You Saved Me

Chapter Two

I woke up, Jake's heavy body crushing me. I breathe as best I can and try to get from under him. I finally do and go into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and rolled my eyes. There were bruises all up and down my arms and on my face. There were also fresh ones around my neck from a few days ago. I get my makeup and started caking it on.

After a few minutes, it looks like I've never been hit before. I walk to my pile of clothes and look for my purple jacket. Jake told me I wasn't good enough for a dresser or closet. I grabbed a white tank top with burn holes in it and my jacket. Jake tried to set it on fire once I refused to have sex with him. I got my favorite blue skinny jeans and went back into the bathroom. I changed into my clothes and grabbed my backpack.

I tiptoed downstairs, careful not to wake Jake and walked out the door. A black Mustang pulled up by my house. I smiled at the familiar car and my best friend, Luke, got out and smiled at me. I ran to him and hugged him. He hugged me back tightly and I tried not to flinch. Luke had no idea about Jake hitting me. It would cause too much trouble.

"Hey Em!" he smiled and opened my door for me. I smiled at his gentlemanly gesture and got in the car. He closed the door and got in on his side. He started the car and started driving us to school. Yes, I'm I'm high school. Why don't I live with my parents? They're dead. They were murdered a few years ago. Then, Jake came along and was there for me. He was so nice at first.

"Em, come on. We're gonna be late." He smiled and I forced a smile back. I got out of the car and we headed to class. Luckily for me, Luke had all my classes, along with my lunch. He gets me through all of the hard things in life right now. We walked into French class and sat in our seats, which were right next to each other.

"Class, we have a project that will count for thirty percent of your grade. You will be in pairs and will make either a skit, song, or rap. All in French. What it will be about will be decided by your group." Our teacher, Mr. Bonne, was a heavy set guy. His glasses looked much too big for his nose and his hair was almost non existent, like his good attitude.

"Em, wanna be partners?" he asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Of course!" I said and he smiled. Mr. Bonne handed us out papers with the information and I wrote Luke and I's names on it.

"What should we do our project on?" I ask, needing to fill out that information on the paper. He turned to me and a small smile formed on his face.

"Love."

"That's a...great idea." I said and smiled at him. The way he looked at me made butterflies erupt in my stomach. It was the look you'd see in the eyes of a man on his wedding day, watching his bride walk closer to him. The look you'd see in a parent when they look upon their baby for the first time.

So, I might have feelings for my best friend. It doesn't matter, though. I can't leave Jake, his father might kill me. His father is in the mafia and only wants his son happy, no matter what. His father, Gerald Williams, is a dangerous man. He can get someone killed with the snap of his fingers.

"Em? Come on, it's free period. Do you want to go somewhere?" Luke said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Don't you have a fight today?" I asked. He nodded and sighed. Luke was a boxer, and a damn good one at that.

"Let's go to the gym. I'll just read while you train." I said and smiled.

"Really? It wouldn't be too boring for you?" he asked.

"As long as you get me some frozen yogurt afterwards." I smiled.

"Of course. Vanilla with sprinkles?" he asked and grabbed his bag.

"Of course." I smiled and we walked to his car. He opened my door again and I eyes him curiously. He's never this gentlemanly twice in one day. I thanked him and got in. He drove us to the gym and I got out my book. When we entered the gym, my nose crinkled. It smelled like sweaty men in here. Which is appropriate, because that's exactly what was in here. Luke went to go change and I sat in a chair by the punching bag.

He came out of the changing room with black shorts, black socks and black shoes. He also had his signature black boxing gloves on. His upper body was exposed, showing off his six pack. He grazed his lip piercing with his teeth and started hitting the bag.

I looked down at my book and tried to read. The sound of his gloved fists hitting  the bag filled my ears. It was too familiar to bother me. I found myself looking at him in amazement. As he continued to hit the bag, sweat formed on his face and his toned back. He glowed and it was, well, amazing. He continued hitting the bag until he was drenched in sweat. He looked over at me and caught me staring. I looked back down at my book and saw I hadn't read a single sentence. He smirked and walked to the showers.

He came back in his school clothes and I handed him his backpacka He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and we walked to the frozen yogurt place two places down.

"Enjoy the show?" he asked and winked. I felt my face heat up and I looked down. Is it bad if I did? He lifted my chin with his finger and smiled.

"I'm only joking, princess." He smiled. I smiled and hit him gently on his shoulder. He held it and pretended it hurt. I rolled my eyes and we got out frozen yogurt. I got my favorite, vanilla with sprinkles, as promised. Luke got chocolate with sprinkles. We sat down by a window and started eating.

"So, who are you going against tonight?" I asked. His fights always worried me. Once he came to school with a giant gash on his cheek.

"Some douche named Chance. He goes by Big Knucles." He laughed. I giggled and covered my mouth. I hated my smile. He looked at me and moved my hand.

"Don't cover your smile...It's beautiful." He said. I smiled and tried to hide it again, but his grip was strong. I smiled and looked at him. He smiled and we stayed like that for a while. I love having him in my life.

"So, what kind of love should we do for our project?" I asked, trying to change the quiet subject. I grabbed the paper and my pen from my backpack and waited for his answer.

"Maybe it should be about two people who love each other but can't. Maybe the girl is already in a relationship and the guy is in love with her. He could be in sports and fight to try to get his mind off of her. But it doesn't work, she always comes back to his mind..." While he said all of this, I was writing it down. It was a great idea.

"Luke, I never knew you had a writer in you." I smiled. He smiled and shook his head.

"I don't. You can say it's from experience." He said. I wrote down the information and put it back in my backpack.

"Time to go." He said and got up. I quickly finished my yogurt and followed him to the car. We went back to school and continued our day. We came up with a plan to go to his house that weekend and work on it. Jake is always gone all weekend on business.

When Luke dropped me off at the house, I smiled and hugged him. He hugged me back as best he could.

"Come to the fight tonight." He said.

"What? Luke, I can't..." I said sadly.

"Why not?" he groaned.

"I just...can't." I said. The look of disappointment in his eyes made me feel guilty. Jake would never let me go.

"Tell you what. You have another fight this weekend right?" I asked. He nodded. I knew he did, he always does.

"I'll go to the fight on Friday." I said and he smiled. He hugged me and I smiled.

"Thank you. I'll make sure you have a good time." He smiled and so did I. I got out and he drove off. I walked in the house and started dinner.