Daniel could tell right away that Krystal’s not saying the truth. That bewildered look on her face betrayed her true emotions. At least she wasn’t crying anymore, he noted. Signing, he slowly walked backwards with his hands in his pockets, still holding the intense eye contact. Krystal gulped under the gaze and pushed her back to the tree behind her.

“Why did you do that?” She asked in a quiet monotone, only for him to hear. Daniel just smirked and raised an eyebrow, interested. Breathing out, she looked up to see the cloudy sky, but instead saw only bunch of leaves falling off the tree. “Oh you know what I’m talking about.”

Chuckling, Daniel stopped in his way, looking at her from head to toe. She shifted uncomfortably under the stare and bit her lower lip. Returning the stare, she finally noticed what he looks like. Daniel has a more matured face then his brother. His jaw is very precise; he has smooth skin and his eyes… Daniel’s eyes screamed mystery. He is around the same height as Gabriel. His stylishly cut red-brown hair and fashionable clothes reminded Krystal of his family’s wealth. As it is the start of a cold winter, he wore dark pants and warm dark green military style jacket.

“I… I met quite a lot of people like you,” Daniel frowned. “What depressed people need sometimes is just some sort of comfort from others. I’m used to it by now.”

“Well, I’m not depressed or anything,” Krystal denied; she didn’t like to think that she is.

“It’s no use lying. You were crying.”

“If a girl cries then it’s depression? Talk about stupid…” She punched a tree behind her and walked over to the older boy. He glared at her and crossed his arms, but she didn’t care. Walking past him, she punched his arm and smiled in satisfaction when he flinched. He was a jerk after all.

It was so childish of her, that Daniel even let out a soft laugh. He rarely laughs, unlike his younger brother. He heard from Gabriel that Krystal invited both of them to sit with her friends in the canteen. Maybe she’ll regret her decision soon. After all, they don’t seem to fit like friends. Getting serious again, he went to the parking lot.

Driving to the city, time went by slowly. Neither Victoria nor Krystal tried to come up with a topic; probably both were too exhausted from school. But the silence felt comforting. As Krystal expected, the evening was filled with rain. It was pretty dark when they reached their destination- the shopping spree. Almost all the gifts were bought here in the two hours period, but Krystal couldn’t find anything for herself. Victoria then suggested walking to one small store where some antique junk was sold. The younger girl wasn’t really keen on buying something old, especially when she wanted a dress or a nice pair of shoes for holidays. However, with Victoria’s persistence, they strolled through the poorly enlightened small streets towards the place. It took them almost twenty minutes to get to the main street, where the shop was located. Walking in, Krystal was greeted by s specific smell of candles and joss sticks. She definitely hated it. Still, not wanting to insult Victoria’s choice of stores, she stayed quiet and wandered off to the furthest corner of the store. While her friend was near the counter, talking with the owner (she probably comes here a lot), Krystal was regarding small medallions that were placed on dusty boards. Not really caring about the things placed here, she absentmindedly took a step forward. Hearing something break under her feet, her gaze immediately dropped to the floor. Slowly taking her feet off the broken thing, she looked around if nobody saw that. When she was sure that no one else beside her was there, she kneeled down to inspect a small earring. Taking it’s broken pieces in her hands, she gaped at it with wide open. She didn’t expect to find something so old to look so beautiful. Krystal felt really guilty for breaking such a nice piece of jewelry, nevertheless, she would probably leave it here for the owner to find. It was very rare for her have some savings, and she definitely didn’t want to spend them on something already broken, even, if it was her fault.

Getting up, she placed the broken pieces on the board, in the corner where it was hard to see. She tried to look around for the other earring from the pair, but soon Victoria came up to her, asking if she found anything nice yet. Krystal just shook her head and suggested getting out of here. Well, the older girl wasn’t so keen on leaving, since she thought about buying an old watch, nevertheless, agreed. Both girls bid their goodbyes to the owner and stepped out to the cold weather. It was almost ten already, even if the girls couldn’t believe it. The long street was dark, because apparently all the lights were turned off. It was a bit dangerous for two young girls to wander on these kinds of streets, so both agreed on fastening their pace.
 

When they had to turn a corner, they heard some loud voices coming from the street where Victoria’s car was parked. Cursing quietly, the girls came to abrupt stop and peeked thought a corner. Seeing a group of boys far away in the street, they let a relieved sign. Their car was only a few meters away from the corner, so girls might walk to it unnoticed by the gang. Stepping out on the sideway, Victoria rummaged through her huge bag while Krystal was already gripping the handle of the car. They could hear some whistles coming from the end of the street; Krystal urged Victoria to unlock the car when they saw some boys slowly approaching them. Victoria still couldn’t find the key.

“What’s taking you so long?” Krystal couldn’t stay there calm anymore, so instead she walked over to her friend who was about to drop her bag in frustration.

“I think I left the keys somewhere,” the older girl murmured.  Krystal took the bag from Victoria’s hands and emptied it on the ground. “Hey!” Victoria shouted, grabbing all of her belongings from the wet road.

“I should call my sister. Seriously, why do you need a head when there’s nothing in it?” Krystal kicked the car lightly, getting a smack on the head as a response from her friend.

“And what then? Your family doesn’t own a car, for all I know.” Watching the street as the boys were not that far away anymore, Victoria took Krystal’s hand and led the way towards the street they came from.

“Do you think I should call Tiffany instead? Or Jason?”

“And leave my car here, so that my parents could kill me later? No way,” Victoria almost shouted at the younger girl, who was obediently walking (almost running) after her. “It’s probably at that shop. Knowing the owner, if he found it, the store should still be open.”

