Twenty-one: one day to forget

Temperance

I look at my reflection in the mirror.

My grey shirt is almost too big for me, covering the black leggings that cling to my legs.

I tie my dark hair into a messy ponytail.

My body is littered with fading bruises and healing cuts. There's is going to be a fine scar where I was bashed on my forehead.

I turn my head, gazing at the door as I hear a light knock.

I open the door, looking up at Alec. I give him a small smile, stepping out of the room.

"Ready to go?" I ask. I'm excited to go on this adventure. I've never been to a trampoline park. The only concern I have is the wounds on my stomach.

I'll have to take it easy today.

"We've been ready. You take forever."

I shoot him a glare as he laughs.

Why does my heart hurt when I look at him?

We stop in front of the car, standing with all the guys.

"We have a problem. There's not enough room in the car." Damien sighed, "Someone will have to sit on a lap."

I know what they think when they all look at me.

They want me to sit on someone's lap because I'm the lightest.

"No. We aren't doing that cliche crap." I cross my arms over my chest in defiance, refusing to sit on anyone's lap.

Knowing the guys, they would make a plan to where I would be sitting on Alec's lap.

We all argue over the topic and we finally arrange seating.

I gaze out the front window, feeling extreme discomfort.

Who knew it would end like this. "Your ass is so bony!" Ethan yells at Damien, ready to open the door and toss him out.

With that, I crack up laughing, seeing the two boys beside me. Damien is forced to sit on Ethan's lap.

"It's not funny!" Both of them say in unison, glaring at me. Although I wasn't forced to sit on anyone's lap, I was forced to sit in the middle. It Means Connor and the doubled-up men are on either side of me.

As soon as we park, Ethan and Damien's door open, followed by them falling out and then Connor toppling on top of me as I get out.

I cringe at the stretch in my stitching, praying nothing has caused damage.

I let out a whimper, Connor puts a lot of pressure on my wounds.

"Get off of her dumbfuck!!" Alec yanks Connor off and holds out his hand for me. I grab it, and soon I am on my feet.

I smile at him and brush myself off.

"Sorry." Connor apologizes sheepishly.

"It's ok." I smile at him and then pat his head like he's a dog.

We step into the building. The music blasts into my ears and there are people everywhere. It's dark aside from the dim lights that are all over the place.

I can tell everyone around me is happy, there's laughing and screaming over the music. But I can't help struggling to feel safe.

"Let's get our wristbands." A familiar voice shouts at us. I turn around and see a blond running toward us.

Emaline.

I smile as she jumps on me. Me being as weak as I am, I fall. "Ouch," I grunt, landing on my tailbone.

Alec appears by my side as Emaline gets up, apologizing profusely. Emaline and Alec both take an arm, lifting me onto my feet.

Why do I keep falling? It's like they are all after me today.

"Are you ok?" Alec and Emaline ask in unison. I nod, watching them as they turn to each other and glare.

"I didn't know you were coming?" I turn my attention to the blonde who popped out of nowhere. My mind ponders on how she got here in the first place.

"I decided to surprise you." I see her eyes glance at Zander who talks to the woman at the front desk.

She smiles at me and walks over to the guys to collect our wristbands.

"Have fun." The lady takes an extra-long look at Alec, which makes my blood boil.

"Ooo, someone's mad." Emaline gives me a playful wink.

"Shut up!" I scold.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" Damien stops all of us.

"We can stay together or go in groups." Alec shrugs.

With those words, the three supporting members run off, leaving the four of us dumbfounded.

I immediately feel Emaline pull my arm, leading me to a trampoline with the guys following behind.

I step onto a square, jumping lightly to not upset any stitches. I made sure to wrap them today and to also take my medicine and then something to help with the pain. I should be good for the most part.

It's ok to let loose.

I jump onto Alec's trampoline making his jump smaller than it would've been.

"Having fun?" He asks, jumping higher than me.

"Of course I am, loser!" I grab onto his shoulders and boost myself to jump higher than him. My stomach drops, and I let out a little squeal.

My shirt lifts to my bra, flashing my whole stomach to Alec. I blush as he glances away out of respect for me. "Sorry." I look away, embarrassed.

