by Liz Lovelock
I glance at her. She eyes me. Her excitement level is off the charts. I think she really would like to see the outcome of what might or could happen between Parker and me. I also think she’d like to rub whatever this is between Parker and I in Hayden’s face.
“All right, well, we played a game of one-on-one basketball. That’s about it.” I shrug while receiving an evil glare from Elsie. Her face says, ‘You’re kidding me, right?’
“Come on. Don’t give me the watered-down version.”
“There was some flirting—that was to distract each other so we’d miss our shots. I even, at one point, threw myself at him to catch me so he wouldn’t get the ball in. It failed.” I giggle, remembering the moment.
I feel Elsie’s stare at me and await her onslaught. “You actually threw your body at him?”
I nod.
She tugs my arm, stopping us from walking. “Did anything else happen?”
“No. Like I said, it was just a game between friends.”
Elsie rolls her eyes, but the dirty look on her face isn’t for me—it’s for whoever’s standing behind me. I get a waft of a very familiar perfume. The flowery scent hits my nostrils, and I rub my nose as it itches. Spinning around, I see Ella’s standing there, her friends close behind her. My mouth drops open at the sight of Devon standing beside her. She pushes him toward me. When I catch him, his body trembles under my touch.
“Devon, what are you doing here?” I grip his face to make him look at me. When he does, I can see a pinkness on his cheeks as though someone has hit him. My insides light up like an inferno. I whip my head toward Ella. “What happened to him?” I grit out through my teeth. My goodness, I want to slap her to the ground. If she’s hurt him, I will harm that bitch.
Ella simply laughs in my face. “I didn’t do anything. He showed up here asking around for you. Deal with it.” She turns her back on me and struts away, her posse following closely behind her.
“What a bunch of bitches.” Elsie throws the word ‘bitches’ loudly at them. They don’t turn around. Elsie knows how protective I am of Devon, she’s met him a couple of times before.
I wrap my arm around my brother’s shoulders. He’s bulkier than me, but he’s like a little child, and he has tears in his eyes and red marks not only on his face but his arms. I lead him away from onlookers who’ll only sit and laugh at him. Some people can’t look past his disability.
“What happened, Devon?” I ask gently as we sit under a tree on campus, away from the busy lunchtime pathways.
I watch him tap away at his knee, and my heart breaks. Tears burn in my eyes. Damn, I hate people.
“I… I… It was those boys. The ones Mom spoke to the school about.”
I suck in a hard breath and hear Elsie curse a heap of times under her breath. I hold Devon tightly against me. His body still shakes. That’s it. I’m done with petty kids.
“I’m going to the school myself and talking with these stupid boys.”
Devon’s head flicks up, and he shakes it profusely. “No, Addy… they’re the top boys of the school.” Devon taps away on his knee. Tap, tap, tap.
“Something has to be done about this,” I clip. I pull out my cell to call Mom and Dad. Mom should be at home today.
My phone’s snatched from my shaky grip. “Hey,” I begin, but stop when I look up to see Parker, Jimmy, and Dane standing above us. “What are you doing?” I quickly wipe away the wetness on my cheeks. A soft look on Parker’s face settles the anger and hurt hurtling through me.
“We want to help,” he says.
“How do you even know what’s going on? This doesn’t concern you anyway.”
“I overheard what was going on. We’ve got this,” Parker says with a sternness that tells me he means business.
“No, Parker. I can’t let you do this.” I chase after him and his duo. Jimmy gives me a sideways glance. I can’t tell if he dislikes me or not now. That day he ran me over, I could have sworn he hated my guts.
“As Parker said… we’ve got this.” I stop in my tracks. Is he really defending my brother? There’s a seriousness to his words, just like Parker’s from moments ago.
Devon comes up beside me, and I take his hand. “Stop!” Devon yells with such confidence it shocks me. He’s not one to normally raise his voice.
It stops the boys in their tracks. They turn and look back at Elsie, Devon, and me.
“No one should be treated how he has been.” Parker points to Devon, who’s back to tapping, more like hitting his upper leg. I can see the bruises forming on his cheek.
