her at an even clip. For a moment, she wasn’t sure how to react, having never heard anyone come up behind her on that street. Jackson Avenue ended in a cul-de-sac and stretched all the way past the school towards Jefferson Street. None of the kids from her school lived around her. She had always been the only one to walk to school from the cul-de-sac. To hear footsteps was a thing of wonder.
She b egan to turn, curious to see the owner of the heavy boots, when a gust of wind snatched the umbrella from her grasp and flung it into the deserted street. Sophie yelped as rain splashed against her face. Her hair whipped across her eyes, blinding her. Cursing, she pushed her hair back and turned. Spencer was behind her, head down, hands buried almost to the elbows inside his pockets. He wore black jeans again, black boots and a Black Sabbath t-shirt under a forest green cargo jacket. There was a backpack slung over one shoulder and his hair was plastered to his face. He hadn’t noticed her, which gave her some hope. She could probably just walk away without ever having to make contact. But that would mean abandoning her umbrella and her mother had already warned her about losing another one. Getting skinned alive for something so small just seemed stupid, but she liked her skin.
With an exasperated sigh, she darted off the curb towards the umbrella not more than five feet away.
“Hey!” The frantic shout was drowned by the blare of horns and the squeal of tires. Sophie had no time to scream, when she was grabbed from behind and yanked backwards. The heel of her sneakers caught on pavement. She flailed as the world tipped. Lights flashed from the corner of her eyes. More squeals of tires, a flooding stench of burnt rubber and then she struck concrete with bruising force and was crushed beneath something heavy that knocked all the air from her lungs. The weight scurried off her, but she lay dazed and winded, mind reeling with a lot of four letter words that would have made her mother hiss.
“Sophie?” Trembling fingers swept wet tendrils of hair off her face. The soft hint of peppermint trickled into her nostrils as the voice panted anxiously. “Sophie!”
She groaned, wincing at the pain spiking off the walls of her skull. The weight above her shifted. There was a sigh of relief, a curse that matched the many swirling around inside her head and then a prayer of thanks.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” the voice growled. “Don’t you watch where the hell you’re going? You could have been killed!” Then it softened. “Where does it hurt? Can you sit up?”
Not without throwing up. Already her insides were tossing like an angry storm, threatening to come up all over her savior. Her back and neck ached, but she willed her eyes to open. The world twisted, looping like a kaleidoscope on crack. She groaned, squeezing her eyes closed before she followed through and hurled.
“Is she all right?” another voice shouted over the rain and noise. “She came out of nowhere! I tried to stop!”
“I’m calling an ambulance!” said another voice, female this time.
“Lucky you were there,” the first vo ice was babbling. “My tires skidded!”
“ Nine-one-one? Yes, I want to report an accident.”
Oh crap, Sophie thought, willing herself not to succumb to the beckoning darkness.
“I’m okay!” she groaned, struggling to push off the weight still holding her down.
“No, you’re not!” a familiar voice said. “Stop moving.”
More forcefully, she shoved at the owner of the weight. “I’m fine!” To prove it, she peeled her eyelids open and squinted at the dark figure looming over her. “I was just winded.”
Spencer hovered above her, his face ashen, his eyes very wide and dark with concern. Tendrils of hair clung to his brow. Rain traced the plains of his beautiful face. Clearly she was fine if she noticed all that, right? “You hit your head!”
“I have a hard head,” she garbled, pushing to
She b egan to turn, curious to see the owner of the heavy boots, when a gust of wind snatched the umbrella from her grasp and flung it into the deserted street. Sophie yelped as rain splashed against her face. Her hair whipped across her eyes, blinding her. Cursing, she pushed her hair back and turned. Spencer was behind her, head down, hands buried almost to the elbows inside his pockets. He wore black jeans again, black boots and a Black Sabbath t-shirt under a forest green cargo jacket. There was a backpack slung over one shoulder and his hair was plastered to his face. He hadn’t noticed her, which gave her some hope. She could probably just walk away without ever having to make contact. But that would mean abandoning her umbrella and her mother had already warned her about losing another one. Getting skinned alive for something so small just seemed stupid, but she liked her skin.
With an exasperated sigh, she darted off the curb towards the umbrella not more than five feet away.
“Hey!” The frantic shout was drowned by the blare of horns and the squeal of tires. Sophie had no time to scream, when she was grabbed from behind and yanked backwards. The heel of her sneakers caught on pavement. She flailed as the world tipped. Lights flashed from the corner of her eyes. More squeals of tires, a flooding stench of burnt rubber and then she struck concrete with bruising force and was crushed beneath something heavy that knocked all the air from her lungs. The weight scurried off her, but she lay dazed and winded, mind reeling with a lot of four letter words that would have made her mother hiss.
“Sophie?” Trembling fingers swept wet tendrils of hair off her face. The soft hint of peppermint trickled into her nostrils as the voice panted anxiously. “Sophie!”
She groaned, wincing at the pain spiking off the walls of her skull. The weight above her shifted. There was a sigh of relief, a curse that matched the many swirling around inside her head and then a prayer of thanks.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” the voice growled. “Don’t you watch where the hell you’re going? You could have been killed!” Then it softened. “Where does it hurt? Can you sit up?”
Not without throwing up. Already her insides were tossing like an angry storm, threatening to come up all over her savior. Her back and neck ached, but she willed her eyes to open. The world twisted, looping like a kaleidoscope on crack. She groaned, squeezing her eyes closed before she followed through and hurled.
“Is she all right?” another voice shouted over the rain and noise. “She came out of nowhere! I tried to stop!”
“I’m calling an ambulance!” said another voice, female this time.
“Lucky you were there,” the first vo ice was babbling. “My tires skidded!”
“ Nine-one-one? Yes, I want to report an accident.”
Oh crap, Sophie thought, willing herself not to succumb to the beckoning darkness.
“I’m okay!” she groaned, struggling to push off the weight still holding her down.
“No, you’re not!” a familiar voice said. “Stop moving.”
More forcefully, she shoved at the owner of the weight. “I’m fine!” To prove it, she peeled her eyelids open and squinted at the dark figure looming over her. “I was just winded.”
Spencer hovered above her, his face ashen, his eyes very wide and dark with concern. Tendrils of hair clung to his brow. Rain traced the plains of his beautiful face. Clearly she was fine if she noticed all that, right? “You hit your head!”
“I have a hard head,” she garbled, pushing to
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