Dancing with Fire

Chapter Three

Leaving my neighborhood, I walked the two blocks to Charlotte's house. I knocked quietly on her window, since she's on the first floor. She quickly came and opened it for me. I crawled in.
"Char, I've come to say good-bye." I said quietly.
"Godd-bye? Where are you going, Rach?" She asked calmly. I never had the patience she had.
"I'm going to Julliard. I got a full scholarship. Amanda and Chris said I couldn't go, so I'm running away. I'm 18, and tired of them." I say angrily. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she engulfed me in a huge hug. I hugged her back, knowing full well that it will be a while before I saw her again. She broke away, and rushed over to her desk. She scribbled something on a piece of paper, and handed it to me. It was her phone number. I tucked it next to Amy's phone number.
"I'll call you when I get there." I promised.
"You better." She said, still sniffling a little bit. I smiled, and climbed back out her window. I started the 15 minute walk to the bus stop, and waited impatiently for the bus to come. When it finally came, I got on quickly, noting that I was the only one on the bus. Nervous, I slipped a sai into the sleeve of my jacket, and watched. I wasn't in the best part of New York City right now. The bus finally droped me off in a neighborhood.
"Sorry, girlie. I can't take you any farther." He said kindly, before I got off. I thanked him, and got off, sticking to the shadows once the bus is out of sight. I jogged steadily for about 45 minutes before I determined that I needed a break. I climbed up a fire escape, and sat on a rooftop.
After sitting there for a few minutes, I became aware of a presence behind me. It couldn't be anything good, not at this time of night. I fingered the sai in my jacket.
"Her...pretty...mine..." I heard men's whispers. Two men, to be exact. I slowly drew my other sai out of my bag. I heard footsteps, and sprang up, cartwheeling ot of the way. Two Purple Dragons skidded to a stop before they could topple off the roof.
"You know, its not nice to sneak up on somebody." I said conversationly.
"It is when its a pretty young girl." One of the men said, leering at me.
"Pretty young girls don't deserve ugly old men." I shot back. The other man snarled at me.
"Let me guess. You want to kidnap me, right? Well, that's not going to happen anytime soon." I said sarcasticly. Shadows passed overhead of me. I looked up, but didn't see anything. Taking oppurtunity of this distraction, the two men charged me. I twirled my sais, before I swung one onto the first man's wrist, flipping him over me, and sucessfully knocking him out.
"You one of those turtles' girls?" He asked, sneering at me.
"Turtles? What turtles?" I asked, suprised. The guy just laughed, and chargede me. I kickd him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He landed on the ground, and placed the tip of my sai to his throat.
"Get out of here." I snarled. He scrambled backwards, and out of sight. I relaxed, glad that I had taken martial arts for 14 years. Then I felt another presence. I tensed up, scared this time. Somebody stepped forward, and I gasped.
What the heck? Am I seeing things?