Souls in Peril Read Free Page A

prove it. Being knocked around by his mother's men wasn't new to JD. She liked the losers , always had. He'd seen her punched in the gut, tossed across the room, and shoved into a wall more times than he cared to remember. But this one, this Tim, had cruelty down to a science.
    JD sank to the ground, fighting tears that fought to break free. He'd pay tonight. There'd be another punishment for losing Tim's pen . A nother over the top beating. Probably with the extension cord. Tim loved the extension cord. He ’d threatened to wrap it around his mother's neck last week if she didn’t stop coddling the fat lump , as Tim liked to call him . Yup, JD couldn't wait for this one to break his mother's heart and leave. “Better her heart than her head,” JD mumbled to himself.
    Across the parking lot, Max and Emma held hands and stared into each other’s eyes. They’d been a couple for almost two years now. JD'd fallen in love with her the first time he saw her. But she could only see Max —as if JD stood a chance with her anyway. He frowned at his dirty jeans. His new hiding place wasn't exactly the cleanest one he'd ever found.
    Max wants to help me work out . JD smiled to himself. Never had he imagined Max Sánchez would want to be his friend. Max. One of the popular kids. He played sports, had all the girls after him, and was voted most likely to succeed his junior year. A junior never got that honor . I t had always been reserved for the seniors. Max got it both years. If only I were that popular.
    He felt honored when Max offered to workout with him, and would have done whatever Max wanted. He ’ d have lifted the weights until his arm s shook with exhaustion. He'd even take the beating Tim would give him for being late if it meant Max would be his friend. But n o way could he afford to go to the gym downtown .
    JD picked himself up, shut his locker, and started for home. He missed the bus in his failed attempt to locate Tim's pen , so he now had to walk. That meant he ’d have to watch out for The Jerks, as he and Izzy called them. His stomach twisted painfully. They were a gang of kid s who found sport in terrorizing geeks like them . They didn't say stupid things like Max and his friends did. That he could live with. It hurt, but he'd gotten used to it. Besides, Max seldom bothered him since he started dating Emma. No, these kids, these jerks were downright evil. JD wouldn't let his mind dwell on their past escapades. Too painful. He also needed to stay in the here and now if he wanted to avoid them on his way home. He barely escaped yesterday . C ould he be that lucky again?
    JD darted across the open field toward his house. Only two more blocks and he'd be home. He stopped to catch his breath. He knew the risks, but what choice did he have? He was a fat, lazy, butthead , and he knew it. The kids who teased him didn't tell him anything he didn't already know.
    Squealing tires meant he ’ d been spotted. He took off with all the speed he could muster, which wasn't much at this point. His breath came hard now , and he worried his chest might explode. The sweat careening down his forehead burned his eyes. He turned into an all e y behind a strip mall to his secret refuge: a dumpster behind Pet City, the local pet store. No one in their right mind would hide in a dumpster filled with animal waste. Unless they were desperate. And JD was despera te. He cracked open the lid, sucking in the last lungful of clean air he'd be breathing for a while, and dove in just as the enemy car bolted down the alley , skidding to a stop .
    “Where is he?” shouted Nate, the ring leader. JD feared him almost as much as he did Tim. He slowly exhaled as the car door slammed shut.
    “I'll bet he's in the dumpster,” Pam, Nate's girlfriend, said. She loved to taunt Izzy. It made JD's blood boil when she did, but he never said anything. Ever.
    “Not even Lumpy would dumpster dive in there,” Nate laughed.
    “Come on. Who cares? Let's go