I felt blood trickling a bit out of my nose as I got punched once again, by the school tyrant: Matthew "Two-Bit" Zinkoff. I was starting to get sick of the kid.
"Maybe that'll teach you to mind your own business!" Two-Bit laughed smugly as he picked me up, also flipping his nine-inch switchblade and pointing it at my face, just below my chin.
"Maybe we could start the haircut down here? Or here?" Two-Bit then moved the blade down to my throat.
"Or maybe right about, there?" The dude and his asshole posse laughed when he chose the side of my neck and made a little nick across it. Blood came immediately, so did my rage. I kicked Two-Bit in the balls. He cursed loudly, of course, and jabbed my eye before he came down to the ground, holding his pants and groaning.
"Fuck!" One of his friends, who went by the name of, "Cry", turned to me and glared. "We just wanted to yank your chops a bit!" Man, I hate Cry's cocky, nasal voice. He always thinks he's cool, when he's not; all he does is stay behind Two-Bit and stick up for him. That, is not cool. Don't get me wrong, Cry is actually kinda handsome, but his prideful personality just gets in the way.
Another member of Two-Bit' s gang, Conner, grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and lifted me. Conner is your typical drama-king bullshitter. He's a jock at my high-school, and he's the one with the muscles in Two-Bit's posse. He wears glasses most of the time, except when he's in Two-Bit's gang and jumping people like me, but you'll be surprised when his voice hasn't even gotten low yet. And he's very immature, he calls for his mom when someone like his posse start hitting or teasing him. He's a fucking two-year-old at heart, the bratty kind.
"Let go of me," I cursed, kicking at thin air and struggling to get out of Conner's grasp.
I couldn't. He was too strong. So instead, I cursed at him between gasps, his fist was against my throat.
"You sure have a potty mouth, do ya?" The twelve-year-old sounding Conner flipped me and I landed flat on my stomach to the ground.
"Just... be nice..." I pant, letting my anger roll nicely out of my tongue. "and... leave... me alone..."
"Nup!" Conner kicked my belly, along with Cry and two more of the gang (there was five more people in Matthew's gang, but they seem absent).
"I said," I grabbed Cry's leg and flipped it. "leave me the fuck alone!"
"Uh, oh," Two-Bit was on his feet again, smiling his usual ugly smile. "looks like Ms. Anger-Management wants some alone time. Whaddya say, boys?" He turned to what was left of his posse. A guy named, Toby answered, "We should teach her some more lessons!"
Seriously? Toby is so stupid, you can tell by that dopey voice of his.
"Tuff idea," Two-Bit flipped his switchblade again and crouched next to me. "What lessons should I teach you?"
I only spat at him, Two-Bit patiently wiped the saliva off and looked at me dead in the eye. "Perfect." Before I could move, he punched me, in the mouth while holding his blade.
"What did you learn today?" Matthew picked me up and put me on my feet, hands were on his hips shortly after.
Two-Bit must hit pretty hard, 'cause I was feeling a little sick from the throbbing pain on my mouth. Nevertheless, I still smirked like a dumbass and hissed back, "I learned that your dick is so small, your girlfriend doesn't like sex."
He punched me again, this time in the stomach. I flopped to the ground, groaning in pain.
Cry and some other guy in the posse picked me up and held me, Two-Bit held my head in the right position and patiently asks again, "What did you learn today?"
I groaned out, "I learned that..." I thought of the right answer. "I learned that, your momma is so stupid, she died in a grocery store." I knew Matthew was highly offended about that, because his mother died not too long ago. Heartless for me to say Yo Momma jokes around him at this time, I know, but he's such an asshole. I couldn't help it.
Two-Bit slugged me four times in the chest, I could barely breathe now.
"What did you learn today?!" He yelled, angry at me for saying jokes about his mom.
I was about to say something when I heard a female voice. We all turned from me and saw a girl, probably a couple inches shorter than me, with her hands on her hips, facing Two-Bit and his posse. She also had a ball cap with a huge D on the front of it.
"What'd you want?" Two-Bit growled, his fists clenched tight.
"Don't you think you should give her a break?" The girl had a gentle voice, though her hazel eyes burned with defiance.
"Oh, yeah? Says who?" Cry joined in, his smirk looking like the chainsaw massacre.
"The president, of course," She jumped up, and slammed Cry on the ground, Conner was about to take a punch to her, but the girl dodged it with ease and kicked him while holding down Cry.
Tears formed in the crybaby's eyes, Conner quickly got up and ditched his group, screaming, "Mommy!" while he was at it.
Fucking baby.
