Count On Me(15)

“Come on man, this is about Eric, not her.” Kayden replies, turning his back on me and focusing again on the scared boy that’s still frozen up against the lockers.

Not sure where it comes from, but not willing to stop and let whatever they’re about to do happen, I start walking toward them, pushing myself in between Tim and Kayden until I’m standing directly in front of Eric.

“Let’s go.” I say, my voice coming out in a whisper. I hold out my hand to him, kind of like Kayden had done with me the day before and I prepare myself for the fight that’s about to happen once I feel him take it.

“What do you think you’re doing retard? You’re not going anywhere with him. He’s ours.”

I want so badly to tell him what an asshole he is, but the words won’t come. Whatever surge of strength I had to get me to this point is gone and I’m back to being the mute they all believe me to be. It doesn’t change the fact that I can still move though, so I push my body forward. Before I can get around Dillon, he steps in front of me. With as big a guy as he is, I know there’s no sense trying to get around him. He’s like a brick wall.

“Please let us go.” Eric pleads. He’s scared of saying something to make it worse and I don’t blame him. Dillon has always been a hot head and there’s no telling what he’ll do if we try anything he doesn’t want us to.

When his words seem to have no effect, I turn and look at Kayden. I know it’s a long shot, but he was nice to me once. If we want to get out of here without having a repeat of yesterday, he is literally my only hope. Problem is, the minute my eyes lock on his, he doesn’t make a move to help. He just smiles and it’s not the way he did in the car with me. It’s worse.

“Get out of here, Belle. Dillon’s right, this is between us and Eric. No one wants to get pissed on today.”

Eric’s hand slides out of mine and as I turn back to him, I see sadness in his eyes. He feels bad for me. He knows how it makes me feel and by releasing me, he’s giving me an out. Before I can force the words up to stop them, Tim rushes at Eric and grabs him, throwing him over his shoulder so fast, I almost don’t catch it. By the time I blink, they’re all running off down the hall away from me.

It’s watching them running away from me; becoming small shadows in the hall the farther away they go that I realize it. I’m really as helpless and pathetic as they all think I am and now one of the only people in the school that has ever been nice to me is paying for it.





Chapter Five



Kayden



I am the world’s biggest chump.

When Dillon said he would leave her alone if I chose someone else in her place, I didn’t even hesitate, I took the bait. As long as she was protected from them, from me, it was the right call. Except, it wasn’t the right call and now I’m being forced to watch as this Eric kid is repeatedly slammed into the stall door because he doesn’t have what Tim and Dillon want.

What went down a couple of minutes ago is why they’re so angry. Dillon didn’t like that she screamed at him to stop, especially when he spends all his time referring to her as the deaf mute, but it’s not as if I’ve done anything to stop him. In fact, with everything that just happened, I only made it worse.

I saw the look in her eyes when she wanted to get Eric out of there. She really thought that turning to me would give them the out they deserved. Even after everything I’ve said about her over the years and how I left things when we were kids, she still thinks I’m better than I am.

This happening to Eric, I hate it. I know who he is and what he means to her. He’s the only kid here that gives her the time of day. They’re in the same class and I can tell by the way she is with him that he’s earned her trust. I want to stand up and say something right now, but these guys won’t listen to me. Even if they did and by some bit of luck they let the guy go, they would only turn it back around on her the next day. It’s how we work.

Bailing on her was such a dick move, but necessary if I want to keep her safe. I’m still not exactly sure why I’m going out of my way for this girl; I just know I can’t let her go through what she did yesterday. She deserves better than that. Hell, we all do. I know she told me earlier she didn’t want me to come back for her, so she probably didn’t even care that I hadn’t shown up, but it still didn’t help me feel like any less of an ass.

I’m really no better than my brother, my mother and even my dead beat father. None of us could ever keep our word. I suppose it’s the Walker family trait. It’s not exactly the one thing I’m looking forward to being known for, but it’s the way it has to be.