It’ll be okay.” He stared for a moment longer before tearing his gaze from Kyle. Moving slowly so he could keep up, we headed back toward Grayson Street.
A voice boomed from behind us. “Hey, girls.”
A sickening shiver crawled down my spine.
“School’s this way.”
Behind us, Kyle, Bundy, and Fink marched down the sidewalk toward us, cigarettes in mouths and trails of smoke billowing behind them. Kyle pinched his cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, pulled it from his mouth, and tossed it away.
I yanked Gordie’s sleeve and ran. “Go!”
A frenzied clomping of shoes erupted behind us.
Raj broke into a frantic sprint, gripping his bag straps and breathing like an asthmatic. Trailing him, Gordie hopped and hobbled on his good leg, his splinted finger sticking out awkwardly as he swung his arms. Whimpering, he fell further behind with each unsteady step.
Holding my bag tight against me, I shouted over my shoulder, “Faster, Gordie!” His face turned pale and his watery eyes widened. A hundred feet ahead, Raj sprinted at a pace that would’ve challenged an athlete. He wasn’t terrible in a fight, but he was almost unbeatable in a cut and run, and he wasn’t waiting for Gordie.
We rounded the corner onto Grayson and raced up the sidewalk. A tall cast-iron fence surrounded the rear schoolyard, and a gate opened onto a concrete path to the building. I scanned the street and yard for any sign of life. Nothing. Everyone was out the front where the cars and buses parked.
Rounding the corner behind us, Fink sprinted to close the gap to Gordie, Kyle scrambled behind them, and Bundy trailed them like a galloping dim-witted grizzly bear.
A grimace twisted Gordie’s face as he whimpered with each short breath. Over his shoulder, Fink inched nearer, almost close enough to pounce. It was inevitable from the start, and now it was about to happen: Gordie wasn’t going to make it. What’s more, they’d jump him and I’d get away. I’d already stepped in for him twice before and it wasn’t my job to protect him. And any reasonable person would agree that it’s better that they only get one of us. But I couldn’t do it to him, not after what he’d been through.
Knowing I’d regret it, I slowed my pace and slung my bag off my shoulder, gripping it with both hands. Falling in beside Gordie, I waited for my moment. Fink grunted and leapt at Gordie’s collar. Lifting my bag with one hand, I sidestepped and pitched it at Fink’s boots, knocking his foot onto the sidewalk midstride. He let out a shriek and tipped forward, spilling onto the sidewalk and scraping his hands against concrete as he skidded to a stop.
Gordie gasped air into his lungs and ran with a new burst of energy. Leaving my bag on the sidewalk with Fink, I ran as fast as my aching chest let me. Skipping gym class hadn’t been such a good idea after all. Behind us, Kyle grunted as he leapt over Fink and lengthened his stride.
In the schoolyard, a bell attached to the building rang loud. Ahead, Raj staggered to a stop at the school gate and lifted the latch. He kicked the gate wide and started up the path without looking back.
Continuing toward the gate, Gordie’s limp worsened as Kyle closed in from behind. After what felt like the world’s longest disabled marathon, Gordie stumbled through the gate and I followed, swinging it closed behind me.
At the end of the path, Raj heaved open the school’s glass door. He turned and waved. “Hurry!” The gate rattled and shook behind us.
Gordie swayed and staggered up the path. Fifty feet from the door, he stumbled on a crack in the concrete. His legs gave out and he fell sideways, crumpling in a heap on the path with his glasses skidding across the asphalt. It was like trying to run a relay race with a drunken sloth. I picked up his glasses and scooted back to him, my pulse pounding in my neck. “Get up!”
He lay still, moaning and gasping. Unbelievable. Quitting now would be a very bad decision. I lifted him by his armpits and dragged him toward the door, straining against the weight of his limp body.
Kyle raced up the path and bulldozed me with the force of a jetliner. Gordie dropped like a sack of meat as I fell backwards onto the concrete, and Kyle launched over the top and rolled onto the asphalt. Clutching the sharp pain in my arm, I climbed to my feet and caught a blur of movement as someone lunged at me. I ducked out of reach, and Bundy stumbled past, his damaged nostrils whistling with each breath.
“Chris!” Raj held the door open with his foot and waved both hands.
