Fight (#0.5 Fierce Series) Read online

  I get up from my seat and walk toward him, my legs shaking underneath me. Every time I look at him I get butterflies in my stomach. The kiss we shared is still swirling through my mind, making me deliriously happy.

  Standing in front of his table, I mentally prepare myself before handing him the card. With quivering fingers I let it go as he looks up at me with a confused look on his face. His eyes dart down to the card and for a moment my heart stops. What will he say?

  A smile forms slowly on his face, his eyes glistening from amusement. Then suddenly, loud laughter escapes his mouth. It becomes louder and louder as he taps the card and beckons his friends to look at it.

  “Oh my god,” he says, “Look at this.”

  His friends start laughing too, and a flush spreads across my face. I don’t understand why they’re laughing.

  “She’s asking me to be her boyfriend?” he asks, laughing out loud, completely ignoring the fact that I’m standing right in front of him.

  “Pathetic!” one of them yells.

  I frown. “What?”

  “Oh honey,” Dave says, a pitiful look on his face, “You didn’t actually think I wanted to be with someone like you?”

  “What do you mean?” I say, tears welling up in my eyes. “You kissed me.”

  “That was all for fun.” He laughs. “You really don’t get it, do you?” Suddenly, he rips the card to shreds and throws the paper in my face.

  “It was a joke. It was all a joke!” he yells, laughing hard.

  Everyone in the class is looking at me, my face red from anger and shame. Tears stream down my face. The guys grab pieces of paper that have fallen down to the table and throw them at me again. My heart shatters, visibly, as I cry my eyes out and run out the classroom. Some students follow me to the door, laughing the entire way, laughing at my misery.

  Storming to the bathroom, I slam the door behind me and lock myself inside a stall. Emotions overwhelm me as I fight desperately to control this mess. I can’t handle the negativity, the hurt, the pain of betrayal, and the mere fact that I was used for their amusement. Dave tricked me into thinking he liked me so he could make a fool out of me in class. He knew I would do this. He knew girls like me fall head over heels in love with guys like him and do stupid things like give him a love note.

  He took my first kiss away from me.

  I should’ve known better.

  Sobbing on the toilet, I can’t help but think about who actually does care about me. My mom and dad are too busy fighting over the bills and money, and now that she’s sick, things will go even more downhill. Brody isn’t around anymore, and I miss him so much, but I can’t visit him in college just like that. Evie is the only friend I have left, but she’s not in the same class as me, and it’s killing me to be alone right now. I’m afraid of my own thoughts. Afraid of what I might think. Afraid of feeling that the world might be better off without me.

  Suddenly my name is called out through the intercom. Jerked out of my thoughts, I lift my head and wait until they repeat the message. They’re calling for me at the front desk, which is never a good sign.

  I get up from the toilet seat and blow my nose with some toilet paper, flushing it before I leave the restroom. I try to hide my reddened eyes behind my glasses as I make my way through the halls. A man sitting behind the desk holds up a phone, saying, “Autumn Blakewood?”

  “Y-yes?” I stammer.

  “It’s for you.”

  For a moment I’m baffled. Students never get phone calls through the school system. Unless it’s something really important. Something earth-shattering.

  With shaking fingers I hesitantly take the phone from his hands and put it to my ears.

  “Hello?”

  “Autumn …” It’s my dad. The croakiness in his voice terrifies me. “Your mom was just admitted to the hospital. It’s bad. It’s really, really bad. You need to come over here right away.”

  ♥♥♥

  A few hours later …

  It smells horrible in here. I always hated how hospitals smell, but now more than ever. I’ve been chewing on my cheek for the past few hours, my hands clinging to the armrests of my seat. Evie is sitting beside me, throwing glances at me every now and then. She’s trying to make contact, probably looking for a way in, trying to get me to talk, but my lips are slammed shut. They have been for a couple of minutes now. I wouldn’t know what to say anyway. My mom is in the hospital for some unknown, bad disease, and I have no idea what’s happening to her or what they’re doing in that room they took her to. I haven’t seen her yet, so I don’t know what’s wrong, and it’s eating me alive.

  Evie puts her hand on mine, the touch of her fingers startling me, making me jolt up in my seat.

  “It’ll be okay,” she murmurs. I know she’s just trying to help, but it’s not making me feel any better about the situation.

  I’m shivering in my seat, counting the seconds as the clock ticks painfully slow. My eyes dart back and forth between the clock and the room my mom is in. I wish I knew what was going on in there.

  “Hey, what about Dave? What did you guys talk about yesterday?” Evie suddenly asks.

  “Huh?” I mutter. Only after a few seconds does it register with me that she’s asking a question. “Oh …Nothing really.”

  “Oh, c’mon, you can tell me,” she says, squeezing my hand.

  “We kissed,” I say, in the most monotone voice ever. I’m not the least bit excited or interested in what happened. Not after that phone call.

  “What?” she says, gaping. “Are you kidding me? So you two are a thing now?”

  “Nope. It was all a game to him.”

  She frowns. “A game? Oh no, don’t tell me he was playing you.”

