Chapter 3:

Ashley'd been watching his back all day. He'd constantly look around, just in case Matt was waiting for him. We turned a corner and Ashley once again looked around the corridors cautiously.

"Would 'cha knock it off Ash?" Jinxx said, clearly getting frustrated with him. "If he was gonna bash you, he'd have found you and done it by now."

"Y'never know Jinxx," Ashley said, nervously looking around the corridor. "He's smart like that; he could be anywhere, just waiting."

Jinxx just rolled his eyes and looked to me.

"Sorry 'bout this," he said. "Ash gets paranoid when he pisses someone off."

"Only 'cause I know they'll find me eventually," Ashley said. "They always bide their time..."

Jinxx just shook his head and didn't say anything as we walked through the doors of the cafeteria and started heading over to our table.

As we passed by the popular table, Ashley picked up his pace. Someone stepped in our way, making us all come to a quick halt.

Matt, Zacky and Davey stood in between us and our table.

"Thought you'd gotten away Purdy?" Matt sneered at Ashley. "I don't appreciate that trick you pulled on me yesterday afternoon."

"W-What?" Ashley stumbled through his words. "I-I don't remember anything like that..."

"You skipped out on me," Matt snapped, taking a step closer, all of us stepping back. "And now it looks like you and your freaks of friends have to pay the consequences."

Jinxx looked to Ashley.

"Nice one Ash," he said before he looked back to the three guys in front of us. "We don't want any trouble Sanders."

"Oh, I know," he said. "But like I said, your friend here fucked up, so he needs to learn who's in charge."

He stepped forwards again, making us all step back another step. Matt suddenly grabbed Ashley by the front of his shirt; Ashley was clearly rather intimidated by this point.

"I'm surprised you haven't learnt yet," he snapped. "You know the rules and how it works. You lot are on the end of the list, so you don't fuck 'round with us, got it?"

Ashley quickly nodded.

"Yep, understood," he rushed.

Matt looked to Jinxx and I.

"Get outta here," he snapped at us. "We'll make sure we send Ashley back later. He needs to be taught a lesson."

Jinxx quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me off, going past them and to the table we sat at. Vic looked at us with concern as Matt and his guys dragged a struggling Ashley away and outta the cafeteria.

"Fuckin' great," Jinxx said with a shake of his head. "That kid never learns, does he?"

"What's it even about?" Vic asked as Jinxx and I both sat down.

"You know how Sanders gets," Jinxx said. "Just 'cause Ashley told him to fuck off and then flipped him off in class yesterday."

"That all?"

Jinxx nodded. Vic looked to me.

"See, this' why you don't screw 'round with those guys," he said seriously. "I'm gonna go find him, make sure he's ok. Jinxx, you're in charge 'til I get back."

Jinxx nodded and Vic stood up, grabbed his things and headed out of the cafeteria. Jinxx shook his head.

"He'll never learn," he said. "Vic can't do anything 'bout it; none of us can. Ash's gonna get beaten down and it's not gonna be good."

***

Jinxx and I took our seats in English, both of us watching as people came through the door and sat down. When everyone had taken their seats, Jinxx looked to me.

"You see Ash come in?" he asked.

I shook my head and he looked around.

"Sanders isn't here either," he said with a frown. "Fuck me; hope he didn't do anything too bad."

I just nodded, not sure what to say. Jinxx was clearly worried, but he was doing a good job of hiding it. He kept watching the door as the teacher came in and started talking 'bout something.

Ten minutes into the lesson, Jinxx turned to face me.

"Vic just texted me," he said, keeping his voice down. "He never found them. He's just gone back into class."

"He didn't find Ashley or Matt?"

Jinxx shook his head.

"Neither of them," he said.

"So what're we gonna do?"

"You're not doing anything," he said, making me flinch at his tone. "I'm gonna go find Ash. Something's not right."

He quickly packed his things up and walked outta the room, ignoring the teacher as she tried to call him back in. She sent a disapproving look in my direction, making me look down.

It was all starting to go downhill already.

***

Maybe I was hanging with the wrong people.

It was only my second day and too many things had already happened. I hadn't heard anything from Jinxx or Vic, so I didn't know what was going on.