“There’s twenty minutes of road there! And I’m not feeling entirely safe with those boys tracking us,” Krystal pointed to the three boys going after them, talking loudly. She was more than sure that no one would come to their rescue if something happened down there, since it would be their own fault for walking through dark streets so late.

Hearing some shouts from behind them, the girls shivered in fear and fastened their pace even more. If girls started running, they would just show that they’re scarred. Not that they weren’t, but those guys might start going after them if they ran.

“Wait up!” One of the trio came up to them. Krystal’s hands had s their way up to Victoria’s arm to steady both of them. Looking at the boy, Krystal concluded that they probably weren’t drunk, just for a look out to meet girls. Only their tactics have a long way to improvement. Victoria probably thought the same way, since she responded to the guy, still walking.

“What do you want?” she harshly asked; she was more irritated than scarred right now. The boy gave them an apologetic smile. Two other boys also walked up to them.

“Could I get your number?” the first boy asked, while handing his phone to Victoria. She rolled her eyes and took Krystal’s hands off her arm.

“I don’t know you, so, no.”

Other two boys laughed out loud, while the first one glared at his friends. Krystal herself couldn’t help but giggle. Victoria’s expression was priceless.

“It’s a way to get to know each other,” the boy didn’t stop pursuing the older girl. Victoria was probably older than them too, since they looked around sixteen. When the girl turned around walking away from the gang, the look on boy’s face drastically changed from smiling eyes to irritated scoff. Pushing Krystal out of his way, he grabbed Victoria’s arm and turned her around to face him. She looked surprised by his actions, since he didn’t seem as an aggressive type earlier. She should have known better. “Don’t act that hard-to-get girl. You’re not even that pretty,” he angrily said. Krystal’s mouth was hanging open when Victoria slapped him across the face. The boy stumbled in his step but tightened the grip on her arm. She winced in pain and gave Krystal a terrified look when other boys surrounded her.

“Let her go,” Krystal pleaded. When one of the boys snickered, she tried again. “Please, we don’t want any trouble. Let her go.”

“You should have thought about that earlier,” one of the trio laughed. “Now we would be more than pleased if you girls would keep us company for the evening.” Krystal stepped back when he left Victoria’s side and walked to her. He pushed a strand of her hair behind her left ear, making her shiver in the process.

“If she gives you her number, will you please let us go?” Krystal wasn’t that naïve, but at least she had to try. When all three boys laughed at that, she understood that her suggestion seemed pointless to them now. When the boy beside her put his arm on her waist, tears started to form in her eyes. The older girl didn’t seem any better with two boys surrounding her both sides.

“So you’re the easier one, huh? How about you stay with us, and we might consider letting your friend go?” The other one from Victoria’s side spoke up. As much as Krystal wanted Victoria to be safe, she wasn’t that stupid to not think about herself first. Being left alone with those three guys wouldn’t result as a good time. That is, not for her at least.

Krystal shook her head frantically in disapproval. To her surprise, Victoria did the same. The boys laughed once again, surely amused by girls’ reaction.

When a shadow stepped out of the corner, Krystal’s heart started to beat even faster. The figure looked like a guy from afar, so she thought that it was probably one of the gang’s friends. However, the boys eyed him suspiciously.

“Who’s there?” one of the trio shouted to the figure who was walking towards Krystal. The mysterious boy punched the boy on Krystal’s side unexpectedly, making the other two run towards him. Victoria shrieked in fear when one of the trio was ready to kick the savior from his back.

“Behind you!” The savior then instantly turned around and stopped the kick with his hands. The guy who was punched managed to get up from the ground with his friend’s help. The trio surrounded the savior, letting the girls get away from them. However, Krystal seemed hesitant to run away, since the boy who helped them is now about to get beaten up.

“Let’s go,” Victoria urged the younger girl, but her eyes never leaving the boy in the middle of that awful gang. Surprising for all of them, the savior only smirked and winked to the girls. He successfully avoided the punch one of the boys wanted to land on his stomach, but instead found his hand locked between the savior’s hands. Seeing the girls still standing there, he smiled widely.

“No need to stay there. I’ll be fine,” he assured them. Victoria immediately nodded and took Krystal’s hand. Both of them sprinted towards the antique shop, not even giving a glance back. Strangely enough, they didn’t hear any fighting voices on the way. Once in the shop, owner handed them Victoria’s keys and called for the police.

Krystal’s phone rang. Looking at the contact’s name, the young girl cursed under her breath. It was really late and she still hasn’t informed Alice about her whereabouts. Putting the phone near her ear, she heard a shout from the other side of the line.

“Where are you?!” Krystal signed; she totally forgot about calling her sister.

“I’m fine. Sorry.” Before Alice could interrupt her though, she added “We’re already going home. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” With that, she hung the call and looked though the window.

When police came earlier, both girls were already walking a big circle to their car, just how the store’s owner has recommended them. The owner knew that the girls had to go home quickly so he agreed on telling the police that he himself saw the fight before calling. They thanked him and just left. The girls still felt scarred, not for themselves of course, but for the mysterious boy. He sure looked confident while being surrounded by the small gang. Right now he probably is crawling on the floor with blood everywhere, or he’s even in the hospital. Depends on how much resistance he had. Nevertheless, both Victoria and Krystal decided not to talk about this awful incident anymore. Especially, not tell their friends or family.

The most important thing is, it was only the beginning of a long, tiresome and unpredictable week.