I was tackled to the ground, putting up my arms just in time to keep my face from grinding into the pavement as all the breath exploded from my lungs. My attacker seized my shoulder and rolled me over. This time, I didn’t manage to avoid the punch. I could only turn my head and take it on the cheekbone rather than the nose. Still, it hurt like hell.
He called me names—ones I would never repeat, they were so awful. It was meant to degrade me, but every ugly thing that came out of his mouth just made my anger stronger. He had one knee on the ground beside me, his foot on the other side. He probably felt secure like that, but it gave me plenty of room to move. I tightened my core, pulling my legs up fast. I rolled up onto my shoulders, bringing my feet up. I kicked him in the back of the head, and when he listed to the side with a grunt, I used my feet to send him sprawling.
I jumped to my feet, every inch of me screaming in agony. First I’d taken a beating in class, and now this. I had to have a death wish.
His buddy was on his feet, and he came after me when he saw his friend groaning on the ground. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. He chased me. And then I heard the other join in.
Being chased down the street while wearing a bright pink ski mask was not how I would normally choose to spend a Thursday night. Or any night. I understood why Gabe had been worried now. There was no way I could take both of those men, and it pissed me off.
Okay, and it terrified me too. What were they going to do to me? Beat me? Rape me? Take away this power I’d just found?
My lungs burned as I ran. My ribs hurt. My face hurt. The only thing that didn’t hurt was my left foot. I ran as fast as I could. It wasn’t going to be fast enough. They were gaining on me.
Headlights blinded me as they went past. Great. Someone had seen me. Then the screech of brakes and the car backed up. The passenger door opened. “Get in!”
It was Gabe. Oh, thank God or whoever watched over angry and reckless teenage girls. I dived into the car and slammed the door. We peeled away from the curb as the first guy ran up. I’d escaped, but just barely.
I fastened my seat belt, gasping for breath, every inch of me sore and on fire. The sides of my hands were raw where they’d scraped pavement.
Gabe glanced at me. I still had the mask on.
He smirked. “So, Hadley, I don’t suppose that was you in the video with Brody, huh?”
He couldn’t be too mad if he was making jokes. I started laughing. God, it hurt. I pulled off the mask, my hair falling over my face like a tangle of blond spiderwebs. “No,” I said, flashing him a grin. “It wasn’t me at all.”
CHAPTER 12
We went back to Gabe’s house. Teresa was in bed, and his mother was reading. I said hi to her before continuing up to Gabe’s room. I’d spent so much of my life in that house, she didn’t even think twice about me being there late on a school night.
His room was at the end of the hall. I hadn’t been in it very often since I was a kid. Once Gabe realized Magda and I were snooping around in there—we were eight—he started locking the door. The walls of his room were white, but almost every inch of them was covered in drawings, magazine clippings, music art and movie posters. There was a to-scale illustration of the interior of the human body that was both gross and intriguing. I studied it while he retrieved the first-aid kit from the bathroom.
“Push up your sleeves,” he commanded. I did.
He used a warm, wet facecloth to clean my hands and wrists, then he patted them dry and applied antibiotic cream before wrapping them in some gauze.
“You don’t have to wrap them,” I said.
He shot me a look that told me I shouldn’t argue. “Leave these on overnight. You can take them off before school so people don’t ask what happened. You’ll have to think of something else for your cheek.”
Right. That jerk had hit me on the same side Brody had. I was going to have another bruise. “I can blame it on self-defense class.”
“Yeah, I guess telling people you were trying to take on two men in a fight would be stupid.”
Our gazes locked. “I saved a girl from probably being raped,” I informed him. “There was nothing stupid about it at the time.”
“You’re very brave.” He put the cap back on the cream. “You’re also an idiot.”
“Would you say that to a guy?” I asked, scowling.
He hesitated. “Probably not.”
