“Chelsey, why do you always have to sit under that tree all the time? You look like your bored silly. Come over here.” Said Katie.
Chelsey got up and went over to Katie. “Yeah?” She said, annoyed at being disturbed. “What do you want?”
“Nothing.” Said Katie. “I just thought you might like to come over here and have some fun for once.”
“I was having fun.” Chelsey said.
“What, with Jenny?” That’s unlikely. She hasn’t talked for so long that I’m beginning to wonder if she’s lost the power to speak.”
“Well she’s better company than you’ve ever been!” Yelled Chelsey. “All you ever do is flirt! The only time you speak to me is when there’s no boys around!”
Katie went red. “How dare you accuse me of flirting. I simply enjoy my friends. Gees Brian”, She calmly said to a boy next to her, “I think my ‘friend’ Chelsey here must be jealous of all my friends.”
“I am not! You’re crazy!” Cried Chelsey.
“See, she is. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have replied so quickly.”
Katie turned her attention away from Chelsey and back to the boys. Chelsey, who was fuming, stomped away. How dare Katie accuse her of being jealous! She sat down and Tim, the school’s badboy, came up to her.
“How ya doin’” He asked.
“How do ‘ya’ think?”
“Gees, I was only makin’ conversation.” He said. “I came over to ask if ‘you’ wanted to play basketball with us.”
Chelsey looked up at him and said “Yeah, I s’pose I will.”
“Great.” Said Tim.
After getting sick of playing basketball they sat on the grass.
“I need a new hat.” Said Phil. “Think I might go in and get one tonight.” Meaning he would go and steal one.
“Do you think you could get me a new pad?” Asked Sarah. “I don’t have any money at the moment. I spent it all on smokes.”
“Yeah, sure. Anybody else want anything?” Nobody said they did, so Josh, another friend, asked Chelsey “Have you ever shop lifted or done anything bad?”
“It depends what you call bad.” Said Chelsey, defensively.
Josh looked at Tim with his eyebrows raised and a smile on his face.
“Well,” Said Tim, “I’ve got a dare for ya. I dare ya to go into that Katie’s petrol station and hold it up.”
“What? You’re kidding? I’ve never done anything like that before.” Said Chelsey.
“I’ll go with you, if ya want?” Said Josh.
“Yeah, all right, why not?” Said Chelsey. “It’ll show Katie that I don’t need her.”
“Good. Soon enough you’ll be able to bash her up, even if you don’t feel like it.” Said Josh. “I’ll meet you in the bushes outside at 8:30.”
“ok.” Said Chelsey, a look of calm, sweet revenge on her face.
Chelsey stretched her legs and looked around her. It was 9:01 and Josh hadn’t turned up yet. She was about to leave when Josh appeared from the bushes behind her.
“Lets go.” Was all he said. “I’ll point the gun, you collect the cash. Then we run.” He walked forward, not expecting her to answer. Chelsey was about to say she didn’t want to do it any more, when she thought of what Katie had said. After this, Katie would be jealous of Chelsey’s friends. She ran to catch up with Josh.
They stopped outside the door and Josh handed her a woollen balaclava. “Here.” He said. “Put this on and don’t take it off, whatever happens.
She put it on as Josh had and they walked inside. At first the man didn’t see them. By the time he did see them, the gun was in his face.
“Hand over the money, Fatso.” Said Josh in a disguised voice. “Hurry up about it. Or we’ll shoot you.”
The large man was sweating and was getting clumsy getting the money, and Josh was getting impatient.
“Come on Lardass. We ain’t got all day.” He said. After the man put all the money in the bag Chelsey was holding, Josh grabbed the bag off her and said “Have a lovely day. But stay right where you are and you will see another day. If you move, then..” Josh moved his finger across his throat in a cutting action. “Good day.” He said, bowing, walking backwards. Chelsey followed and when they were out the door they started to run to the bushes.
Just as Chelsey reached the bushes she felt a sharp pain in her right leg and it gave way. She held her leg where the pain was. Her leg was throbbing and going numb. She tried to get up, but her leg was stiff and refused to bend. She looked up to see Josh running away. He looked back at her, and smiled, almost laughed, at her and kept running. Chelsey took one hand off her leg to itch her nose. She smelt blood under her balaclava and looked at her leg. Blood was pouring from a hole in her leg and her hands and arms were covered in red. A shadow fell over Chelsey and she looked up. The shop owner, Katie’s dad, was standing over her, a gun in one hand, a knife in the other.
“Sucked in, ya stupid kid. Ya shouldn’t have been so bloody rude, should ya? Well sucked in. And since your pal’s got the dough, I guess you’ll just have to bloody well pay instead, wont you? But first, lets see who the bloody hell you are.”
He reached down and pulled off the balaclava, taking some of her hair with it. When he saw her face he took a step back.
“Why you lying, cheating little bitch. I’m gonna thrash the hell out of you.” He raised his hand with the knife and was about to stab her, when something black rushed between Chelsey and Katie’s dad, and was stabbed instead. It gave a cry of pain, then punched Katie’s dad and grabbed the knife out of his hand and cut the shop owner's arm. Katie’s dad was so busy with his pain he did notice anything around him.
“Chelsey. Are you all right?”
“I got shot in the leg. Is that you Tim?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you, not like Josh did.”
“Did you get cut?” Asked Chelsey.
“Yeah, only on the arm though. We’ve got to get away from here, before the cops come.”
“I don’t think I can walk.” Said Chelsey, crying.
“Here, I’ll help you.”
Together they walked off into the bush, friends.