Fight (#0.5, Fierce Series)

Clarissa Wild

Mocked. Scolded. Smeared. Betrayed.

From an early age, shy nerd girl Autumn Blakewood
didn’t know how to fend for herself. Teased and bullied her whole
life, she’s withdrawing more and more. Not even her broken family
can help her get through high school.

Her only friends, Brody and Evie, are both social
recluses too, and they seek comfort in each other's support.
However, Autumn’s friends can’t always protect her from her
malicious classmates who seem set on destroying what’s left of her
heart.

When Autumn thinks her life can’t get any worse,
devastating news rips her family apart. It’s up to her to pick up
the pieces of her life and find a way to fix everything. Will she
find the courage to fight?

This is a short story prelude to the Fierce series
and contains about 8500 words.

A sample of Fierce, book 1, has also been
included.

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Published by Clarissa Wild at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Clarissa Wild

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment
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If you would like to share this book with another person, please
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use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your
own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this
author.

Chapter 1

Growing up

Age 7

Somewhere in the distance the sound of
bells ringing comes closer, but I shut it out. The rattling of
bikes draws my attention, but I won’t let it distract me. Building
a
teepee from a bunch of
sticks takes concentration, and I want mine to be perfect. It needs
to be bigger and stronger than the one Brody is
building.

My tongue is partially hanging out because
I’m so busy trying to get this thing together. The grass underneath
me feels gross, but I don’t mind. The final stick is almost in
place, and I’m even squinting, trying to get them all lined up.
Once the entire thing is set, I take the old rope we found and wrap
it around the tip.

“Done!” I say, smiling broadly.

When I look Brody’s way, he’s smirking,
and then I notice his teepee. It’s already done. Crap.

“Aww …”

“Haha! I was first!”

I frown and pout. “So what! Mine is much
bigger.”

“Well yours looks crooked!”

I sit down in the grass, my clothes
smeared with sludge. “Does not!”

“Does to!”

I stick out my tongue and so does he. Then
we crawl into our teepees and take sneak peeks outside to see if
the other is watching as well. We’re giggling like crazy, until the
rattling of the bikes comes closer and our curiosity is
peaked.

We step outside our home-made Teepees.
Dave approaches on his shiny red bike. It looks cool, and I can’t
imagine what it’d be like to ride one. I think it would be
amazing.

“What are those?” he asks with a
condescending tone. I don’t like him, not one bit.

A bunch of his friends come up behind him,
stopping right in front of us.

“Ugly!” One of them yells.

“They are not!” Brody says.

They all start to laugh.

“Shut up!” he yells.

“
You call that a hut
, Autumn?” Dave says, and he drives
closer.

“I made it. It’s fine,” I snap.

“
Well it’s on
our
terrain.”

“What? This is just grass,” Brody says,
making a face.

“No it’s not. This park is ours. You can only
come here if you have a bike. Do you have one?” He lifts one
eyebrow.

“No,” I mumble.

“Then you can’t play here!”

His buddies start laughing again.

“You don’t have a bike as cool as ours! You
don’t even have a bike! Haha!”

Brody tries to hit them with a stick,
running after them, but they escape him easily on their
bikes.

“
You can’t come here if you’re not cool,
and you’re only cool if you have a bike like this one,” Dave says
with a smug face.

“We don’t need anything,” Brody says.

Dave
frowns and squints, then snaps his fingers. His buddies
suddenly drive right at us, and we have to duck to get away before
they hit us. Instead, they crash into our teepees. I gasp, my jaw
dropping as they thrash our teepees, smashing the sticks to bits.
What’s left after they’re done is one pile of rubble.

“See you, losers!”

I stare at my teepee, which is no longer a
teepee but a wreck. It’ll take hours to get this fixed, and I don’t
think I want to do it anymore. Not like this.

“Jerks…” Brody mumbles, picking up the sticks
one by one.

I check my watch and realize I have to be
home for dinner soon. “I have to go home.”

“
Oh …” he drops the sticks again and lets
his shoulders sag. “Well, we could do it again tomorrow. We’ll make
even better teepees!”

I sigh. “I don’t know, Brody. I don’t want
them to ruin it again.”

“Okay …” He looks sad, but he’s not the only
one.

“See you tomorrow,” I say, waving. Then I
turn around and walk away. The walking soon turns to running, just
when tears start rolling down my cheeks.

When I get home
my mom is already at the door, looking around the
neighborhood for me. As she spots me, she rolls her eyes and
sighs.

“Dinner was ready five minutes ago,” she
says.

“Sorry, I was building a teepee with Brody
and forgot.” I walk up the steps to our small, suburban house.