Toby's eyes widened at the sight of a girl beating the strongest boy he's ever seen, he whispered something to his friend, then they scattered together, leaving Two-Bit and Cry behind.
"Fuck this," Two-Bit sighed and kicked the new girl in the stomach. Cry staggered up with the help of Two-Bit, tears were dripping from his cheeks.
"Come on, guys," The girl got up calmly, dusted her clothes, and held her stomach in a nonchalant-ish manner. "Give her a break. For two days, I see her come home with a broken rib. Let her go and pick on someone your own size."
"Well, Cry is the same height as you," Two-Bit pointed out cockily, pointing at the crying boy next to him. "maybe you guys can go one-on-one together."
"I'd love to see him try," She was about to clench her hands into fists, but she took a look at me and shook her head. "No. Leave her alone."
"Says you." Two-Bit grinned his usual tyrant grin, but he proceeded and nudged Cry and himself out of the mess, pointing a finger at me before he walked off.
"Until next time, Williams."
The girl sighed and shook her head. She probably feels the same way as I feel about Two-Bit and his gang. Conflicted.
She gave me a hand to help me up, I accepted it and staggered up. Marlene's gonna kill me when she sees me dizzier than a flying dog on a stick.
"Are you alright? They beat you up pretty badly, didn't they?" She said, bumping my shoulder with her little fist, it was a gentle jab. Nothing else.
"Not too bad," I shrug it off. "Just a black eye and a bruised lip."
"A bruised lung too," The new girl smiled and motioned me to follow her through the neighborhood. "they would have sent you to the hospital if I didn't come and help you."
"Who are you anyway?" I ask, stopping each other in our tracks.
The girl looked up from her hazel eyes, then grinned sheepishly. "The name's Clementine," She answered. "Clementine Dallas."
"Well, Clementine," I say with a grin. "my name is Ellie Williams. Call me Ellie."
"Cool name." Clementine remarked. "Also, just call me Clem if you get lazy with my real name."
I nodded. The name Clementine felt too long for me to say (sorry, I'm a lazy person).
"Want me to walk you home?" She requested, pointing out in the neighborhood I lived in. It wasn't a trailer park, it was instead a gang-banged neighborhood. You know what most houses look like in gang-banged neighborhoods, right? They look kind of... trailer-ish: trashy, a bunch of graffiti on abandoned walls, sometimes the houses are broken, broken windows kind of broken.
"Sure, I wouldn't want to get jumped by Two-Bit again," I start walking with Clem staying by my side, we were silent for a while. I'm not exactly one to talk to strangers, and Clem doesn't seem like it either.
"Do you know Matthew and his gang?" I ask.
"Definitely," Clem said tiredly. "Crae and I used to be best friends before he met Two-Bit. After meeting Two-Bit, he became the most arrogant person anyone would ever meet. After that, we just split."
"Who's Crae?"
"Cry. I just call him Crae. LeCrae is his real name."
"Oh."
We walked all the way back to my house with a random conversation about something I can't remember. It seems that Clem likes sports, like me. She lives with an older friend, with his son and girlfriend. She says her parents died when she was a toddler, so her uncle, whose name was Lee, took her in until he died of a shooting when she was nine years old. So, Lee's close friend named Kenny, took her in as his own daughter.
The funniest thing was, child services was never involved when she needed shelter.
She also lives in a trailer park not far from here, called: Motel & Trailer Park. And she's my age, fourteen. Except I'm almost fifteen. She's a freshman in high school like me, she's been fourteen for three months.
"I went to preschool way earlier than the average aged kid. So that's why I'm in high school when I should be an eighth grader." I nodded in understanding.
I liked Clem. She seems like a good gal, I mean, she saved me from Two-Bit, and she said that she would cover me when Marlene sees me like this. It's rare to have someone like that. I think Clem would be good enough to be my bodyguard.
We got to my house at 4:50- something, I didn't check my phone that clearly. I usually got home at about 4:00, or more if Two-Bit and his gang beat me longer than expected. It would have been nice to get home WITHOUT Two-Bit stalking me all the time.
"We're here," I pointed at the house that had a rusty yellow truck and a trashy-looking house across the street from us.
"That's where you live?" Clem grinned, her natural white teeth gleaming. "You're lucky. My trailer is smaller than a one-foot RV."
I had to laugh at that. Clem had almost the same sense of humor as Riley (oh, I forgot. Riley is my "sister", Marlene's daughter).
"Yeah, well, wait till you get inside. Marlene's always busy with work, so the house is always trashed by the time Riley and I get home." I chuckle, running towards the porch, also jumping on each stair step.
"Close the gate," I say when Clem followed suit with me. "Marlene will wreak havoc if you leave it wide open." Clem just smiled, and obeyed my command.
