Chapter 29

                                    

                                          
Chapter 29
                          

                          

                          
“You son of a bitch!” Craig hissed through tightly clenched teeth. Using the back of his hand he wiped at his bloody nose and pinned Justin with a fierce gaze. “You’re going to pay for that.”
                          
Justin grunted and took a step forward, raising a single mocking brow in his direction but didn’t say a solitary word. He pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows and stood in front of him, daring Craig to make a move. All he thought about the night before was what this asshole had done to Chloe. The story that Cory had told him made the blood in his veins run bitterly cold and he wanted nothing more than to smash the guy that was standing in front of him in the nose again. He had taken advantage of Chloe and the feelings that she had for him. He pushed himself and his friends on her and convinced her that it was the right thing to do all the while stealing away what was left of her innocence.
                          
And if that wasn’t bad enough, after the deed was done, he and his group of cohorts had condemned her for it. No wonder she acted the way she had towards him and his friends. Justin couldn’t blame her. What Craig had done was wrong in every sense of the word and no matter what, he was going to make sure that Chloe got her pound of flesh from the asshole that had hurt her before this was all said and done.
                          
“Wrong again,” Justin said just barely above a whisper but clearly loud enough for Craig to hear the warning. Balling his fist up again, he drew off of every drop of anger that had been simmering inside of him since he found out Chloe’s truth and before Craig could move, he let it fly again.
                          
Chloe was stunned speechless. One minute she was facing off her biggest fear and the next, Justin Pinnix of all people showed up, punching him in the nose. Unable to move, she didn’t have a clue as to why he was here in the first place or why he was in Craig’s face now.
                          
As the shock of seeing him started to wear off, she noticed Craig’s bloody nose and heard him tell Justin that he was going to pay for that. Her own anger started to raise, anger because Justin showed up, anger because this was supposed to be her fight with Craig and anger because she had been pushed aside.
                          
No more! She promised herself this morning that she would not let Craig or any other guy for that matter hurt her again. She was only seconds away from approaching the two guys that were now standing chest to chest with each other, ready to give them both a piece of her mind when she spotted Tyler out of the corner of her eyes. He was holding up an aluminum baseball bat and was slowly sneaking up behind Justin.
                          
“No!” Chloe gasped. “Justin, behind you!” She screamed out and at the same time she turned to see Justin taking another swing at Craig. A crowd had gathered around them and total pandemonium ensued.
                          
Out of nowhere Cory came running out of the crowd that now surrounded them and bulldozed Tyler to the ground before he could get a hit on Justin. Justin and Craig rolled in the parking lot, getting their licks in. The sound of fist hitting flesh filled the afternoon air and Chloe wasn’t sure what to do now.  
                          
She glanced to her side and spotted Cory sitting on top of Tyler, restraining his wrists against the pavement and ignoring his curses while Craig and Justin continued to go all out in what Chloe thought looked to be a pretty even match. At one point Craig straddled Justin, holding him down with the flat of his arm and Justin bucked his back, throwing Craig off of him. They both stood up facing each other, with their hands laid out to their sides, breathing heavily and waiting for the other’s next move.
                          
This is stupid! Chloe thought to her herself as she witnessed the craziness before her. Craig threw an elbow and caught Justin’s temple, knocking him off balance. Justin recovered and lowered his shoulder, ramming it into Craig’s gut, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a heap once again.