running. “Whoa, what the hell?!” I shoved my way in between the blond guy and the girl. “C’mon!” “Huh?!” I grabbed her hand and took off without looking back. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you’re going, loser?!” I heard the guys yelling behind us as I ran for all I was worth through the unfamiliar streets. “Listen,” the girl said, sounding confused, “wait just a…!” “It’s fine; just run!” I was too focused to offer any reassurances like I’ll explain later or Don’t worry; you can trust me. My hair and T-shirt were getting heavier with rain. I’d thought we were out of the hotel street, but the next thing I knew, we were running down a different street of hotels. “Waugh!” One of the two guys burst out of the alley right in front of us. Crap, they’re going to box us in— And an instant later, somebody grabbed the collar of my shirt from behind and hauled me back. “You little punk!” I fell faceup onto the wet asphalt, and the blond guy straddled me. Once he’d caught his breath, he smacked my cheeks lightly. “Yo, yo, yo, yo, hey, kid—” His voice was low and full of laughter. He raised his right hand. “What the hell are you trying to pull, huh?!” This time, he slapped my cheek with everything he had. Desperately choking down the pain and fear, I shouted back at him. “She didn’t want to go with you!” “…Huh?” he said in disbelief. “Hey, dumbass, we’d already talked it over with her and worked everything out. Right?” Startled, I looked at the girl. The other guy was standing right next to her. She looked down uncomfortably. “…!” No way. My mind went blank. Then what I’d just done was— “Huh? Hey, aren’t you the kid from back then? The one who was sleeping in front of our door?” It seemed kind of late to be bringing this up now, but the blond guy smiled knowingly. Page 40 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com