p! I can handle those bitches myself.”
He kept going without a second glance in my direction. The girls spotted him and all turned to face him. The other kids noticed the standoff and they, too, turned to watch. Everyone began closing in on Kick and the girls, and I hated that I had put him in this situation.
He finally made it to them and stopped. I couldn’t see his face but I could imagine his glare. That look from Kick was enough to make most people consider their next step but Stephanie didn’t cower. She actually took a step closer to him and sent a glare his way.
“Why the fuck can’t you bitches leave Evie alone? You don’t even know what shit really went down with her family, so you should shut the fuck up rather than spreading nasty gossip and treating her like a slut,” he raged. I could tell from his voice how close to the edge he was.
Not good.
“I know her mother cheated on her father and that’s a slut as far as I’m concerned. Like mother, like daughter,” Stephanie countered.
Kick’s arm moved as if he was about to raise it but he kept himself under control and instead clenched his fist over and over, as if he was fighting the urge to punch someone. “I’m not gonna fucking argue this shit with you, Stephanie. Leave Evie alone.” His voice had dropped to a menacing tone.
Stephanie said something to him but a hand on my shoulder and the brush past me of a male body distracted me from her.
Jeremy.
“Sorry, Evie,” he murmured, as he shoved me aside and kept advancing towards Kick.
I missed what Stephanie said but zeroed back in on Kick who had raised his voice. “You don’t wanna start something with me. Trust me on that,” he threatened just before Jeremy stepped in.
Jeremy placed his hand on Kick’s shoulder. Kick’s head jerked around to see who it was but before he could say anything, Jeremy spoke calmly to Stephanie. “Why do you always have to be such a bitch, Stephanie? I’m seriously beginning to wonder about your parents and just what they get up to.” He paused, and I saw her face flinch. Jeremy gave Kick a grin and then continued, “Yeah, I think we might look into that, Kick, and then report back what we find.”
Stephanie’s face contorted into anger like I’d never seen before. “Leave me the fuck alone, Jeremy,” she spat before saying to her bitches, “Come on, girls, these three aren’t worth our breath.” Then she turned and stalked away from us and her posse followed.
I stood there, stunned, not sure what had just happened.
Jeremy slapped Kick on the back and then looked at me with a grin. “All sorted, Evie. That bitch won’t give you grief anymore.”
I frowned. “How do you know that? And what the hell just happened?”
Kick stopped staring after the girls and turned to look at me. “Jeremy did some digging. Discovered that Stephanie’s dad is having an affair at the moment.”
“Oh my god! What a two-faced cow to give me shit about my mother.”
Jeremy came to me and laid his arm across my shoulders, and pulled me close. “Yeah, thought you might like that.”
I looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you.”
He jerked his chin at Kick. “Don’t thank me, thank him. Kick had the brilliant idea to find out what she was hiding and then to use it against her.”
My gaze landed on Kick. He stood still, staring at me with a look I wasn’t sure I knew. It gave me goosebumps. “Thank you,” I whispered, my stomach doing butterflies, “you’re always looking out for me and I’ve never done anything to deserve it.” It was true. For as long as I’d known him, Kick had always stood up for me, and I’d never really given him anything in return or helped him in any way.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and scowled at me. “Don’t fucking say shit like that, Evie. You’d do the same thing for me and Jeremy.”
Kick didn’t usually speak to me like that and it confused me. I stared at him silently, wondering what caused him to do it.
Jeremy punched him in the arm. “Don’t be a dick,” he muttered.
I watched as the two of them glared at each other for a few moments and then Kick looked at me and said, “Sorry, I’m an asshole. But don’t put yourself down, okay? You’ve been there for me more than you know.” His voice cracked a little on his last sentence and he seemed so uncomfortable saying it all. But, at the same time, I could feel the honesty in his words.
I smiled at him and then Jeremy broke the moment with another slap on Kick’s back. “Okay, let’s round this up, guys,” he said as he draped his arm around me again. “I’ve got fucking math homework and I need Evie to work it out for me.”
Kick grinned. “She needs to work my shit out, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you two ever going to do your own work?”
They stared at me like I was an idiot, and then both their faces broke out in larger grins. “Fuck no,” they said in unison as the three of us began walking home.