Hated (3 page)

Chapter 4

Antonio
Caine

Boston 7:30 am
Tuesday February 13
th
2029

“Antonio, what’s the matter?” my father asked. I looked up from my breakfast then back down at it; the food suddenly didn’t seem very appetizing. I pushed it away and looked at my father.

“Nothing father,” I replied crossing my arms.

“I know this is a little sudden but well I think its best that we stay at one school until you finish,” my father said clasping his hands together.

“It’s not that I don’t
like this idea but whose idea was that?” I asked

“It was Darcy’s idea but I agree with it,” he said before I could protest.

“Can you stop agreeing with her all the time?” I asked glaring at him. My father sighed and shook his head.

“When you fall in love as deeply as I have then you can talk to me about this,” he replied. I
got up and left without another word. I couldn’t believe him, out of the whole wide world he wanted to keep her. I went to my room and shut the door behind me. Today was the weekend, a Saturday to be exact. I will be a new student to this school, and it should be the same as every other school…I hope. I shook my head I mean it will be the same…but I have this feeling that something different might happen.

“Antonio
I have something for you,” my father called.

“Coming,
” I yelled. When I got there my father had a leash in his hand.

“
You don’t make any friends at school and I think you need a friend,” he said and handed me the leash. “Go to the pound and pick a dog.” I looked at the leash in my hand then at my father with a quizzing expression on my face.

“I mean it,” he told me sternly. “It’s either that or you have to make a friend, it’s your cho
ice. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some business to attend to.”

I left the room with a scowl on my face. Why didn’
t he just leave me alone? I had a feeling that this wasn’t his idea, either. Damn you Darcy, damn you. I went out the front door and got on my motorcycle. I drove up to the gate and pressed in the numbers to open the gate.

I might go get a coffee
first, the cold was starting to get to me. I drove around looking for a nice coffee shop to stop at. I spotted a nice little shop around the corner. A quaint little place called Coffee Corners. I didn’t see that place when we came in. It seemed kind of nice and…quiet. I went into the back and parked my bike in between a sliver Ford Escape and a black Hummer. Didn’t they stop making that model?

I walked along the sidewalk from the back of the store to the front
. The shop was like an old fashioned country-style coffee parlour, at least that’s what it looked like on the outside. When I walked in it had a very modern and very comfortable environment to it. Comfy chairs sat around glass tables and people sat with their coffee either reading the news paper, searching the web on one of the laptops or chatting with some friends.

This
was definitely one of those places were people like to get together at, or were you take your girlfriend to on a casual date. I walked towards the counter. I saw people glance then turn away when I looked at them. They whispered but I didn’t care I was used to people being afraid of me. I looked towards the counter and saw the workers whisper to each other.

The girl at the cash register didn’t seem to even notice my approach. But a friend of hers’
pointed me out. She looked up at me and then talked to the person beside her. By then I was in earshot.

“…
kind of cute…” the girl at the cash register said, she had brown hair that had a certain wave to it. She looked kind of cute. I mentally shook myself. Don’t think stuff like that.

“Crazy is more like it,” the other girl said, she had brown hair also but her hair was straight and
had blond streaks in it. The brown haired girl waved her friend’s comment off. The brown and blond haired girl looked up at me, and then went in the back with the others to pretend to work on something. Brown haired girl rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

I reached the counter in time to hear a little bit of what she muttered. How
can a pretty girl such as her have such a trucker mouth? I cleared my throat and she looked up to meet my eyes. She had to crane her neck a little because I’m fairly tall.

“Well aren’t you a tall one,” she said and smiled, “and handsome, too.”
That smile and comment caught me off guard and her dazzling green eyes made me go into a stunned silence.

“Great another one,” she muttered and looked at the counter. I didn’t know what to say, but she saved me by sighing and looked up at me again.

“I know your type,” she said then sighed again. “Anyway what can I get you?” I narrowed my eyes what did she mean by that?

“I’ll have regular café mocha,” I replied through clenched teeth. She didn’t seem to be bothered at all by me. She probably thought I was just some snooty rich kid.
She turned and walked toward the machines to start making my café mocha. Or should I say limped toward the machines? She had my café mocha ready in a much shorter amount of time then I expected anyone to have one done in. She brought it over and tried to hide her limp as she walked.

“Okay, that’ll be $2.75,” she said to me. I glanced at the menu and it said that café mocha was $3.75. I raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged and smiled.

“I’ll just say you made my day, and you can be off,” she told me. A corner of my mouth turned up, and her smile finally reached her eyes. I hid my emotions again, deeper this time.

“Well it was nice while it lasted,” she sighed. I handed her the money and a little extra.

“What’s your name?” I asked her and for a second she looked like a deer caught in head lights. Then she quickly recovered and relaxed.

“Only if you tell me yours,” she replied playfully.

“My name is Antonio,” I said and gestured for her to say her name.

“My name is Stephanie,” she told me.

“Well it was nice meeting you, Stephanie,” I mumbled suddenly a little uncomfortable.

“Like wise, Antonio,”
she replied. I could see her co-workers in the back watching. Then I knew why I was so uncomfortable, they were very protective of her. I could see it in their eyes as they watched. She glanced back and saw them staring at her. When they saw her looking at them they went back to ‘work’. Stephanie shook her head.

