Bad Girl. by E Z (classic novels to read .TXT) 📕

"I'm headed to the grocery store. We're out of a bunch of stuff," She called.

"Grocery store...oh shit!" She said, not loud enough for her mother to hear.

Libia couldn't believe she'd forgotten. It was a good thing her mother had reminded her, or she would have fallen asleep tonight without a single worry - and she'd be fired from her job.

She had to go at eight tonight. Which means she had two and a half ours to either sleep, study, or watch TV.

In the end, studying won out. It always did. So two hours later, she was throwing on an outfit, and putting her hair back into a messy ponytail.

Putting her headphones in, and calling a quick goodbye to her mother on the couch, she stepped out the door. She jogged down the sidewalk, her ponytail bouncing every which way. Listening to her favorite songs as she came around the corner, seeing the grocery store a block down.

On her way, she passed two men leaning on the wall of a bar, which was bustling on the inside, the doors open. She felt uneasy, but otherwise paid them no mind, as she adjusted her headphones. 

When she came to the grocery store, she shed her headphones, and her purse, setting them in her locker. She headed out, waving to her coworker as she passed.

"Hey Libby. I thought I saw you on the night shift schedule," Benny greeted her with a half hug.

Smiling, Libia nodded. "Yeah. I'm only able to go in early on the weekends," She shrugged.

Shaking his head, Benny let out a laugh. "You work too hard, girl."

Waving him off, she stood behind her register and began turning everything on. "Yeah right, I work five hours a night. That's hardly too hard. You should see my mother. Now that's a hard worker," Libia said, typing a few things in on her keyboard.

Benny shook his head. She never did take the credit she deserved.

After four and a half hours and few customers, Libia yawned heavily, now wishing that it was caffeinated tea or even coffee that her mother had given her. The music playing overhead was almost comical. It didn't fit the monotone persona of the place. 

"Who plays Conga in a grocery store?" She laughed to herself.

Still, just to entertain herself, she danced in her small space, skillfully moving her hips. Her coworker, Lizzy, laughed as she danced as well.

She let out a yelp as Benny pulled her from her space, and they began dancing.

She couldn't stop laughing, as they stumbled through their messy dance. It was nights like these that made working here all the more worth it. When it was slow, the manager didn't mind a few minutes of fun, unless they ignored a customer to do it.

For the end of the song, Benny spun her out, laughing along with her.

She wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter settled down, giving Benny a hug. "That was a wonderful dance, Benny!" She said as she stepped back behind her register.

"Thank you very much, madam," He did an exaggerated bow, chortling affectionately like a good-natured grandfather.

Laughing to herself, she turned back around, only to jump as Damon's face came into view.

"Wow," He chuckled.

Her cheeks turned bright red. "You seem to be here at the most innoportune moments."

"I disagree," He murmured, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Hey, Damon! Come over here and look at this thing!" Someone called, his voice slurred and full of amusement.

They both looked to see who it was. A boy stood with a group of guys, all of them laughing at some discovery they'd found. A couple of them were drunk.

She raised her eyebrows. "These were the friends, I'm guessing?" She asked with an amused smile.

Shaking his head, Damon let out a disbelieving laugh. "We go out to have some fun, they get drunk and want to come to the grocery store to mess around," Damon groaned.

Libia tipped her head back, letting out a laugh. 

Damon was caught in that innocent maneuver. Her black hair, which had been pulled back, brushed the hem of her jeans. Her beautiful smile was big and full of life. Her brown eyes seemed to shine. She was gorgeous. His thoughts went back to when she danced with Bennett. The way, even when she stumbled, that her body moved so lithely. He wished that he could dance with her like that. 

Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, Damon sighed. "I'm going to have to go and see what they're blabbering about."

Giggling, Libia nodded. "Yeah. You should probably go do that."

Rolling his eyes, he shot her a wink, before heading over to where his friends stood, still laughing about their apparently hilarious discovery.

Libia watched him go with a small smile. She was unaware of her surroundings, until someone stepped in her line of sight. "Hey," Brit, her coworker greeted.

"Hey Brit. I thought you weren't coming until one. It's twelve thirty," Libia reminded her.

"Yeah, I came in early," She explained.

"Ah, so does that mean my shift is over?"

Brit nodded. "Seems like it,"

Smiling, Libia began turning off her station. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow night, right? You've got the same time as me."

"Yep. See you then," Brit said, waving her off.

Walking back to the break room, Libia gathered her things. She pulled her hair from it's ponytail, letting out a relieved breath as the weight was evenly distributed instead of focused on the back of her head, causing a slight headache.

"See you Benny!" Libia called as she headed for the door.

"Bye sweetheart. Hey you be careful walking home this late, you hear?" He said to her, sternly.

Smiling, Libia waved him off. "I'll be fine."

Still, he watched worriedly as she left the store. She was a beautiful young woman, and that, sometimes, could be a curse. 

