Jessie pulled her lips from Josh’s and smiled at me.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Cameron and I got into Lorena’s car and we pulled off. I could see the two of them watching us drive away in the side view mirror.
We pulled up to my house and I got out of the car after thanking Lorena and saying my goodbyes. Like usual, it was dark out with just one street light on, but what was unusual was the black car sitting under it again.
I waited until Lorena’s car was out of sight before I picked up a rock and headed towards the car, “Who the fuck are you?” I yelled. As I approached I noticed once again that there was a driver in the car, and this time he didn’t speed away, “Get out of the car!” I first knocked on the window, but when the driver didn’t get out I started pulling on the door handle, “Get out!” The emotions I felt were fear, and anger. Two emotions that could make a person’s adrenaline start to go crazy, “Josh! Is that fucking you!?” I yelled. There was no answer again and I started to hit the window multiple times with the rock I had in my hand. It didn’t even cause a scratch.
Once I noticed that I was hitting bullet proof windows, I stopped and stepped away. I then noticed that there was a shadow in the back seat of the car and began to feel more fear than anger, “who-who are you?” I asked while still backing away, “Arnold?”
The car started running and then it slowly pulled off. This time not so much in a hurry.
I watched as the car turned the corner and then stood there in the middle of the street still confused about what had just happened. It couldn’t have been Arnold....it wasn’t possible. So who was it?
I didn’t even notice the car that was speeding right for me and turned to see nothing but bright headlights. I kicked into alertness and moved out of the way as fast as I could, tripping over the curb and into the snow.
“Fucking murderer!” Someone yelled out of the window. The car made a hard left turn and I saw that it was the same car that Josh and Jessie were kissing in front of. The two of them had just tried to kill me.
* * *
“Rose, why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you?” She was giving me her serious look, “I can tell that something has been bothering you. Now what is it? You’ll never feel any better if you don’t tell someone.”
I looked at my hands and then up at her, “I think I’m getting what I deserve,” my voice cracked.
Mrs. Shy frowned, “What happened? Did Josh do something?”
“He knows....” she looked confused, “he knows what I did before I came here...” Mrs. Shy frowned. She really didn’t read my file, “They tried to-”
“They?” Mrs. Shy cut me off.
“Jessie and him. Then there’s Ar- the black car.”
Mrs. Shy gave me a long stare, “What black car, Rose?” It was as if she had forgotten all about Josh and Jessie and her focus was now on the black car.
“There was a black car outside my house...with bullet proof windows.”
“You shot at it?”
“No! I tried to break through it with a rock. It didn’t even budge, then the car just drove off. No one came out.”
Mrs. Shy took a deep breath, “Rose, it is very important that you call the police the next time you see that car, and if you can, get the license plate.”
“Do you know who it is?”
Mrs. Shy sighed again, “No. No, I don’t, but whoever it is can be dangerous. Not too many people drive around with cars that have bullet proof windows. You need to keep yourself safe. Maybe I should just go to the authorities myse-”
“No!” I yelled. I couldn’t have the police involved, then the news, and everyone finding out who I am and what I’ve done. I couldn’t risk it.
The bell saved me once again and I rushed out of the office. I got the feeling that Mrs. Shy new something, and wasn’t telling me what it was.
Chapter 25
Lorena picked me up early to get to morning practice. She’s been doing this lately because coach wanted us to start coming in the morning before school. On my way out of the house I’ve been searching for the black car, making sure that I was safe, but just like the last few days, the car was nowhere to be found. I figured that maybe it was just some of Josh’s or Jessie’s friends trying to mess with me. I mean, ever since he was told about the incident in Cali, he’s been doing little things to try and make me snap. He was a typical bully that sometimes pushed me against the lockers, or knocked my books out of my hands, and no one but his friends applauded him. It was like the students at the school knew that I was just trying to hold in my anger so not to lose it during school hours and end up kicked off the wresting team, or worse...expelled.
Most of the wrestling team started to dislike Josh, and would sometimes step in the way of him when he tried messing with me, but that was only sometimes. Bully or not he was still the captain, and a giant bulldozer.
We pulled up to the school and I got out of the car and went inside. Lorena decided to do a little studying in the auditorium, so we said our goodbyes and parted.
I walked down the quiet back hallways that led to the locker rooms and was a little creeped out because of how empty and dim they were. It reminded me of the times I sat in a cage with that one light that lit over it, and how the rest of the basement was covered in darkness.
I jumped when I heard the door slam down the hall. I looked back to see if someone was coming, because I remembered that the door gently closed behind me, “Hello?” I was right under the light, so the rest of the hall was darkened. I took a step back when I heard slow footsteps heading in my direction, “Who is that?” I asked again, but no one answered. When I noticed that my hands were shaking, I went back into my defensive mode, hoping that would scare them away, “Who the fuck is it!? This shit isn’t funny,” my voice lowered when I saw a gun raise from the shadows. I still couldn’t see who was holding the gun, but now I knew it wasn’t just a friend trying to scare me, “Who-who are you?” I said, stepping backwards. I caught myself before tripping over my own foot.