“I think you
’d better go,” she whispered, I nodded and headed toward the door. I stopped at the door and turned around to look at Stephanie for the last time. She smiled and waved. I nodded to her and left. I walked to the back of the shop and went to find my motorcycle. I drank my café mocha as I looked, but I had this strange feeling that someone was watching me. I glanced out of the corner of eye and I thought I saw someone. I looked the other way and had the same result.

Who was following me? I kept searching for my bike,
and ignored the feeling of being followed. It was probably someone looking for their car. I found my bike where I had left it at the back of the shop in between the Hummer and the Ford Escape. But someone was leaning against my bike. I clenched my fists and tried not to lose my temper.

“Why are you leaning on my bike?” I asked him through clenched
teeth.

“What no, ‘who are you’ or ‘what do you want?’” he replied and shook his head. “Such horrible manners, I wonder why Steph even bothered to talk to you.”

I was about to teach that guy what happens when you touch my bike. I took one step forward and next thing I knew I was being held up by two other guys while the guy, who was on my motorcycle, was punching me in the gut. I think I was hit several other times because I felt light headed and my back was sore. He hit me again and I coughed up some blood. He was about to do a knock out blow when we heard a voice.

“What are you guys doing?” the girl voice asked. They turned around and saw Stephanie leaning up against the wall of the building. She crossed
her arms and narrowed her eyes when she saw me.

“Do you guys ever read signs?” she asked and we all had weird expressions on our faces. She pointed to the sign that read: NO FIGHTING IN PARKING LOT OR YOU SHALL BE SENT TO JAIL OR FINED $500.

“How long has that sign been there?” blond guy asked his speech wavered a little.

“Seven years
,” she replied looking at her finger nails.

“Then how come we’ve never noticed it?” brown haired guy asked she shrugged her shoulders.

“I have no idea,” she said to them. “But how about you let him go and I won’t let the boss know about this little incident, okay?”

“What’s in it for you
?” the other blond guy asked, Stephanie smiled.

“I’m glad you asked,” she commented. “I have the satisfaction of you guys not bugging
me every day because I have something hanging over your heads.”

They glared at her and she just sm
iled. They dropped me and blond guy number one walked over to her and his face was just inches from her face.

“What are you going to do if we don’t?” he asked, she coughed and waved a hand in front of her nose.

“You smoke?” she asked and coughed again. “Anyway I don’t need to tell my boss, I could kick your ass myself.”

All the guys burst into laughter, except me because I was kind of lost in the pain and worried about what would happen to her. I knew that she had a limp, which means that one of her legs wasn’t
up to par with the rest of her. What could a little girl like her do to the tall and strong guys, like Blondie?

I didn’t see it coming and I don’
t think anyone else did either. But Blondie was out cold on the ground before anyone could register what happened.

“I told you I would kick your ass,” Stephanie said her voice cold and full of venom. “Do I have to teach anybody else a lesson?”
The guys shook their heads scared by Stephanie’s violence, I know I was. “Good, now take him and get out of here.”

The guys grabbed Blondie and ran out the end of the alley. She snorted
in their direction and turned her attention to me. When she looked at me it wasn’t with sympathy, it was as if she was saying I told you so. But what did she tell me and when? Oh yeah, when she said she wanted me to leave. I guess I missed the under lining meaning to it, oops.

“Are you able to stand?” Stephanie asked me
, I attempted to stand but I only got into a sitting position before I felt like my chest was on fire. Stephanie moved me so that I was leaning against the building. She undid my jacket and felt around my ribs, my back and my face. I winced at almost every place touched. She nodded and zipped up my jacket.

“A couple of bruised
ribs and some pretty bad bruising every where else,” she said half to herself. “You might have a headache tomorrow and probably some swelling, as well as the pain from the ribs. But other then that you should be fine.”

“How do you know so much?” I asked.

“I read a lot of books,” she replied, “that and my brothers get into a lot of fights. Is this your bike?” I nodded and she got up to look at it. She looked at the bike, then back to me, then at the bike again.

“I’ll
be back in a minute,” she told me and headed out of the alley. So I was left on the cold, wet ground in the dark alley. With me having very little mobility and with my ribs that might be broken, yeah not fun. But she came back and knelt down in front of me.

“Alright my
boss said I could take a break, but if something happens I have to come back in,” she told me.

“Why did
you take a break?” I asked her.

“To make sure you don’t freeze to death,” she replied as if it was obvious. She helped me to stand and I groaned inwardly. I did take several fighting classes and I have been in fights before
, but being hit from behind and then being held down and punched was a new low for me. I leaned against her as I breathed in and out through my clenched teeth. Although I towered over her, but she stood very strong and sturdy under my weight and she didn’t complain.

“We’re going to have to use your bike, because I don’t have a car and I don’t think you want to take the bus,” she explained. I nodded and let her help me to the bike. She put me on the back of the bike and got on the front.

“What are you doing?” I asked her as she started up the bike.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked and backed up the
bike. I glared at her but it didn’t do any good she just ignored me and continued to position the bike. I put on my helmet and I noticed that she didn’t have one. I was about to offer her mine, when she kicked it into gear and we sped off into the streets. I clung onto her so I wouldn’t fall off as we went down backstreets and ducked through alleyways.

“Where are we going?” I yelled over the sound of the engine.

“My place,” she yelled back, and chuckled before ducking down another alley.