I rolled my eyes. I hurt all over, and I just wanted to go to bed. “At least you’re honest. I don’t need or want a lecture, Gabe. I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?”
“No, I just enjoy getting beaten up. Look, do we have to do this again? I don’t want to fight with you. I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I.” He put the gauze back in the kit and closed it. “What do you want to do with me?” His voice was low and a little raspy.
My stomach fluttered as my cheeks warmed. “I liked what we did in my room,” I whispered.
Gabriel smiled—a slow curving of his lips that made my insides turn to goo. “So did I.”
He kissed me. His lips were soft and warm. I slid my hands over his shoulders, wrapping my arms around his neck as his closed around my waist. He felt so good. Maybe it was stupid, but my life had become dark since Magda died. No, that was a lie. My life started getting dark when Magda was raped, and it had kept getting darker until I couldn’t see. Gabriel was like a light in that darkness—a flickering flame that drew me in with promises of lighting my way and seeing me through the black.
His mouth lifted from mine. I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me. “What?” I asked.
“I want you,” he said, his low voice sending a shiver down my spine. “So bad.”
I wanted him too. A little part of me was afraid, but mostly I just wanted to push him onto his bed and do whatever came to mind. “Do you have condoms?” I asked.
He went still. “God, Hadley. Don’t ask me that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s too fast, too soon. Isn’t it?”
“No.”
Gabe’s forehead lowered to mine. “You kill me,” he said. “I’m trying to go slow and do the right thing.”
Suddenly, my eyes filled with hot tears. They burned as they spilled down my cheeks. Gabriel lifted his head and looked down at me in horror as I frantically swiped at my face with my hands.
“What?” he demanded. “What is it? Did I do something wrong?”
I shook my head. I was such an idiot. “No.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because you’re a good guy.” I sniffed and wiped at my cheeks. I could only imagine how stupid I sounded. I hope he found bawling, beaten idiots sexy, because that’s all he was getting.
His arms went around me again, pulling me against his chest. “There are a few of us out there,” he murmured. “Not all of us are assholes.”
I wanted to believe him. He couldn’t be the only one, could he? I didn’t want to think so, but at that moment, I couldn’t think of any other guy I knew who was half as decent. Even my father was a prick. I cried harder.
Gabe held me tight, his cheek resting on the top of my head. “It’s okay,” he murmured.
But it wasn’t, and we both knew it. It wasn’t going to be okay at all.
* * *
I woke up a little earlier than usual Friday morning so I could do the homework I didn’t get to the night before. I sat at the kitchen table bent over my notebook while my mother made breakfast. She had the small TV on the counter set to a local channel as she worked.
“Another attack by a mysterious female in a pink ski mask,” said the woman on the screen. I lifted my head, heart rate accelerating. On the TV, the pretty, blonde morning-show host looked vaguely amused. “Last night a local man
was attacked outside a local nightclub by a woman in pink. The man had allegedly made unwanted advances toward a female patron of the establishment, which led to him being viciously beaten. We were sent the following footage by the woman who claims to have been attacked, but wishes to remain anonymous.”
I stared at the screen as they switched to the cell phone video. It wasn’t very good—it was dark and she’d been drinking—but there was a very clear image of me kicking her attacker in the balls. I had to admit, I looked pretty badass. Luckily for me she hadn’t stuck around to see me almost get my bad ass handed to me—or worse.
The screen went back to the anchorwoman’s face. “Police are asking townspeople to report the vigilante if they see her. Detective Diane Davies responded to questions about the woman in pink earlier this morning.”
Detective Davies’s face came up on screen. A reporter had obviously caught up with her on her way into the police station. They were standing on the steps of the building. The detective had a large paper coffee cup in her hand.
“This person may seem like a hero,” she said into the microphone held in front of her face. “But taking the law into your own hands is never a good idea. Not only is she risking her own safety, but the safety of others. Combating violence with more violence doesn’t change anything.”
