Since Summers

five : easy or hard

Because sometimes even the truth is tampered. — rosen

Wanna be ok when I'm sitting here alone
Not just thinking of the ways
that I could have done it wrong
No, I'm getting kinda rich
on the side of any soul alive
Have you heard of Mona Lisa?
You're the New Morning.
— Alpha Rev, New Morning

TYLER POV

"I've done as you asked, can I please go home?" I glanced at the watch on my wrist. It was three in the morning. I hoped Autumn was already in bed or too busy partying up that she didn't notice my absence. "Dude." I tapped the Italian guy's shoulder. I still had no idea what was his name and he didn't bother to tell me.

"Shut up," he shouted. "Open the package and follow me now." He pointed at the package in my hand as he barked his order.

I quickly lifted the lid. I almost dropped it right here right now once I saw what was inside. It was a pistol. I shot him a wary look. "What am I gonna do with a pistol?"

He smirked. "Didn't Mommy ever tell you that gun shoots? Now shut up and follow me. If this ends well, you don't have to use it."

I've never held a gun in my life but I pulled the thing out of the box and carefully placed my hand on the handle. I've watched many spy movies before so I knew it was Glock 22, the standard gun for police officers. I tightened my grip and hoped that no one died tonight.

AUTUMN POV

I took three steps off the porch when I heard a girl calling my name. I turned to watch a cute Indian girl standing on the porch.

"Yes?" I wasn't sure how to answer her or how did she know my name when I clearly didn't know hers.

She fled through the three steps of stairs and stopped in front of me. "Where are you going?"

I didn't know why should she care but I answered her anyway. "Home?"

"Oh," she nodded. "My name's Ishita, by the way. That's so cool how you stand up to Frazier, no one ever did." She giggled nervously. "No one ever dared, to be honest."

"Well, it's about time. He's an asshole and he will continue on being an ass if nobody told him what an ass he is." I offered her a smile and looked past her shoulder at the front door. "Look, I gotta go now. It's really nice to meet you. Have a good night."

"Okay. You too!"

I turned and walked towards the front gate. My hand went to my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. I only had ten bucks with me, so there was no way I was getting a taxi. The good thing was, I had my Metro card with me so I could take the subway home. I wasn't really familiar with the area but I remembered passing a subway station a few blocks on the right when we got here so that was where I headed.

I put the hood of my jacket up until it covered my head then zipped up my jacket. I would look weird if I was in broad daylight but now, at three A.M. on Friday, I wanted to be incognito. Not because I was embarrassed if anyone caught me but merely because I didn't want any creep and possible rapist to know that I was a girl.

It was a quiet night. There was almost no one around except for a group of men who were smoking in the corner. I walked past them, keeping my head down and my mouth shut. This disguise would mean nothing if my voice was going to give out my gender. I managed to remain silent until I nearly knocked someone on my way. I let out a yelp but the person didn't seem to notice so I quickly continued to walk.

I only had to take a left turn at the junction and then I'd be fine. There were cars and people walking a few meters away from me, where the tall buildings were. I quickened my pace, feeling more excited as was going to reach the station, but a hand on my arm stopped me from moving further. I swallowed hard as I braved myself to turn.

"Hey, little girl, you seem lost," said a man with really bad breath. His nose was slightly crooked to the left and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. If someone asked me to describe what a rapist looked like, I wouldn't waste my breath explaining and simply point at this man. "Want me to help you?"

I shook my head frantically. "No, thank you. I'm good." I tried to rip my arm away from his grip but he was too strong.

"Are you sure? A girl like you could get into serious trouble walking alone at night." He pulled me closer to him and I tried my best to glue my feet to the ground.

A blinding light filled in my vision. I heard the sound of a door being slammed. Before I knew it, my other arm was being pulled away. I looked up and my eyes met Frazier's. "I told you to stay." His voice was laced with anger. He moved his gaze to the man in front of us. "If you're smart, you leave before I break your face."

I didn't know if the creepy man was scared of him, considering Frazier was taller and had more muscle, or maybe he just wanted to prove that he was smart. Whichever it was, he was out of our sight in less than a minute. I turned on my heels and ran the other way but his hand caught the back of my jacket stopped me. "Not so fast." He tucked and I was slammed against the hard wall of his chest.

I tried to wiggle my way out and failed. "What?" I looked at him over my shoulder.

He finally let go. He walked to the black sedan next to him and opened the passenger door. "Get in."

I rested my weight on one leg and folded my arms across my chest. "No."

He groaned and scratched his head frustratedly. "Would you just do as you told for once?" asked him as he put both hands on his hips and looked down at me.

"I don't get a ride from strangers." I held my ground and locked my eyes with his. Although the creepy man earlier was enough to scare me, I didn't get scared by assholes like him.

"Autumn," he mentioned my name for the first time. "Get inside the car or I'll carry you and dump you on your ass instead."

Call me stubborn, but there was no way I was going to get a ride from someone I only knew existed today. Especially when that someone has sworn to make my life miserable. "I'd rather stick needles in my eyes."

"We can do this easy," He took a step forward as he continued, "Or we can go hard. You choose."

I didn't move but once he opened his arms and was ready to scoop me off the ground, I jumped back and held my hands up. "Okay. Okay. Fine. I'm coming." I got inside the car.

He held the door and just before he was about to close it, he smirked. "Now you can go ahead and stick needles in your eyes for all you want, Summers."

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