Ignite

Everyone gathered in the corridor of Castle Gate Grammar as the girl lay helplessly, and with defensiveness. “What’s going on?” Christiano asked Marco. “Not sure.” “Looks like Colton is beating the s**t out of someone again,” Marco said. “Come on, let’s take a look. What harm could it possibly do?” They shrugged their shoulders, following Christiano. The four boys were the most feared in the school, apart from Colton and his friends. They approached the crowd, which cleared instantly when they saw the four boys. They looked at Colton and his friends who were holding a girl down and beating the living s**t out of her. They looked at each other and nodded. Without further ado, they strode towards the four teens who had pinned the girl down. Christiano grabbed Colton, pulling him off the girl. The other three brothers pulled Colton’s friends away from her and started beating the s**t out of them. Christiano threw punch after punch at Colton. “Never hit a girl, especially one that can’t fight back. Four on one isn’t a fair fight. Did your mom ever teach you how to respect a girl?” “f**k off Chris, you’re no different.” “I’m better than you, now f**k off and never touch her again, or I will personally break every f*****g bone in your body.” He said, losing him. He looked at his friends and nodded and then ran. Christiano held his hand out, the girl looked at him confused and shaken. “Take it.” She placed her hand on his. He wrapped it around her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Thanks.” “My pleasure.” “Sawyer.” “Christiano.” “I know enough to know who you are.” “Good, then there’s no need for formalities then.” “Why did you help me?” “Four on one is hardly fair, sweetheart.” “But why?” “He’s an ass and I f*****g hate the ground he walks on.” He looked at her. “You seriously need to stick up for yourself and fight back.” “Who’s going to teach me? I have no friends.” “Well, now you have.” He looked at her. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll help you to fight these assholes off if you join us.” “I..” “That’s my deal, sweetheart, take it or leave it.” She thought for a second. What had she to lose? If she could fight these assholes back and show she wasn’t afraid of them, maybe just maybe they’d back off. They walked down the corridor, his arm over her shoulders as they came to the room for her next lesson. “If you need me I’ll be next door. We’ll have a break and lunch together. We’ll be in a few of your lessons today, so no one will say anything to you. We need to discuss the terms of our contract by the end of the week.” “What contract?” “I’ll have it drawn up and all we have to do is sign it.” She looked unsure at him. He kissed her forehead. Taking his arm off her shoulders, “I’ll be waiting here for you, okay.” “Okay.” He smiled and walked away as she entered the class. What she didn’t realize that day all would change for the worse. At the end of the week “We need to discuss the contract.” “What contract?” “For this to work we need to make sure you know where you stand and what you have to do to get our protection.” “Sure.” “Take a seat, Sawyer.” She sat next to Christiano nervously. He pulled out the folder. “Right, for this to work in your favor as well as mine, so I have drawn up a contract.” “Okay.” She said, nervously. “First, I will teach you everything I know so that you can fight back, but to do this you must agree to move into my house once you turn sixteen.”