Falling For The Girl I Bullied

I WANT FRIENDS LIKE THEM

Violet’s P.O.V.

“If you want, then I can drop you at your home. It’s already late”, Jenny asked me with concern. Tonight the diner was more crowded than on other days. So, we closed late tonight. It was already ten at night. “Nah… I will be alright. I have to buy some necessities from 24X7. I will text you when I reach home”, I politely refused her help because her house was in the opposite direction from the diner and it will not be good even for her to travel alone at the night too. “Are you sure?” she asked me with concern once again and I smiled at her. “Yeah… I am sure”, I said with a genuine smile and then we both parted away.

I took a deep breath and then started walking towards the grocery store. I need some supplies that I forgot to buy a few days ago when I came for shopping. The grocery store was only twenty minutes' walking distance from the diner. The road was not so deserted as to give a creepy feeling. I put on my earplugs while walking towards the store. Jenny and I had our dinner at the diner tonight. So, all I needed was to finish my homework. I was really lucky that I didn’t have Kyle’s homework with me tonight. It meant that I could have an extra sleeping hour. “Good evening Mrs Fredrick… how are you?” I greeted the store owner, Mrs Fredrick, who was in her late fifties. She was a lovely short lady with now all white hair. She was a good friend of my grandmother and she was also friendly with me.

“Good evening, honey… you are late tonight”, she greeted me back with a genuine smile and showed her concern about time. “Yeah.. the diner was packed tonight”, I replied to her while taking a shopping cart. “Be quick so that you can reach home early”, she ushered me in a friendly tone and I smiled again. I immediately went towards the shelves where the things were placed that I needed to buy. I finished my shopping quickly and then paid for my things. “You shouldn’t come so late, honey. Next time, just give me a call and I will shop for you and then will send to your home or the diner. You can pay me later”, Mrs Fredrick was still concerned about the time. “Thank you, Mrs Fredrick… I will keep this in mind in the future”, I gently replied to her, thanking her for her concern.

When I came out of the store, the roads were almost deserted and I knew that I had to walk home as I had already missed the last bus. So I had no option but to walk home. I balanced the grocery bag in my hands and my bag pack on my back and started walking towards home. Luckily there were still some people at the road. I had to walk for more than half an hour to reach home and I was really tired by now. With ear-plugs in my ears, I decided not to give attention to my tiredness and kept on walking. The weather was not so hot, not so cool and the light air made me enjoy my walk towards my house. There were a few vehicles on the road too. A car suddenly passed in a high speed on the road but I didn’t pay attention to it. I was sure that someone from a rich family was driving that car as it was the latest model of BMW.

“Aaaahhhhh”, I screamed in horror when suddenly a car honked behind me out of the blue. My grip on my shopping bag tightened and I almost fell down in fear but somehow managed to stay on my feet. “Hahahahahahaha”, someone laughed aloud behind me. I grabbed the lamp post at the corner of the path and took a few deep breaths before looking behind. “O My God, Carter… you really are a scary cat”, I heard Ethan’s voice mocking me and my heart skipped a beat. I wouldn’t dare to look behind but I knew that I had to. I gripped hard the shopping bag and then slowly moved towards him. My breath hitched when I saw Dustin and Noah with him. They all were standing outside the car in simple jeans and t-shirts right now.

I didn’t say anything but tried to keep myself calm. It was already torture for me that they bullied me in school. I just wished that they didn’t anything to me here in the middle of the road. “Where are you going now?” Noah asked me in a light tone after their laughter died. “H… home”, I uttered the word but slapped myself internally for stuttering again. They were still standing a little far from me and from the distance between us, they couldn’t do anything to me. Still, I was scared. “I will drop you… come on”, Ethan said in a light tone and I snapped my head up while looking at them with wide eyes in fear. “N.. no.. no.. no… than… thanks for the help… b.. but I.. am okay”, I immediately refused his help. There was no way that I would take a ride with them in the closed space of Ethan’s car.

