Opal Lake's bad girl. Hope Casey's worst enemy.

The entire bus ride from Crystal Cross back to Opal Lake, Angel sat stiff as a corpse. The world passed in slow motion, every red light, screech of the wheels, or spurt of conversation, were evil taunts that she wasn’t as fierce as she thought. 

The school bus driver had been paid to tail the police patrol car in which Hope rode. 

Ivy attempted a joke here and there, but even her fingers wouldn’t stop twirling her ponytail or popping her gum fast.

When they arrived in Opal Lake, Li’l Jay jumped off the school bus first. Angel and Ivy waited for him to set things off. Just as they’d planned, several upset neighbors surrounded the police car, beating on the windows and screaming about evil cops. Other kids on the school bus cranked their necks, curious to see what was unfolding. While the officer was distracted, he’d left his car door open. 

Angel’s heart pounded as Li’l Jay grabbed the gun from a ditch where he’d hidden it the night before. Angel, Ivy and their crew took off. Jay’s legs pumped toward the patrol car. His arm shot out, aiming the handgun. 

Hope jumped from the other side, and fled. 

Angel and the others chased her. Down the street, they all ran, a big crowd of commotion to distract and confuse any witnesses.

But Angel was surprised at the sudden struggle to keep up. Her heart galloped, about to implode, and her stomach mashed and churned as if turning boulders. She threw up. Pregnant, sick and short of breath, her legs stumbled. Every step she too became torture, but she fought it and pushed on. 

The gunshots ripped against the chaos behind them. Li’l Jay had really done it. 

Hope’s body jerked. Angel kept watching to see if she’d fall. Please fall, Hope. At least pretend you’re dead.

But the little bullet of a girl kept pushing, toward the train tracks. Angel could not believe her eyes. The cluster of bodies chased her. Legs pumped and bodies squatted, hovering like they buried treasure. Finally, Angel reached an enraged Ivy who kicked Hope in the ribs repeatedly. 

“Now, who’s got power, huh? Who’s bad now?” Ivy screamed, demolishing the girl’s chest. 

When Angel finally peered through all the melee, blood oozed from the ragdoll getting beaten to a pulp against the ground. Angel’s chest twisted at the sight. She couldn’t tell Ivy to stop. Not if Angel wanted to live.

As Ivy and the others kept going, Angel saw light gleaming from the grass. Hope’s electromagnetic gloves. While Ivy and the others were distracted with beating her, Angel grabbed the gloves and shoved them inside her fitted puffer jacket.

But the ground weakened. Underneath their feet, the grass creaked from a piece of rotten plywood nestled in the dirt. But Ivy kept kicking and smashing, until the ground caved in. The wooden board was covering a large hole in the ground. Hope and Ivy partially fell inside. The other kids grabbed Ivy and dragged her out. But Hope slid in. 

Angel flung herself forward. Her arms shot out in one quick motion, snatching Hope’s jacket. Angel clutched it as tight as she could. Straining, Angel tried to pull on Hope’s forearms, digging her fingers through the cheap fake leather, into Hope’s flesh. 

Aw hell. Hope’s eyes began to droop. No!

“Hope!” Angel screamed. She pulled harder, with everything she had. But broken pieces of soggy plywood shoved into Angel’s rib cage. Behind her, in her peripheral vision, Angel saw legs shuffling.  

“Angel! Let’s go!” Ivy cried.

But Hope’s body slid, pulling Angel with it. Still, straining Angel clung desperately to the person she hated most on Earth. 

Into this hole that opened out of nowhere, Angel and Hope began to disappear. Angel had walked by these railroad tracks her entire life, and had never given a second thought to this old rotten plywood board lying across the grass. 

“Hope!” Angel gripped so tight now that two of her acrylic nails popped off.

“Angel,” Ivy screamed behind her, “We need to cut!”

But Angel couldn’t bring herself to. Hope’s head fell backward, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Angel’s elbows now dug into the soggy grass, and her knees clawed to keep from sliding in further. She shoved the toes of her boots hard into the grass.  

“Ahhh!” Angel cried. Time seemed to freeze. Angel didn’t know what to do. The hole appeared to be a cave. Angel scanned for a safe spot to let Hope down. But the objects below were so far that the drop looked long. Hope would die on impact. Angel looked right into Hope’s face. Hope’s breathing dragged. Angel yanked on Hope again. “Hope! Wake up! Pull yourself!”

Sirens sounded in the distance, approaching them.

“Angel, you’re dead! You’re dead. You hear me?” Ivy screamed at her.

The smallest crack of Hope’s eyelids gaped open, and the girl’s mouth fell. Blood poured over her teeth and down her lip. Hope tried to speak, but instead, released a gurgling noise that twisted Angel’s stomach.  

Angel’s teeth clenched as she cursed, “Bitch, come on!”

Hope’s bloody mouth managed through the gurgling, “Lehh ggg….” 

“What?” Angel asked, straining.  

Hope finally mustered a whisper. “Leh… ggo.”

Angel felt the tension in Hope’s arms completely give out. The girl’s body became limp. In one swift, unexpected action, her arms slipped right through the jacket sleeves. Angel watched Hope’s body disappear. Into the hole.