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Thirty-One
My mouth was partly open as I stared at the house we were pulling up to in shock. It was huge, and I could see movement from the front curtain. Houses like this, I had only ever seen in movies.
"Don't tell me that you're pulling an Annie on me," I said to Jennifer as she pulled into the rounded driveway. There were several cars parked along the side of the house, and I had to wonder if they were having a party of some kind.
"Not really. You actually got really lucky. This family saw your file, and they pulled a lot of strings to get you assigned to them. They tried for your sister too, but that didn't work out." I turned to stare at her as she explained, watching the fascinating lack of emotion as she spoke. "I've worked with them one time before, and they were just a family who had too much money seemed to be taking on too much. They have heart. I'll give them that. I was surprised they were allowed to take in another kid. It seems even after their foster kids turn
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KNOCKOUT Thirty-Two
The next morning, I discovered Terry hadn't been kidding when she said she got up early. I had sent a text to Jessie asking him to break me out of my most recent prison and was just waiting for him to wake up and respond when she found me on the couch fully dressed to make a break for it. I wasn't running away. I just wanted to get away from the strange house with its strange people inside. There were too many things happening in my life, and I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't take a break from them. "Okay, so here is the living room, this is the dining room.." I nodded at her with each room as she took me around the ground floor. There was only one bedroom downstairs, and I wondered why but she didn't explain. "This is Liam and Bri's room, everyone else lives upstairs. You'll meet the whole gang later." She glanced at the gold watch on her wrist before clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "It's about time for everyone to start waking up
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Three
Meeting Liam was interesting. He walked in, placed the plate of food down on the dresser with a quick, "Terry said you need to finish this before you can take your pain meds." And then he was gone before I could say hi. I didn't mind as I was in the middle of a good, snot-running cry, but I did have a talk with Terry after she got back from running errands to confirm that he wasn't a threat. He was big and deadly-looking but didn't seem too interested in me, or Jessie. He wanted to get in and out as quick as possible. I did convince Terry to apply for an exception to let me finish out the year at my old school. It was a bit of a drive, but it would be worth it to stay with Jessie. I wasn't ready to be the new girl all on my own yet. After school, Jessie came with me to my old house. Nothing had changed since my visit there a couple days ago, but I did my best not to look at the blood on the floor. It gave Jessie a bit of a pause when he saw it. I pick
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Four
I left and waited outside for only a minute before the guys showed up. They 'oh'd and awe'd' at Julie's new living situation, but moved past it as soon as the club was brought up again. I was shoved into the back seat of the car, and we were off. We ended up driving downtown to an old warehouse. We parked a block away and walked in. There was a huge crowd of people yelling and cheering around a fighting cage. Adrenaline started pumping through my veins, and I wasn't even fighting. This was my kind of place. I loved being here and enjoying the rush of the crowd, the loud music, and the show of aggression. It all just worked without being too much. I could watch this kind of shit and not have to think about anything else. Julie would so not approve of this. She was just talking about needing anger management help before everything happened at her house. Coming to a place like this would probably fuel her. Wait! Snap out of it! This is guy's time.
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Five
Jessie wasn't in third hour either, so I just laid my head down on the desk and closed my eyes. About five minutes after the bell rang, something hit my head and my head snapped up off the desk. I looked around but no one was even looking at me. I was about to put my head back down when I saw the ball of paper on the floor by my desk and curiosity got the better of me. I reached down and picked it up. Quietly unfolding it, I tried to straighten the paper so it was readable. Julie, Congratulations! Even God hates you! Why else would he let what happened to your family happen? I really hope that your foster family hates you as much as your birth family did. You don't deserve Jessie, and he doesn't want you anymore. By the way, I heard that you were the reason your mother was murdered. How do you sleep at night? Love, anonymous. I stood up quickly and grabbed my bag ignoring the tears that were threatening to spill over. "And, whe
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Six
It was only a couple hours later when my phone started ringing. I was surprised because everyone should have been in school still. I looked down at the collar I.D. and saw it was Mike. "Hello?" "Hey, Julie. I heard something happened at school. You holding up okay?" He sounded nervous, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the topic he was approaching or if it was something else. It was weird enough that he was calling me for the first time. We were friendly because of Jessie, but we weren't direct friends. "I'm doing fine. I just had a lot to deal with and wanted to get away from it all. Have you heard from Jessie?" I said calmly. "Yeah, we had a guys' night last night, and uh, he got a little drunker than we expected. He is really hungover today." He spit the last part out in a rush, but the waver in his voice and the tone he was using didn't sit well with me. "Mike? Why do I have the feeling that there's something you are hiding from me? I
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Seven
I was running through the dark forest, branches, and bushes scratching against my arms and legs as I pushed through the foliage. The sound of crunching leaves and rapid footsteps to my right had me looking over, only to see Chris. I stumbled when I saw her, the small nagging in the back of my mind telling me that it wasn't real because she was dead. But, that didn't stop the dread weighing my stomach down. I knew someone was chasing us. I didn't need to see them or hear them to know they were there. The tickle in the back of my mind from their close proximity had the small hairs on the back of my neck standing up. As I turned my head to get an idea of what beast was after us, I saw the looming shadow of a large figure creeping closer. I pushed myself faster and looked straight ahead of me, praying Chris would speed up as well. If we didn't get to the tree line, it would be over. We would be trapped. "You're a liar!" I screamed,
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Eight
"Does Terry and Ryan give out allowances?" I asked timidly, embarrassed that he just got back from working for his money, and I was just asking for a handout. He nodded his head, "They do, but you have to set up a chore plan with them to earn it. Do you need money?" I shook my head, and redness filled my cheeks. If this continued, I would need to get a job. I was grateful enough that Ryan added me to their phone plan and contributed to my gas, but it was embarrassing not being able to pay for things. As soon as I got my cut from the estate once it was settled, I would be more comfortable. "No, not really. I was thinking I could take her to iHop for lunch. I used to love going there with my dad, but we can go another time. I'll talk to Terry about chores when she gets home." "I wouldn't mind getting iHop. We go there pretty often actually." He scanned me over before nodding and moving forward to pull the sleeping Bri off my lap. "Go get dressed, and we can all
KNOCKOUT Thirty-Nine
"Julie, I'm not hiding anything from you." He swallowed hard but moved forward to place his hands on my hips. Jessie pulled me to him by my waist, and I blushed as our bodies pressed together. The heat and comfort felt vanished as soon as I looked into his eyes. He looked tense, worried. Something was going on, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. I pulled away from him reluctantly. A flash of pain crossed his face. It only confirmed my suspicions. "Well, Mike was acting really weird on the phone. That and the fact that it was him who called me. Tell me why you could contact him, but you couldn't even send me a text. It makes me feel like you were avoiding me. Even now, you aren't acting like yourself." My hands started to shake, so I pressed them down against my thighs. "Because I knew you would disapprove of me drinking on a school night." I nodded with my lips pursed. He was right, I would disapprove, but that didn't change the way his v
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