A/n: Haha, I noticed a while ago that I got screwed up on some of the chapter numbers, but I'm too lazy to go back in and change that. So, I'll just start up where it should be now. Don't worry, chapter eight was not skipped... it was just labeled as chapter seven and it goes back a couple few chapters like that.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the long wait. I was on a week long vacation to Disneyland/California Adventure and sorry... but I'd rather be there than at home writing. Lol. Don't get me wrong, I would've written while I was there if I could, but we all know that that kinda stuff doesn't tend to happen on a FUN vacation. So, that's the explanation for the wait. Hopefully it'll be worth it to you guys...

Dedication: I'm gonna give this to three people. Alli, Tens, and Jhon. Alli because she suffered a week without me except for a couple of phone calls that were semi-upset. Tens because...well, because she rocks and gives me the pleasure of knowing what is going on in her stories a head of time. Jhon because he kicks ass and even though he probably isn't reading this, I was writing this with him in mind, because he would love the contents of the latter part of this chapter.

And, as you all know, Review Responses are at the bottom. Thanks guys.

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine

My lungs were going to burst. I could feel it. The cold air stung sharply at the soft tissues of my lungs, and I couldn't take much more of it. Eight laps without a break, not even a short water one, was going to be my death. That was the equivalent of two miles. Sweat dripped down my face and back, chilling my body slightly. Coach was going to wear us out before our match tomorrow. He was working us too hard.

"Pick up the pace, McCabe!" he hollered at one of the boys that was starting to lag behind. "How do you expect you're going to win a race that way?"

"I don't," he gasped as he ran past Coach, pushing himself as little more as he could.

"You don't?" Coach was flabbergasted. "What the hell are you doing on my team then? I know you can do better than that! Two more laps!"

He was taking this too seriously. The team was supposed to be more excited than the coach. Whatever anticipation everyone had for this match was completely shot. Big or not, no one was looking forward to it in the morning. We knew we'd all be sore even after soaking in Epsom salt baths all night, trying to ease the pain. Heck, we'd all like to see Coach run a couple of laps himself. There was no way he could talk. A two year old could show him up. He was as round as a hula hoop and he had to catch his breath after walking across the field to meet us at the other end – which took him the entire length of the race to get there. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating some, but not by much.

I stopped momentarily to catch my breath as a stitch formed in my side. I blinked hard to try and relief myself of some of the the dizziness that was coming on. This wasn't cool...

"Curtis!"

"Yes... Coach?" I panted.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I can't... breathe... Sir..." I stood up straight, but the stitch didn't like it much and I found myself back in the same position immediately.

"Can't breathe? What have you been working towards all year, eh?" He now started to waddle over to me, seeing that I wasn't going to move. I would as soon as I could without tipping over.

"Coach... it's cold... I just can't breathe..." He had to see the sense in that.

"Everyone else is doing fine. What's wrong with you?" You'd think the man would be just slightly concerned that one of his runners was about to collapse from exhaustion. Eight laps now... six laps to start off... two to cool down... That's sixteen in all... no, not going there. Not in an hour and a half. No. "Still not cutting back on those fags are you?"

I hated that term. Fags. It sounded so disgusting. Anything else would be better. "I am, Sir."

"Oh?"

"Three less than what I had yesterday." I straightened out my legs to stretch them enough to keep the lactic acid from settling.

"And how many did you have yesterday?" He twiddled his whistle in his hand, debating on whether or not it was time to call it quits.

"A pack and some."

"Almost two packs?"

"No, Sir. A pack and two I believe." He was really getting into business he didn't belong in. All he did was give me grief over things that didn't concern him, and I was getting fed up.

"So, you've had less than a pack today?"

"That's what I said."

He dropped his whistle. "Do I sense some attitude, Curtis?"

"No, Sir." Did he really expect me to tell the truth? God, he was a madman and stupid at that.

He looked a me sternly for a brief moment before putting the whistle to his lips and blowing long and high right next to my ear. I watched as the team individually stopped and doubled over. He was way unfit for this job. We needed our old coach from last year, and the year before that. He retired at the end of the season last year, because of health reasons, and we got stuck with this guy.