  “He was fooling me. It was fake. He kissed me to make everyone laugh and humiliate me,” I say quietly, hoping nobody except her hears it.

  “Seriously?”

  I nod, silently.

  “What a jerk!” she yells.

  A guy sitting across from me looks our way as Evie makes a lot of noise, which is probably considered rude in a hospital waiting area. He must’ve caught onto our conversation. His quick glance throws me off balance, as those radiant grey eyes pierce mine. For some reason they look familiar, but I don’t know why. I wonder what he’s doing here, and if he too is waiting for news from the doctor.

  Suddenly, someone emerges from my mom’s room, and my attention is gripped. The guy becomes a fleeting memory as Evie and I walk hand in hand toward the doctor. The terrible news he’d share would destroy whatever hopes I had left for a better life.

  Chapter 5

  Finding Myself

  Walking through school, I no longer feel myself. Not since I heard the news. I feel like a part of me was ripped out and left there, in the hospital. All I have now are the memories of a past where everything was easy. I’m thankful for every minute I get to spend with my mother now, but I don’t want to think about the future. Not anymore. I don’t want to wish I had more time with her.

  When I open my locker to take out my books, I accidentally drop my jacket. A note drifts out of the back pocket and lands on the floor. I pick it up and notice it’s not anything like the material I’m used to. It almost looks like toilet paper, that’s how soft it is.

  I unwrap it. There’s something scribbled on the paper.

  “I don’t know your name, and you don’t know mine, but it doesn’t matter, since I wouldn’t remember it anyway. What matters is the friendly advice I have for you. I would never let any guy treat you like that. Nor should you. You deserve better. Love - a Stranger.”

  Frowning, I turn the paper around, but there’s nothing else on there. I wonder what it means. It looks like a guy’s handwriting. Is he talking about Dave? And if so, how does he know?

  So many questions, and I have no answers to them, which frustrates me to no end. However, he’s right. This note has gotten me thinking about my situation. Life is too short to let anyone treat you badly, so I don’t intend on letting something like that happen ever again.

  I crumple the paper and put it in my back pocket, unsure of what to do with it. I don’t want to lose it, though, it’s a good reminder for me to keep my focus on what’s important in life.

  As I walk into class, people start laughing and giggling, but I couldn’t care less. I’m emotionally closed off. After my mother was diagnosed, this all feels so idiotic, so unimportant. It really doesn’t move me anymore.

  When I pass the asshole named Dave, he winces, and says, “Back for some more humiliation?”

  For a moment I contemplate walking right by him, but then a defensive part of me that’s been lurking underneath my skin awakens. The guy who wrote that note was right. I won’t let anyone, not even Dave, make a fool out of me anymore. I don’t care about the consequences; I’m done trying to play nice with everyone. If they won’t be my friend, they’ll be my enemy instead.

  I turn around and punch Dave straight in the face. Adrenaline rushes through me as my fingers leave his face, a mark left on the skin right where I hit him. With astonishment he gapes at me, his mouth hanging slightly open as he cups his jaw with his hand. The laughing has stopped. Everything has died down. It’s so quiet, I could hear a pen drop. Everyone’s looking at me while I turn around with a big smirk on my face and sit down at my table, pretending to be unaware of all the blatant stares.

  This was the last day they’d ever tease me.

  ♥♥♥

  Two years later

  I’m lying in the grass with Evie, wrapping my head around the fact that we’ll be going to college soon. It’s still mind-blowing that we’re going to the same college. I never imagined I’d get this far. Heck, I never imagined I’d make it through high school.

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; We’re staring at the sky, making figures in the air with our fingers, tracing the lines of the clouds. Life feels better now that I’ve learned to ignore the bullies. However, it doesn’t change the fact that things will be different from now on. A lot. And I don’t know if I can adjust.

  It’s been two years since my mom was diagnosed. Her health has deteriorated quite a bit. It won’t be long before she’s bedridden and unable to care for herself or my dad. When that happens, I don’t know what I’ll be doing. I know he can’t take care of himself, and my mom can’t handle being locked in a house with him all day. If the disease won’t kill her, his nagging will. They still fight. It never ends. So I’m glad I’m off to college, escaping my home and venturing into a new life together with Evie.

  Turning my head, I glance at her. She’s the only one who’s still here right beside me, supporting me in whatever I do. She’s what’s kept me going all this time. She was there when I heard the bad news about my mom, and she was there to pick up the pieces of me. There’s no other best friend I could’ve wished for.

  I remember the times Brody was my only friend. He was never this protective of me, but I still think back fondly to my time with him. We’ll be sharing the same college soon, and just thinking about it makes my stomach twist in both excitement and anxiety. I can’t wait to see him again. I can’t wait to live my own life and work toward my future.

  I’ll need to study hard and work fast so I can get a great job and get some money, so I can finally support my family. Everything will be fine then. It must be. It’s the only way my mom’s medical bills can be paid, and I sure as hell will make it happen.

  Somehow, after that day in the hospital, I feel better, stronger, capable of handling everything that comes my way. I may still be that shy girl that doesn’t speak what’s on her mind, but I won’t let anyone walk all over me ever again. I’ll make sure my family will be okay, I’ll support them, by any means necessary, and I’ll never turn my back on anyone who gives me what I crave the most: Acceptance.

