Read Online Colorado Christmas by C. C. Coburn - Free Book Online Page B

him from crossing the street to the recreation center.
    “Goin’ for your therapy session again?” Johnny sneered.
    Nicolas fought the fear rising in his throat. “Yeah,” he said, not making eye contact, hoping and praying the much bigger boy would leave him alone.
    “When’re you gonna to learn to walk, kid?”
    “I don’t know. But I’m trying,” Nicolas said. Embarrassed about needing leg braces to help him walk properly, he didn’t need Johnny pointing it out to everyone within hearing distance.
    “Then try harder!” Johnny shouted and gave Nicolas a shove, sending him sprawling in the snow.
    A few of the other kids laughed—friends of Johnny’s, or kids who were scared of him, too. Nicolas fought back tears of humiliation as he tried to get to his feet, but it wasn’t easy on the slippery, snow-covered ground.
    None of the teachers were nearby and it didn’t look as if any of the spectators were going to come to his aid. Nicolas swallowed bitter tears as he tried to regain his footing, but the other kids just laughed harder. They all despised him.
    He’d been advanced two classes at Spruce Lake Elementary. His mother said being in a lower grade wasn’t intellectually challenging enough for him, but Nicolas hated being with the bigger kids—especially kids like Johnny.
    All he wanted was to be left alone. He hated being smart. It was no substitute for being physically normal. He didn’t fit in. He ate lunch alone and spent most of his day trying to keep out of Johnny’s way. He’d never again tell his mom he’d been bullied. Johnny had been really mad when he was hauled up to the principal’s office and he’d been even meaner since.
    “Get up, you dumb-ass weakling!” Johnny yelled, charging at Nicolas.
    Nicolas braced himself, expecting a kick to the ribs, but someone yelled, “Get lost, Cooper, you jerk!”
    Nicolas looked up into the face of an angel. “Come on,” she said, offering her hand and helping him to his feet.
    “Who’s yer girlfriend?” Johnny sneered.
    The girl released Nicolas’s hand and said, “As if you don’t know, you dumb bully! And in case any of your friends don’t know,” she said, surveying the group, “I’m Sasha O’Malley and this guy—” she drew a startled but grateful Nicolas toward her “—is a friend of mine. So don’t mess with him, okay?”
    The other kids backed off, but not Johnny. “You don’t scare me,” he scoffed.
    “Then maybe I will!”
    Another girl, a pint-size one, stood with her fists raised, lips pinched together in a grimace, eyes narrowed with challenge. Nicolas was scared of her, although she was at least six inches shorter than him.
    “Don’t waste your breath, Daisy,” the older girl said. “Johnny Cooper’s nothing but a bully.” She turned her attention back to him. “I can’t wait till you go to middle school, you rat. Maybe someone there’ll beat you up, the way you like to beat up kids who’re weaker than you.”
    Nicolas wasn’t happy about being called “weaker,” even if it was true. He wished the ground would open up.
    “Well, I’m not weaker’n him!” the little girl yelled. She ranat Johnny and punched him in the jaw. Johnny went down and she leaped on him.
    Then all hell broke loose. Sasha yelled, “Run!” at Nicolas while the little kid squabbled in the snow with Johnny. Despite her entreaties, Nicolas was glued to the spot, unsure what to do—help the little girl before Johnny got the upper hand and killed her, or run away as Sasha commanded. Although Johnny was twice her size, the little kid flipped him over and pinned him to the ground just like Nicolas had seen cowboys do to calves in the rodeo. She straddled Johnny’s back, grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled it back.
    “Go! Now!” Sasha cried again, pushing Nicolas toward the school gate.
    The rest of the other children had cleared off, standing a safer distance away. Nicolas still couldn’t decide what to do, but the