Chapter 6: Repercussions

  Eli walked into the garage the next day, his thoughts all muddled as he picked up his tools and passed by his friends.

                “Whoo-hoo! Hey there pretty boy, where you goin’?” Danny whistled as he passed by.

                “Shut up, Hyun Joong!” he tossed a towel at his face as he knelt down to tighten the bolts on a Harley.

                “We leave you there for a week, and you turn into a flower, isn’t that sweet?” Mikey snickered.

                “What happened to ‘not changing no matter what’?” Teddy asked sarcastically as he wheeled himself from under a car he was working on.

                “It’s just a damn haircut, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Eli retorted as he wiped the grease off of his hands.

                “That’s how it starts bro,” Danny put his arm around his friend. “Then you become their lackey, carrying books, holding doors, next thing you know, your serving hors d’oeuvres at their fancy get togethers.” He patted Eli on the back as he went back to his work.

                “It’s not like that you guys! damn, give it a rest!”

                “So, made any rich “friends” yet Eli?” Mikey asked. Eli rolled his eyes.

                “Well, kind of, I guess-“Mikey cut him off.

                “Ah-HA! So you do! Tell us Eli, exactly how many books can you carry at once?” he asked, the other guys shook their heads and laughed.

                “It’s not like that either, you ass!” he slapped him upside the head. “Jace’s a scholarship student, the lil’ pipsqueak gets thrown in the garbage on a daily basis, and Jessie’s just a loner we don’t really have anything in common besides being outsiders at that hell hole anyway.” He explained.

                “So this Jessie, is she your girl or what?” Teddy asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

                “She ain’t my girl, you dope! I told you, she’s just a friend. My gir-“he cut himself off, feeling that he had said too much.

                “Oh, so you DO have a girl?” Danny walked over and sat next to him. “So Casanova, spill the beans, man! Who is this chick?” Just then, a black motorcycle pulled up in front of the garage. Danny leaned from behind Eli to get a better look.

The biker got off their bike and walked in. It was a “she”, and she was dressed head to toe in black leather. She unclipped her helmet and took it off her head. She shook her golden mane of hair, and smoothed over her frizz with her ungloved hand. Heejun got a very uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach as she walked forward.

                “Whoo, is this your lady, Eli?” Hyun Joong walked forward to meet her so he could get a better look. “It’s nice to meet you, miss...” he grabbed her and kissed it. She looked at him warily and pulled away.

                “Skye Nielson, a pleasure to meet you.” She said through clenched teeth and a stiff smile. She looked at Eli. “Please, this fool is way out of my league,” she said, moving forward and grabbing his arm.

                “If he ain’t your boyfriend, then why you grabbin’ at him?” asked Teddy, stepping in her way.

                “Because, he needs to come with me, I don’t need to answer to the likes of you.” She said, pulling Eli toward her. Danny moved forward and leaned in towards her face.

                “So, who’s this little pistol, she’s cute.” He raised his hand to touch her face, and she slapped it away.

                “Well, aren’t you too kind? But we gotta leave. So, if you’ll excuse me, we have to be going now.” She turned and came face to face with Minki.

                “Well, first we wanna know who’s the broad dragging Eli around like a dog on a leash?” he took a step closer.

                “Back off, creep. I gotta go with him NOW. If we ain’t there on time, she’s gonna blow her cap,” she turned to Eli. “She’ll send Gina and Yasmin; you see what happened to your friends before? Imagine what these clowns would look like.” She nodded her head towards his friends.

                “Oh, so now your threatening us, are you?” Teddy stepped closer and got in Skye’s face. “Bring it, toots.” Skye spat in his face and brought down her boot so hard it cracked his toes. He winced in pain as she began to leave. Danny stopped her.

                “Where you off to in such a hurry, honey? Why don’t you stay awhile?” he ripped her hand off of Eli’s arm and grabbed her wrist.

                “Let go of me, if you don’t-“

                “I ain’t afraid of you, girlie, bring it.” Teddy came up next to Danny, with Minki bringing up the rear. She cast a hesitant glance towards Eli, not so much pleading as much as warning him to get her out of the situation.

                “You guys need to knock that off,” he came over and grabbed her arm free of Danny’s grip, and pulled her away from the group. “Do you even realize who you just grabbed? She’s Harold Nielson’s daughter. He could have you killed like that.” he snapped his fingers. His friends looked warily at Skye, who seemed smug at this point. “The school is full of students who have powerful parents, rich parents, or both. One wrong move on the wrong person, and you or your livelihood is gone like that, do you understand?” he asked, he really didn’t want his friends to get hurt, and he knew they had volatile tempers, all of them. But most of all, he was afraid of what Skye would do to them if they scared or pissed her off enough.

                “So, you’re her lackey then Eli?” Teddy asked. “That girl’s got you whipped, man.” He shook his head.

                “Hey, stupid! He ain’t mine, he’s Lizzy Song’s boyfriend, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut your trap!” she snapped at him. Just then, a car engine roared outside. They all turned to look, and Eli’s stomach turned. A lilac purple Mercedes Benz pulled up in front of the garage. Yasmin was in the driver’s seat, while Gina was in the passenger seat, a bat in hand. They stepped out.