"Curtis," I never once heard him call me by my first name. That's a good thing, though. I didn't want him feeling that privileged, "after I'm done talking, that's two laps for the attitude, and two for lying. Now, get to the bleachers."

What a way to celebrate a holiday from school – being AT school with your new enemy. Thanksgiving was supposed to be fun, not painful.

The coach spent a few minutes lecturing us and trying to stress the importance of the meet tomorrow. Everyone understood, he just took us all to be idiots. Not only had he been talking about it everyday for the last two weeks, but it was the top of the list of priorities for everyone this week. Well, not so much anymore, but it was still listed up there pretty high for most. He was doing his best to make it all that much more unenjoyable, and he was getting through to some people, unintentionally I hoped.

"All right! Y'all can get home now," he called after putting away his clipboard in his bag. "See you tomorrow."

Everyone stood up and slowly climbed down the bleachers, ready to get out of there.

"You can start, anytime, Curtis." He picked up his bag and started to walk away. "Four laps."

He was a joke. That had to be it. But, I slowly got up and climbed down the bleachers myself to get ready. At least no one was sticking around to watch me. They all had better things to do; like get home and eat until their heart's content. That was definitely what I was looking forward to doing. The very thought was what got me to run as fast as I could, despite the fact that by the time I was done, everyone was gone. Even Coach.

I was done in around ten minutes. I could run a mile in less than that time, but having already ran two, collectively, my muscles were beyond exhausted. I collapsed and laid on the cool grass for a few minutes, just soaking up the light mist of the air around.

It was going to start raining soon. The sky was overcast and dark gray. Boy was I glad Soda had lent me his car today. I wasn't looking forward to waiting in the rain for anyone to come get me. No, I had much better things to do than that.

After a few minutes I got up and made my way to the parking lot. I could've lied in that grass until I fell asleep, but home sounded, by far, much better. I reached into my pockets to retrieve the keys, only to find them not there. I searched through my duffel bag, but they weren't in there either. Tossing the bag to the ground I cupped my hands around my eyes and peered into the driver's side window.

The keys were still in the ignition.

"Shit!" I jiggled the door but it wasn't going to open.

It was then that the rain decided to start falling. Not sprinkling or light in anyway. No, it was pouring, soaking me almost instantly.

I picked up the duffel bag and ran over to the school, to try and get in and make a phone call. Someone had to be in there, even if it was a holiday. Teachers are crazy. One of the doors had to be unlocked. Darry or one of the guys was going to have to come and get me now. We lived too far away to walk home. Darry would kill me for even thinking about it. But with my luck, the school was locked and by the looks of it, no one /I crazy enough to come to the school, besides Coach and our team.

The nearest public building, that might possibly be open on Thanksgiving, was all the way on the other side of the overpass. That was a gas station. A highway separated our school and the posh area of town, from the middle class, tracks, and our neighborhood. The overpass was at least a mile away and the walk after that would be nearly two more miles. It looked like I was going to have to walk part of the way at least. There was no way I'd go knocking on some Soc's door looking like this. Especially on a day like this. Darry would understand that much.

So, I started the long walk to the gas station. I was too tired to run or walk fast. I kept up a steady, slow pace, allowing the rain to beat down on me and cool me off. Darry would flip when I called, but what other choice did I have? It's not like I meant to lock the keys in the car. What could he do about it, besides bring a spare set and drive back home? It wasn't that bad. I just had to make it to the gas station before I couldn't walk anymore.

It wasn't too bad of a walk to the overpass. Unfortunately it took me around a half an hour, but I'm thinking that was pretty good for my legs about to give out. They were shaking before I got to the overpass, but not badly enough to stop me. I wanted to get home as soon as I could. This whole day was ridiculous and I just wanted to eat the food that was waiting for me.

This particular overpass was currently under construction, so it was blocked off from all cars. Nicely enough, I could still get under the caution tape and walk through, so I didn't have to walk around.

