IN LOVE WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL BAD BOY: Emma Grace Trilogy(Book One)

CHAPTER 5

  "Quick!," Alex screams, "to my place!" He takes off running, with Dale and Josh high-tailing it right behind him. Phillepe grabs my arm and helps me to stand, andwho's standing behind him? The one and only Mikey the eight grader. Great, an eighth grader saw me get beat up, fabulous. Phillepe stares at me, looking puzzled.

  "I'm sorry, what'd you say?"

"I SAID," he says, "what happened?"

  "Oh,well, funny you should ask," I say. I tell him about meeting Alex this morning, then him wanting to come over after school, all the way to me opening the door to the onterage of bullies and then Alex joining in. He listens quietly, and I can see the silent rage pooling in his eyes.

  "Where does he live?," he asks.

  "I can't give you an exact adress," I say, "but I can lead you there."

  He nods, and I lead him down the road to the bus stop. When we get there, I turn the corner to find the old house that we always thought was haunted. The once gravel driveway is paved beneath my feet, and the once chiiping and peeling blue paint on the house is now replaced with a fresh coat of light brown. The windows that used to be broken and shattered are now replaced with new ones, and there isn't a piece of glass in sight. This is definantly the house Alex meant.

   When we walk up the front steps to the house, loud music is audible from the back. Without a word, Phillepe, Mikey, (Mikey had wanted to come along too, and I'm not sure why), and I sneak around the side to the fence to find the biggest party going on in the smallest place possible. People absolutely crammed the backyard and some were even in the house by force. I was terrified that I saw alot of people I recognized. Zakk, Axel, Dale, Josh. Then I saw a person that really caught my eye, and the sight of him made me want to throw up. Jeremy. Jeremy was here, and he was in a huddle with what looked like a million highschoolers.

   Just my luck, as we were about to jump the fence, Jeremy looked. . .this. . .way. He saw us and turned down the radio. When he had everyones attention, he pointed in our direction and yelled, "looks like we have some party crashers!" At that, the older kids rushed forward and seized us. "Hey Alex," Jeremy called, "these bozos crashed your party!" Then Alex busted his way through the crowd. He had a cigarette in his hand, despite being only twelve. I wonder if he bums them off a parent.

   Alex looks us up and down, then says, "let them go, no point in keepin' them here." The older kids release Mikey and Phillepe, but when the person holding me released me, Alex told him, "oh no, not her. I want her here still. So Phillepe and Mikey were tossed over the fence, and I was dragged, against my will, into the house and tossed into a dark closet.

   I wait in that closet for about twenty minutes, surprisingly calm and collected. Then, after about half an hour, someone opens the door and walks inside. They are holding a flashlight. The flashlight lifts it's light to reveal the face of Alex. He closes the closet door and kneels down next to me. His brown hair is gelled back, and with his leather jacket he looks like a dude from one of those seventies movies.

  At the site of him, I bust out laughing. I see him smile, flashing white teeth. "You have no idea how much I want to punch you right now," I say. He sighs.

  "Look, I'm sorry. I-"

"I thought you were my friend," I say, cutting him off.

  "I didn't tell anyone your secret, if that's what you're-"

  "Oh, it's so much more than that you-". He grabs my hand, making me trail off.

  "Will you listen to me now?," he asks. I nod, looking into his dark blue eyes. "I haven't told anyone your secret, for starters," he says. "Next, I'm really sorry you got beat up, and I'm sorry, really sorry , that I joined in." He looks straight into my eyes, expressionless. "Emma, I'm dangerous. I'm not someone you should be around." He cups my face in his hands and brings his lips to my ear. "The last thing I need is getting you hurt." I snort and think, too late. He looks at me, like he can read my thoughts. Then, I can feel his breath fanning over my lips. I hadn't even realized he was leaning toward me. I try to pull away, but there's only wall behind me. Then Alex's lips meet mine. Then, he pulls away, looking as shocked as I feel.

"I- I'm so sorry," he stutters, pulling me to my feet. "Here, I'll get you out of here."

  "Oh no, please," I say harshly, "I'll do the honors." With that, I twist the closet doorknob and fling the door open. I look back at Alex. He looks shattered and hurt. Good, I think, now we're even.

  I race out of Alex's house, only to bump into Mikey. I look up at him, and he looks down at me. "Where's Phillepe?," I ask. He shrugs, then we hear a clang of metal. We both whip our heads around to see Phillepe holding two metal bars.

   "Alright Mikey," he says, not spotting me, "let's break in and save Emma!" Mikey and I look at each other, then bust out laughing. Phillipe's head snaps in my direction."Emma!," he exclaims, "you could have said you were there!"

   I look up at the sky and scratch my chin playfully. "Hmm, I could have," I say, holding back my laughter, "but you were making me laugh too hard, Barbarian." Phillepe shoves me before shoving Mikey, who's laughing so hard that when Phillepe shoves him, he falls to the ground. Then I hear the front door open, and I yell, "run."

   Cutting off their laughter, the boys bolt off after me to my house.