6 Hurt me.

This is not what I had imagined. I was expecting to have a quiet, peaceful moment at lunch, without drawing any attention to myself, but with Connie, and Casey sitting here, they have ruined any purpose and chance of that happening.

And as if their presence isn't enough, Casey's friends have also decided to join us, just great! This is definitely not what I wanted. I wanted some company to sit with at lunch, yes, but not their company.

The glares they were shooting me every few seconds was especially making me uncomfortable. This was not gong well. I could tell Casey wasn't pleased about sitting here, at the same table with me. Well that's one thing we would agree on, cause I'm not comfortable sitting with him either. I guess he's only sitting here to prevent me from spending any more time with Connie.

There was a really awkward silence at the table. I guess nobody really had anything to say. All the conversations I've had with any of the people at this table, mostly revolve around them insulting me. So I guess now that they can't really insult me, in front of Connie, they have nothing to say. Which is really surprising cause these people always have something to say, and it's always negative.

"Are you people always this quiet?" Connie finally broke the silence. And it was as if she was reading my mind.

And as expected, nobody had anything to say. Everyone just kept quiet.

"Oooo-kay! Nobody is talking then. Then I'll just do all the talking for you," she said, and I heard a chuckle from Casey. I looked up to him and he might have noticed, cause he shot me another glare, making me redirect my eyes back to my food.

"So, I was planning to join cheerleading," Connie began, catching the attention of Kenzie, Samantha and Kara.

"I would definitely love to have you on my team. You look really athletic, and well, you do have the face and confidence of a cheerleader," Kenzie stated.

"Well she was the captain of the cheerleading team at Crown Academy," Casey joined in the conversation.

"Really? That must have been exciting! You know, considering how great that school is." Samantha squealed excitedly.

"Maybe Kenzie can make you co-captain of the team. " Kara added.

"If you can prove to me that you deserve the post," Kenzie looked at Connie.

"Sure, I'll try," Connie said, kept quiet for a moment and then added, "Is Sarah on the team?"

That really caught me off guard. Kenzie almost chocked on her food. I guess it caught her of guard too. This was just making me more uncomfortable. The spotlight was once again redirected to me again.

"Sarah? No...not really. " Kenzie said it as sweetly as she could, "But if you want, we can put her on the team. I mean, we would have to___"

"No!" I could not stop myself from saying it. I want to stay as far away from Kenzie as I can. And joining cheerleading is not exactly going to help me with that. Plus, I am not exactly the cheerleading type. And also, I can only imagine all the stuff Kenzie wil make me do. I am not standing for it.

"Why not?"

"It's just not me,"

And I'm glad Connie did not push it any further.

"Why join cheerleading when you can join football?" Jake asked, pushing his tray aside so he can look directly at Connie.

"Football?" everyone at the table asked at the same time.

"Definitely not! Football is a really dangerous game," Casey said, and I can tell that was the caring and overprotective side of him talking.

"Oh come on man!" Jake continued, "The game is only dangerous when you get caught! And if your cousin is as fast as you claim she is, then she doesn't have to worry about that. She'll be untouchable on the field. She'd make a great running back,"

"I don't know. Casey is right about it being dangerous" Connie said, sounding unsure.

"Or maybe you're just not as brave as Casey says you are. I understand if you're scared,"

"Scared?! I bet nobody at this school can beat me,"

"I'm the fastest person at this school," Jake boasted, which is painfully true, he is. But as far as I remember, Connie's also pretty fast. I'm just not sure who between the two of them is the fastest.

"Well, I was the fastest at Crown Academy,"

"That's a school for rich spoilt barbies! None of them knew the definition of running,"

"You clearly underestimate them. Most of them are even faster than you," Connie said in between chuckling.

"Really? You do know that I'm not a tortoise. Maybe you guys were racing against___"

"Why don't you just compete?" Casey finally spoke," Let's see who's faster. once and for all"

Jake and Connie looked at each other for a moment and they both broke into a huge grin.

"I'm down for it. But I hope that after I beat you, I hope there will be no hard feelings,"

"And when I beat you, don't take it to heart. And I would prefer a lot of people to be there, so nobody lets you forget the day you got beaten by a girl," Connie smirked, and everyone around us cheered, chanting "race !race! face!" over and over again.

