Monsters' Crew (Crude Hill High 1)

There were two ways to play this, ignore or face them.

Ignoring would be easy.

With hands on my hips, I turned toward them, forcing a smile to my lips. I wasn’t confident about this. Far from it, in fact.

“Hey, you’ve never been in this class before. Why are you suddenly here?” I asked.

He reached out, putting a hand on my hip. “What do you know? I got the update this morning. The principal took me into class and told me there had been a change to my schedule. It appears we’ll be having gym together for the rest of the year.”

“Parson, you can fuck around on your free time. In my class, you run when I say. Everyone to the line.” Avery yelled that last part.

Running was something I hated to do. It wasn’t fun.

Gripping my shoulders, I stretched out my neck, trying to think of anything that would be a lot more fun than running for no good reason. It wasn’t like any of us were going to be able to take this up outside in the real world.

Running was for cowards.

I guessed being a woman, I might get away with it. Running, though, provided a target.

Avery screamed for us all to run as he blew the whistle.

The jocks in my class took off at the speed of light. Before the end of this lesson, they would be throwing up. It was a good thing this was before lunch and not after it. Avery had been my teacher for two years. He was a nice coach. He’d seen a couple of the bruises on my body and had been really sweet. Not inappropriate. He was a happily married man who had no choice but to take this life after his brother dragged him into it over a gambling debt.

He made me wish our kind didn’t exist, but like he once told me, the world needs criminals.

For me, it didn’t, but the truth was you needed evil to have good.

That was what I saw us all as, evil. I knew my father was responsible for killing innocent people. Their blood was on his hands and while I lived in his house, it was also on mine.

The cheerleaders stayed near me. They were so close I could smell their perfume. The only reason they stayed close, was yep, the Monsters surrounded me. Gael on one side, River the other, Vadik behind, with Caleb a little in the front.

I always paced myself during running. There was no easy way to get through it.

For an hour, we’d have to run our asses off, and I knew there would come a point when it would be a slow walk, but then Avery would yell, and I’d try to run again.

By lunchtime, I’d be starving.

I hoped I’d be able to eat. If I felt sick, it would be impossible for me.

“So, you’re now all in my gym class?” I asked.

“You got it, babe.”

“Do you guys even go to gym?” I was already out of breath, but they appeared to be in their element. It made me hate them just a little bit more.

My heart raced.

“If you’re asking if we can handle this, see for yourself,” Caleb said.

He’d turned so he ran backward.

“Are you flirting with me?” The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“You tell me. I must be rusty if you have to ask.” Caleb winked at me.

“Are you wearing a sports bra?” Gael asked.

I looked toward him then wish I hadn’t as he stared down at my chest.

“How old are you?” I asked. You’d think guys would grow out of mocking a girl for her tits bouncing in senior year. All of that shit should have ended ages ago.

“I’m eighteen, and believe me, I do not have a problem with what I’m seeing.”

Now it was my turn to be embarrassed.

I looked away from him and focused on the ground instead.

For ten minutes, I was able to keep it up, but after that, I was sweating buckets. I would have to use the shower, and that meant I’d wait until all the other girls had left, and I’d arrive late at lunch.

Great, just great.

I was starving already, sweaty.

The Monsters weren’t helping me at all. There was no way I could enjoy this. Not with them hovering over my shoulder like they owned the place. They did, but that was beside the point.

I couldn’t help but think about the blade I had stored back in my drawer at home. With Vadik in my room last night, there was no way for me to use it. I’d have loved to, though. To put the tip to my wrist, to slice it on through so my dad’s plans would be forever broken. The last person I wanted to see win was that man. He deserved to suffer and I was more than happy to go along with those plans.