Page 84 of Muse (Fighting Fate)

I studied the warning in his e

xpression. “Yeah…” What else could I say?

“Make sure you watch your back.”

He didn’t say anything other than that. He didn’t have to. I watched Kacey shoot me a poisoned stare before taking her seat and leaning in to whisper something to Violet. If all the other members of the skank squad were going to be anything like Melissa and Kacey, I was already aware.

Hearing Mr. Bradbury call the class to attention, I flicked my mind into work mode. There was no way I was losing my GPA because I’d been distracted by the freaking Skank Squad.

Sitting in the back did help to a certain extent, but Kacey still managed to turn around every time Mr. Bradbury wasn’t looking. Between throwing me foul looks, and whispering with Violet, I wasn’t actually sure she completed any of the pop quiz we were set to do. Oh well, I guess that was why she was failing.

Unfortunately, it didn’t all end with first period. English was worse. Mainly because Jace wasn’t there with me, but also because people I’d never met before suddenly thought it was okay to just ask me outright what was going on between us. I wanted to text Kaeli to ask her if that was normal, or was it just because Jace was on his way to stardom that they thought it was appropriate. To me it just felt awkward.

When the bell rang, I grabbed my books and took off before anyone could approach me again.

I’d just put my books away when Corey appeared. What now?!

“Hi, Mia…uh, apparently Coach Anderson wants to see you in the gym?” He looked confused, and to be honest, so was I. I had gym class straight after lunch. Surely if he wanted to tell me something he could do it then. Maybe it had to do with the assessment we had coming up…

“Oh…okay. Thanks I guess,” I said, still feeling awkward. I watched him walk away before closing my locker and heading off to see what Coach wanted.

The gym was devoid of all the usual activity when I got there, which I thought was surely a strange phenomenon during this time of year, but hey, what would I know? Deciding Coach Anderson would most probably be in his office, I let the doors swing shut behind me and started heading that way.

Hushed voices ahead had me slowing my steps, and when I rounded the corner, I stopped short, immediately drawing in a sharp, ragged breath. My body went on immediate alert.

The gathered crowd of school outcasts all turned to look at me, weariness and anger creeping into their gazes. I tried to will myself to back away, but the warning glare in some of their eyes seemed to be freezing me to the spot. My mouth opened and closed silently, and my eyes darted between their harsh gazes and the pile of deflated basketballs at their feet.

Shit, shit, shit. What do I do?

The outcasts, a.k.a The Grunge Guys, were the school’s biggest blemish. All of them were problem kids that didn’t really have a chance at getting anywhere in life, so they did whatever they could to make themselves stand out. Obviously, this was one of those things.

I watched them begin to shift, moving slowly outwards to…what?

“What do we have here?” One of them said, taking a tiny step forward.

I swallowed, my eyes flickering nervously between them, catching a flash of glinting metal in one of their hands. A knife. One of them had a freaking knife! Oh crap.

I immediately took a step back. The guy with the knife frowned and narrowed his eyes. My throat immediately went dry. I could feel the panic stirring inside me. I tried to push it back down, but it refused. It was fight or flight time.

I focused on my limbs, willing them to unlock, but the panic was rising quickly. I could feel it building like a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off. I needed to get out of there. Like now. I didn’t know any of these guys, and I had no idea how they would react to me catching them doing whatever it was they were doing.

Using every strength I had, I forced my body into action and turned to leave. I almost didn’t see the bench beside me, stumbling awkwardly as I sidestepped it. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard the sound of angry voices outside the gym doors. I froze again, my heart rate instantly going up to yet another level.

The voices grew louder and closer, coming this way. They were coming to the gym. I just knew it. I clenched and unclenched my hands, my breath quickening even more, making me sound like I’d just run a mile.

The sound of the approaching voices felt like the equivalent of a jet engine preparing for takeoff. I could feel the tension mounting, gaining strength, building into something explosive. It was almost unbearable. The Grunge Guys could feel it too. They spread out, waiting, smirks oozing across their faces.

By the time I could hear the gathered crowd outside the gym doors, there was so much tension in the room, it felt like the air had been sucked right out of it, and when they finally burst open, I found myself faced with two full teams of wild and livid looking basketballers.

They took one look at the defensive stances of the Grunge Guys and the destruction they’d caused, and they lunged forward, shouting and grappling with whoever they could reach and shouting abuse.

The Grunge Guys met them head on, the looks on their faces telling me they were more than willing to go at it, and I suddenly found myself stuck smack in the middle of a war with no way of getting out.

I flinched, the yelling and shouting sending shivers down my spine. They shoved at each other, shouting and grabbing at each other in angry clinches, pulling at shirts, and throwing punches. My breath began to elude me. I simply couldn’t catch it. I gasped for air, feeling the air rushing in and out so quickly it did nothing to relieve the ache that was starting to clench around my lungs. Oh god, please, no!

The sound of the anger in their voices was terrifying. The ache in my chest intensified. I pressed my hand to it, willing the pain to go away, but it wouldn’t. It just gripped there like someone had my lungs in their hands and was squeezing the life out of them, crushing them. I needed someone to help me, to take me away from this madness.

In my mind my memories swirled, mixing past and present together, and I could suddenly smell the acrid tinge of smoke in the air and hear the sound of gunshots reverberating around me. I whimpered.

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