I opened the door, and there was Riley, laying sprawled out on the couch and playing Dead Island on the Xbox 360. Right when she saw me, she smiled and ran to tackle me.
"Riley-" I was cut off when Riley barreled me into a laundry basket full of clothes.
"Ellie Bear!" Riley squeezed me tight, the tackles were always her way of greeting me back home, she always likes to play it rough. Like a boy.
Clem just took it all in, trying hard not to laugh, but failing. Snickers and snorts were sent me and Riley's way.
"Riley, get. Off!" I whined, pushing the seventeen-year-old off of me.
"I thought you liked getting tackled," Riley remarked. "you did it to me too. REMEMBER?" Riley said "remember" incredulously, man I was more mature than she was. Hell, I barely play video games!
"I don't like getting tackled in a laundry basket full of clothes!" I pointed out, nodding to the basket.
"Calm down, Ellie. They're clean." Riley looked over to Clementine. "Who's she?"
Just to tell you, Riley isn't hostile towards people, unless they look like they're looking for trouble. Riley might say things like a jerk, but she never means it. I do the same, because of her...
"This is Clementine, Clem, this is Riley."
"Hey..." Clem waved her hand shyly, smiling nonchalantly.
I smile at Clem then turned to Riley. "Where's Marlene?" I heard the unmistakable cooled voice of Marlene coming from the kitchen.
"Right here, doing the dishes." Marlene was in her pajamas, scrubbing at a grease-stuck pan.
"Hey, Marl," I smile as I hoisted myself on the counter, legs swinging carefreely. "The house looks clean for once."
"Oh, shut up. You never do your chores.." Marlene abandoned the sink and started to search the fridge.
"Totally fucking true," I swore the "F" word as loudly as I could, closing my eyes.
I can literally imagine Marlene rolling her eyes at my cussing habit. She never swore around me and Riley, only when she was frustrated, but Riley and I curse around her a lot, she lets us curse around her. Greatest mom Riley ever has, right?
"Speaking of, did you run into Two-Bit and his group of friends again?" Marlene stated, patting my cheeks softly before going back to the sink.
I nodded slowly. "They kept stalking me after school."
Marlene shook her head, she hissed at me to get off the counter. Another thing: Marlene is anal about things, she's kind of a perfectionist (Riley doesn't even know what that means...).
"The problem is that your school doesn't do anything about it." Marlene shook her head again. She hesitated, but she turned to me and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Why don't you carry something like a pocket knife?" She turned to her daughter. "Why don't you ever go with Ellie after school?"
"I never see her," Riley shrugs, gulping down the burrito she just cooked.
Marlene stared at me for a minute, then scoffed, almost laughed. She suddenly noticed Clem standing there, just being a quiet individual.
"Who's she?"
"The name's Clementine. Don't hesitate to call me Clem." The younger girl shook Marlene's soap water hand, smiling politely.
"Hello, Clementine," Marlene leaned against the sink counter. "I'm Marlene."
"I know."
I quickly jumped in the conversation. "She saved me from Two-Bit."
"Well, not exactly saved, but yeah. I told them to leave her alone, they did."
"Why, thank you, Clem," Marlene turned back to the dishes. "Ellie needs a bodyguard once in a while."
"Shut up..." I turned away as I blushed, but it was true. With Conner, Two-Bit and everyone else in the posse, I'm no match for them. Riley is never there when I'm in trouble; probably once did she help me fight off Two-Bit. Other than that, I was weak compared to Two-Bit and the others.
It feels weird to have someone watch your back, but it's healthy actually.
"Nice meeting you all," Clem started walking out the kitchen, I was brave enough to call out, "Where are you going?"
Clem looked over her shoulder and just grinned. "Home," She said. "I don't really have anywhere else to go..."
I nodded with understanding. I was always outside, usually with nothing else to do, except read a couple of books or get something if I had any money. I usually hung out with Riley, and no one else. I wasn't very good at making friends, unless they wanted to get beat.
"See you later?" I asked somehow hopefully. Where did that voice of hope come from?
Clem's smile became bigger. "See you later." Then she walked out the door and was off. The house immediately became disruptive, with Riley screaming like a maniac as she played Dead Island. Let me tell you, that game made me shit my pants more than Bioshock has!
Marlene didn't cook anything for dinner that night, so Riley decided to drive to McDonald's and get something for all of us. I got sick of McDonald's after eating, like, five McChickens there, I was so hungry that day. I would have picked something decent like Carl's Jr., but Marlene didn't get her paycheck yet, and Riley didn't have enough to buy something like that. Carl's Jr. is pretty expensive...