  I know now that sometimes you have to put all your restraints aside and go all out in order to succeed. Nobody has the right to put me down when I know me and my family deserve a better future. Funny how a stranger’s note can change your entire outlook on life.

  So here I am, staring at the clouds with my best friend, saying mental goodbye’s to our senior year in high school, while I mouth the words ‘thank you’ into the air, meant for that one nameless person who thought I was worth it.

  ###

  End of FIGHT

  Read on for a peek at the first chapter of FIERCE

  FIERCE

  Chapter 1

  Embarrassing Moments

  Geeks at new schools are like boats trying to sail on dry, uncharted land. They never fare well.

  I draw in a huge breath and blow it out before stepping out of the bus. The driver behind me chortles at my reluctance to leave the comfort and safety of the bus. Of course, he isn’t used to people actually preferring his bus over the outside world. I’m sort of an exception to the usual people he deals with, and that’s not a good thing.

  On the contrary; I’m chicken-shit, and it’s even worse that I know I am.

  Seeing this gigantic campus and college in front of me is terrifying. My legs are shaking, my heart is pounding, and I wish I could just step back into that bus and get as far away from here as possible.

  But that would be sad. So sad, I think I might cry from laughing at my own cowardice.

  It’s really pathetic that these new things scare me so much. Most girls would love new schools, getting to know new people, experiencing the boys.

  Just the thought of it makes my heart race.

  Nope, that’s not for me.

  But I have no choice, either. I want to do this. I always wanted to study. I need it. My family needs it.

  I just have to stop whining, stop thinking about it, and just go for it. Just do it!

  Shaking my shoulders a little, I take a deep sniff to smell the trees surrounding me, and march forward.

  Suddenly, a cold jet of air surges toward me from the left and catches me by surprise. I shriek as the waft of air tangles my hair in front of my face and blows up my skirt. There’s a loud noise coming from the thing blasting air at me. Holding down my skirt so my panties aren’t exposed, I use my other hand to keep my glasses straight and try to see what’s happening.

  “Sorry,” someone yells, and the turbulence is turned off.

  I’m left gasping while catching my breath. A leaf blower had been pointed straight at me.

  “Sorry about that,” he repeats as I pat down my skirt.

  “Thanks,” I mutter.

  Great. What an awesome start to the first day at college.

  “You all right?” he says, directing his leaf blower somewhere else.

  “Fine,” I say.

  “Uh … You might want to take a look at your hair,” the guy says, clearing his throat.

  “What?” I say, grasping for my head. Crunchy leaves are coiled up in my hair.

  My eyes widen as I start plucking all the leaves out. I work to unravel the knots, trying to get it to go down again, but my frizzy hair never gives in.

  Oh, why does this always have to happen to me?

  Looking around I can see people staring at me, hiding laughs behind their hands. I feel like I’m in the center of attention, the focal point of the show. This is making me sweat like crazy.

  My eyes narrow as they catch the gaze of one person in particular. A long, lean guy wearing a black leather jacket, who’s standing a few feet away from me with a couple of other guys. His flaring gray eyes narrow as I catch myself staring right back at him. I blush when his plump lips slowly curl up into a cheeky smile.

  I smash my lips together to prevent a squeal from escaping. He’s hot, but I look like a mess. No, correction, I am a mess.

  I’m like a fully decorated Christmas tree in the middle of fall.

  Embarrassing. I can’t believe this is his first impression of me.

  Well, it’s not like I have a chance with guys like him. They don’t go after nerdy types like me.

  Straightening my glasses, I try to ignore everyone looking at me. I put up a horrible smile as I walk toward the dorm halls, trying to pry the last pieces of leaf from my hair that just won’t come off. It’s like they’re glued to my head or something. I couldn’t have imagined a worse time for my hair to turn into its usual giant magnet, attracting and attaching to all kinds of strange things, because it’s as sticky as spider legs.

  Sometimes I think I’d better just cut it off and be rid of it. Maybe I could donate it to science, so it can become the new-and-improved Velcro.

  I smirk from my own jokes, which are terrible, I know. Still, they make this day a little better after that scene.

  My dorm’s at the end of the campus, a ten-minute walk from the bus stop. I’m glad my parents helped me move in my stuff last night so I wouldn’t have to do it alone today. As I enter the door, a deafening squeal makes me plug my ears.

  “Autumn!” Evie yells.

  She throws herself against me and wraps her arms so tightly around me that I can’t breathe. Wheezing, I wriggle myself free from her hug so my lungs can expand again.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to be roomies,” she says, squeezing my arms.

  She bites her lip and looks at me with big eyes, like she’s about to explode into her usual happy dance. “Isn’t it awesome?”

  “Yeah, I can’t wait to make myself at home here,” I say, nodding, trying to make it sound genuine.

  “Wow, you sound excited,” she says with a sarcastic undertone.

  “Sorry, I do like that you’re my roommate. Honestly, I do.” I sit down on my bed and she sits down next to me. “But I think I just made the worst and most laughable entrance ever.”