Unsung

Chapter Seventy-Four

"Is she okay?"

"What did you do?"

"Way to go, man."

"Kida, wake up!"

At first my eyes refused to open. They felt so heavy, and my head was foggy with sleep. Yet, somehow without even looking, I knew that I wasn't at home in my bed. Something wasn't right.

My eyes snapped open, confusion flooding my senses.

"There you are," Jake said, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. The skin of his fingers were rough and I moved away from his touch reflexively. "Glad to have you back."

"What happened?" I asked nervously, not knowing where I was or what was going on.

Why was Jake here?

"Dude, you passed out," McKayla's voice called out, seeming to come out of nowhere.

I swiveled my head, to find her standing off to the side staring at me, hands on hips per usual.

"Passed out?" I asked confused, the words not quite computing.

I felt a dull pain growing in my fingers and slowly lifted my chin to look down at my hand. I was surprised to find another hand gripping it tightly and followed the appendage to see it was attached to Garrick.

Without thinking, I gave him a tired smile, happy to see him.

And then the memories of what had happened came rushing back and I wrenched my hand away from his harshly.

"I am so sorry, Kida," he breathed, the anguish clear in his voice. He looked down at the ground, guiltily. "I didn't want to do it, but you said to, and Jake was yelling..."

I began to shake my head violently, hoping it would make him stop talking, while also not requiring me to speak.

What was I supposed to say?

"I swear I wasn't even gripping that hard," Garrick said, almost in a whisper.

"Don't even know your own strength, do you?" Ris said with a snort. "Way to go, Chris Brown."

I snuck a look then and watched as Garrick seemed to collapse into himself, clearly devastated by Ris' words.

But I couldn't seem to make myself go to him to console him. I was still too shaken up.

Instead, I stood up on trembling legs and walked toward the door.

"Kida, we should have the trainer check you out," Jake called after me.

"I'm fine." I forced the words out, even though I didn't actually believe them, and then escaped into the corridor.

Once I was in the hallway, I set my gaze straight forward and began to walk. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I needed to move. Get away. Think.

But my head wasn't working quite right. It was like there was a wall blocking my thoughts from making it to the other side of my brain where things made sense.

I vaguely noticed I was passing people, and didn't realize that I had actually left the building until the sticky hot air blasted me in the face a few minutes later. Blinking in the early evening sun, I searched up and down the street for where I had parked my car and found it a few blocks away.

Mind still muffled, I went to step out into the street, but found myself being jerked backward hard.

"Kida!" a voice yelled as I stumbled over the concrete and then fell onto my butt.

Then I watched in stunned silence as a car zoomed by where I'd just been about to walk.

I could've been hit.

I would've been hit, if someone hadn't pulled me back.

Still sitting on the sidewalk, I turned to find Garrick standing behind me, a shocked look on his face.

I hadn't heard him sneak up on me this time, I thought absently.

He rushed over to my side, gripping both of my shoulders and forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worriedly.

I sat frozen as he looked me over, checking for any cuts or scrapes, but there were none. His hands made their way back to my face and he slid his thumb down my cheek softly. Part of me wanted to lean in to his touch. Part of me wanted to run away.

"You're crying," he said, softly.

"I am?" I asked, confused. I touched my face and was surprised to feel streaks of tears resting there. I hadn't even noticed them before.

Garrick sat down so we were face to face, our knees touching slightly. He grabbed both of my hands and held them tightly, like he was afraid I was going to take off again.

"I am so sorry," he said, his voice cracking as he choked on the words. "I don't know what happened back there. I didn't think I was grabbing that hard..."

He couldn't seem to finish the sentence, and I didn't want him to.

"It's okay," I answered quietly, but for some reason I couldn't look him in the eye while I said it. I just kept picturing him leaning over me, that look on his face while he forced the air from my lungs...

I stood up abruptly and began to walk again.

"It's not okay!" Garrick called out after me. "It isn't, and I'm sorry! I would never hurt you, Kida! Please, just stop and talk to me."

I did as he said, but didn't turn around.

In my heart I knew that what he was saying was true. Garrick would never hurt me. Not on purpose at least. And no matter how I felt about what had happened, I didn't want him to feel bad. He was a nice guy who hadn't wanted to do the exercise to begin with. He'd even said as much, and I'd pretty much forced him into it. It wasn't his fault that I'd realized too late how upsetting it would be to have someone I cared about do that to me.

And he deserved to know that.

"Look, Garrick, I'm—" I started to say as I spun around to look at him, but my words faded as I took in the scene in front of me.

Fifteen feet away, Garrick struggled as three people tried to pull him off the sidewalk and into a secluded underground storefront. His cries were muffled as one of them covered his mouth with a white gloved hand and then I watched in horror as another person punched him hard in the stomach.

"Garrick!"I screamed as he doubled over in pain and went limp in their arms.