Page 43 of The Wrong Side of Kai
“You think it’s Harrison?” Chyna asks, and I nod.
I also think it could be Kai. If Harrison and his buddies dragged me into a janitor’s closet and threatened me, then I can only imagine what they will do to Kai now that Harrison knows he’s involved. . . It could be a coincidence that there’s a fight breaking out the very next morning, but my gut tells me otherwise.
I am definitely going to be late for first period again.
Chyna and I take each other’s hands and help one another skate across the campus, back in the direction we’ve just trudged from. We weave around all the cars in the parking lot until we reach the crowd on the open field at the other side. My heartbeat’s rocketing the nearer we get.
A circle has formed, everyone packed in so tightly, fighting to get a clear view. The noise is deafening – people are yelling and cheering, their Friday morning brightened up by a live-action fistfight. It makes it impossible for Chyna and me to see what’s going on. We search for any weak spots that we can push our way through, but I only grow more desperate. I need to see who’s fighting.
“Go!” Chyna yells in my ear, letting go of my hand and giving me a push into the crowd. She shoves me forward, ramming me through the thicket of bodies, but I don’t even get a chance to thank her. Suddenly, she’s left behind and I’m jammed in the midst of the crowd.
I elbow my way through everyone until I find myself at the front. We are circled around a group of guys like an impromptu boxing ring, and my heart drops into my stomach.
My gut feeling was right.
Kai is on his knees on the ground, fighting to get to his feet, just as Harrison slams a fist into his jaw. It sends Kai straight back down, but Harrison isn’t his only opponent – Noah is involved too, of course, and he hurls his foot into Kai’s ribs. There’s no Anthony, but there are a couple other of Harrison’s friend from the team. It’s four against one, and Kai is already heavily roughed up. His lip gushes with blood, his cheeks are grazed, and he can’t open one eye. It’s serious. He’s on his hands and knees, defenseless, coughing hard. Noah and the other two guys kick him again.
“STOP!” I scream, but my voice sounds strangled amid the noise of the crowd.
Right at that moment Harrison’s eye catches mine. He stares at my horrified expression then smirks as he swings his fist into Kai’s mouth, sending him flying back to the ground.
“Alright, we’re done here!” Harrison yells just as I’m about to throw myself into the fight. His eyes roam the crowd, flickering all around the circle that’s formed, and he threatens, “Remember, snitches get stitches.”
The crowd disperses almost immediately. No one needs to be reminded to keep quiet about what they’ve just witnessed – everyone knows the score. Harrison wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and then slinks off into the distance, following the crowd back to school.
“Hey, sugar,” Noah says, barging his shoulder into mine as he passes. I don’t pay any attention to him because my eyes are set on Kai.
He’s lying face down on the grass, his body heaving, and I run straight to him and drop to my knees by his side. I place a hand on his shoulder, but instantly retract it when he groans. He spits blood and then rolls over on his back, staring up at the sky with his one good eye.
“Oh my God!” I wave my hands in panic, unsure what to do to help. Kai’s face is totally busted and there’s blood dripping from his nose and mouth. His ribs are most likely bruised too; he’s holding his hands to his sides and moaning as he tries to take a deep breath.
“Oh. Hey, Vanessa,” he says through busted lips when he turns to me. “What’s up?”
I stare at him, utterly horrified. Harrison would have never found out that Kai was involved if we hadn’t gone to his house last night, and it wasmewho insisted we did. Kai suggested that we stop, that it could be risky to keep pushing Harrison. . . but I didn’t listen.
“This is all my fault!”
“Shut up, Nessie,” Kai says, trying for a laugh that quickly turns into a painful cough.
A few people are still lingering, most likely checking out the severity of Kai’s injuries, and Chyna rushes over. Kai manages to give her a small wave, and it blows my mind that he can be humorous right now. He just got his ass kicked in front of half the school, but somehow his ego is the only part of him that hasn’t taken a beating.
“Should we take him to the nurse?” Chyna asks me. She’s chewing on her lower lip as she glances back over at the school building in the distance.
“Nuh-uh,” Kai objects, his words muffled through his swollen lips. “I’ll be fine, Chyna-but-not-like-the-country.”
Madison also swishes over and kneels down on the grass, fumbling inside her bag. “Don’t you guys carry first-aid kits?” she asks Chyna and me, her tone patronizing.OfcourseMaddie carries around a damn first-aid kit in her bag. She pulls out a neat box of miscellaneous items and edges in closer to Kai. “Not so charming when you’re covered in blood, huh?”
“Yet here I am, surrounded by ladies,” Kai groans jokingly. Slowly, he manages to sit up, his hands still pressed to his ribs. He releases a long breath of air. “Man, fuck that Noah guy. Now I know why he has a bad name for himself out on the field. He’s worse than Harrison.”
“What happened?” I ask as Maddie gets to work on Kai’s face, dabbing at his open cuts with disinfectant wipes, cleaning up the blood. I’m impressed by how calm and unfazed she is.
“Well, you see, Nessie, last night Harrison discovered I’ve been helping you—”
“Kai,” I say sharply, cutting him off. I give him a serious look. Now isn’t the time for him to be flippant.
“They pretty much ambushed me the second I pulled up,” Kai finally tells me, dropping his playful tone. He’s looking at me with his eye that’s still open while Maddie gently cleans up the other. “Basically dragged me over here. I’m guessing this is where the campus ends?” I nod. “Oh, and if anyone spots a bike dumped in the bushes somewhere, it’ll be mine.”
My heart sinks a little. Kai loves biking around. “They took your bike?”
