Summer Rain

[21] Love Song (Part 2)

Dedicated to RachelDesireeOoi for the awesome cover on the side. Thank you :)

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(Unedited)

 

Chapter 21 • Part Two

      Immediately, a bunch of kids rushed in our direction, dragging their parents along with them. I have to hand it to Kallie, her idea was pretty genius. In a matter of minutes, we had over two dozen hugs. It was pretty awesome, seeing the shock and annoyance written on the guy's faces. In an effort to get more hugs, I flipped my sign over. I had already planned this just in case it happened. On the back I had written 'I feel unloved. Anyone want a hug?'. I hadn't expected for it to work, but for some reason, it did. People came towards me, and while I didn't earn as many hugs as Annabelle, I was doing fairly well.

      After half an hour of nearly non-stop hugging, I got the chance to look around. Annabelle was still busy hugging little kids and I couldn't see Kallie since she was standing on the other side of Annabelle, but I suspected that she was also hugging people or tracking down Annabelle's hugs.

      It wasn't until the second time that I looked around that I noticed them. They were around our age, and to anyone else, they might not have looked so suspicious, but it was a different case for me. There were maybe ten or so of them. All of them were tall, with muscular builds that clearly showed that they were football players, or something of the like. They had another guy with them, only he was thin and wiry and lacked the confidence and power they emitted. He was trying to act cool and collected, but his eyes kept darting around nervously, which gave him away. He was probably the new kid, either in the school or on the football team, trying to prove himself. The others had probably taken that to their advantage. Stupid peer pressure.

      Then I realized they were looking my way with sly smiles. Oh no. I quickly looked away. Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't notice me. I chanted in my head. A quick glance from the corner of my eye told me my pleas didn't work. A couple of the guys were whispering to the wiry one, turning him towards me. Oh god, what do I do? Wait, what's he gonna do? I stepped behind Annabelle to look for Kallie, but she wasn't there.

      "Where's Kallie?" I asked Annabelle, keeping an eye on the guy who was now weaving through the crowd.

      "Bathroom. If you leave me by myself I'm going to kill you," Annabelle threatened, having already guessed my second question. Holy shiitake mushrooms, I'm screwed! Breathe, Raine. I told myself. He might not do anything too bad. It might just be a hug. Hopefully it's just a hug.

      It turned out it wasn't just a hug. It started like that, yes, then he wouldn't let go. Then it got worse. He started groping me. I tried to break out of his hold, but he was stronger than he looked. After a quick look around, I realized I was pretty doomed. The guys who had asked him to do this were laughing, Annabelle was distracted by the number of kids flooding around her, Kallie was still in the bathroom, people were too distracted to realize that this was turning out to be more than a hug and I could see the guys because there were too many people.

      I shoved at his chest, but he wouldn't let go. I tried kicking at him, but he dodged before I could. I tried screaming but before I could get a word out, his hand slapped over my mouth. Squirming, I desperately tried to pull away. This was beginning o be too much like that night. I felt tears flooding my eyes. Why wasn't anyone noticing this? Why wasn't anyone helping?

      Suddenly the guy was ripped away from me.

      I took a step back to catch my breath and then I realized it was Kaden who had yanked the guy away from me. And he had him shoved against a wall. I couldn't hear what they were saying because they were talking in low tones, but from their expressions, it probably wasn't pretty. The guy looked scared as the Devil's Kingdom while Kaden was glaring at him as if he had killed all the orphans in Africa.