Damon also watched as she left, ignoring his idiotic friends who had decided to interrupt his time with Libia to show him some honey-filled plastic teddy bear whom had his head dented in. He felt uneasy, hearing that she had, in fact, walked here.

"Go on, man. I'll keep these idiots in check," His best friend, Neil told him.

Neil had stayed sober, as always, and was the only one, aside from Damon, that wasn't rolling on the floor laughing about stupid shit.

Letting out a breath, Damon nodded, anxious to find her for some reason, as he already began walking. "Thanks, man."

The cool, but muggy night air around Libia was relaxing. She listened to the city sounds, mixed with the sounds of the crickets whom had found their homes in the lawns and patches of grass in front of buildings. Far off, there was the sound of sirens, and the familiar, nightly sound of a distant train horn. It had taken Libia all Summer to get used to those sounds, seeing as her room wasn't exactly sound proofed to it all, and she had lived in a small town without all those sounds. The only sound that she had found really familiar, were the crickets. She had tried to focus on those, like a lullaby.

Now she didn't think she'd be able to sleep without these familiar sounds.

She sighed softly as she walked, passing by the bar again, which was still bustling, though not as busy as before. She wondered if this was where Damon had been with his friends. It struck her to realize that he'd never actually told her about his friends before. In fact, she didn't know much about him at all, save for the fact that he had a brother. Other than that, he's not at the legal age to drink!

Sighing to herself, Libia shook her head of those thoughts.

Let him be. She thought to herself. You have no idea who he is.

She had to work to deny the fact that it hurt her to think that. He wasn't getting to know her because they were dating, or he was interested, he was trying to help her. And it hurt to realize it, even though that had been what she was telling herself all along. There had been a seed of hope in her heart.

She hadn't realized she'd paused her walk in front of Bear Village Park, until she was startled by a footfall behind her. Jumping, she turned to find a man, five feet away.

"Hi," He greeted casually.

Taking a cautious step back, she spoke in a timid voice, "Hello."

"It's a little late to be walking alone isn't it?" He asked her, following with a step forward.

"I...I just got off work. My home is just around the corner," She explained softly.

"Hmm. Beautiful girl like you, working this late? You work at the bar or something?" He asked her, taking a step closer.

Startled, she took two steps back, only to stumble into someone's grasp.

"Stop! Let me go!" She struggled as the man stepped closer, into the light of a street lamp.

Surprised, she paused. They were the two that had been leaning against the wall of the bar.

"It's alright, Baby. Nothing to worry about," The man promised casually, as if his hand wasn't reaching for her shirt.

She let out a cry as lips touched her ear, cringing away. "Leave me alone!" She sobbed, kicking out, and struggling.

The man's hand began to untuck her shirt. As the other man's lips trailed down to her neck. Revulsion wracked shivers down her spine, as she sobbed out her pleas, struggling like a mad woman.

"Libia!" All three of them paused at the enraged voice.

Libia began to sob for another reason. Relief. "Damon!" She sobbed, this time being able to break out of the two's hold that had gone slack in surprise.

She pushed past the man in front of her, but he caught her arm, causing her to shriek, "Damon!"

"Libia!" Damon ran faster, hearing her sobbing, desperate voice calling his name.

He swung the corner, to see two men, one man pushing Libia against a tree, while the other waited for Damon. His gaze went red, and then black dots swirled, and he blacked out.

Libia sobbed uncontrollably as she saw Damon lunge at the man that waited for him. He didn't expect Damon to be as strong as he was, as they went crashing to the ground. Meanwhile, with no regard for his friend, the man in front of her pressed his hand to her throat, before forcing his lips on hers. Still struggling, Libia pulled a bold move and bit down hard on his lip, spitting in his face when he pulled away.

She heard the sound before she felt the slap, as her head went back against the tree. "You bit-!" His words were cut off, as he was pulled from Libia. He was thrown on the ground by Damon, his head smacking the concrete sickeningly. Damon didn't stop there, the man groaned as Damon sat on top of him, reeling his fist back and slamming it down with the force of a sledge hammer. The man was out cold.

Breathing ragged, Damon stood, his back to Libia as his chest heaved and his fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

"Damon," Libia sobbed.

When Damon's sight came back to him, the two were lying on the ground, faces bashed in and bloodied, and his fists were bloodied and bruised. Had he done that?

"Damon," Libia repeated, louder this time.

Damon turned, and when he caught site of Libia, his rage was pushed aside, replaced with worry so strong it almost knocked him to his knees. Her cheek was bruised in a handprint, and her clothing was rumpled where they had tried to take them off. Taking three steps, he fell on his knees in front of her, reached out, and pulled her into his chest.

"Baby, I'm so sorry," He breathed as she broke down in his arms.

She sobbed, taking in harsh, shuddering breaths between each one. He held her close, rocking them back and forth. "Shh, Baby. Shh, it's alright now. I'm here Baby. I'm here," He whispered to her as he stood, letting her curl into him and bury her face in his chest.

"I'm gonna take you into the bar and we're gonna