𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐲 | robin buckley

(20) getting hit in the face repeatedly

"DO YOU WANT TO TRY AGAIN?" asked the guard, his voice laced in accent yet he spoke his words in English for Sam's benefit. He needn't, Sam understood every word that he spoke to his friend as he mocked her tattoos and discussed whether she was a slut or not, the answer had been yes because why else would her skin be decorated like a high school desk? However she didn't say that she knew what they were talking about, maybe then their commentary wouldn't be so entertaining to her.

"Yes go on then" Sam sighed, her hands were tied so tight with a leather strap that her skin burnt.

"What is your purpose here?"

"I thought this was the elevator to the mall" Sam smiled, "and dammit, I really wanted some ice cream"

The guard gave her a slightly frustrated look before he grabbed a fist full of her hair and dragged her back to stare at him. Sam continued to smile. This guard was young, over thirty with sandy hair and a moustache that didn't suit him. His friend was taller, balding with cold eyes. Between them, Sam had been hit once and her jaw ached with it.

"I don't like hurting women"

"How noble of you" Sam muttered.

"Why are you here?"

"I told you, thought I was gonna discover some freezers or something like... where do they keep all that ice cream, you know?"

"Do you want to try again?"

"Are you telling me you don't have mint choc chip down here?"

The sandy haired guard sighed loudly before he retracted his fist and punched Sam in the face. It hurt more than the last punch had and her neck craned to the side with the force as she moved her jaw around until it clicked back into place. She could feel her cheek bone for what felt like the first time, her teeth hurt and her ears were ringing. Despite all of this, she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" The guard asked.

"You" Sam turned back to him, "my nan could punch better than that... and she's dead"

The guard seemed fuelled by this, he punched the other side of her face this time and his knuckles caught against her nose. She felt the bone twitch but she wasn't sure whether it was broken. However she could feel blood crowding her nostrils and in the next second it traced down her face, sketching her pale skin before it dropped on her hands.

Sam licked her lips causally, "doesn't taste much like mint choc chip"

"Why are you here?"

"I fancied a stroll" Sam sighed, another punch, "I woke up here, strange isn't it?" Another punch, "I just really like being hit in the face" another punch, "followed this treasure map, do you know where I can find a hoard of gold?" Another punch.

Sam felt her face going fuzzy and imagined bruises patterning her skin. Her eye felt puffy from one of the hits and her nose hurt from being blocked with blood which had now dried over her chin.

"Can you at least make it symmetrical?" Sam asked lazily, "got people to impress you know?"

"Why are you here?"

"You're very repetitive" Sam rolled her eyes, "I don't know the answer to that one can you try a different question?"

"How did you get here?"

"The elevator" Sam smiled, "that was easy, see we're getting somewhere"

"How did you find about about us?"

"Oooh I know this one too" Sam laughed, "ok so basically, this dude with no collarbones shows up and his mom happens to work at the mall, so his mom is this asshole kid... you have him in another room—"