                ‘Of course Yasmin would have the girliest looking car out of all of them,’ he assumed. Gina didn’t seem to be the sensitive girly type, and he didn’t really know Lizzy that well, but he assumed the same for her.

                “What the hell is taking so damn long, you shoulda been back like twenty minutes ago.” Ga In screamed as she busted the bat into the side of the garage wall, cracking the drywall.

                “Hey, watch where you’re swingin’ that shit!” yelled Mikey, Danny held him back.

                “Sorry, these creeps wouldn’t let us leave.” Skye signaled over to the guys.

                “They aren’t creeps; they’re my friends, thank you very much.” Eli snapped, pulling himself away from her. Yasmin smiled.

                “Friends, you say?” she walked over to Mikey, and looked him up and down, circling him. “Well, I suppose they aren’t too far gone, after all, we were told to get his friends.” She smiled as she turned to Gina. She smirked at them.

                “What are you talking about?” asked Eli, looking at his friends to the girls.

                “Lizzy said to collect your friends.” Gina answered, slapping the bat into her hand as she came forward. Teddy came forward to meet her.

                “And what if we don’t want to come with you, then what?” he got in her face. Big. Mistake. She cracked him in the knees with the bat, and he fell to the ground. Mikey tried to go forward, but she stepped in front of him.

                “I will beat him to a bloody pulp if you don’t listen, so listen carefully.” She warned them. Danny nodded.

                “What can we do for you ladies?” he asked politely. Mikey scoffed, but Danny put his hand up to quiet him.

                “First of all,” she began. “You will come with us, all of you.” She eyed Teddy as she said this. “Then, once we reach Lizzy, you will do as she says. Anything. I don’t give a fuck if she asks you to lick her shoes, do it. Understand?” Danny nodded.

                “Man, you can’t be serious?” Mikey looked at him suspiciously. What the hell was he thinking? She signaled for them to follow. Mikey picked up Teddy, and they all piled in the back of Yasmin’s car. Skye looked over at Eli.

                “If, anything like that ever happens again,” she walked over to him, grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him inches away from her face. “I’ll fuck you up and leave you to die in a dumpster.” She shoved him away. “Come on,” she signaled for him to come.

                “Am I riding with you then?” he asked. She looked at him. The answer was obvious. He followed her to the bike. She straddled the seat and leaned it so he could get on. He swung his left leg over and plopped himself down.

                “Yo, be careful, this is handcrafted leather, man!” Skye snapped. Eli sheepishly apologized. “Hold on, stupid.” He grabbed her hips and adjusted himself. “Ahem, higher, you twit!” he moved his hands to her waist and blushed. As the bike started, he felt his entire being vibrate with the engine. It even felt as if his soul were vibrating. She sped off, with Yasmin following closely behind.

They approached Lizzy’s house. As she finished parking, Heejun stumbled off the bike, and brushed himself off. Skye removed her helmet once more, and placed it on her seat. She signaled for the others to follow. They took the same route as last time, straight to Lizzy’s room, except this time, Jace and Jessie were there.

                “Eli!” Jace exclaimed, his head bandaged rather well as he bounded towards him and hugged him tightly. Heejun softly pushed him away as his other friends were led into the room.

                “Hello again, Eli!” Lizzy exclaimed as she hugged him. Jessie rolled her eyes and Jace made a gagging face. She turned to Skye.

                “What took so long, Skye?” she asked, a smile plastered on her face. Skye bowed.

                “Sorry, Lizzy. His friends were a little shocked to see me, and it seems he had yet to explain things to them.” Lizzy nodded and looked at his friends up and down. She winced at Teddy.

                “What happened to this one?” she asked Gina, eyeing the bat in her hands.

                “He resisted and gave me lip. I wasn’t having that.” she put simply. Yasmin nodded.

                “So Lizzy, what do you want us to do with them?” Yasmin asked, gesturing towards the misfits. Lizzy cocked her head as she examined them more thoroughly.

                “Skye, come on.” She turned and left the room. Skye obediently followed. As they turned the corner outside of her room, Lizzy let out her breath.

                “We got a lot of work to do, chica.” Skye nodded.

                “What do you mean by that, Lizzy?” she asked. She had a feeling that Lizzy had another half-baked plan up her sleeve.

                “Do you think he would be happier with his friends around, Skye?” she asked, looking off in the direction of her room. “The smoother the transition the more willing he would be to listen, right?” she asked. Skye thought for a moment.

                “Sure, but what do you suppose we do about it?” she asked Now, it was time for Lizzy to think.

                “Right now, put them in some respectable attire, and bandage the one Gina got to. I’ll make some calls and explain later.” Skye nodded, and they both went back to her room.

                “Alright then,” Lizzy clapped her hands and smiled as sweetly as she could. “You,” she pointed to a maid in the corner. “Go get Jorge and Mindy, and dress his wounds while you’re at it.” The maid nodded.

                “Yes, Ma’am.” Then, she obediently left the room and closed the door. She then turned to her subjects.

                “Well gentlemen,” she addressed them. They looked at her quite puzzled. “You saw how my boyfriend Heejun turned out after I got done with him, now, it’s your turn.” She smiled as they squirmed uncomfortably, and the girls snickered in the background as all Heejun, Jace and Jessie could do was sit back and watch.

END OF CHAPTER 6