Crushing on the Bully by Sarah Adams

attention to his wife.
    Clarissa bit her lip and balled her hands into fists.
    “Easy for you to be chill about it,” she thought to herself, “Your wife is sitting right there. If it were her in jail, if you had seen her get arrested...”
    2:04AM
    Clarissa sprinted to the bathroom and locked herself inside the largest stall. She leaned against the solid wall and gently banged her fist into it as hot angry tears streamed down her face. She slid to the floor, but quickly forced herself to stand up.
    “I don’t know what’s been on these floors,” she cried, “I’m never going to see Skull again and I’m going to catch something! Ewww! Ewww! Ewww!”
    2:36AM
    Having regained her composure Clarissa returned to the barroom and ordered another soda. She drank this one and then used the straw to swirl the ice around the glass.
    2:59AM
    “Did they arrest Lobster too?” she thought to herself.
    3:03AM
    “Maybe Lobster wasn’t going to help him after all and they just wanted to keep me out of the way?”
    3:15AM
    “Should I call Julie? No definitely not,” she shook her head, “She’d never understand it and she’d blab to everyone. She might even call my parents! What the hell would I tell my parents?”
    3:36AM
    “Maybe I should just go home,” Clarissa thought as she tapped her head on the table again.
    4:00AM
    “That’s it!” Clarissa declared, “I’m going to go find out what’s going on!”

 
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
     
    The roar of a motorcycle sounded in the distance, its soft purr turning into a growl as it quickly approached. Clarissa stopped mid-step and swallowed hard. Was it too much to hope for? She let out a sigh of relief when the bike came to an idling stop in the parking lot. She ran towards the door, but Lilac appeared next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
    “Now, he might not have been able to bail him out,” she said softly.
    Clarissa pulled away from the older woman and sprinted towards the door. She was reaching for the knob when it swung inward forcing her to take to long backward strides to avoid being hit. Lobster came through first, his bald head glistening with sweat.
    “Did..?” Clarissa asked, finally exhaling the breath she had inhaled when she heard the bike in the distance.
    Lobster gave her a lopsided grin and stepped aside.
    “Skull!” Clarissa said and threw herself into his arms.
    He flashed her a grin and returned the embrace. Clarissa rested her head against his chest and allowed the tension she had been holding onto to flow away from her, but then she remembered why she had been so upset.
    “What the hell did you do?” she demanded, “What the hell is going on? You tell me you’re going to meet up with me later and then I drive by and see you in handcuffs and being put into a police car? I want answers and I want them now! I can’t do this anymore, Skull! I can’t keep playing this on again and off again game! Either we’re on or we’re off! Either we’re together or I’ll walk out of here tonight and never look back! I swear it! I swear it on the safety of everything I hold dear to me, Skull!”
    “Your lover’s spat can wait,” Hugo said standing up.
    “Shut up!” Clarissa yelled at him, “No, I’ve waited long enough! You’ve had your chance to help! More than one for the sounds of it! No, we’re doing this here and now! You just go back to chain smoking and give me a damn minute!”
    Hugo’s eyes grew wide and Clarissa’s hands shook. Would he try to make her leave? Hugo was a skyscraper of a man, compared to her small frame, but she squared her shoulders determined to hold her ground.
    She didn’t allow herself to relax until she heard the others laughing.
    “You’re right kid,” he said looking at Skull, “She’s fierier than she looks.”
    Clarissa turned back to Skull and arched a brow, “So what’s it going to be?”
    “We told you not to go,” Lobster chuckled.
    Clarissa rolled her eyes and locked eyes with