You must be wondering why I'm not living with my biological mother. It's because she died when I was born, Marlene took me in after my mom died.
I still have that letter mom wrote to me, telling me to make her proud and all that. At least I hope I'm not being very stubborn at school.
Riley is three years older than me, in a couple of months, she'll turn eighteen. She works a part-time job at a gas station, while Marlene works full-time at a factory, don't know what kind.
Enough with my life, you'll find out more sooner or later.
I ate two McChickens, I was too sick of McDonald's to eat more than two. Riley loves McDonald's, I guess. She'll eat four McChickens and a large fry without getting sick and vomiting. I guess she gets that from her mother, Marlene eats a lot too.
By the way, we also have a strict curfew on school nights. 8:30 is the time Riley and I have to be in bed, we can do whatever we want in bed after that. I take showers everyday, right after dinner. Riley goes after me then Marlene goes in the morning.
"Ellie?"
"Hmm?"
"You cold?"
"... A little."
Riley shifted her position on our bed and put an arm around my body. She has good body heat, I always use it in the wintertime if our heater's jacked up. The best thing too, is that Riley always lets me use her. We live in a two bedroom house, so Riley and I share a bed.
"Riley?"
"Yeah?" Her usual tough sounding voice had cooled down to a much tireder tone. I shifted from my position and we laid down face-to-face.
"Do think that Clementine girl is cool?" I whispered, lightly slapping Riley on the cheeks to keep her awake.
"What?" She mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"I said," I soon sat up too. My body felt really heavy. "do you think Clementine is cool?"
It took a few moments for Riley to realize who I meant, she let out an "oh" and laid back down.
"She seems pretty decent." She answered, pulling me down on the bed with her. "I know her, kinda."
"Bullshit," I laughed, but I soon shut up when Riley punched me, meaning she was serious.
"She's on my football team, playing as a wide receiver I suppose." She chuckled then. "That girl is faster than anyone on our team. She shifts quicker than a jackrabbit, and she can jump over other players. For a shorty, Clem is pretty good."
I raised my eyebrows slightly, I stared at the ceiling as Riley kept talking about the wide receiver Clementine.
Suddenly I accusingly asked, "Why did you ask who Clem was, then?"
"Because I'm stupid," Riley laughed softly. "I only see Clem in her uniform, barely her face."
"You're not stupid, Riley..." I sighed, rolling over to face the wall.
"Yeah, I am," Riley yawned, closing her eyes slowly and wrapping her arm around me. "The only classes I'm passing right now in school are P.E. and Science."
"Science is, like, the hardest class ever!" I exclaimed, I elbowed Riley on her breast. "You are so not stupid."
"Whatever," Riley yawned again after hearing Marlene's voice calling for us to get to bed. "math is harder."
"I'm passing math," I half brag. "I have a C in Science."
"Good for you." Riley's voice was drifting off, her grip on me loosened, she was snoring a few seconds later. I decided to just stare at the window.
I couldn't stop my thinking about Clementine. She fought off Two-Bit for me. Maybe it was in her heart to do so. Gotta admit, she is a pretty good fighter. Also coming out of Riley's mouth, she's fast.
Maybe she'll help me with Two-Bit tomorrow?
Tomorrow's Friday, the holiday for all exhausted students. Especially me, I want a break from assholes and cheerleaders.
The last thing I heard of was Riley's snoring before I closed my eyes and slept nice and hard.
Wassup, dudes and dudettes? DerpZaro here with another fanfiction! It's been rough, thinking about what to do with chapter five of Hi, Again. Chapter five will be out soon, jus' letting y'all know. Don't be angry with me...
So, yeah. I'm pretty excited for this fanfic, I feel that I won't delete this this time. My mind is swarming with ideas right now for Chapter two of this fic.
Sorry if I made the characters OOC, I felt that Ellie would be the one beaten by bullies, and the one that reads a lot. While Riley, on the other hand, works at a gas station on minimum wage, likes to mess around and plays a lot of video games rather than reading. Marlene is Ellie's guardian, yes. I feel that she would be fit as Ellie's guardian. Joel will show up somewhere in this fic, don't worry!
Next chapter I will put in Clem's point of view, and maybe give you guys an outlook in her life.
List of characters and their ages:
Ellie: 14 1/2, turns fifteen somewhere during the story.
Matthew "Two-Bit" Zinkoff: 15
LeCrae "Cry": 14 1/2
Conner: 15
Toby: 15
Clementine: 14
Riley: 17 1/2, turns eighteen somewhere during the story
Marlene: 38
Enjoy, review when you can and STAY AWESOME DUDES AND DUDETTES!