Bruised But Not Broken

Chapter 4

Ten minutes later, Pike and I were at his basketball game. The captains were talking to the refs while Pike tore off his sweatpants and sweatshirt. I looked around the gym. The other team's colors were dark green and white. My school's colors were red and gold. The stands were full so I decided to stand near the bottom of the stands.

"Hey look it's Windsor!"

I don't turn around. It's one of Pike's popular friends. I look down at my feet. The buzzer sounds indicating the start of the period. Pike starts. He stands across from a player. The referee tosses the ball in the air. Pike jumps up and swats the ball behind him. A boy on our team catches the ball and dribbles the ball until he reaches the net. He jumps up and while in the air, passes the ball to Pike, who is on the very edge of the court. Taken completely by surprise, the other team switches sides of the court. They are too late. Pike shoots the ball and sinks it for three points.

The teams run back and forth on the court, scoring points and blocking shots. Pike is scoring more points than everyone on the team combined. That's probably why he rushed so much to get here. Without him, our team would probably be horrible.

The buzzer sounds for the last time. End of the game. The coach is talking to all the players. A group of Pike's friends make their way down the stands. Three of them stand in front of me. All three of them are in my grade, and in most of my classes. Henry glared at me through his scary dark brown eyes. Next to him was Remy, who had an even scarier expression. His green eyes were squinted into slits and his lips were clamped together in a frown. The last person in the group was Rin, a girl with icy blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. She didn't look angry, instead she looked annoyed.

"Why are you even here?" Rin asked.

"And why did you walk in with Pike?" Remy added.

I looked at them. I didn't know what to say.

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

I walked through Remy and Rin. I made my way outside when two strong hands pinned me against the wall.

"You have no right to talk to me or my friends that way." Henry said.

My shoulder ached with pain. Two hands seized Henry off of me and threw him to the ground. Pike.

"And you have no right to touch her!"

Henry and Pike started going back and forth.

"Why do you care so much anyway?"

"Because she's my friend."

"She's worthless."

"She is not. She's sweet and caring and you've just never given her the chance."

"You've never stood up for her before!"

Pike stopped talking. I continued down the sidewalk to the road. I could no longer hear what Pike was saying, if he started talking again.

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I watched Windsor walk down the path. I turned and faced Henry, Remy and Rin.

"She is not worthless. She is beautiful and nice. She has been through so much more than you could ever imagine, or want to imagine. And it is true. I have never stood up for her in the past. I honestly don't know why I didn't. You guys leave her upset and insecure day in and day out. I'm tired of you guys treating her like she's "worthless" because honestly it just makes you worthless."

I turned and looked directly at Henry. "And don't you ever put your hands on her again. Because you will regret it."

I was fuming. What Henry said was unnecessary, and I was extremely mad at him. I walk down the path. It's like I'm in a daze, I just keep walking.