It was as though giant fingers reached into my chest and pinched something—hard. Her words cut me deep. Was she right? Was I simply making things worse? I couldn’t believe it. The law had failed Magda. I wouldn’t. I’d already made sure the world saw Jason and Brody for what they were, which was more than the cops had managed.
The image on screen changed to two girls on the local college campus. “What do you think of this pink-masked vigilante?” a female voice asked them.
One with pretty auburn hair replied, “I think she’s awesome. I wish she’d shown up at some of the parties I’ve been to.”
The second girl was a bit more serious. “Somebody has to do something. The cops aren’t. I know of at least two girls who were raped last year, and another one who was slut-shamed so badly she dropped out. If school administrators won’t protect us, and the police can’t protect us, then it’s up to us to protect ourselves.” She looked directly into the camera. “If you’re watching this, Pink Vigilante, I say thank you.”
Pride rose inside me. Last night with Gabriel I’d had a moment of weakness, wondering if I was doing the right thing. Now I knew for certain that I was.
The blonde anchorwoman was back on screen. “So, there you go. Local police urging people to report the vigilante if they see her, and young women wanting to thank her.”
The camera panned back to reveal her cohost, a man in his forties, whose teeth were unnaturally big and white. “Thank you, Anna Beth. I don’t blame the fellow for not wanting to appear on TV. I’d be embarrassed to be beaten up by a girl, as well.” He chuckled. I wanted to kick him in those horse teeth.
Anna Beth shot him a sideways glance. “Well, Charles, keep your hands to yourself and you won’t have to worry about it.” She said it with a smile, but there was a little bite in her tone. Her companion looked surprised.
Mom set a plate of toast and eggs in front of me. “That wasn’t very professional of her to say that to him.”
“He’s a jerk. Detective Davies could totally kick his ass. He wouldn’t be joking about being beaten up by a girl then.”
My mother made a face. “I don’t like it when you talk about beating people up.”
I wasn’t going to apologize, and she didn’t stick around to hear it. She went back to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee. I’d already had two.
I ate my breakfast as I finished my homework and then packed my books up for school. When I arrived, Zoe, Caitlin, Anna and some of the other girls from class were outside. Zoe was wearing an off-white moto jacket with a big pink V drawn in marker just above her left boob.
“What’s that for?” I asked, raising a brow. “You haven’t started some kind of virgin initiative, have you?”
The girls laughed. “No,” Zoe replied. “It’s for the Pink Vigilante. What do you think?”
Honestly? I fucking loved it. I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I shrugged. “I think people—mostly guys—are going to look at it and ask you about your vag.”
She grinned. “I hope they do. Then I can try out some of the things we’ve learned in class on them.” The girls laughed again. I frowned. Some guy making a stupid remark was hardly a reason to punch him in the throat. And did Zoe really think that after just a handful of classes she was ready to take on a guy?
“Hey,” Caitlin said. “Draw a V on me.” She turned her back as Zoe dug a pink Sharpie out of her bag, presenting her right shoulder. Some of the other girls exclaimed that they wanted one too.
I forced a smile. I wasn’t sure what was going on, and it made me feel weird—like my balance was off. Surreal. When Zoe asked me if I wanted her to draw a V on me as well, I shook my head. The bell rang so we all filed inside.
“Hey,” Zoe said, falling into step beside me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Just tired.”
A sly smile widened her lips. “That’s right. You went to see your guy last night. Did he keep you up late?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “A little.” Of course, I wasn’t going to tell her about the kissing and the crying and the more kissing. Or the fact that Gabriel wanted to take things slow. That was private.
But Zoe didn’t push, and she didn’t ask any more questions. I was starting to really like her. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Nobody could ever replace Magda. She’d been my best friend forever, and she always would be, but Zoe made me feel like being social again. She made me feel like maybe the rest of my life wasn’t going to be so damn lonely.
