I slipped my phone into my shirt pocket and took a slow, steady breath.
“Are you mute?!” Lucas stomped his foot anxiously.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go save her.”
I broke into a run.
Then, suddenly, I fell hard to the ground.
“Why did you fall?!”
Lucas snapped as he rushed over to pull me up. “If you keep wasting time, Valerie’s going to be violated!”
“Lucas, my leg really hurts from the fall,” I said through a grimace. “I can barely walk right now. You go save Valerie.”
I made my voice sound just as panicked.
“Me?”
He froze on the spot, his expression stiffening for a brief second before twisting into a scoff.
“Are you kidding me?” he shot back. “Those are street punks. Who knows if they’re carrying knives?”
His voice rose sharply as panic and anger bled through. “Marcus, I treat you like a brother! Are you trying to get me killed?!”
He shouted the last words, then spat out a curse, his face full of contempt.
“You’re seriously useless,” he snapped. “You didn’t even get to save anyone before you crippled yourself.”
“So sending you to save someone means I’m trying to kill you?” I asked calmly. “But Lucas, from the very beginning, you were the one pushing me to go save her.”
I smiled faintly. “I treat you like a brother, yet you’re playing double standards with me?”
“I…”
Lucas froze, entirely at a loss for words.
A few minutes later, the police arrived.
The moment the street punks heard the sirens, they took off running.
Valerie was helped out of the alley.
Her clothes were torn, her hair disheveled, and her face soaked with tears.
Terror filled her eyes.
Lucas immediately sprinted over, grabbed a police officer’s arm, and pointed straight at me.
“Officer! When this happened, I begged Marcus to help, but he refused no matter what I did! He’s completely selfish!”
The officer glanced in my direction, frowned, and walked over. “Is what he said true?”
I lowered my head, my voice trembling. “Officer… I was scared. I really wanted to help, but I panicked and fell.”
I hurried to explain myself. "So that's how it was…"
The police officer listened quietly, nodded once, and then spoke in an even tone. "Since you're all witnesses, you'll need to come back with us to assist in the investigation."
Before long, we were taken to the police station.
The school principal arrived soon after. Then, my parents followed.
Finally, Valerie's parents arrived.