"I was considering taking it easy on you, but you're making me change my mind,"

"Don't worry, I'll take it easy on you. I'll do my best to slow down a bit,"

"Want to test that theory?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just go! Less talking, more running!" Connie said, getting up and Jake trailing behind her, and most of the school followed. Nobody would want to miss this race. By virtue it was the mayor's daughter, that enough made this race important, and I doubt anyone would want to miss it.

But guess what, Casey didn't go. He didn't even move. I guess he wasn't really interested in the race. Or maybe he was more interested in making my life miserable than watching his cousin race.

She has left me again, for the second time today. But I get it. Everyone wants to be around her. Who wouldn't? Her personality just draws people towards her.

But Connie leaving me with her monstrous cousin is not making situations any better for me. Casey kept looking at me like he wanted to kill me, and Connie leaving me alone, has literally just just dug my grave.

Not wanting to be around Casey anymore than I already have, I pushed my tray forward and grabbed my bag, swinging it on my shoulder before standing up.

But I was suddenly yanked backwards, and I ended up falling on Casey, with our faces only inches apart. I could hear my heart beating in my chest, feel my blood rapidly flowing. And for a moment, the entire cafeteria didn't exist...the entire world didn't exist. And I even forgot who was in front of me. For a minute there, I didn't feel scared. I wasn't terrified. I felt different. And I have never been this close enough to him to realize that he has green eyes, which were miraculously beautiful.

All it took was for Kenzie to clear her throat for me to come back to my senses. This was Casey Larson! My worst enemy. The school devil. The guy who has been torturing me for as long as I can remember. And I can't be falling for him, could I? NO! Absolutely not! I would actually rather end up in hell than fall for that sadistic monster.

I tried wriggling my hand out of his really tight grip, but of course it didn't work. He just stared at me and smirked. That really evil smirk.

Before I could even register what was happening, I was being dragged out of the cafeteria, across the hallways and into... the janitor's closet?

I tried to talk, beg him to leave me alone, but no words came out. I had a feeling he hated the idea of me hanging with his cousin.

"What did you tell Connie?" he asked in a weirdly calm voice.

"I...I...Nothing. I didn't tell her anything!" I couldn't help but stammer. Why was I even stammering? I should speak up for myself. I should speak up!

"You're testing my patience Vance. You're trying to turn my cousin against me," he said, taking slow steps towards me.

Oh my God! He's walking towards me! What to do? What to do? Stay away from him!

I backed away from him. As far as I could, but he was still walking towards me.

The door suddenly flew open, and in came Mike and Brian. Seriously, what do they want now? I haven't done anything wrong. I've basically avoided them all day long and have stayed clear of their paths. Why can't they just leave me alone? Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, obviously ready to record everything that will happen next. Typical!

Before I knew what was happening, a blow landed on my cheek, sending me flying to the shelves with an "Oof!". And I could taste the blood in my mouth.

Mike and Casey began sending kicks to my stomach. All efforts to try and block out their kicks was pointless. It didn't help. I slowly felt the life draining out of me. Tears stinging my eyes, threatening to spill out. Each kick being more painful than the last, I couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and they just spilled.

When I thought that my life was finally over, they stopped. Why do they keep on doing that? If they want to kill me, why don't they just do it once and for all? Instead of causing me this much pain. Letting my wounds heal only for them to open them up again.

"This should serve as a lesson to you Vance. If you go anywhere near my cousin, I will do way worse damage than I have right now!" he grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up at him, "You won't take advantage of my cousin's kindness. She's only being nice cause it's her nature to be nice to everyone. She's not doing it cause she likes you or she cares about you. She doesn't! Nobody does! So stay away from her, do you understand?"

I nodded my head 'yes' to show him I understood.

"I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Use your words Vance!" he said in a much louder voice.

"Y...Yeah...yes," I managed to croak out.

"Good!" with that, he threw me back to the floor. And as usual, they left me alone. I curled myself up in a ball at the corner of the room, trying to recover from the beating. I slowly felt myself slip into unconsciousness. Letting my tears fall, things became blurry, and everything went dark.