No Way (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 11

WARNING: THERE IS VERY GRUESOME, DETAILED SCENE OF BLOOD ON THIS! IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO IS SQUEAMISH ABOUT IT, I SUGGEST SKIPPING OVER IT!

Ella

I grit my teeth in anger as I slam my locker open. Shauna touches my shoulder, gently. I disregard her, shaking her hand off. Blood is still dripping down my face from nose. I can taste it on my lips as I press my towel to my nose.

"You can't let that one punch tick you off, Ella." Sam scolds me. I whip around so fast I think I have whiplash. The two girls are sitting on a bench, watching me with no interest.

"I was already ticked off from Ivy today! So, shut up unless you want me to blow up!" I shout. Shauna touches my shoulder, again, to try to calm me down. I shove her, giving her venomous look. Sam rises to her feet and backs me up against the locker walls.

"You think you're all that, January? You know what you are? You're just some dumb street kid with anger problems who thinks she better than everyone else! So back off before I blow up!" Sam threatens. With those words I snap. I let out a scream of frustration as I tackle her, our bodies hitting the bench then floor.

My fists are hitting her before I even know what I'm doing. All I see is red. Red and my mother's face. I can hear Shauna shouting at us to get off each other. I can feel her hands, pulling at my arms, but nothing matters anymore. All that matters is making Sam pay for the words she said.

Arms wrap around my waist and pick me up. I scream, kick, and cuss, but the person doesn't let me down. Shauna and Adam are holding back Sam who is screaming profanities at me as I get dragged around. I sneer at her and stick my finger in the air.

It only enrages her more as she tries to reach out and hit me again. I smirk, smugly. "Ella, you need to stop engaging people in fights." Antonio whispers against my ear. I stiffen and try to get him off of me.

"I'm start a fights with whomever I please! Now let me go, you rich priss!" I shout, struggling to break free from his strong grip.

"Man, just let her go. We gotta go pick up Claudia and Ana anyways." Zach whines, watching us amused. I bare my teeth at him like a feral animal and he takes a step back.

"Hold on. Let me talk to La before we go." Antonio tells them. He throws his keys to Caine and the boys leave us alone. As soon as he sets me down, I hit him hard in the chest.

"Don't call me La around here! And don't ever interfere with a fist fight! I could have mistaken you as someone else and hurt you!" I shout, anger bubbling in me again. I just can't shake this boy off! All I want is to have him help me a couple times and then he thinks he actually matters to me. Yeah, right! "You need to leave, right now!" I point towards the door.

He blinks at me and drops his head, looking at me through his long lashes. "I'm sorry, Ella. I just didn't want you to get hurt." My heart melts some at how cute and innocent he looks but then I remember cute and innocent is what drug dealers and thugs feed off of and my heart hardens again.

"Just get the heck out! I'll talk to you a different day! I have crap going on and you're screwing it up big time!" I snap, running my hand over my face.

He looks at me, shocked. "Ella, I'm sorry! I just wanted to help! So, why are you yelling at me? I thought we were friends!"

"That's where you're wrong! We're no where near close to friends so! So just forget about me, Cortez! Because I won't be calling you anymore!" I shout, slamming fist against one of the lockers. He stares at me, blankly, for a moment then his eyes harden. Good, I think bitterly, Maybe I finally got my point across.