“Those little dickwads need a lesson taught to them,” Parker says. Jimmy and Dane nod in agreement, they all turn and leave. “You can either come with us or stay here. It’s your choice.”
I look sideways at Devon. He’s already started taking off after Parker.
I rub my hands down my face, exhausted by all of this. I don’t want others to get in trouble for my family. I turn to Elsie. “I’ll go with them. I’ll fill you in later.”
Elsie pushes me away. “Yes, you better. Now get going, or they’ll leave without you.”
I take off running. My legs carry me across the pathways. The boys are men on a mission, and seem to have strides like giants. I finally catch up with them. Devon glances at me and takes my hand. I catch Parker looking at me, our gazes lock briefly before he turns away. It settles the fueling fire that’s been lit inside me.
We arrive in the parking lot. Parker opens one of the back doors of a navy blue Jeep Wrangler. Devon jumps in and puts himself in the middle. I go to slide in beside him, and Parker grips my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. My chest flutters at his touch. Seconds later, he releases me and hops in the front while I finish sliding into the car.
Devon’s caught the exchange between Parker and me. The smile on his face is a dead giveaway.
“Where to?” Parker asks once we’re all piled in the Jeep.
“River Valley High School,” I say.
Parker takes off. Music pulses through the sound system. Dane is sitting in the back with Devon and me. Dane isn’t one who usually says much, from what I’ve noticed, yet he leans into Devon and says, “I’m Dane.” He holds out his hand for Devon to shake.
Devon looks down at it. “Devon.” He grips Dane’s hand in his.
“You all right?” Dane asks, gently.
Devon’s head drops low, and he begins tapping his right leg again. I take his hand to comfort him. “I’m all right. It’s not the first time this has happened, but… but today they picked on Tommy as well, and he pretended to be sick so he could go home.” Oh my goodness. That poor boy. I want to wrap both him and my brother in cotton wool and never let them out of my sight.
I hear Parker curse, and I look up. He catches my now watery gaze. His hard stare holds mine.
I look back to Devon who’s still talking to Dane, only now they’re chatting about basketball and threatening to beat each other. Devon’s laughter fills the interior of the car and brings a smile to my face.
Five minutes later, we pull up outside of Devon’s school, and his hold on my hand tightens. “I don’t want to go back in,” Devon says in a low whisper. His hands shake. I want to run in and beat the hell out of the kids who’ve hurt my brother and his friend. Thankfully, Devon’s holding me back.
“You don’t have to. I’ll take you home after this, and we can let Mom know what’s happened, if she doesn’t already,” I say. He slowly bobs his head up and down, acknowledging what I’ve said.
Parker turns in his seat. “What are the boys’ names?” His kindness toward Devon turns what hardness is left of my defenses to jelly.
Devon raises his hand, pointing his finger out the windshield. All our focus shifts to where he’s pointing. A group of four teenage boys stand around the side of a building, looking as if they’re trying to skip out on school. What little punks.
“Let’s go, boys.” There’s a playfulness to Parker’s sentence. This could be interesti
ng.
All three of the trio roll out of the car. It’s like a scene you’d see in a movie—all three step from the car as if in slow-motion. Well, maybe it’s not exactly like that. It sure feels like it, though.
Devon and I slide from the car much more slowly. The boys haven’t waited. They’ve set their scowls of hatred on their targets and have gone for them. Devon and I take off to catch up.
A boy sees us approaching. A creepy smile spreads across his face as he taps his friends on the shoulder, and they all make their way toward us.
Parker, Jimmy, and Dane stop in their tracks. The younger boys halt a few feet in front of our group.
“Oh, little Devy has brought some backup. Can’t handle it, huh?” All four of them laugh. Are these guys not even fazed about Parker and his friends being here?
I barge between Parker and Jimmy, stopping in front of the dick-bag ringleader. “Who do you think you are, picking on my brother?”