I walked through the crowded corridors alone today, head down and just trying to blend in; not that it ever worked before. Without warning, I was grabbed and slammed against the wall, just like yesterday.

"Hey new kid," Eddie said as his guys closed in a bit. "How're we going?"

When I didn't answer, Eddie pushed me against the wall harder, making me wince slightly.

"I asked you a question," he snarled. "You wanna answer it?"

I just stayed silent again, having nothing to say. Eddie looked to his guys, amusement clear on his face.

"Looks like newbie doesn't wanna talk to us boys," he said. He looked back to me. "And why might that be?"

Eddie was suddenly pushed off me and I looked to see Vic and Mike as I quickly fixed my shirt.

"What the hell Fuentes?" Eddie snapped. "You've got the nerve to push me 'round?"

"Leave him alone," Vic said, anger on his face. "He hasn't done anything to you."

Before anyone could move or do anything, Eddie hit Vic straight across the face, sending his to the ground. A couple of Eddie's guys pushed me and Mike back, holding us so we couldn't help him as Eddie and two of his guys started laying into Vic.

It wasn't long before a crowd had gathered, cheering Eddie on. I caught a glimpse of Juliet standing off to the back, shaking her head disapprovingly at what she was seeing, before just walking away; she clearly wanted nothing to do with what was happening.

Mike pulled against the guy holding him, knocking him off balance. The guy let him go and Mike dashed over to Eddie, hitting him from behind; distracting him.

Eddie spun around, anger on his face.

He hit Mike without hesitation, making him stumble back into me. Eddie went to hit Mike again, but Mike ducked outta the way, Eddie hitting me instead.

I stumbled back a bit, the two guys that'd been holding me and Mike, now closing in and starting to lay into me as I stumbled and fell to the ground, trying to protect myself as much as I could.

The crowd continued to cheer Eddie and his group on as they beat down all three of us.

After what felt like forever, the two guys that'd been laying into me were suddenly pulled away. The others were pulled off Mike and Vic as well and the crowd had backed off.

"This isn't over freaks!" Eddie called as him and his group took off.

The crowd slowly started to disperse as someone knelt down next to me.

"Andy? Jesus Christ, you ok?"

Someone helped me up and steadied me. Jinxx and Ronnie both looked at me with concern.

"Holy shit," Jinxx said, looking me up and down. "We've really gotta get you cleaned up."

My head was spinning a bit and I put my hand against the wall to help steady myself a bit more.

"Andy, I'm so sorry," Vic said as he limped over to me, clearly rather hurt. "I didn't know that was gonna happen."

I just waved it off and leant against the wall. Mike stood next to Vic, looking at both of us with concern.

"We ok?" he asked, looking between us.

I nodded, but Vic just stayed silent. I looked at him. He had his head down and was looking at the ground, clearly blaming himself for what'd just happened.

"Vic, don't blame yourself for it," I said. "It's not your fault."

He looked at me sadly, but didn't say anything. I looked to Jinxx.

"I gotta go," I said. "I gotta get home."

"You sure you're ok to walk by yourself?" he asked, concern clear on his face.

I nodded, just wanting to get outta the corridors and go home; I was very close to tears.

"I'll be fine," I said.

Before any of them could say anything more, I quickly grabbed my things and walked off, pain with every movement I made.

I wanted to get home, but in other ways, I didn't. Mom wasn't gonna be happy when she saw me, and I knew I was gonna get in trouble when I got home.

I just didn't wanna have to face my parents and explain what'd just happened. My second day at school and I'd already been beaten down.

Tears ran down my face as I walked away from the school. I knew I'd been a disappointment to my parents, as they'd had to deal with this a lot. I just didn't wanna have to put them through it all again.

I made sure I kept my head down as I walked up to the front door of my house. A wave of relief went through me as I found the door was locked. That meant no-one was home.

I quickly unlocked the door and went in, closing it once I was in and heading straight up to my room.

Since neither of my parents were home just yet, that meant I'd be able to avoid the awkward conversation about what'd happened to me at school.

I closed my door and put my bag down next to my desk, going over to my bed and lying down. I just laid there for a bit, staring at the ceiling as I tried to think of a way to explain it all to my parents.

A/N:

Here we have Jinxx. If I can find the picture...Nvm I found it on my other computer.