Chapter 22

Van scrambled to his feet, preparing to fight or flee. Patty jerked her pants back up and managed to get to her knees in time to see Bobby walking coldly towards Van.

The expression on Bobby's face was one she'd never seen before, and it made her blood turn to ice. His eyes were impassive and calculating. At the same time the tension in his lips was pulling them back from his teeth to form a frightening snarl.

Knowing Bobby's martial arts skills, Patty was immediately concerned that her boyfriend would kill Van in his rage, and be lost to her forever.

"Bobby, no!" she screamed, causing him to momentarily freeze in place.

Not taking his eyes off Van, he growled "Are you okay?"

It was at this point that Van made yet another tactical error. He foolishly interpreted Patty's scream at Bobby to indicate he might still have a chance with her.

"Yeah she's fine asshole, and you're not welcome here. Now get the fuck out!" Van began moving towards Bobby in an attempt to bluster him out of the house.

Bobby looked incredulously at Patty. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked, the overwhelming rage beginning to give way in favor of confusion.

"God no, Bobby. The son of bitch was trying to force himself on me!"

Bobby's eyes snapped back to Van just as the older teen raised his arms to try to push Bobby towards the door. This was a really bad idea.

When Van managed to shake his head clear, he found himself lying on the driveway next to the door to his car. The last thing he could remember was Bobby's shoulders suddenly beginning to rise up as he'd moved to push him backwards. He had vague memories of a massive blow to the side of his face, followed by images of the ceiling spinning as he flew through the air. He then realized that his nose was dripping blood down his face and onto his shirt in an ever widening stain.

"Get the fuck out of here you asshole!" he heard Patty scream at him, as he managed to pull himself to his feet by grabbing the door handle of his car.

He got in and backed out of the driveway. He paused as his headlights illuminated a cross country style bicycle and helmet that were lying in the front yard, that hadn't been there when they had arrived. So that's why I didn't hear him show up, he thought dazedly.

His tires squealed as he accelerated away from the scene of his disaster. Several blocks away, he was still trying to stem the flow of blood, and didn't notice Collette as she jogged towards Patty's house. When she saw Van speeding away, she feared the worst and put on a final sprint.

Bobby sat on the floor next to Patty and held her as she sobbed. He stroked her hair and whispered reassurances. Finally when she'd calmed down, he had to ask.

"Patty... who was that guy?"

"Bobby, I'm so stupid. I'm so sorry. That was a guy from my school that I thought was a friend. It turns out he was a fucking snake that was just trying to get in my pants. Collette tried to warn me, but I was too stupid to listen to her."

He sat silently holding her for a while. Then he said, "I thought you were supposed to be out of town with your folks this weekend." He said it as a statement rather than a question.

Patty burst into tears again, and began sobbing over and over, "I'm sorry, I'm so stupid, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me."

When her sobs finally began to subside, Bobby asked somberly, "So you went out with this guy? That's why you told me you were going to be gone?"

"Bobby, we were just going to the art show as friends. That's all. I didn't know what he was going to do!" Even as she said it, she realized how shallow her rationale sounded. Bobby released her and stood up, uncertain what to do next.

It was at that point that a breathless Collette burst through the door. Seeing her friend in a heap at Bobby's feet, tears streaming down her face, she immediately went to her and wrapped her up in her arms.