CHAPTER FOUR

"Please!!" I whined, "I'll be back before dinner and I'll be really careful."

"Corey, I just-."

"Adam!! I can take care of myself, you know I can-."

"That's what I'm worried about," he sighed, "besides, I thought this kid bugged you."

"Well, no, he, not exactly," I stumbled, "Can I just go? Please?"

"Yeah, I guess, but you have to be back before dinner."

"Promise," I smiled, hugging him, "Bye!"

"Be careful, Core," he called as the door slammed shut. Running down the street, I quickly found the lake but Chris and his friends weren't there yet, so I sat by the edge. After a while, I rested back on my hands and let my head fall back, absorbing the sun on my face.

"Whatchya doing out here, girlie?" a raspy voice suddenly filled my space. Swiveling around, I saw a boy, about the same age as the blonde kid, Ace, and two others, surrounding me.

"Who're you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, but it only caused him to smirk.

"I think the more important question is, who are you and what're you doing here, all by yourself?"

"It's none of your business," I scoffed, turning away from him, figuring they'd just leave. But they didn't. Instead, one of them grabbed me, yanking me up and the boy, who looked like the leader of the pack, sneered.

"We Sting Rays don't like Cobras-."

"What person in their right mind would name themselves after animals?" I muttered before I could stop myself and I felt a cold solid flash against my neck. He looked at me patiently, as if waiting for me to continue, but I knew when to stop. Most of the time.

"That's what I thought," he grinned smugly, "I think it's time we taught you Cobras a lesson."

"They don't even like me," I protested.

"Sure they don't, pretty girl like you," his finger traced my jaw bone but I snapped my head away, "Boys, let's take her for a swim."

"Let go!" I screamed, thrashing as they carried me to the edge of the water. The liquid hit me like a thin sheet of glass and I couldn't move for a couple seconds but when I regained my control back, I cautiously brought my head up out of the water. On the bank, a fight had broken out. Chris was mercilessly pulverizing the Sting Ray leader, while Teddy was fending off the others. And by fending off, I mean beating with a stick. Pulling myself back onto the bank, I watched the scene, leaning against a tree, until eventually, Chris stood up, in front of me. Like he was guarding me or something.

"Get the fuck away," he growled and Teddy let the two other boys help up their companion before chasing them away with his mighty sword. Chris turned to me, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Yanking off his shirt, he handed it to me before sitting down in front of me. "Don't you still have Ace's knife?"

"Uh," to say I felt stupid would have been the understatement of the century. Normally, I was fine with stuff like this. Normally, I could defend myself but somehow, this time, I couldn't. Maybe it was the fact that there were three of them and two were holding me. "I couldn't get to it."

"What were you even doing down here by yourself?" he demanded.

"I thought I was meeting you guys here," I sneezed, pulling my knees to my chest for warmth, "I didn't know anything about them. You think I go looking for trouble or something?"

"It would fucking seem like it," he muttered.

"You're an ass," I stated, getting ready to stand but froze as my arm hit the tree trunk.

"What?" he snapped as I took in a deep breath.

"I have a low pain tolerance," I mumbled, rubbing my forearm.

"And yet you hit people."

"Shut up!" I yelled, "I don't know what your problem is, but whatever it is, stop being such a pussy about it. Grow up. Everyone has fucking problems. It's-."

"They were going to drown you, Corey," he stated in a slow, irked tone, "You should have known not to be here alone."

"Well I didn't," I was getting really worked up now, "I'm new to town remember? I don't know who is who and what is what and whatever the hell else. I've been here a grand total of two days and I'm supposed to know everything about the fucking place. What, are you gonna give me a test or something?"

"Corey, I didn't-."

"You know what, fuck you," I sobbed, my breath becoming extremely uneven, "Just, god, fuck."

"Corey," he sounded worried, but I could barely hear him. I was trying to calm myself down but it wasn't working. The grass started mixing with the sky, spiraling into a hole until everything went dark and my vision saw only black.