The gun holder didn’t speak, or move. What was he trying to accomplish?
“Rose!” I heard Cameron call at the other end of the hall. The man in front of me backed into the shadows and then ran back down the hall and out of the building. On his way out, I saw that he was actually a she that had long black hair.
“What the hell?” Cameron jogged up next to me and rested his hand on my shoulder, “Who the hell was- Rose are you okay?”
I didn’t answer because I was trying to catch my breath. I turned to him and was ready to speak, but no words came out.
“Rose, baby, why are you c-” before he finished his sentence he pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around me, “Calm down,” he said. His soft words took away some of the fear and stopped the few tears that I was trying to keep from flowing. Cameron had no idea what was going on, and even though I had a small clue, I was still confused. It scared me- damn near terrified me that someone wanted me dead.
* * *
I told Cameron what happened, but didn’t tell him what it had to deal with, or why it might have happened, and he didn’t ask. Just like Lorena, Cameron knew that I wanted to keep the past in the past and didn’t want them knowing anything about me, or what happened once before. All I want is for them to know the me that I’m showing them now. Not who I was.
After practice we went our separate ways, but not before Cameron made as many corny jokes as possible to make me laugh. I stayed in the girls’ restroom to calm down my remaining jitters and decided to hit homeroom late, but once I stepped in the hall I completely regretted not going on time.
Josh was walking, alone, in my direction, and when he saw me he smiled. I just sighed and tried to pass him as quickly as possible, but somehow I ended up being pinned against the lockers.
“Let me go!” I yelled. My uncontrollable shaking started again.
“Yeah, I knew it. You’re not as tough as you act,” Josh laughed.
“I thought I told you before, I’m not worried. You act like you’re all tough, like you can handle anything, but as soon as someone brings up what you did, you get all weak. Yeah, Jessie told me all about you. It seems like she knows much more than she should, but I guess after what you did to her she had no choice but to find out and-”
“Hey!” Mr. Clothorn was walking down the hallway holding a few papers in his hands.
Josh let me go and smiled at Mr. Clothorn, “Don’t worry Coach, we were just messing around.”
Mr. Clothorn looked at me as if waiting for me to verify Josh’s lie, but I didn’t say a word, “Well, stop playing around during school. Save all that energy for the mats.”
I nodded and then turned around to head to class. Mr. Clothorn walked up next to me, “I guess we’re both late,” he said.
“Yeah,” I answered, still angry about what had just happened.
“Rose, has Josh been messing with you?” Mr. Clothorn asked.
I didn’t answer right away, “We just have disagreements...”
“Well, I know thing or two about his disagreements, and I know you can take him on. What I don’t want is you to get in trouble because he keeps trying to provoke you.”
“He’ll be the only one in trouble, coach,” I even had a hard time believing that.
“Rose, you and I both know that the principal nor the police will be on your side.”
“Well, I guess that’s why I have you to back me up,” when we made it to the classroom, I went to go sit next to Abigale.
“You okay?” She asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded, “fine.” What was now on my mind was Josh. It was time to get rid of him, but how? I needed him off of my back, and soon. If I keep letting him try to provoke me, he’s going to release another side, and that’s a side no one isn’t prepared to see.
Me and Lorena started texting each other again during our incredibly boring classes, making me realize just how goofy she is. I guess when she’s bored she has nothing better to do than send me funny pictures of her many different faces, and make jokes that aren’t very funny, but still made me laugh because of how corny they were.
The last thing she sent me was how do you feel now? I guess during class she noticed how quiet I was and made it a goal to make me feel better. There was just so much going on that I felt like I couldn’t handle. There’s Josh, then Jessie, and now this black car. That’s way too many enemies for someone who is trying to make a clean start!
I replied with better now, and then she sent me a heart with a smiley face.
Practice came quicker than I thought, but didn’t play out the way I anticipated. Mr. Clothorn purposefully set up practice in groups and put me and Cameron in a group farther away from Josh and his group. The entire practice we were separate, and when I looked at Mr. Clothorn he nodded as if saying, “I did this for you.”
I nodded back. Cameron looked from me to Mr. Clothorn, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I said getting into position.
“Well, how are you, about this morning? Should I tell someone-” I grabbed him and slammed him on the mat, “I got the message.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his pain and helped him back to his feet, “The gun probably wasn’t even real. If it was, whoever that was would have shot it.”
“Still,” he grabbed me and gently took me down, “I don’t like to see you that way,” he held me down while giving me an intense look. One that made it hard for me to control my blushing, or this new excited feeling. Cameron’s feelings for me looked as if they were also surfacing.
“Okay, love birds,” Mike said, “get a room.”
Cameron helped me up and pretended like he didn’t hear what Mike said, “C’mon,” he got back into a wrestling stance, “I’m not gonna go easy on you.”
“You don’t have to,” I smiled back.
After practice, I went into the locker room, and was debating on asking Lorena to come get me, but decided that she’s wasted enough gas on me already. I grabbed my things and was on my way out of the locker room when the door flew open and Josh charged in. He caught me by the neck and slammed me against the lockers, and this time his grip was a lot stronger.
