Read Online Broken by Dean Murray - Free Book Online Page B

the
combatants. Normally everyone pressed in tight for the best
possible view.
    The spectators in this fight seemed divided
into two groups, with a fairly significant space between them. The
rest of the students seemed to be reluctant to fill that gap in. It
wasn't until Britney pulled me closer that I understood why.
    Brandon stood surrounded by his friends on
one side of the circle, with Alec and a smaller group standing
opposite them. The tension in the room was like the air before a
lightning strike, charged and unpredictable, a living organism on
the point of materializing out of thin air and attacking anything
surrounding it.
    Taking in the two groups, I was amazed at the
disparity before my eyes. The kids behind Brandon were half again
as many as the gathering behind Alec, and they were eager for the
confrontation, watching with excited eyes, and large smiles.
    Alec's company on the other hand awaited the
coming fight with calm exteriors and a sense they were bowing
before the inevitable conflict without conceding anything to their
opponents. They were fewer in number, but the men were larger than
anyone other than Alec or Brandon, and I somehow knew even the
girls were dangerous.
    With a sudden start I realized the
confrontation wasn't between Brandon and Alec as I'd originally
thought. Instead the stuck up blond I'd first met in the office,
was squared off against a brunette less than three quarters her
size. As Britney pulled us even closer, almost into the dead zone
between the two factions, I finally realized the smaller girl was
Rachel.
    "You're going to get what's coming to you,
you little slut."
    The blond's voice sounded exactly like I'd
imagined, arrogant, vindictive and only barely controlled. Rachel
on the other hand sounded calm, speaking in tones I shouldn't have
been able to hear, except the spectators were unnaturally
quiet.
    "I haven't done anything to you Cassie and
you know it. This is all just an excuse."
    I looked around for teachers, but they were
still conspicuously absent. There wasn't time. Even if they arrived
right now, someone was probably going to get hurt.
    Cassie tossed her blond hair and smiled, a
plastic expression that bordered on a smirk. "Shut your lying
mouth. I'm really going to enjoy this."
    Britney had positioned herself so she could
see Brandon, as a consequence, I could see Alec's entire group, and
I was amazed by their reaction to Cassie's belligerence. Jasmin's
pretty lips drew back in something that looked almost like a snarl,
and she'd tensed up so tightly she was almost shaking.
    For a heartbeat I thought Jasmin would launch
herself at the other girl, but Alec reached over without looking,
and grabbed her arm. A stocky, middle-eastern looking boy to Alec's
right looked like he wanted to act as well, but he was looking at
Alec, and an almost imperceptible head shake stopped him.
    I'd been so busy watching the byplay behind
Rachel that I'd missed the last two exchanges between her and
Cassie. Whatever had been said must have been bad though. Rachel
was shaking, and the blond looked like someone about to pull the
wings off a butterfly.
    I could feel my heartbeat climbing, slamming
away at my ribs with all the energy of a full blown panic attack,
but I wasn't dizzy, just scared.
    The cafeteria workers had all turned around
so their backs were facing us, a sight which kindled the first
spark of anger, an emotion that burned brighter because of the fear
still coursing through me.
    There was a gasp as Cassie shoved Rachel, a
misleadingly-casual motion that sent the smaller girl stumbling
back into Alec's chest hard enough to leave bruises.
    The typical catcalls were still absent, it
was as if nobody viewed this as a normal fight, like there was
somehow more at stake.
    I'd been waiting for someone to intervene on
Rachel's behalf. It was obvious she knew nothing about fighting.
Cassie wasn't the kind of girl to fight just to prove a point and
then forget about the incident