"Stop!" I yelled as Matt, a guy my age (14), took my messenger bag. Him and his two friends laughed as he started dumping everything out of it. This is a light day for me. Unless it gets worse.
I tried grabbing my bag back before my notebook fell out but it was too late. The blue cover hit the cemented ground and I knelt down to grab it. As my knees hit the cement, Spenc, one of Matt's friends, grabbed me hair. My head ripped back in pain and Pat picked up the notebook and handed it to Matt.
"Want this?" Matt smiled mischeveously at me. My eyes grew wide.
"Please," I said almost at a whisper," Please don't do anything to it." They all laughed at how pathetic I must look. I'm not strong enough to take on all three by myself. I turned and bit Spenc's hand, making him let go of my hair, and jumped to grab my book from Matt's hand. Then I grabbed my bag and started to run, the group not too far behind me. I reached the bottom of a hill nearby and toppled over. As I fell to the ground, the three of them surrounded me. I lay on top of my bag which had my notebook in it, as they started kicking me. My whole body hurt; my legs, my arms, my stomach and then the river of tears began. I felt an itch on my face and raised my hand from my stomach to see crimson red substance. Blood. Then, suddenly, they stopped. I rolled to my side to see two sets of feet apart from the bullies'. I recognized one set as my cousin, Lane's. But the other set....
"What are you, some kind of 'knight-in-shining-armor'?" Matt mocked. Then I heard his voice.
"Maybe. What're you going to do about it?" It couldn't be...Roger?
Spenc took a swing at Lane, who dodged him and layed a mad right hook into Spenc's stomach. Then the other two moved in. I couldn't see anything but some mud that splattered all over me and bodies going at each other. I felt more tears slide down my cheek and saw the salt water mix with the blood from my face.
I heard the noise from the fight die down and I slowly sat up and grabbed my bag.
"You Ok?" Lane asked. I nodded and turned to see Roger. He ran to me and hugged me. I hugged him back and stood with Roger's help.
"Are you sure you're Ok?" Roger asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I've had worse happen." I said, cradeling my left wrist. They both noticed and I sighed. I shoved my messenger bag to Lane. He held it as I took out some wrap for my wrist-this not being the first time this has happened. I started to wrap my wrist and after I was done, I took a metal pin out of my bag and clipped the pieces of material together and took my bag back.
I looked down at my tank top and skinny jeans which where covered in mud and blood. "I think I need to go change." I joked to Lane. He smiled but Roger's face stayed in an angered expression.
"I'll just go to the grocery store. I have some extra clothes in my bag." I mentioned to the open bag slung over my shoulder. Lane nodded and Roger followed.
**
As I entered the store, customers stared and employees smiled and stared also. Then I saw some guys and girls from my grade in an isle. They all turned to me and smiled. One of the guys stepped forward and I hugged my jacket closer.
"Hey emu," He mocked. " How long did it take to get beat today? The usual 20 minutes? Or with these guys' help was it only five?" I just looked down and started walking back to the bathrooms. As I went into the cool, one-stall space, I locked the door. I looked into the mirror and saw how terrible I looked. My hair was frizzy-more than usual, my cheek had a cut almost all the way to my ear, and the dry blood was smudged by my old tears. I took off my blue jacket, tank top, and skinny jeans and reached into my bag. I pulled out my batman shirt and jean shorts. Next, I took some water and washed away all the blood on my face and dried it with a paper towel. I shoved my clothes into my bag and walked out to the two guys who saved me today. I looked down at my now muddy combat boots, my hair covering my face. Lane took my right arm and started pulling me out of the small, narrow bathroom hallway. As we reached the main part of the store, I saw goosebumps creep onto my arms.
We walked out the door into the chilly evening and Lane said he had to leave or his dad would be mad. That made me think about my house. Or, better known as, my mom's house since my parent's have been divoreced since my 8th birthday. My mom would rip me if I showed up since I was supposed to be home about an hour ago, now. I shuddered at the thought of my house. Not going to sleep without being yelled at; if I ever did anything wrong, I'd either be beat or have to sleep outside.
Roger looked over at me and took off his skeleton jacket, putting it around my bony shoulders'. It was warm and soft. I hugged it around me and looked down at my feet then back to Roger.
"So where you staying?" I asked.
"Nowhere yet. Mark and I just got here-unless he already got an apartment for me." I nodded and looked back down.
"Well I can't go back to my mom's tonight..." I trailed off. We reached the side of the town square and he stopped in front of me. I stopped too and slowly started to look up at him and I thought I saw a tear slip from one of his eyes'.