“Get-” my feet were barely touching the floor and it felt like my lungs were going to collapse, “off!” I brought my knee up hard between his legs and he let me go as he grabbed himself in pain. I didn’t wait for him to re-energize and threw a left hook to his cheek. He stumbled over to his right, but then sprung back into action.
When I realized how he was attacking me I almost laughed. Josh was a strong guy, but that’s all he had going for himself. Sure, he was a great wrestler, but I’ve proven myself to be better. I was the one with the skill, and I have the experience. There’s no way in hell I’m going to lose to this guy, and it was time for payback.
Josh came at me with his arms out like he was ready to choke me with both hands now. I ducked, stepped to the right, and came back up with a two piece to his jaw. Once he was dazed even a little bit I started throwing combos from right hooks to left uppercuts.
Josh fell back over the bench and hit his head on the lockers behind him, which I could tell angered him and laughed, “C’mon, you’re tough. You were talking all that shit!” He started to get up. “Maybe you should’ve brought your friends!”
Josh screamed in frustration and ran at me. This was my chance to get rid of him and I took it. I back out of the locker room and into the hallway. Josh, not realizing my plan, continued to come after me with slow punches and frustrated grunts.
“Guess you’re not used to a girl fucking you up, huh?” I taunted. Josh swung again but I just stepped to the side and threw combos at him. He stumbled backwards, but stopped himself from falling over and held his nose realizing that he was bleeding from it.
“You fucking bitch!” He ran at me this time and tackled me to the floor.
“Hey!” Mr. Clothorn yelled. Right on time.
I covered my face with my arms to block his tired blows, and to also look a little helpless.
“Get off of her!” Cameron wrapped his arms around Josh’s neck and held it until he slowed down and eventually stopped. Mr. Clothorn pulled had Cameron off of Josh so not to choke him to death. Josh fell to the floor face first and tried to catch his breath.
“Are you alright?” Cameron rushed to help me up and started checking for wounds.
“I’m okay,” I said, but he continued to look me over, “Cameron,” I grabbed him by the cheeks and looked into his eyes, “I’m OK. Really. I’m not hurt.”
Cameron sighed with relief then shook his head when he looked down at Josh. No one but Mr. Clothorn went to help him. I guess the team really didn’t like Josh.
* * *
The fight was reported, but neither I nor Cameron got into any trouble. I told them to check the video cameras showing Josh running into the girl’s locker room and then six minutes later running after me while I was trying to escape.
Cameron knew what the deal was and praised me for being so clever, then reluctantly let go of me so that I could get in the car with my Aunt.
“Was he the one who threw that brick through our window?” Shannon asked.
“Yup,” I answered.
“Then you did well. That boy looked beat,” She laughed. I couldn’t help but laugh too.
* * *
News about the fight, and Josh’s expulsion, went around fast, and just like after Jessie’s fight there were crazy rumors spreading. I was actually commended by most, and the rest just asked a bunch of questions.
Lorena came to my locker earlier to make sure that I was okay.
“I’m so sorry,” Lorena said.
“No, it wasn’t you. Josh didn’t seem to like me from the get-go,” I said.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” She gave me a tight hug and th
en pulled away, “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she said excitedly. I was also excited about tomorrow. We made plans to have another little sleep over at her house with pizza, chips, and scary movies. Just a chill day.
I went to practice, and was confused on why the team was kneeling on the mats. Were they starting a discussion without me? Was I kicked off of the team? What was going on? My stomach began to do back flips
I walked onto the mats and gave my coach a confused look, “What’s going on?”
“Come over here,” he waved for me to stand next to him and Cameron, “Ok, now that everyone is here, I would like to get started. I’m going to make this quick. You all know that your captain was expelled, which means he isn’t a captain anymore. So, now I need a new one,” he held Cameron’s shoulder, “Cameron here, is going to be our new and hopefully improved captain of the team.”
The team clapped and was over dramatic as usual making me smile.
The coach stepped in between me and Cameron and held my shoulder, “And although new to the school and the team, I see strong leadership in you and I deem you the new co-captain.”
The team cheered again.
“Thank you,” I said.
“No, thank you.....really. I’m very glad to have you on my team.”
“Our team, coach!” One of my teammates blurted.
“Yeah!” The team stood up while clapping.
Cameron stood next to me, “How bout that. Captain, co-captain. We are just meant for each other,” he laughed.
I punched him on the arm while laughing, “Whatever dude.”
Chapter 26
Lorena ran to the door when the pizza delivery came, and I was glad that she had moved away from me for a second because I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Just sitting next to her gave me the butterflies, which was making this small get together uncomfortable. I couldn’t understand why today I felt so nervous around her. Because I’ve been doing good with keeping my cool, but something was different. This was the third time that we were really alone together and it felt a little awkward. I was glad that Lorena didn’t notice, because it might’ve offended her. I guess I’m still not used to this kind of thing. Being close to another female, let alone anyone at all.
Caged (Caged series Book 1) Page 16