Switching Places

19. Promise

   I sat on the park bench, hidden in the shadows, waiting for the fight to begin. After my freak out in the library at Chloe's school, I dropped Blair off at his house, then went back to mine and called Alec, telling him we needed to talk.

   "My only free time this week would be after this fight the day after our soccer game." He told me over the phone.

   "Is the fight in the same house as last time?" I had asked.

   "No, it's going to be at the park." 

   "Why so out in the open?" I asked again.

   "You'll see if you come to it."

   "See you then." I said and hung up. That's why I was here, sitting in the cold, on a bench, past midnight, waiting for a stupid fight to take place. I still didn't understand what Alec meant by seeing why the fight was held in the open like this.

   As I was pondering that thought, a group of guys, and a few girls, came bursting out of the trees in the far corner of the park. Alec was barely visible, because he isn't as tall as most of the other guys there, probably because everyone else is over the age of twenty. But I recognized him, even in the dark. I realized most of the people in the group were just spectators as they all formed a circle around three people. Alec, a guy I didn't recognize, and the person who was supposed to represent the referee.

   They do have referee's for fights right? Oh who cares, it's starting. I watched in amazement, as Alec just seemed to start beating the crap out of the other guy. Within what felt like less than a minute, the referee guy was calling for him to stop, so he did. Everyone watched on as the other guy walked toward a different guy, holding a water bottle. He drank some, caught his breath, and whipped the blood of his face, but what was weird was the look he had on, as if he knew he was about to get beat up pretty badly. For someone who participates in this kind of stuff, you wouldn't think he would look so scarred. He walked back into the middle of the circle, and they got on with their fight. This time he got a few good punches in at Alec, enough to make his lip bleed, before he was on the ground clutching his stomach, calling it quits. Alec had won. And in good timing to. 

   Someone came running into the circle screaming, "The cops are coming! Get out of here!" The guy who was holding the water bottle, picked the other guy off the ground, and dragged him into the trees, while everyone else scattered, leaving Alec, standing in the middle of the field, starring at me. With a quick flick of his hand, telling me to come after him, he was disappearing into the trees like everyone else. 

   I hesitated, sitting on the bench for a couple extra seconds, not sure if I wanted to go chasing after a guy who just beat up a  different guy, into a dark forest, but I saw flashing lights, so I got up and ran after him.

   "Alec! Where the hell are you?" I whisper yelled when I entered the forest. It was so dark, that my eyes weren't adjusting. At least in the park they had street lights, so I could see what was happening. I walked forward a bit, but tripped on a tree root, so I decided to stand still and just continue calling Alec's name, when a hand covered my mouth.

   "Shh." Someone said in my ear. So of course I didn't listen, and tried to scream through the hand, then kicked the person in the foot, and elbowed them in the stomach.

   "Ow, what the fuck Promise? It's just me!" Alec said, clutching his stomach similar to what the other guy was doing a few minutes before. "I was trying to get you to shut up because the cops are walking around."

   "Oh, sorry. I thought you were a kidnapper." 

   "Just be quiet for a few minutes."

   We sat on the ground for what felt like ages, and just when I was about to get up, I heard voices.