Unexpected Friends

My morning started off as it usually did. I woke up and dragged myself through my morning routine of getting ready for school. I left the house the same time I had yesterday, at 8:08. As I walked down the sidewalk, I could hear the voices of Tyler and his friends waiting at their bus stop at the corner of the street. My pace slowed down as I realized I would have to walk past them again. Despite my smart aleck attitude towards him, I was honestly scared of Tyler. But if I wanted to get to school on time, I'd have to get to Zacky's house. And to get to Zacky's house, I had to walk past Tyler.

I took a deep breath and approached the group of boys. Tyler spotted me and the whole group grew silent as I walked past them.

"Who do we have here?" Tyler proclaimed loudly, stepping forward and grabbing my backpack. He yanked me back and spun me around to face him. "It's Jacobson!"

I shoved his arm away and readjusted my backpack. "What do you want Lund?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Tyler asked, ignoring my question. "Excited to see your boyfriends or something?" He lifted a hand up and shoved my shoulder. "Huh? Is that it?"

"What do you want?" I sighed.

"Remember that little stunt you pulled on me yesterday?" Tyler asked.

"Hm, what stunt?" I asked innocently, even though I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Tyler suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me up onto my tip toes. "Well it's payback time now girly."

"Payback?" I squeaked , squirming in his grip.

Tyler nodded, a scary grin on his face. "Chase!" He barked, turning to a blonde boy. "Get her backpack."

Chase stepped forward and took my backpack with an apologetic look. "Don't worry," He whispered. "I won't do anything to it."

I didn't get the chance to thank him before Tyler spun me around, grabbed my right arm, and wrenched it up behind my back, making me gasp.

"How does that feel Jacobson?" Tyler asked, cranking my arm up even further.

I bit my lip, trying not to cry out as my shoulder screamed with pain.

"Tyler," I said, struggling to keep my voice even. "Let me go. Please."

He didn't answer but just continued to wrench my arm up. Tears clouded my vision and I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to let Tyler see me cry.

"Dude, Tyler, I think that's enough." A voice that I recognized as Chase's spoke behind Tyler. "Our bus is almost here."

"Nah man," Tyler said, continuing to crank my arm up. "I'm not leaving till I see some waterworks from her."

A whimper escaped through my lips and Tyler laughed. "See? I'm almost there!"

Chase stepped forward and placed a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "Dude, that's enough. She's just a little girl."

Tyler didn't respond for a few seconds, then let me go and shoved me to the ground. I kept my eyes down and grasped my aching shoulder. "You're right." Tyler sneered, standing over me. "She is just a little girl." He turned around and began walking back to the bus stop, the other boys following him. This whole ordeal had happened maybe 20 feet past their bus stop.
I looked up as someone knelt beside me. It was Chase. He placed my backpack next to me and grimaced as I quickly wiped my tears away.

"Look Jacobson," He said, looking up to make sure the group wasn't watching. "You need to watch yourself around Tyler. If you keep being a smart ass, this'll happen again, or maybe even worse. Just...don't say or do anything next time to provoke him, okay?"

I nodded, still rubbing my throbbing shoulder. "Alright." I said, "And um, thanks for stopping him."
"No problem." Chase said as he stood up and jogged to catch his bus. The bus drove past me and I caught a glimpse of Tyler smirking at me through the window.

"Jerk." I muttered, blinking away the last of the tears. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It was 8:17. "Oh crap I'm late!" I exclaimed, grabbing my backpack and scrambling onto my feet. I was about to haul ass to Zacky's house when I spotted his car coming towards me. He pulled up next to me and I climbed in.

"Hey guys, I'm so sorry I'm late." I said apologetically as I clicked on my seat belt.

"Don't worry JJ, it's fine." Zacky said, making a u-turn to head to school. "What happened? Did you like wake up late or something?"

"Um...yeah!" I lied, ignoring the throbbing in my shoulder. "I guess I slept through my alarm."

Johnny shot me a look and I knew he didn't believe me. "You're lying. You're not the type of person to sleep through their alarm. What happened J? Was it Tyler again?"

Silence filled the car as all three boys waited for me to answer. I sighed. "Alright fine. Yes, it was Tyler again. He , um, yanked my arm up behind my back and um....shoved me to the ground..." I trailed off, uncomfortable in the silence.

"Wow. What a dick." Matty said from the passenger seat, making us all laugh.

"Are you okay?" Zacky asked, looking at me worriedly.

I nodded. "Yeah, my shoulder hurts still, but it'll be fine."

"If I see him at school, I'm gonna deck him so hard in the face." Johnny stated, looking at me.

"I appreciate that Johnny, but he's like twice your size." I pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. I'm still gonna hit him."

"Johnny, I don't think that would end too well for you." Zacky said, peering at us through the rear view mirror. "JJ, the guys and I could beat this Tyler guy up if you want."

I quickly shook my head. "I appreciate the offer Zack, but Tyler's my problem, so I have to take care of him."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Well, the offer still stands if you wanna claim it later."

I laughed. "Alright, I'll remember that."

Notes

Hey guys! So sorry it's been a while! As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment!

~JJ