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Chapter 2

       Tate and Luce were fighting again, or she was fighting, and he just stood by her car and nodded. I had no idea what made her mad this time, and I didn't really care to know. They never involved me in their arguments and I would always be grateful for that. I hated yelling.

       I sat on the large wrap around couch in the middle of the living room, my chin resting on my crossed arms as I watched her yell through the window. It was late, ten o'clock at night late, but that never stopped my sister. If she had something to say it didn't matter the time or place.

       They had been dating for nearly a year now, although I'm not quite sure how. As much as I loved my over-protective, over-bearing, older sister, she treated Tate as she treated the rest of the world—like they were complete dirt. Lord only knows why he put up with it. Dad says its love, I say its because he likes the abuse.

       I let my eyes wander from the arguing couple to the cute two-story house down the street. I knew who it belonged to, without a doubt. I've seen the four loading up in one of their vehicles more than once. Trey Maguire's home, the Big Four headquarters—even though I'm the only one that called it that.

       It was nearly pitch-black outside, but I could see the two sleek black cars parked on the street in front of the house. All four of them were over there, right now. I watched shadows pass over the light from one of the upstairs windows, thinking about whether it belonged to Rex and what they were doing up there.

       Then heat flamed up neck and I suddenly felt like a stalking creepier. I pulled away from the window and turned my eyes on the living room's flat screen. Tate and I had been watching some cheesy comedy with Adam Sandler when Luce came home and demanded he 'talk' to her outside.

       I blew a raspberry aimlessly into the air before reaching for the TV remote. It was getting late, and I was sure Luce wouldn't stop yelling for another hour or so. I turned the movie off and rose to my feet with a long stretch, a sleepy yawn pulling from my lips.

       I tossed the empty pizza box—tonight's dinner—into the kitchen trash before making sure the back door was locked and heading up the stairs. To sleep or not to sleep? What awaited me tonight? I let out a small sigh as I slipped into my pajamas, tossed my dirty clothes into the hamper and climbed into my oh-so-comfy bed.

       I stared up at my ceiling for what felt like an hour, my body begging me to close my eyes and sleep. I let out another tired yawn as those familiar dark memories started tossing like a ping pong ball back and forth through my mind. Looks like 'not to sleep' was winning tonight.

-&-

       The minute I saw that bright blond head of hair enter the hall, I turned on my heel and nearly ran in the opposite direction. I could not deal with that- that... jerk again. Hiding in janitor's closets and ducking down opposite hallways isn't going to work forever, especially with how persistent he was.

       "Taking a different route today, Rosalyn?"

       My feet stopped in their tracks, my shoes cementing to the floor. So much for avoiding him. He must have seen me turned and cut off my retreat from the adjacent hall. I tried to hide the unpleasant groan desperately trying to pull from my lips.

       Jason Shepherd stood barely a few feet away. The six-foot-tall, brown eyed football player leaning casually against the wall of lockers without a care in the world.

       I looked around nervously, praying someone else would wander down the hall—even though everyone was at the opposite end of the school, heading for the lunch room. "What do you want?" I hated how soft my voice sounded, how weak, but Jason did that to me. He sent genuine, complete fear down my spine.

       I watched with slightly shaking hands as his head cocked to the side, his hands stuffing easily into his jean pockets. Then the monster laughed. "You ask me that every time." He chuckled and shook his head before stepping away from the wall, dark eyes narrowing. My feet instantly unrooted and I took a hurried step back.

       "Hoping for a different answer." I muttered under my breath as he continued his slow advance, matching my retreat. His lips twisted into a smirk.

       In any other world, Jason would have been ridiculously attractive. Tall, well-built, deep dark eyes, and a sharp jaw line. He was the perfect version of an Abercrombie & Fitch model if I ever saw one. It was what he held inside him that destroyed his looks. Everyone knew what kind of person he was, the athletic rich boy with a knack for getting into girl's pants—and not always when they wanted him to.

