youngblood // p. hockstetter // 0.1

//twenty-eight

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Henry Bowers learned very quickly that to get to Rosemary, he couldn't approach her in school.

Tugging at the tie that was pinching at his neck, he glared intensely at her in Mathematics as Patrick gnawed on the end of his pencil beside him. He thought back to the week prior, when they'd all first arrived and the trio had realised that they would once again be restricted to a classroom together. Within ten minutes of their first lesson, Henry was restrained by a teacher after he tried to use Patrick's lighter and spray to set Rosemary and her books alight. He now sat in the furthest corner of the classroom from the door whilst Rosemary sat comfortably and quietly in front of their teacher Mrs. Shannahan like the good little student she was. You could within moments of the class commencing that she and the teacher both considered her better then the entire class, and they weren't entirely wrong. Near drop-outs, thieves, people who skipped school and people like him who just didn't get it filled the remaining seats of the class, all of them both literally and metaphorically behind Rosemary.

Patrick was still slightly peeved that they'd taken away his good lighter but like Henry, he watched Rosemary's every movement, his eyes tracing her thin wrists as he took stationary from her pencil case, the slight swish of her high ponytail, and the creamy texture of her thighs as her skirt slipped higher up her leg. Somehow, she still managed to turn the hideously disgusting excuse of an outfit into a piece which complimented everything about her.

When the bell rang Rosemary dashed out of the room like her life depended on it, which it honestly very well could. Patrick and Henry where both just as quick as her as she tried to disappear into the hustle of students, unsuccessfully. Patrick watched her continuously as she nearly ran from the school and it was at that moment the pair of them knew something was wrong with her.

"Come on" Henry smacked his shoulder and the pair ran after her, barely making it out of the school doors as she hastily begun walking through the car park and they finally understood why Rosemary was in such a hurry.

Jude wasn't there.

After leaving the family house, Rosemary hadn't seen hide or hair of her older brother whom usually picked her up from school. After failing to pick her up during their first week, she came to the assumption that she now needed to walk herself home, which in any other situation she would've been content with.

Had Henry and Patrick not also noticed her situation.

Her backpack pinched tightly against her shoulders, Rosemary ran quickly and wordlessly behind the school as she got closer to the Kissing Bridge, her knife clenched tightly in the pocket of her skirt. Rosemary knew that Patrick and Henry inevitably where going to notice Jude's absence, however she intended to make as much distance as she could between herself and the sociopathic pair. As she stepped into the covering of the bridge however, there was the faint tune of a low whistle behind her and she froze.

Turning to face Henry, Rosemary eyed him wearily as he smirked triumphantly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his slacks.

"Where are you off to?" He grinned, slowly walking forward.

"Home" His left hand left his pocket, a small white object that she quickly recognised as his switchblade clutched in his meaty fingers.

Henry's eyes flickered away from her for the briefest of moments and Rosemary suddenly felt her heart plummet.

Where was Patrick?

Hands awkwardly clenched as she spun around, the bone of her wrist and the handle of her knife struck Patrick across the jaw before she shoved into his chest and ran. Albeit slightly stunned by strength behind her attempts at hitting him, Patrick grabbed her backpack and yanked her back harshly. Rosemary slid free from her backpack, though not quick enough to avoid Henry whom sprinted to involve himself in the attack. Flicking his blade from its hilt, his hand weaved into the hair at the base of Rosemary's neck, effectively holding her in place as he pulled her neck back, exposing her neck.