Someone Like You

Chapter 14

"What the Hell is this?"

Parker and I jump apart resulting in me hitting my head against the locker. I groan and hold up a hand to my head. I turn my head and see a fuming Jay stomping towards us. My stomach knots up at the expression of pure rage on his face. I glance over to Parker, who is watching Jay with a smug grin on his face.

Jay grabs Parker by his shirt and slams him into the lockers on the other side of the hallway. "What did I tell you about staying away from her, you pig? You're not allowed to be with her. She doesn't want that." Jay spits out through his teeth.

"Really, because it sure looked like she was into it. It felt like it too," sneers Parker. This makes Jay slam his back into the locker again.

"We only tolerated you at lunch because we figured you would behave yourself. This sure doesn't look like you are behaving. Don't make me beat the shit out of you."

Parker smirks at Jay and quietly replies "we both remember what happened last time. I've won once and I'll win again. You're nothing. You couldn't even protect Emelie."

Suddenly Parker has been ripped from the wall and is lying on the ground. Jay is on top of him throwing punch after punch at his face. Soon the positions are flipped and Parker is on top. The boys keep flipping back and forth. All I can do is watch.

I am on the ground with my knees hugged close to my chest. Tears leak out of my eyes and down my face. I am frozen in shock as I watch two of my favourite people beat each other to a pulp. The fear grabs me and holds me back from intervening. I can't breath and suddenly my vision starts fading.

Then someone steps in and pulls Jay off of Parker. Jay is shoved aside and Parker is gently kicked with a foot. "Take a walk you dipshits. With football season here neither of you can afford to get kicked off of the team because you got suspended. Deal with it later."

My head burries itself into my knees and I struggle to calm down. Suddenly a pair of arms have wrapped around me and are lifting me up. I am carried for a little bit in the arms. I keep my eyes closed and focus on the bouncing steps of the person carrying me. Soon I am seated in a vehicle.

I finally decide to open my eyes and look around. I am sitting in the passenger seat of Keiran's car, and he is in the driver seat. The vehicle isn't on. It's just sitting peacefully in the parking lot. Keiran is watching me intently, studying my face.

"Are you okay? You seemed really shaken up back there," Keiran's gentle voice says calmly after a couple of silent seconds.

I hesitantly shake my head. "No. It's one thing to have a good guy and a bad guy fighting each other, but it's something totally different when it's two of the good guys. I wanted to step in and help, but I couldn't."

Keiran looks out his window and sighs. "There's always a good guy and a bad guy. You just have to figure out which is which," he mutters quietly. It was probably meant for me to not hear, but I heard it anyways.

"What's that supposed to mean? Neither of them have done anything bad to me."

Keiran sighs and looks at me with a pained look on his face. "Nothing. Just forget I said anything. I understand how scary that must have been to watch. Violence is always hard to watch." Keiran leans across the front seats and envelops me in a hug. I lean into it and return it. I feel safe in his arms, and my heart is returning to normal. His amazing scent fills my nose and I inhale deeply.

We stay like that for a couple of seconds, then pull away. "Thanks for that. I really needed that hug." I smile at him and he returns it warmly.

"Anytime Green. We all just need a hug sometimes." He shoots me a goofy grin making me laugh quietly. Suddenly something in the conversation in the hallway sticks out in my memory.