice soon made itself to be a horrible one and soon, I found myself in a dead end. My only direction was to go back.

There was another route I could take and that would be to hop over the railing on my left and continue to run across the highway in the middle of traffic, which was basically a death wish. My situation was bad, but it wasn't so bad that I would get myself killed over it.

I was scared and when Connor came fuming, not the least out of breath like me, I felt myself hyperventilating.

"You little, insolent-"

He never got to finish what he had been saying because then I heard a loud, unmistakable punch. Before that time, I had turned my face away from Connor to avoid any possible lashes from him so I didn't get to see what exactly had taken place.

At that loud sound, I instantly shivered, but not from the cold that was biting my bare skin. The wind never hit me full force as I was still in the mist of the horror story I found myself in.

Soon, I let my eyes slowly focus on the scene unfolding before me when I was sure I would be able to handle it.

I couldn't believe what was happening.

Connor was bleeding profusely and blood was dripping down the corner of his mouth while a huge bruise lay on his right cheek.

A boy that seemed vaguely familiar was punching him but Connor fought back and eventually it became an all-out brawl.

Droplets of blood stained each other's shirt and I knew I had to stop it somehow.

I ran straight up to them despite knowing that was an extremely foolish move on my part and yelled, "Stop it! That's enough! Stop!"

It was as if they hadn't heard me and then I tried to hold Connor back, an even dumber move that I made.

But I did it anyways, or at least tried to.

I grabbed Connor by the back to somehow hold him in place as that was the only way I could do so. It proved to be immensely unsuccessful.

"Connor!" I screamed, "stop it!"

The other boy pretty much halted by then and was only trying to dodge Connor's fist. His rapid moves shook me and I could feel myself scraping my feet on the cold, hard ground but I tightened my grip on him even more as his body shook.

A mild headache was making its way to me and I became slightly dizzy from the movement.

It hurts.

"Connor! Are you an idiot?! You're hurting her!"

When it became obvious Connor wasn't going to listen, the boy screamed again, "Avery, let go!"

How did he know my name?

The fleeting thought crossed my mind before my hands slipped and suddenly, I wasn't holding on to him anymore. I wasn't holding onto anything.

I landed on the side of my body and blacked out.

I dimly remember someone rushing towards me and gentle fingers picking me up off the stone cold floor.