Just as I got under the tape, into the dryness of the place, I heard a car pull up behind me and park. I turned around to see who it belonged to. It wasn't a nice car, that's for sure, so I wasn't nervous about being jumped by some maniac Soc. No, it was pretty junky. But I had no idea who it belonged to. I didn't recognize the car at all. It didn't make any sense for someone to follow me down there if he didn't know who I was. I mean, the place was blocked off.

That was enough of a incentive to run. I didn't need to see who was inside to know better than to stick around. But even with a little adrenaline kicking in, my muscles weren't fond of the idea of running.

"Hey!" an angry voice called from behind me. "Get back over here, you little jackass!"

I definitely recognized the voice enough to freeze directly in my tracks.

"What the fuck are you doin'? Huh?"

I didn't answer. The threat of what could happen if I did scared me enough to stay shut up.

"Look, kid," I heard him walking up behind me, "I've had enough of your shit. Once I'm finished –"

I whipped around to face Jimmy Crystal, interrupting him, which I knew from the get off was a huge mistake. "It's not mine," I bit each word with contempt. "Tell Elizabeth to back off. I never touched her."

He kneed me in the stomach and shoved me to the ground beside him. I laid on my side, gasping for air and wondering what would come next. I knew this day would come, I just didn't anticipate to be alone with it happened. Jimmy kicked me on to my back and put his cowboy boot covered foot on my neck, pressing down slightly.

Jimmy Crystal had black hair and such dark eyes that they could pass for black. He was nearly as big as Darry, and definitely as strong as him. He was one of the most feared gang leaders in our area. No one wanted to mess with him. If you were on his bad side, you might as well consider yourself doomed. It was funny that he was the complete opposite in looks from Libby, and I always wondered if they had the same father. It didn't matter, really, but it was something I was always curious about.

"Don't make me..." he warned. And I knew that he was serious. His face was red, and I knew he was fighting against everything he wanted to do to me. The one single thought that struck me when I first saw him was sticking with me. He had a weapon. Every Rave member carried weapons. They believed in them. They lived by the rules of Jimmy, and since Jimmy was never without a gun or a knife, none of them were. "I'm gonna give you a chance, Curtis. That baby deserves his daddy to be around. I don't wanna hurt you unless I gotta." He pressed down with his boot even more. I grabbed his foot and tried to relieve some of the pressure, but it wasn't happening. He was locked in place.

"Good. But I ain't the daddy," I growled. He wasn't going to sucker me into anything.

Almost instantly, he had me up on my feet, pinned against the wall with my neck now trapped in his hand. I slammed against the cement wall and felt sparks fly around my head. I couldn't see straight.

"Why does she say you are then? Huh?" He shook me. "My baby sister don't lie to me, man. She knows what'da happen if she did. She tells me you got her drunk. It all makes sense to me. I ain't stupid, man!"

When my head stopped spinning, I saw the gun he was holding in his hand, out of the corner of my eye, as it was pressed up against the top of my left ear. I started to breathe even more heavily.

"You know... if you kill me... my gang's gonna come after you... They all know you wanna kill me. They'll know it was you." I don't know where the sudden bravery came in to play, but I knew it wasn't going to get me anywhere.

Jimmy smiled like a madman and lowered the gun to his pocket. "These babies aren't meant for you, Curtis." He shoved the gun deep into his pocket. "But now that I've got your attention..."

He let go of my neck and began to wail on me. I was back on the black road almost immediately. I knew I had no chance against him. I always knew that. It didn't mean I didn't try and fight him back, but it would be like fighting Darry. There's no use. You don't get anywhere. He was an angry older brother and more than twice my size. I was exhausted, defenseless, and – let's face it – terrified.

Just when I thought he was almost done, he kneeled over my chest, one knee on either side of me, and grinned dangerously. "It feels good to use fists." He heaved. "You don't get the privilege of my knife. No... this is much better."