Dick-bag’s laugher tips fuel onto my fire, which is already raging. I shove him in the chest. He stumbles back but squares his shoulders, and his mates’ glares are like daggers in my direction. “Be careful, little girl. This isn’t your school. We run this joint.”
Now, it’s my turn to laugh in their faces.
“Now, now don’t go threatening her,” Parker says. I sense him standing right behind me.
“And who are you?” Dick-bag spits.
“I’m Parker, and these are my friends Jimmy and Dane.” Parker rests his hands on my shoulders, gently moving me out of the way and placing me protectively behind him and the boys. Devon comes to stand with me. There’s amusement resting on his features. He doesn’t look worried at the outcome of this at all while Parker continues, “We’re from a college not far from here.”
His eyes go wide as recognition dawns on Dick-bag’s face.
“So what?” he asks. Yet, I can tell that he’s a little more nervous than cocky now.
Parker steps up into him, getting right up into Dick-bag’s face. “If I find out you’ve hurt my friend’s brother again, I’ll be back, and you’ll be the one leaving with more than one shiner on your face.” The sternness of his voice would make any kid scared. I felt the anger with each word he spoke. I want to high-five him.
“It’s none of your business what happens here.”
This guy doesn’t give up. Probably wants to appear the big dog while his mates are around.
“Oh, I’m making it my business. You see, Devon’s sister is a good friend of mine, and when you hurt him, you’re hurting her. Which means next time it happens I’ll be hurting you, and your buddies.”
“He’s a freak.” Dick-bag stabs his finger at Devon, who drops his head, and I spot his tear falling.
That’s it.
I storm up to Dick-bag. Stepping in front of Parker and the boys, I shove the loser back, and I push him again. Rage fuels me on. I want to cause him pain—worse pain than what he’s caused Devon. “How dare you? You’re a… pathetic. Little. Boy.”
He keeps stepping back, I clench my fist and swing it at his face. The pain which seers through my hand and shoots up my arm tells me I’ve done something to it, but it doesn’t stop me.
Dick-bag holds his hand to his face, then comes at me with his arms out.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do th—”
Parker’s warning is too late. I’ve gripped the Dick-bag’s arm with my good hand and turned into him like I did with Parker a few weeks back. In one swift move, I have Dick-bag on his back.
I stare down at him, flat on his back. A swirl of excitement pumps through my veins. He looks up at me, his mouth hanging open.
“Leave my brother alone or me and my friends here will be back.” I turn toward Parker, Jimmy, Dane, and Devon. Each of them has the biggest of smiles on their faces.
“I like her,” Jimmy says, nudging Parker. Devon chuckles to himself, and Dane gives him a slap on the back. “Your sister is badass, Dev,” he says.
Devon nods excitedly. “She’s the best,” he gloats.
Parker’s blue eyes settle on me. “She sure is.”
My body heats, and my pulse speeds up.
We arrive back at the college around two in the afternoon. My hand still throbs from hitting Dick-bag. When he scurried to his feet after I dropped him, he and his buddies took off quickly.
“Come on, Devon. I’ll take you home,” I say as we climb out of the Jeep. I shut my door, and Parker stands there, leaning against his closed door.
“Did you want me to take him?” he asks.
Before I can answer, Devon voices his opinion. “Yes, I like your car.”
Shrugging, I say, “Well, I guess Devon has answered for me.”
Jimmy and Dane come from behind the car. “Thanks for your help, guys.”
Jimmy shrugs. “Not that we did much.” He gives me a crooked smile. He actually looks good when he does it. All he’d need to say is ‘How you doing?’ and the girls would flock to him. Unfortunately, he acts like a clown a majority of the time.
“Happy to help Dev out,” Dane says clapping Devon on the back. My brother’s entire face lights up. I can tell he really likes Dane.
“Th-Thank you,” Devon stutters. He hasn’t been tapping as much as he was when he first arrived. That tells me that he’s in a happy place and is calm.
“We’ll have to have a game… one-on-one, hey, Dev?” Parker asks.
Devon nods furiously with excitement. “Yes. When?”
