The locker rooms were a familiar place for Ben and he immediately dropped his things, changing quickly and waiting for Jeff and Rob. They were like the three musketeers, the three amigos, three peas in a pod. It was a little ridiculous sometimes but you never saw one of them alone at school unless of course they were chatting up girls.
"Hey Benny boy!" Jeff called out, Rob trailing behind, suffering from an untied shoe. Ben was pretty sure he'd see him fall on his face but there was so such luck. "I saw you chatting up that Em girl in the halls."
"She gives me the creeps," Rob added, shrugging off his hoodie.
Ben rolled his eyes and started to lace up his sneakers. "Really? I kind of like her," he mumbled, not looking up.
Jeff snorted. "Kind of? Oh please. You're following her around like a fucking lost puppy. You're head over heels, Braeden." He laughed and pulled on his workout shorts. "No offence, but I don't really see the appeal. Scares me a little, and then her freakout in class..."
"Guess Ben just wants to be dominated by a woman, huh?" Rob teased, waggling his eyebrows. "Especially in bed." Jeff let out a loud bark of a laugh, shaking his head.
Ben's cheeks flushed red but he shrugged them off, already prepared to shut them up. "Oh, shove it. I still haven't forgotten about you waking up with a stripper, wearing her thong, Jeff." Jeff's older brother's bachelor party had been... interesting enough. Of course Jeff had been in the sack with a stripper. Rob laughed when Jeff's face went bright red and he said nothing.
"And you almost pissed your pants when there was a clown at your little sister's birthday party last year," Ben said, nudging Rob and smirking. Rob made a face and bent down to tie his shoes. "My point exactly. Either way, I'm asking her out."
Jeff and Rob exanged a look. "Holy shit, Ben. You don't ask girls out. Yeah, you flirt with them but... We're a little concerned." Rob nodded in agreement. "She's just different then most'a the girls you flirt with."
Ben gave an indifferent shrug. "That's 'cause she is different. You saw how she flipped on McFague. She's a freakin' ass kicker, that's for sure."
"She seems like trouble," Rob retorted, shrugging. "Don't get me wrong, we're happy you've got your eyes on the prize for once. But of all the girls you could pick..."
"Look, could you just give her a chance?" Ben said finally as coach stepped out of his stuffy office into the locker room which smelled of sweat, cologne, and teenage boys in general. "Please."
"Fine," they said in unison, falling into line with the rest of the team. None of them had time to talk about Ben's girl dilemma at this point- Practice was starting.
Em was camped out behind the bleachers. She'd discovered it earlier, after her little incident in AP History. It was a little dingy, a little dark, but it kept her out of the hot sun and gave her solitude. A few blackberry bushes were growing there as well, long forgotten by the staff and students and Battle Creek Highschool. If she was ever hungry she'd have something to nibble on. Em didn't get hungry much, though.
It didn't take long for her to decide she needed to be moving, rather than just sitting there. The track was open. Carefully, doing her best not to be seen, she took off at a jog and increased her pace to a steady sprint. She was pretty damn fast, her stride hardly graceful, but it was speedy. Running was something Em did a lot of.
"Hey there babe," a voice said from behind her. She stopped in her tracks. Apparently she'd been noticed.
Dick Johnson. No, that was really his name. The sweaty idiot loomed over her and smirked. Em could tell how full of himself he was. She guessed by the looks he got from the kids on the baseball team that he wasn't all that well liked, either.
"Fuck off," Em spat, poison in her voice. She knew that look. That look made her skin crawl. Her muscles went taut and she backed up a little, feeling more vulnerable with the sun shining in her eyes, making it hard to see.
"Don't be like that, honey," Dick cooed, his voice sickening to her. Before Em could do anything to get away he slipped a hand down behind her, squeezing her ass.
The next thing Dick saw was a fist fliying at him.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Em shouted, punching him once, twice, three times in the face. "Who the hell do you think I am, huh? You think I'm some cheap slut who's gonna fuck you because you'll touch me?" A kick to each shin. "YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER FUCKING THING COMING!" A knee to the groin. "Don't you dare touch me again you DOUCHEBAG!" A kick to the stomach. Em leaned down and got right in his face, her voice sickeningly sweet, soft...
"Next time I'll do more than this," she promised, punching the side of his head and knocking him unconcious.
Ben hadn't really seen anything, hadn't noticed Dick creeping on Em. He'd been chatting up his coaches, discussing trying out for Varsity. So of course he didn't see the situation until Em started wailing on the kid and there were students trying to pry the small, thrashing, swearing girl off of Dick. Ben ducked into the sea of bodies and tugged Em away from the choas.
"What the hell, Em?" he said, glancing back at the sea of bodies. "What did he do to you?"
Em whipped around out of a knee jerk reaction and punched him square in the jaw. There was a tiny twinge of guilt that overcame her. "What did he do to me? You want to know what that bastard did to me? He started sweet talkin' me and grabbed my fucking ass." Her voice was sharp, like needles accompanied every syllable. "That's what he did."
She stalked away from Ben, crossing the field and fully intending on going back home. Home was the last place she wanted to be but... It was better than here. Maybe dad would be in a good. Just maybe.
Jack, the team captain, emerged from the locker rooms and took one look at Dick, barking orders. "Get him inside and cleaned up!" he shouted. "What the fuck happened to him?"
"Fell down the bleachers," was just about everyone's excuse, including Jeff and Rob. They'd watched the whole thing with wide eyes, and they were one of the first two to try to pry Em away. Once Jack was out of earshot Ben stepped forward, rubbing his jaw. He was laughing, actually laughing through the pain.
"Guys, guys, calm down! Dick just thought Em was a cheap piece of ass," he said with a smirk. "I'm guessing no practice?"
Everyone exchanged looks and shrugged. "Guess not," they murmured. Everyone was still stunned. Someone finally had the guts to put Dick in his place. Even if it was freak girl. From that moment on, Em the Ass-Kicker was the baseball team's hero. No one liked Dick anyways. He was a really, really bad pitcher and just an asshole in general. So the girl who beat the living shit out of him? Well, she was going to be their hero, whether she liked it or not.