Reese

“Right then. Looks like we have a game plan. You,” I point at the girl beside Mazie. “Name?”

“Laura,” she whispers shyly.

“Hey, Laura. Do you think you could do me a favor? Do you know who Blink is?”

She blushes as red as a tomato.

Yeah, she knows who Blink is.

“Can you go find him and tell him, Malice needs his help?”

“Yeah, okay,” she answers softly, jumping to her feet and hurries out to the main part of the gym.

“Can anyone tell me what the best thing to do when faced with an attacker, especially one who is bigger than you are?”

“Kick him in the balls,” a tall blonde girl yells, making the other girls laugh.

“While that can be effective, it puts you up close and personal with your attacker, so things like that are a last resort. Your best weapon against an attacker is, first, your ability to avoid the attack. In other words, run. Everyone wants to be a hero these days, but there is a fine line between a hero and a martyr. I’ve seen too many heroes die in battle when they could have just walked away. Pride is a sin for a reason.

“If you can run, run. Run hard, run fast, and don’t look back. You run somewhere safe, then you can get help. The second thing to use is your voice. Make as much noise as possible. Scream and shout until your ears are fucking bleeding. The noise draws attention and can often scare an attacker away. My nana always used to say if you scream ‘rape,’ nobody hears you because nobody wants to get involved. But yell ‘fire,’ and everyone will be peeking out their windows to make sure their homes are safe. It’s fucked-up, but you do whatever it takes. Do you hear me? Whatever it takes.” I look at Mazie and see her hands fisted on her thighs.

“Unfortunately, running isn’t always an option. When you can’t run, you fight, but as soon as you get free, you…”

I pause and wait for them to fill in the blanks.

“Run,” they mumble.

“Exactly.”

I look over when I see movement at the door.

Laura runs in with Blink behind her.

“Hey, Mal, your girl said you needed me.”

I give him an evil look, which makes him frown.

“How do you feel about getting up close and personal with me?”

“Why does this feel like a trick question?”

The class laughs as Blink walks up to the front of the class with me.

“I’m going to teach my new friends some basic self-defense moves, and you get to be my attacker.”

“Oh, fuck. Just leave my balls alone, okay?”

The class laughs again, Blink easily lifting the mood.

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” I lean in closer and whisper to him, “But I promise I’ll kiss them better for you.”