My Brother's Playboy Best Friend

15

Hazel's point of view.

"Where are you going at this hour?" Parker asks me loudly from the kitchen.

I put my boots on. "At a café!" I yell back.

"Neil isn't working tonight!"

I chuckle. "Not that café! Another one!"

Parker lets out a grumble of disapproval and walks out of the kitchen, frowning.

"With who?"

I roll my eyes. "Some cheerleaders," I vaguely answer, trying to seem okay.

"Vince's girlfriend is gonna be there?" He looks at me dubiously.

Yes. She's the one who invited me and I can't refuse. I scrunch my nose. I can't tell him that.

"Probably not."

I turn around, about to leave.

"Well if she is, don't bully her again!"

I feel like crying as I leave without answering. I catch the next bus, off South. Then, in less than an hour, I'm walking in the streets, hoping I wasn't. Eve called me here, not leaving me much of a choice. She threatened to expose me if I didn't meet her at this particular address, at this particular hour. The sun has already set and it's getting seriously dark. I don't like this. At all.

I reach the entrance to the café but stop in my tracks when I see Eve and some cheerleaders waiting nearby. They laugh together, chattering, and suddenly, one spots me. She whispers something to Eve all eyes fall on me. Eve smirks and motions me to follow them into an alley. I remind myself that I can't refuse and obey. They surround me until my back hits the wall. There's no light in the alley, I can barely see their faces.

"I know what you did," Eve snarls.

My breathing is shaky. I know they're going to hurt me. They didn't call me here to have some small talk. Still, I play along because I know the outcome won't change.

"What did I do?"

She mocks me with a laugh.

"You seduced Vince. You took him away from me like a greedy bitch."

I frown, trying to make myself all small against the wall.

"No, I didn't—" One of the cheerleaders slaps me across the face. Hard.

The pain makes my head spin for a moment. Eve laughs but tells the cheerleaders to let me speak a bit more.

"Vince hates me. I stayed away from him," I say weakly but they don't seem to believe me.

"I don't know why I thought we'd get anything good out of you. Well, go all out, girls," she orders and they start hitting me and kicking me.

In a matter of minutes, I'm down at the cold ground, curled up on myself. They target my back, my ribs, my legs, my arms, my neck and the back of my neck. I groan in pain despite myself. I hate myself for being so weak. What would Parker think? What would Neil think? Before I can stop myself, I start crying. I sob quietly but they hear anyway. They laugh, satisfied. I hate myself for being so weak. Then, suddenly, the pain stops. A cheerleader shrieks, the other gasps. I hear Eve breathe heavily. The pain makes my mind foggy but I try to peak anyway. There's two new silhouettes, tall and wide and strong. The cheerleaders squeal, scurrying away before the silhouettes can react. One of the men turns to run after them but the other holds him in place, going after them instead. I squirm and wince in pain. He's there to help me, right? My tears can't stop, they're not tears of pain anymore but tears of relief. The man kneels next to me and he seems scared to even touch me.