The Assault
Almost immediately after Annamae took her exit, the kindergarten teacher escorted the students out to the recess yard for some needed free time. As usual, the Kanker girls took their spots on the swingset in the corner of the yard. As they swung the two girls conversed.
"Annemarie," said Annalee, "You shouldn't have thrown that jar of paste at Lindsay."
Annemarie stopped swinging and looked towards her sister.
"But Annalee, you saw what she did!" said Annemarie, "She always gets her way and beats us up all the time. She deserved it."
Annalee glanced into her sisters eyes.
"That may be true," said Annalee, "But we shouldn't be throwing paste, or hitting people. If we do that we are no better than them. Remember what Poppy said, people who resort to violence are weak."
Annemarie thought for a few seconds before nodding.
The girls remained in silence for a few seconds before Annalee noticed Rebecca standing around 30 feet from their position. By her side were Brittany, as well as a few more of her friends. Rebecca stared at the Kanker girls for a few seconds, before leaning into Brittany's ear with a smirk on her face; Brittany promptly turned her attention towards the swings, eyeing up the Kanker girls as well. The two girls quickly informed the rest of their crew, around 7 other girls, in a "whisper-down-the-lane" esque style. After a few moments, the girls began walking towards the Kanker sisters.
"Uh Oh," said Annemarie fearfully, "Here they come, they are going to get us again."
Annalee paused for a few seconds. Before turning to Annemarie.
"Listen," said Annalee rather sternly, "No matter what happens, do not say anything or get up off that swing until I say so."
Annalee turned toward Annemarie.
"And when I tell you to run, you run okay!" said Annalee.
"But Annalee, I can't..."
Annemarie was cut off.
"You do as I say!" yelled Annalee sternly.
Annemarie nodded and turned fearfully towards the oncoming group of girls, who had just made their way into speaking distance.
"Well, well, well." said Rebecca, "Metal Mouth and Lazy Eye. Where's is Bucktooth Betty?"
"None of your business." said Annalee.
Rebecca grinned.
"That's too bad, I really wish I could give her the present I had whipped up for ruining my coat"
Annalee clenched her fists. Rebecca glanced towards the swing behind Annalee where Annemarie sat.
"No matter," said Rebecca, "I'll just get the freak eye to pay for her."
Rebecca began walking toward Annemarie's position, at which point Annalee stepped in front of her.
"Don't you touch her." said Annalee as she spread her arms out. She was currently within arms length of Rebecca and staring up into her eyes, trying her best to be brave.
"And what are you going to do?" asked Rebecca.
"If you are going to beat someone up, beat me up." said Annalee, "I'm the oldest, I guide my sisters, so it's really all my fault."
"Annalee!" yelled Annemarie. Annalee quickly shot her a facial expression that indicated for her to be quiet.
The group of girls laughed.
"Okay." said Rebecca, "If that's what you want, that's what you get."
Rebecca turned to her friends.
"Girls, let's give carrot top here a little makeover."
At that instant, four of the girls rushed forward and grabbed each of Annalee's limbs. They proceeded to pull her to the ground.
"Annemarie!" yelled Annalee, "Run!"
Annemarie, heartbroken sat on the swing for a few seconds.
"RUN!" Yelled Annalee.
Annemarie promptly rose of the swing and began running out of sight.
At this point, Annalee was currently being held on the ground, all four of her limbs outstretched and held in place by four girls. Brittany was currently sitting on her stomach, her knee pressed into her abdomen causing sever discomfort to Annalee. Rebecca stood directly above Annalee's head, looking down into her eyes while laughing. She kneeled down on the black top and leaned into Annalee's face.
"I think it is so sweet that you try so hard to protect those two." said Rebecca.
She laughed after which she continued speaking.
"It's time to give you a makeover. Let's be smart you will never be as pretty as me, but I can at least help you out a little. Let's work on those ears first."
Rebecca laughed as she grabbed a hold of both of Annalee's ears and began twisting them. Annalee writhed in pain as she screamed.
"Aw what the matter?" Asked Rebecca, "Does that hurt?"
Rebecca twisted even harder for around ten more seconds after which she let go. Unfortunately, the twisting was enough to cause minor tears in the skin of the pinna; accordingly Annalee was bleeding slightly from both ears.
Annalee did her best to hold back tears as she writhed in pain. The girls continued laughing for a few moments before Rebecca walked over to the swing.
"Time for the finishing touch." said Rebecca, "A nice little facial"
Rebecca began swinging, gaining height with each oscillation. The girls continued to hold Annalee in place in front of the swing, the intent being for Rebecca to jump of the swing and land on top of Annalee.
"With any luck, that metal tooth will be knocked right out of your mouth!" yelled Rebecca after which she laughed maniacally.
Rebecca continued laughing for a few more seconds as she swung. Suddenly, her laughing was brought to a halt, as the voice of a small child rang out through the air from behind.
"Leave her alone!" yelled the voice of Annemarie. In a split second, Annemarie grabbed Rebecca's legs as she reached the back of her swing. The momentum caused Rebecca to flip off of the swing in a forward direction, scratching her face.
The rest of the girls stood up off of Annalee, who was still currently writing in pain on the ground and walked towards Rebecca, who had regained her composure and stood up. She turned towards Annemarie, who was shocked at what she had done and unprepared to look into Rebecca's rage filled face.