“Give him a date and time so he can know and be prepared,” I say, giving Parker a knowing look. Devon is very much into routine. He likes to have warning for things. If he doesn’t, sometimes, he can’t handle it, although he’s much better at controlling his emotions now that he’s older.
“Monday night. I can pick you up. It won’t be until after nine p.m; that way Addy can come. What do you say?”
“Yes, sounds good,” Devon says. I can see the excitement shining through him.
“I’ll let Mom and Dad know for you,” I say.
“I wanna watch,” Dane says, and Jimmy nods his interest as well.
“Sounds good. Well, better get Dev home,” Parker says, clapping a hand on Jimmy and Dane’s shoulders. This was an outcome I didn’t expect.
Parker, Devon, and I slide back into the Jeep, and I give the driver our address.
Parker stares at me. “What’s with the look?” he asks.
“What do you mean?” I ask as I buckle myself in.
“What’s with the look?”
“What look?” I have no idea what he’s referring to.
“You look surprised?”
My face must read as shocked after Jimmy actually said goodbye to me.
“I guess I’m a little surprised at Jimmy and how nice he’s being to me.”
Parker laughs beside me. “I had words with him.”
“What?” I practically shout, twisting toward him. “Why would you do that?”
“He likes you,” a voice sings happily from the backseat, answering instead of Parker. I feel the heat on my cheeks. Damn Devon and his lack of filter. “I like him better than Hayden. He was a loser.”
I cover my face, laughing. I can hear the snickers from beside me, and I peek out between my fingers to look at Parker. He stares ahead, watching the road. There’s a grin on his face. How embarrassing.
I love Devon.
I drop my hands back into my lap.
“I get the feeling you never miss anything, Dev?” Parker asks with a hint of humor to his question.
“Nope,” Devon answers with a pop on the P. “You like her, don’t you?”
Silence fills the car. Parker goes mute, and I steal a glance at him. His arms are tense as he grips the steering wheel. I watch his jaw tick, and I can tell he’s deep in thought. I thought he’d respond with something like ‘yeah, I like her as a friend.’ I’m fine with being friend-zoned. He’s Parker Kent, and there are heaps of girls who want him, myself included. Not that I would ad
mit that to anyone if it meant getting death stares from other girls at school.
“Well?” Devon pushes. I’m secretly glad he does, because there’s a part of me that wants to know Parker’s thoughts.
He looks in his rearview mirror, and says. “Perhaps I better talk to Addison about it first.”
“Yeah okay, but don’t break her heart.”
A simple sentence holds so much power.
We dropped Devon home and I explained to Mom why he was there. She wasn’t impressed that she didn’t get called. I had to tell her I’d handled it, and not in a conventional way. Devon informed us that he’d ran from school to college. He should have just rang me and I would have come.
Mom doesn’t miss much, and she could see my hand was swollen. I swear she grinned; it was gone within seconds though. She can be hard to get through to sometimes, but I love her.
“Get your hand checked,” was all she said on the matter.
Parker won over my mother. Even she seemed flustered by him. It was weird seeing my mom like that. The Miss Prim and Proper mother of mine became a heated mess. I caught her playing with her chocolate brown hair and giggling like schoolgirl. After I’d had about enough of it, I told her we had to go.
“You’re pretty quiet,” Parker states the obvious. I’d become so lost in thought I momentarily forgot where I was. Parker’s car. Although, I’m not sure where we’re going now.
As we pass some houses, I can see the beach in sight. The drive is about thirty minutes from the college.
“Ah, where are we going?” I decide to ignore his statement. Yes, I’d been quiet pondering what he’d said to Devon about talking to me first. I don’t think there’s much to discuss; we’re friends, aren’t we? And that’s it. Even though I’ve become a green-eyed monster when he’s with another girl, I have no claim over him.
“I’m taking you on the date I won Monday night.”
“Umm… were you going to ask first?” I giggle nervously. “I need to get my hand checked, remember?”
Parker’s head swings in my direction, taking his focus off the road for a moment. “Is it that bad?” he asks, a softness to his words.