On our way to homeroom we walked by Drew, Adam, Brody and Jason. They stood against the wall with their little cluster of sycophants. The group seemed smaller than it had at the beginning of the year. Brody and Jason didn’t look as cocky as they used to.
“What’s the V for?” Drew asked, leering at Zoe’s chest. “Virgin?” His remark was so close to what I had said just a little while ago that I felt sick.
“No.” Zoe smiled at him before turning her amusement on Brody and Jason. “You guys know what it means, don’t you?”
Jason flushed and looked away. Brody glared at her. “Fuck off, bitch.”
All eyes were on Zoe. People actually stopped in the hallway and watched what was going on. My friend laughed. “Poor Brody. How long were you in that car before somebody found you? Did you have to bathe in makeup remover to get all the lipstick off, Revlon?”
A few of the people watching laughed. Brody took a step away from the wall toward Zoe, his fists clenched at his sides.
I took a step forward, about to put myself between the two of them and maybe kick him in the head again. But Zoe closed the distance between them, so that they were almost nose to nose.
“Go for it,” she taunted, flashing him a mocking smile. “I’m sure everyone here would love to see you get your ass handed to you by another girl, you pathetic sack of shit.”
Brody’s face flushed dark. He didn’t hit her, but he grabbed her by the throat, shoving her across the hall into a row of lockers that rattled with the impact. I dropped my books and lunged for him, but stopped when he suddenly released her. I glanced down and almost laughed.
Zoe had grabbed him between the legs and given his balls a little twist. Okay, so maybe she was ready to take on a guy.
“Touch me again,” she warned, “and I’ll take these off.” She gave him a push and moved away from the lockers. I picked up my books as some of the people around us laughed and cheered. It wasn’t all supportive. I heard at least two guys and one girl called Zoe a bitch, and two other people urged Brody to hit her. I grabbe
d her arm and pulled her through the crowd. I didn’t stop or let go until we reached homeroom.
Just before we went inside, I turned on her. “What the fuck was that about?” I demanded. “He could’ve hurt you.”
She looked surprised. “I had him. You saw that.”
“You had him by the balls, yeah. And he had two fists free that he could’ve used on you. You humiliated him in front of his friends. The whole school will know about this in less than an hour. He’s going to want revenge. What the hell were you thinking?” God, I sounded like Gabriel. I was suddenly very aware of what it was like to be worried for someone I cared about.
Zoe frowned at me. “I can take care of myself.”
“You’ve had three self-defense classes. If he hurts you...” I ran my hand through my hair. “I don’t even want to think about it. You know what he did to Magda. And she hadn’t done anything to him. He just thought raping her would be fun.” I shook my head.
Zoe’s eyes were wide as she stared at me. “I’m sorry. I just... I just wanted to stand up to them, because of what they did to her. What they did to you.”
I blinked. “What they did to me?” I frowned. “They didn’t touch me.”
Her expression was sympathetic, pitying almost. “Oh, Hadley. They didn’t have to.” Then she walked into the classroom, leaving me alone with her words echoing in my head.
CHAPTER 13
The next week passed by uneventfully. Gabriel had to work on the weekend, so I didn’t see him at all, not even when I went to Magda’s grave. It was raining, so I didn’t stay as long as I normally did, but that was okay. I didn’t need to be at her grave to feel like she was with me.
Zoe and I went to a movie on Saturday, and then I spent the rest of the weekend studying for a test on Monday.
That week, nominations for Homecoming King and Queen strutted around the school like getting a cheap crown and their photo taken might actually impact their lives. I didn’t really know the three girls up for queen, and Jason and Adam were two of the three guys in the running for king. One of them was going to win, and it was probably going to be Adam. Jason had gotten quiet since I made him infamous. I actually felt a twinge of conscience because of it—but just a small one. He deserved to be outed. He deserved the way people looked at him now—as though he wasn’t to be trusted. They looked at Brody the same way, and soon they’d see Adam and Drew as they really were too.