“Well, just make sure to remember next time.
Dinner is important. Don’t want it to get cold.” She places her
hand on my shoulder and nudges me inside, closing the door behind
her.

As I open my coat, her eyes widen.
“Autumn!”

I look down at my clothes and only then do I
remember the dirt smudges. “Whoops.”

She sighs loudly. “Look at it.” She takes
off my coat and hangs it on the coat rack. “Oh, how will I ever get
this out?”

“Sorry …”

“It’s okay, sweetie, I get that you’re
playing outside, but you really need to be more careful with your
clothes. They’re not that easily replaced.”

“I know …”

She smiles at me and opens her arms. “C’mere,
big girl.”

I run into her arms and she hugs me tight,
avoiding the spot on my shirt so she doesn’t get it on her clothes
as well. In her arms I feel safe. The thought of having to go back
to the park scares me a bit. I know Brody wants to keep building
and playing there, but Dave is really annoying. If we had bikes,
none of this would happen. Maybe he’d let us in if we had
them.

“Mom,” I say, looking up at her. “Can I have
a bike, too?”

She frowns, confused, her mouth hanging
slightly open. “Well … uh …” Her cheeks start to glow. “I’m not
sure that’s possible, honey.”

“
Why not? Dave has one.”

“
Who’s Dave?”

“
He’s the boy who says the park is
his.”

She chuckles. “Oh,
that
boy. Well let me tell you something: It’s not
his.”

“He says it is. He thrashed our teepees.”

She sinks to her knees. “Oh, honey, is that
why you want a bike?”

I look down at the floor, but nod anyway. She
places her hands on my arms and looks me in the eye. “Just because
he has one, doesn’t make him better. He’s not the boss of you.”

“But he has a bike. I don’t.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but not everyone gets to
have the same things.”

“Oh …”

“
But you have that wonderful imagination
inside that pretty little head of yours you can use.” She taps me
on the forehead, making me giggle. “Everything you need is right in
there.”

She stands up and holds out her hand. “Now
let’s eat. Tell me more about your adventures today.”

As we walk into the kitchen, I’ve already
forgotten all about
Dave’s bike. Our teepees were way better.

♥♥♥

Age 10

It’s reading time in class, and I’m
reading the first book in the Harry Potter series again. I’ve
already read it twice, but I keep going back to it. I just love the
magic and how it takes me to a whole different world. Books are my
escape. I can really disappear from the real world, the world full
of hurt.

Last night I heard dad yell at mom. He was
upset she’d bought me a book. I didn’t understand what the fuss was
about until he mentioned that one word. Money.

It was the first time I actually realized
what was going on in my family. I’d always been oblivious to the
problems, because I was too young to understand. But being
confronted with it makes me think it’s my fault.

So I gave the book back and told my mom to
get a refund for it.

T
hat’s why I’m reading an old book again. I don’t mind, I
mean, I love Harry Potter. However, it still makes me sad thinking
about their fight.

Someone taps on my desk, and I’m jerked
from my thoughts and from the book. The teacher is right in front
of me, looking down at me like I’m doing something wrong. Glancing
sideways, I realize all my classmates have already stopped reading
and put their books away. I gaze at the clock and notice it’s half
past our reading time. I seriously forgot the time.

“Pay attention, Autumn,” the teacher
says.

Everyone is staring at me. Some of my
classmates are giggling.

I blush and tuck away the book. “Sorry.”

I didn’t mean to forget. I got so caught up
in the book, I just wasn’t there anymore. It’s what I love about
reading; feeling like you’re really there in the book. The outside
world is way too scary.

Chapter 2

Scrutinized

Age 14

I’m walking down the hall, making my way
to my next class. My bag feels heavy on my shoulders. It’s packed
to the brim with books. Some boys run past me, almost smashing me
into the wall as they push me aside. Sometimes I feel like a bug
ready to be squashed. Being a newbie gives them all the more reason
to do it. They like tormenting us, laughing.

Oh well, guess I have no choice but to get
through this.

As I walk up to some of the girls in my
class, I already feel my stomach churn. I can’t seem to make
friends with anyone around here, no matter how hard I try. I think
they find me annoying, but I don’t mean to be. I don’t know why I
can’t be different.

Still, I’ll have to deal with them. Brody
isn’t here to support me, he’s already a junior. There’s no reason
why I shouldn’t keep trying, right?

When one of the girls notices me, she winces.
“Oh my god.”

“What?” I say, my eyes searching the
hall.

She points at me, and I suddenly feel naked.
“That.” She pulls up her lip. “Your clothes.”

“What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“
Seriously, you put on baggy
pants?”