Our jumping syncs up before I start going higher than him. I turn around and see Emaline and Zander doing the same.

"Awe, look, the big bad gang leader is jumping on a trampoline with a girl." Emaline gushes.

I don't respond to her as I jump onto my own trampoline space out of spite. I was probably being a nuisance jumping on his anyways.

The yelling of a man catches my attention and I turn my head to see the commotion. A father is yelling at his son. I don't know what the sun did, I'd he did anything, but he looks like he will get hit.

There is a woman with her head down beside him, not daring to intervene.

My chest tightens, remembering that I've been in the same situation. Being yelled at in front of everyone, but it's never happened at a place like this before. It only happened at the store whenever I was younger.

I feel a warm presence behind me. Cologne fills my nostrils, letting me know it's Alec.

"What is it?" He gently places his hands on my upper arms to calm me down.

"That little boy..." I respond, pointing a shaky finger at the young boy. He is probably ten or so.

With that, Alec's hands left my arm, and I felt cold replace them.

Alec walks past me. I want to grab his arm to hold him back. To keep him from getting involved, but my hand wouldn't reach up to touch his.

Maybe someone needs to intervene anyways. I look around, realizing no one is.

I walk behind him.

"You stupid fucktard. Why'd you do that?!" The father yells, making his son and even me flinch.

My father told me the same thing when I dropped a plate.

"Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourself?" Alec stands in front of him.

The woman beside the man looked up with her eyes wide. Her expression filled with fear. The boy takes a step back.

"What?!" The man fumes.

"Why are you yelling at your son?" Alec asks.

"The fuck does it matter to you?"

Then I knew it. Alec made a mistake. He confronted them. Meaning that the wife and the boy would get a harder beating from the anger the dad was feeling.

"Alec, please stop." I gently place my bony fingers on his arm, trying to get him away.

Alec almost shrugged me off before looking down at my empty expression. He steps away from them, grabbing my hand and taking me along.

We walk towards Emaline and Zander. Confusion is written all over their faces.

I give them a look saying, "don't ask." We don't need questions. Nor want them.

Alec stops and turns towards me. He leans down and whispers in my ear.

"Yknow. You look really cute."

My cheeks turn tomato red.

Within a second of his remark, I feel a small, cold hand on my arm dragging me away.

Emaline. Like always.

"Uhhh, can I help you...?" I ask, following her.

She turns around once we are at a distance from the guys.

"We need a little girl time." She smiles. She turns BACK around and drags me to a pit with foamy cubes. She places her hand on my chest, pushing me back. My back hits the soft cubes and I feel myself sinking in.

"What happened to your face?" A little red-headed girl asks me, dragging my attention away from Emaline. I try to maneuver around in the foam cubes but I'm stuck in place.

My hand flies up to my face quickly, poking around my healing bruise. I had almost forgotten my face is covered in bruises. I look at Emaline and back down at the little girl.

Emaline reaches out for me, helping me out of the pit of doom.

"I fell d-down." I flash her a smile as I lie. I can tell she wants to ask another question but her mother beckons her over.

"Nosy bitchass kid," Emaline grunts as she crosses her arms.

"Hey, little ladies." Two deep voices are coming from behind me. I turn around. Two tall males are standing in front of us.

"H-hi." I look down. There are only a few people I didn't stutter around. But everyone else is a different story.

One of them has brown eyes, tan skin, black hair, and stubble. The other looks mostly the same but without the black hair. It is blonde. And he has no stubble.

"Can we help you?" Emaline rolls her eyes at the guys.

"Can you give me directions?" The dark-haired one looks at me.

"W-where to?"

"In your bed with your naked body on top of mine." He winks.

I am disgusted. I take a step back and find myself bumping into someone.

"Sorry, I've already claimed her. You can run along now." Alec is standing behind me.

I blushed and felt my heart beating faster, realizing what he just said.

Emaline laughs as the guys walk off, looking for their next prey.

"You two ok." He asks. "Yeah, we are ok," I respond with a smile.

And for the rest of my day, my mind stays on Alec's words.