Rebecca wasted no time and walked towards Annemarie. In a split second, she delivered a rather hard slap the right side of her face, causing Annemarie to fall to the concrete scraping her elbow.
Rebecca walked over towards the downed Annemarie and used her black pony tail as a lifting point to pick her head up off of the ground. She glared into Annemarie's face.
"You little freak." said Rebecca, "You should thank me, that slap probably made that eye normal again."
Rebecca looked towards her friends.
"I think it's time we give this little freak her makeover." said Rebecca, "Let's start with this scuzzy hair."
At the conclusion of that statement, Rebecca led her friends to Annemarie's position. The black haired girl, still stunned by the slap, remained on the ground too afraid to move; her eyes were facing the opposite direction of her assailants, limiting her perception of her assailants position to what she was able to perceive via her ears.
The footsteps drew closer, suddenly stopping as Rebecca came within inches of Annemarie's head. Soon after, the large girl began to bend down intent on taking hold of the small, petite girls hair.
Fortunately, Rebbeca's assault was suddenly brought to a halt as a rubber object smacked her in the side of her face. The object in question burst as if if it were a bomb, sending fragments of torn rubber on all directions; instantly soaking Rebecca in a torrent of ice cold water.
"What the big idea?" yelled Rebecca, reacting to the rogue water balloon, "Who did that, they're gonna be…"
Rebecca was not able to regain her bearings, as more water balloons began to fly toward the group of girls. The aim of the thrower was far less than stellar, but they managed to land several more hits on Rebecca and her friends, causing the girls to wince and scream
Unable to locate the source of the thrower, the girls decided to retreat. Led by Rebecca, the girls proceeded to dash across the schoolyard toward the building, escaping the onslaught of balloons while sparing the two Kanker girls from their continued wrath.
As the bullies took their leave, the Kanker girls slowly began to recover from their injuries. Both girls eventually rose to a seated position, staring off into the distance in silence.
A few seconds passed, after which Annemarie began whimpering. This was soon followed by slow sobbing, along with tears streaming down her face. The sobbing was due to a combination of the torment, the pain of her scratched arm, and the throbbing pain coming from the bruised right side of her face.
Annalee stared at her sister, heartbroken. She too wanted to break down in tears, but knew she had to be strong for her sister. She soon rose to her feet.
"C'mon," said Annalee gently, "Let's get out of here."
Annalee made her way towards the small, black haired girl, holding her hand out to assist her still whimpering little sister to her feet. Once both girls were on their feet, Annalee took Annemarie's hand and began leading her toward the girls bathroom, located on the other side of the playground.
Once in the bathroom, Annalee grabbed some paper towels. She wet them, and placed some soap from the dispenser on them. She grabbed Annemarie's arm, and began cleaning out the minor abrasion. Annemarie winced slightly from the sharp sting of the soap.
"Annemarie," said Annalee, " Why didn't you run like I told you?"
"I couldn't let her do that to you!" said Annemarie, "She was going to hurt you, worse than she ever did before."
Annalee remained silent, as she continued working on Annemarie's wound.
"Why do you do that?" said Annemarie, "Why do you tell us to run so they can just hurt you? Why? I want to help you?"
Annalee remained silent.
"Why!?" yelled Annemarie.
At this point, Annalee grabbed both of Annemarie's shoulder and shook her.
"Now you listen to me!" yelled Annalee, slightly frightening her, "I'm your big sister, and when I tell you to do something you do it!"
Annalee stared into her little sisters eyes, holding back tears.
"Listen," said Annalee, "No matter what it takes, no matter what needs to happen, I will protect you and Annamae. I don't care what it takes, if I have anything to do with it, nobody will ever lay hands on you two."
Annemarie stared at her sister as she let go of her shoulders, and rose back to her feet.
"I don't know who threw those water balloons," said Annalee, "But I'm sure glad they did."
Annalee began walking towards the single bathroom stall.
"Take some paper towels and start cleaning yourself up." said Annalee, "I'll be right out to help you, I just have to pee."
Annemarie wet some paper towels and began attempting to remove some stains from her clothes. Annalee closed the door to the bathroom stall and locked it. She sat down on top of the toilet, buried her hands in her face, and began crying uncontrollably.
Elsewhere, on the other side of the playground, the sound of squeaky wheels filled the air as a wagon made its way through the trees surrounding the playground; it's metal wheels banging and clanging as its owner attempted to meander it back to the blacktop, attempting to remain discrete as they did so. Within the wagon was a small catapult of sorts, surrounded by a pile of multicolored water balloons.
Due to the darkness, the face of the individual pulling the wagon was shrouded in shadow; however, the darkness was not enough to dull the light reflecting off of her platinum blonde hair, silver hooped earrings, and designer lavender coat. As she pulled the wagon, she let out a long, drawn out sigh, prior to uttering a few words to herself.
"This was the last project we got to build together and was supposed to be the way we spent our summer," said the girl, "At least it got some good use, I won't let any bullies hurt you on my watch."
The girl stopped, staring toward the sky as she continued to speak.
"We can't be best friends face to face anymore," said the girl, "But we will always be best friends forever in heart.