He picked up my head and slammed the back of it into the pavement. At that point my vision blurred again and he was swimming in and out of focus. I felt detached from the pain of the blow and the bruises that were starting to form. The blood seeping into my mouth, I couldn't hardly taste it anymore. Nor could I see past the tunnel that was forming around my eyes.

Jimmy got up at that point, kicking me a few more times for his own pleasure and started to back off when he saw that there wasn't a chance of me getting up. "Stay the hell away from Libby. Got it? Don't even think about talking to her until you're ready. You've done enough damage already." He spit on me and kicked me one last time for good measure and walked off as the tunnel closed over my eyes.

A/n: Well, that's it for today...this week...until next time, whatever you want me to say :D

Review Responses:

Bobby'sgirl51: Thanks, Jess! I'm glad you liked it. I just hope that this is fulfilling enough for people and that they aren't too mad. I kinda wrote it in a hurry. And I didn't feel like doing more than going back through and catching all the mistakes in one read over. I'm bad... sigh. But what's a girl to do? lol, jk.

Rock: Shocked....yes: Nope, no incredibly evil ideas about what it is you're thinking of. I can't believe you would suggest such a thing! Haha. That horrified me. No, I'm not that corrupt. I want people to keep reading this, remember? I ain't gonna do something stupid... Haha, yeah, Soda will come around. But you know that this chapter isn't mean for that... too bad. Hehe.

Kale: I sure hope that wasn't a flame. I really couldn't tell. Anyway, I think you totally miss understood what was going on... Yes, Soda made a mistake, or so it seems, but you know, not ever promise can be kept. People break promises all the time. Life happens. Get over it.

Tensleep: Haha, you know, I never thought of the smoking thing until you mentioned it, but yeah, I know what you mean. You're a good person. I highly admire you for that accomplishment that you helped with. Yeah, to tell you the truth, and I know I've said this a hundred times over, I'm making this up as I go along, and there are some things that I wish I hadn't ever wrote, but now that they're already a part of the plot, I've gotta work with them, right? I'm not saying the Soda thing was one of them, I'm just meaning in general.

Fyre: Sandy complex? I think I'm stupid, but I don't know what you meant by that. Maybe you can explain it to me? Anyway, if you're wondering if Sandy has anything to do with it... she doesn't. She's been out of the picture for three years now. She's history.

CiCi: Haha you're review made me laugh! Yeah, downhill is right. You know, I'm really weird this way, but I hate to read stories that are all downhill like this one... and yet I'm writing one. I know I keep promising that things'll pick up -- and they will -- they just need to be given time. This type of stuff isn't easy on people. It can tear them apart if they're not careful. Pony is just the poor scapegoat and he's getting all the rough breaks right now.

kay: Haha, chill. I like that word. It made me laugh as well. Anyway, yeah, sorry Steve isn't in this one, but I'll have you know that he IS in the next one for sure. I love Steve, and even though he doesn't play a huge part in this story, he'll make some pretty regular appearances... I hope.

shyXshortieXbabe: Thanks! Yeah, the parental bit just happened. I mean, does it not make sense that he'd be that way? Shoot, I'm that way everyonce in a while and I have much less hard trials in my life. But yeah, thanks for the compliment and I truly hope you like this chapter.

Ayers: Okay, you know what? You need to calm down. I'm glad that this got you riled up and all...but wow. Lol. Yes, Soda did want to marry Sandy, but he loved her. It wasn't for no apparent reason. Love is love. And you have no clue what Soda is thinking at this point with this girl. Have you seen his thoughts on the matter? No. Don't jump to ridiculous conclusions because you've "seen this before". He'll be okay. Mark my word.

Oblivious Misconception: Haha, hunny, you got it right on the dot. I mean, wow! I'm impressed that you actually caught on to just about everything in there! That means a lot to me that you point that out and make it known. I love it when people do that. It makes me feel like what I've done is worth while. I'm interested to know what you think is going on with Libby, hehe. So, if you'd like to tell me... I'd really like to know. I think it would be cool to hear what you have to say about that.

A/n: All righty then... Thanks for reading and please review. Reviews are a nice thing to get :)