       There had been more than one lawsuit filed against him, all of which his filthy rich father was able to pay his way out of. Jason had far surpassed the term 'bad' in my book. He was evil.

       "Let's go on a date, little Rosie. I promise you will have a good time."

       He didn't want a date, I could see it in his eyes. Out of the entire school, he was the only one who seemed to notice my existence—and it was only because I said no. More than once, repeatedly really. It had always been at school, and he never had the chance to push too hard, but I feared the day no one interrupted these little get-togethers.

       "I've told you a thousand times, no Jason."

       That was not the right thing to say. I watched as fire suddenly burned behind those brown eyes, and that smirked turned to a smile so demonic it made panic hit my chest like a sucker punch. I let out a shuttering breath, that familiar hyperventilating feeling wanting to take over.

       I had seen that look on his face before, once or twice from him, but mainly on Animal Planet when a lion stalked its meal before the kill. It was a hungry look, and it made me want to hightail it out of there faster than the speed of light. He stepped towards me again, and I backtracked as fast as possible. The panic wasn't going away.

       I-I needed Tate... No, no I needed Jax. I needed... I needed-

       "What's the rush, Rose? I rather like you saying my name. Why don't you say it again?" There was a dark amusement in his voice, one I would have done anything to block from my ears.

       Time to run. It was definitely time to run. I turned quickly, ready to sprint away from the crazy football player and the panic now surging throughout my body, when a hand big enough to wrap around my entire bicep jerked me back.

       "And where do you think you're going?" Jason hissed into my ear, that amusement from before completely gone. There was only venom in his tone now, poison directed at me. "We weren't done talking. That's rude."

       "L-Let me go or I'll scream." I was ashamed of the pathetic whimper in my voice, and even more so that I couldn't break his grip from my arm no matter how hard I tried to jerk it away.

       He was too big, far too big for me to fend off on my own, and as he yanked me back against him, the panic started blocking the air from reaching my lungs. "Go ahead." He sneered into my ear, his other hand wrapping around my waist. "I like it when they do-"

       "There's my Princess."

       There was a moment of complete stillness, one where I wasn't sure if reality still existed or if I had somehow traveled to a different dimension where time held no meaning. But then the moment passed, and I was being physically ripped away from the buff, psychotic jock before I realized it.

       I was being passed between different pairs of hands, and the panic had sufficiently clogged my lungs enough that black dots danced across my vision. I was suddenly being cradled in a new pair of arms, and despite the fact that my body went automatically rigid, they stayed gentle around me. Completely different then how Jason's had.

       The arms pulled me into their owner's strong chest, a hand running soothingly down my hair as a deep voice murmured it was going to be 'okay'. I don't know how it happened, but my hands were suddenly clinging onto the person holding me, my fingers tightening into the soft fabric of their shirt as I tried to force the panic back down my throat.

       "What's doin', man?"

       The panic went down enough that I could recognize Trey Maguire's voice filling the nearly vacant hallway, though I wasn't sure if that hard edge to it was real or not. "Just having a friendly talk with little Rose. How you know her?" Just hearing the monster's voice sent a new surge of panic through me.

       He reminded me too much of the past, too much of dark things that would never make anyone good enough for anything. That hand rubbing softly down my hair pressed me further against them.

       "Are you kidding? Rose and I go way back, don't we Princess?" The arms caging me in safety wouldn't let me go long enough to respond, though Trey never expected me to.

       "Tut, tut, Buttercup." There was suddenly a teasing voice beside me, one I vaguely recognized as Denton Dimajio. "What have we told you about running off?"

       The arms eased up enough until I was able to glance over at the beaming twin. The goofball was smiling down at me like he just won the lottery. That panic eased again as I let out a quiet giggle.

       "Never seen her hanging around you fuckheads before." The fake niceties completely slipped from Jason's voice as he addressed Trey, though I could practically feel those poop-brown eyes glaring holes into my back.