He rolled his eyes and then walked towards me. I took a few steps backwards but he didn’t give me a chance to escape him. “I am not asking you, Carter. I am telling you that you are coming with us and I will drop you to your home. There are some drunken men in the next alley and I am sure that you are not foolish enough to walk there alone at this time of night”, Ethan almost lectured me in a firm tone while taking my grocery bag from my hand. Correction, he almost snatched the bag from me. I felt beads of sweat on my forehead when I heard about drunken men. “Come on, Carter… what are you thinking?” he yelled while looking impatient, and pulled me with him from my arm.

I had no other way but to follow him or, should I say, let him drag me with him. Dustin and Noah once again laughed at me but entered the car. Ethan gave the bag to Noah who was now sitting in the back seat with Dustin. Ethan almost threw me on the passenger’s seat and I was really glad that he allowed me to sit in the passenger’s seat. “We saw you walking alone when we passed you a while ago. Then we saw those men there. There is no way that we will allow anyone else than us to bully you”, I heard Noah teasing me and looked back at him in surprise. He winked at me and smiled slyly. I just blinked and looked back at my front again.

Ethan ignited the engine and started driving. “Why are you so late tonight, huh?” Ethan asked me after some time. They knew about my part job in the diner. So, I had nothing to hide from them. “T… the diner wa… was pack tonight and… I n.. needed some items for home”, I told him truthfully and he nodded. “Still you should stay alert, Carter”, he said in a low but serious tone. As we passed the next alley, he looked out of the car from his side and I followed his gaze. I gulped hard and tightened my grip on the seat belt when I saw a few men fighting and yelling at each other. They all were drunk and I shuddered hard while thinking about what would happen to me if I had passed from there.

“Carter”, Ethan suddenly yelled at me and I looked at him blankly. “O God…. She really has wild imagination”, Dustin laughed at me while pointing a finger towards me. Ethan and Noah also laughed with him while shaking their heads. I hung my head low in embarrassment when I realized that I zoned out while thinking about all the bad things that could happen to me if I passed that alley full of drunk men. They laughed harder at my embarrassment and I just closed my eyes. I yelped in pain when Ethan hit me on my head with his knuckle. It was only a light hit but it was my fear that made me yelp. “Don’t let your imagination go so wild”, he scolded me in a light tone while laughing at me.

I couldn’t deny that I was annoyed by their teasing but this time, it was me who gave him a reason to laugh at me. So, I couldn’t blame them. In fact, I was thankful to them that they decided to come back and gave me a ride to my home. Suddenly, Noah’s phone started ringing, making all of them stop laughing. “It’s Kyle”, he informed us and my heart skipped a beat in fear. I was still a little far from my home and I didn’t want him to meet us anywhere in the middle. “Hey buddy”, Noah greeted him after picking up the call but went silent. “I am with Dustin and Ethan right now. We are coming to get you. Don’t go anywhere and stay wherever you are”, he instructed him in a serious tone.

“He is drunk and is in a park near school”, Noah informed us and I looked at Ethan in anticipation. Ethan clenched his jaw and his grip on the wheel tightened immediately. “Let’s drop Violet first”, he said in a serious but cold tone and I blew a breath of relief internally. I didn’t want to meet Kyle right now, not in the state when he was drunk. There was silence in the car after that, as no one said anything. I glanced at everyone meekly and found them looking upset. I was sure that they were worried about Kyle. I was envious of Kyle because he had friends like them who worried about him and were ready to do anything for him. Ethan stopped the car in front of my house at the other side of the road. I immediately unbuckled myself and got down from the car. “Thanks for the ride, Ethan”, I thanked him and then looked at Noah who was also standing outside the car with my shopping bag. I passed a small but nervous smile to him and took the bag. “Thank you”, I thanked him and he smiled back weakly before hopping inside the car again.