Monsters' Crew (Crude Hill High 1)

I had to remain pure. My dad demanded it of me.

No boyfriends. No lovers. No flirting. There wasn’t a single guy at the school he wanted me near. He’d told me the Monsters’ Crew were out of my league. There was no way I’d snag a man like that.

My only value was that piece of hymen between my legs. You had to love parents. I felt the love. It didn’t stop him from hurting me though. There were even occasions he’d make the doctor come and examine me. That had to be the most humiliating thing of all. The driver hated me. I knew that, for no good reason, but he still hated me. I think he had a thing about women, and he wanted me to suffer the only way he knew how, fucking coward. I hated assholes.

I wasn’t late last night, so no interrogation. My dad was in a good mood because of something my brother did, again, so good news for me. So long as they were happy, I was left alone.

Now, arriving at school, I ignored my driver, climbed out of the car, and made my way into school. No one stopped for me or came toward me.

I had no friends.

I turned down a corridor and came to a stop.

There was no one around but four men, all of who were watching out for me. Gritting my teeth, I squared my shoulders and made my way toward the group. Gael was leaning against my locker.

Holding on to my bag, I stepped toward them, keeping a foot away from them.

I waited.

The silence stretched on.

Usually, the corridor was busy. They had cleared it for this reason.

“Move,” I said.

Gael chuckled. “You knew we were going to come for you, Crane.”

“What I know is the bell is going to be ringing soon and I’ve got class to get to. Move out of my way.”

“You know, we’ve hurt people for speaking to us with a little more respect.”

“Then kill me, I honestly don’t care, but get out of my way.” I wasn’t afraid of them, nor of death.

Caleb tilted his head to the side, watching me. I hated it, but I didn’t avert my gaze. To do so would show weakness. I wasn’t weak.

The bruises across my stomach would say it was a lie, but it wasn’t. I took each punch from my father. It no longer hurt, and it hadn’t been for some time now.

It was why death was so fascinating.

Death would be easy. Like the man I killed last night. The knife I kept in my bag was for protection. I’d never had to use it until last night.

I’d come around the corner, but because I was used to sneaking around, no one had seen or heard me. The man with the gun had looked so cocky. His stance, the triumph I’d seen just in the side of his face and body language had reminded me of my father.

All of us deserved to die.

I was a fool. I knew we were all going to die soon. I’d welcome it.

That man, though, I was done allowing someone like that to win. So, taking out my knife, I’d done what I needed to do. Killing him had been a pleasure I hadn’t anticipated. Only, it hadn’t been some biker I’d killed, it had been my father. I wanted to kill him.

“Last night,” Gael said.

“I won’t tell anyone and seeing as the path is so very clean, I’m guessing you didn’t either. Your secret is safe with me.” I reached out to my locker. “Now move.”

“Why?” Gael asked.

“Did you want me to let him kill you?”

“It wasn’t your fight.”

“Next time, I’ll let them have you. When you save someone, the correct response is thank you. Clearly, no one taught you manners.”

River started to chuckle. “And obviously it’s the same with you.”

“What do you guys want? Do you want some big explanation? You’re not going to get it. I saw what was happening, and I reacted. Simple as that. Now can I please get my bag?” I asked nicely.

No one moved. This was a standoff I didn’t want to be part of. It sucked.

Putting my hands to my waist, I had no choice but to wait. “You can’t keep everyone locked out of here. They’re going to need to come into school, and class is going to begin.”

The truth was, I didn’t want to analyze why I’d done what I did. I’d reacted, that was all it was, and now they were treating me like I’d done something special, when I hadn’t.

“You know a lot of people in your position would have killed us,” Caleb said.

“I guess I’m not like a lot of people.”

Again, all four sets of eyes watched me. I hated feeling like a bug, but there was no way I intended to back down. They were in the wrong here, not me.