The Right Kind Of Wrong

Chapter 8

I stormed through the trees completely lost in my thoughts, oblivious to what was going on around me. My body was healing violently as I fought off the images in my head. Fists. Bloodied clothes. A bloodied carpet. Blood. As much as I hated to say it, I was more afraid of Justin than I was angry. He had let his temper get the best of him and beat Theo senseless without even blinking. How could he do that? How was he capable of that?

So caught up in my own head, I had forgotten there was a game of man hunt going on, so when Julian tackled me to the ground screaming 'Gotcha,' you can only imagine how I reacted.

"What the fuck, Julian!? Get off of me!" My heart beat eradicated as I screamed and thrashed around. My mind was still in another, darker, place and my only objective was to get the boy off of me.

"Ok, ok," he said, attempting to protect his head from my constant attack. "G," he screamed, "-stop hitting me." He finally got the upper hand and grabbed my wrist, preventing me from giving him a concussion. I blinked as I stared up at him with glossy eyes. "Hey?" His tone changed. "You ok?"

I numbly nodded my head. He looked me over a second longer, deciding for himself of I was really ok. Coming to the consensus I would at least not hit him anymore, he rolled off of me. We both lied on the ground, looking up at the starry sky through the trees. They winked back at me, somehow blanketing me in warmth and easing my breathing. I took a second to clear my head and Julian lied beside me, silent, not needing me to tell him I needed a minute.

Head now clear, but still looking at the sky I asked, "Why the fuck would you tackle me?"

He chuckled. "We're playing man hunt."

I turned and deadpanned him. "Yeah, not tackle football you idiot."

"I'm sorry. It's sort of a reflex. Not my fault you're so small." He said grabbing my entire arm in his large hand.

I rolled away pulling my arm with me and regarded him from my new position on my stomach. "I may be small but I'm feirce. You of all people should know that, shouldn't you?" I teased smirking.

He scowled at me as he pulled himself from the ground. "The girl beat someone up for you one time in 1st grade and she thinks she's Superwoman. And I actually think Hillary would know way better than me." He asked offering me his hand.

I looked up in thought. "True." Then I smiled at him and accepted his offering.

Julian used to be a small ghostly pale little boy with big buck teeth and a buzz cut. And Hillary Benson loved to pick on him. She bullied everyone and only had like three friends. She was taller than most of us were at the time and lanky with red crazy hair and freckles. She thought just because she was a year older and an inch or so taller she could treat us however. Not me, though. She was scared of me. But as long as she stayed out of my way we were fine.

Until, one day I saw her sitting on Julian's back, her legs on either side of him, pressing his head into the sandbox. When I saw them - her henchman behind her egging her on, along with a small crowd that had formed - I got so annoyed I hopped off of the swing and stormed over. I pushed her minions out of the way and grabbed her hair in both my hands pulling her back violently. I threw her to the ground and twisted her onto her back, hair still in my hands. I had gotten her to promise to never bully anyone again or else I would pull all of her hair out.

I of course got put on recess probation for two weeks and a call home, but I got high fives from my parents. They said I was sticking up for a fellow classmate and giving a bully a taste of her own medicine. The teacher told me to apologize, my parents said if I did they would beat me up. Kidding of course.