       "Then you obviously weren't looking close enough." There was no masking the ice that filled Trey's tone, or the obvious threat. It wasn't even directed at me and I found myself slinking further into the arms still wrapped securely around my own.

       "Right... So, you'll fuck three morons and not me?" The monster's words were a sneer now, one that made me want to hightail it for the hills all over again. His words sounded so filthy. "Not like I'd want an over-used pussy anyway-"

       Those comforting arms suddenly disappeared as their owner shoved me towards Denton and launched at the unsuspecting blond football player. Brett's gigantic fist connected with Jason's nose so hard the loud 'crack' could be heard throughout the entire hall.

       I watched with wide, bewildered eyes as Denton ease me behind him and Trey latched onto the older twin's arms to drag him away from the monster before he could cause anymore damage. "What the fuck?!" Jason shouted as he tipped his head back to stop the waterfall of blood escaping his nose. Bile rose to my throat at the sight of it, but at least the panic was quickly fading away.

       "You better watch your fucking mouth." Brett spat as Trey passed him to his brother before turning back around. My eyes were as wide as saucers as I took in the whole scene, my fingers twisting nervously into the ends of my shirt. These boys were intense.

       "You should probably go to the nurse. Brett's punches cause some serious damage." Trey tried to be helpful, but the careless shrug of his shoulders suggested he didn't give a flying fudge about Jason's nose.

       Jason looked like he was about to snap out some rude comment, but the look Trey shot him could have curled milk. The monster shot one last dark look at me, one that caused Trey to side step between us, before he finally took the hint and left.

       I let out the shaky breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, and the rest of the panic ebbed away with it. Now that had been violent, though I've personally seen the Big Four do far worse than break someone's nose.

       "You alright there, Princess?"

       My eyes snapped away from the floor and locked on that bright gaze staring down at me in worry. I could feel my tongue growing thick in nerves just like the day before. I tried to force down the feeling and gave him a wobbly smile.

       "Y-Yeah, I'm alright."

       I gripped tightly onto the part of my arm that Jason had, as if I could bruise away the memory of his touch. Trey continued to block my view of the footballer's retreating form, which I was more thankful for.

       I turned slowly to the Dimajios, worry filling my eyes. Denton was no longer holding his brother back, though there was no mistaking the fury in Brett's eyes—bright blue eyes that locked onto mine.

       "I hate that fucker." His voice was dark as it rumbled past his chest, his eyes flickering behind Trey. "Anyone that uses girls the way he does and gets away with it deserves to die." There was no empty threat in his words, only a promise, one that made my eyes widen in alarm.

       He wouldn't really kill someone... would he? I mean, I know Rex went to juvey because the police thought he was involved in some murder, but no one really believed it—or at least, I didn't. Were they actually that violent?

       "Thank you." I suddenly blurted as a tense silence fell over us. At the moment it didn't matter if he, or any of the others, were capable of murder. They have saved me, and that was all I should have cared about. The three of them instantly snapped their gazes to mine, Denton breaking out in an exuberant smile as Trey chuckled and walked up beside me.

       "Don't thank us," The man/boy started with a laugh, which immediately turned Denton's smile into a pout.

       "We never would have noticed if Rex hadn't pointed you out."

       "Rex?"

       "Uh huh, but let's get you to class, yeah?"

       Lunch was over by the time our 'little interaction' with Jason was through, and they all walked me to fifth period. It had been easier to talk to them then, if only because Trey kept filling the tense silence with cheesy jokes—but completely ignored my questions about Rex.

       They left only after I promised not to wander down any empty hallways from now on. I agreed absentmindedly, my mind completely focused on his earlier words. Rex had seen my struggle with Jason, had told his friends to stop it.

       That fact stuck with me for the rest of the day, and even plagued my dreams. I had to thank him. I had to, even if it meant a death sentence. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn't seen us? It didn't even matter that he hadn't stopped it himself. Rex Turner had, in his own way, helped save me.

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Hope you enjoyed it!!

Whew, work kills me guys. I'm exhausted.