I rushed to the open door, clutching my aching arm as Raj pulled me in. He slammed the door shut and kicked down the floor bolt. Two heavy thuds shuddered the door as Kyle and Bundy ricocheted off the glass. I leaned back against the wall gasping, feeling the relief of warm air blowing down from a ceiling vent. The door boomed and rattled, taking the full force of Bundy’s pounding fists. Kyle pressed his hands to the window, the thin glass not giving me much comfort.
At the school gate, Fink stood buckled over clutching his elbow, his hands and cheek smeared in blood. He limped up the path, dragging his foot like a zombie, and stopped at Gordie. As much as I felt for the guy, there was only so much I could do. Gordie lifted his head off the path and looked up at the giant towering over him. Fink wiped blood from his chin, flicking it onto the asphalt, and pressed the heel of his boot to Gordie’s chest.
In the stairwell above us, footsteps rumbled as students made their way to class.
Bundy stood on the other side of the door, pressing his hands to the glass and swiveling his neck, sweeping his dead-eyed gaze across us like a soulless corpse. Next to him, Kyle clenched his jaw and breathed deep through his nostrils, his eyes locked on mine. Squeezing his fist, he pressed his knuckles to his neck. The muscles in his face strained as he dragged his skull rings down his neck, leaving four red blood trails in his skin. I wasn’t an expert, but I’d say he was pissed off.
Raj stepped away from the door. “What the…?”
If this was Kyle trying to scare us, it was working. He slammed his fist on the glass, turned, and started back down the path. Bundy waited a moment, and then moved away, plodding behind Kyle like a mindless puppet. Before I could get a breath, my relief sank when they stopped at Gordie.
Raj clasped his hands over his head. “Holy shit…”
In what some might say was a mismatched fight, an injured Gordie lay limp on the path as Kyle, Bundy, and Fink circled him. Kyle crouched next to him and clutched the wrist of his right arm in one hand and gripped his middle finger with the other.
Not again.
Gordie writhed on the concrete, but didn’t put up a fight. Learning to take a punch was part of growing up, part of toughening up. But this was different. There were three of them, and Gordie was hurt. They’d kill him.
I scanned the hall. A broken whiteboard leaned against the window and a fire extinguisher hung in a bracket on the wall. I lifted the extinguisher and carried it to the door.
Raj ran down the hall and stopped to look back. “What are you doing?”
If I told him, he’d just try to stop me. I lifted the door’s floor bolt with my shoe. Across the schoolyard, Kyle turned to face me and Bundy grinned. I kicked open the door and stepped out, clutching the extinguisher tight in both hands. If there was ever a time when I needed to fight dirty, this was it. Kyle raised his fist and adjusted his skull rings with his left hand.
Fink licked his snake tongue around his lips. “Ay yo, you think you can hit me with that? You can hardly lift it.”
I pulled the metal pin from the handle and gripped the hose. Turns out fire safety class wasn’t a waste of time after all. Marching down the path like a firefighter in a burning building, I approached Kyle, keeping my breathing steady, holding his gaze, and showing no sign of fear. Three steps from him, I aimed the nozzle at his eyes and squeezed the trigger. A jet of high-pressure powder erupted from the nozzle and engulfed his face. He choked and gasped, shielding his eyes with his arm as he coughed. Staggering back, he clipped his shoe on Gordie’s leg and latched onto Fink’s arm, yanki
ng him backwards. Kyle stumbled and fell, landing on his ass and pulling Fink on top of him.
Bundy charged at me with arms outstretched. I lifted the extinguisher hose and aimed the nozzle at his face. His eyes widened as I squeezed the trigger, exploding white powder onto his bandaged nose, his eyes, and into his mouth. He leaned into the blast and pushed through it.
“Gordie, run!” I shouted, stepping back.
Like Dracula waking in his coffin, Gordie scrambled off the path and limped to the door.
Reaching through the white cloud, Bundy hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me into a headlock, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I dropped the extinguisher and slammed my palm against his broken nose. He squealed and stumbled back, wiping powder and blood from his face.
Without looking back, I darted up the path and through the open door. Raj slammed it shut and stomped on the floor bolt.
On the other side of the door, Fink and Kyle climbed to their feet and wiped the powder from their eyes. Bundy lifted the extinguisher over his head and hurled it hard onto the asphalt. He glared at me with a thin line of blood streaming from his nose. With a stony expression, Kyle pointed an imaginary finger gun at me, closed one eye, and pulled the trigger.
“I can’t believe you did that.” Raj clasped his hands over his head. “They’re going to destroy you. And me.”
I leaned