Ganked: Life Bitten And Taken

I woke up of my little brother playing my video game in my room. He went to school an hour after me, but always seemed to get up an hour earlier than me.

"Man turn that off." I whined and rolled over onto my stomach, flipping my pillow over my head and holding it down tightly by its corners.

"I'm almost done CJ! I just have to beat Princess Peach and I get 1st place!" He said excitedly, his adrenaline pumping. Mario Kart was his favorite game to play. In fact, mom and dad kept the game system in my room instead of his because he used to stay up all night playing the damn thing.

I just sighed and rolled out of bed, then turned off my alarm clock fifteen minutes before it was supposed to go off. "Alright, Matt, but make sure you turn it off this time. I don't wanna have to come home and find that it overheated again."

"K!" He called as I walked out of the room with an arm full of clothes for the day. I walked across the hall with a yawn towards the bathroom. I shut the door and locked it, knowing no one in this one story house knocked. I turned on the shower, and got undressed, waiting for the water to heat up. Once it was warm enough, I hopped in, letting the hot water wash away my goosebumps that developed while I was standing naked. I washed up, still half asleep, then turned off the water and grabbed my soft white towel from the towel rack by the shower door, wrapping it around myself. It wasn't until I stepped out of the shower into the cold morning air that I fully woke up. I dried myself off, got dressed, blow-dried and straightened my hair, then walked out into the kitchen. I was wearing my favorite outfit; my tight blue jeans, and hot red tee with my black converse on. Yeah, I'm a plane Jane. I don't wear make-up and I don't wear ridiculously colored clothes. Honestly, why would someone wear blue, brown, and white plaid tight knee-height shorts with two shirts and a long chain for a necklace? Fashion is going down the shitter these days. I had brown hair that went down to the bottom of my shoulder blades, baby blue eyes, and was only five-five. My favorite type of music was rock and a little bit of country, and my favorite outfit was a pair of jeans a tight tee with my Converse.

Anyway. By the time I got into the kitchen, everyone was awake. I walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a bowl, then a spoon from the drawer and walked over to the kitchen table.

"Morning CJ." My dad and brother said in unison.

"Good morning sweetheart." My mother said in her sweet voice.

"Morning." I sat down and poured some Frosted Flakes into my bowl, then the cereal.

"Hey CJ! Lookit! We got you a present!" Matt could hardly contain himself as he brought out a small box that was sitting on his lap underneath the table. It was wrapped in brown paper that had blue polka-dots on it and a blue bow, then handed it to me, nearly bouncing out of his chair.

"Aww thanks you guys." I smiled, glad to know my family remembered it was my seventeenth birthday. I got up out of my chair and kissed my brother's head as I took the gift from his hands. Then moved on to my dad who was right next to him.

"We got you a card, too." Dad whipped out a brown envelope. I could tell mom did the wrapping. She always liked to match stuff.

"Thank you." I gave dad a hug and took the card from him, then hugged mom.

"I hope you like it." She smiled.

I went back to sit in my chair and opened the card. It had a sweet poem about how much of a wonderful person I am and how important I am to this family, typical things you find inside a card, then tore off the wrapping of the gift, revealing a nice box. Inside the box was a silver heart-shaped locket that contained two pictures inside; a picture of my mom and dad, and a picture of my little brother. On the back of it, surrounding the rim, were little jewels that changed colors like a mood ring. I smiled and looked at my family. "Thank you guys so much. This is a beautiful gift." I said sincerely as I put it around my neck. Then I heard Kasey's Chevy pick-up truck honking from the end of the long dirt driveway on our ten-acre lot.

"Woah! Bye guys!" I quickly grabbed a piece of toast from the table and began to run out the door but was stopped by mom's voice.

"Are you still going to Jason's house after school?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok. Be back by eight o'clock!"

"K! Love you guys!" I said as I grabbed my backpack and closed the front door behind me before sprinting for the bus. I hopped into the back seat of the truck and closed the door, putting my backpack on the ground. "Hey guys!" I smiled, seeing Jason in the passenger seat and his older brother driving.

"Happy birthday CJ." They both said in unison before driving off. Jason handed me a small box wrapped in black and red wrapping paper. Man! These boys knew me well.

"Aww you guys didn't have to buy anything!....In fact, I believe I told you not to." I teased taking the box.

"Hey, if you don't want it sweetheart we'll take it back." Said Kasey, Jason's brother, with a laugh. Jason just smirked and turned to try to face me, but he had his seat belt on so he didn't get very far.

"Psht. Yeah right!" I laughed and unwrapped the box, then opened it. It was a black leather bracelet with spikes on it. "Holy shit! I've been looking for a bracelet like this everywhere! Where'd you guys find this?!" I said excitedly as I put it on. It didn't exactly match my stunning locket, but it was exactly what I wanted. I leaned forward and kissed Jason on the cheek, then Kasey, then sat back down in my seat.

Jason chuckled. "You missed, babe. My lips are a little to the right." He loved to tease me.

Kasey rolled his eyes. "Pfft. If she was goin' to kiss anybody it would be me. You know she's got a thing for the older guys who have trucks."

I laughed. "Now now boys. There will be no arguing on my birthday."

They both rolled their eyes, and Jason put some Seether into the CD player. I leaned back into the seat and listened to my favorite song, smiling, knowing Jason chose it for me. He was such a nice guy.

I met Jason back in second grade. I was the new girl and always kept to myself. I was extremely shy. Well one day I was sitting underneath the steps of the office building, making mud balls (yes mud balls), when a boy came over and asked what I was doing. When he saw what I was doing, he and his friends started making fun of me because I was a tomboy who liked getting dirty. But tomboy or not, I was still a girl, and I started crying. All of a sudden a hand reached under the steps, grabbed a mud ball and threw it at the boy. The boy got all angry, but he and his friends ran off when another mud ball came flying at his chest.

Well, you can guess who the boy was who defended me. Yup. Jason held out his hand toward me and helped me out of my hiding spot.

"Don't cry. They're gone now. You can come hang out with me and my brother. Do you like Oreos?" He held my hand and walked me over to his brother--who was one grade higher than we were--and his brother's friends. I was quickly accepted, and Oreos became my favorite cookie. Jason and Kasey have been like older brothers to me ever since. We've been through thick and thin together, and I plan to keep it that way. Kasey is taking a year off right now, and plans to go to Dartmouth when me and Jason do.

"Hey CJ. Do you want to go to Ike's after school?" Jason asked.

"Or would you rather go to McEnroy's?" Kasey asked.

Jason glared at him. "This isn't about where you wanna go. Today is about CJ."

Kasey grinned. "Baby girl, would you rather go to Ike's or McEnroy's?"

I smiled. "That 50s diner on West Fret Street."

They both groaned, "Aww man!"

"Sorry boys. You shouldn't have let me choose." I shrugged, then picked up my backpack noticing we were approaching the school. Once Kasey stopped the truck I hugged him quickly and hopped out of the truck. "Bye Kase! Thanks again for the bracelet!" I yelled before closing the truck door. Jason got out of the truck as well.

"No problem, hun! Have a good day at school you guys! No fuckin' off!" Kasey yelled when Jason opened the door and got out. He then drove off when he closed the door.

I walked into the school with Jason, and towards our lockers which were next to each other.

"Did you finish your English essay yet?" He asked me as he opened his locker.

"Yep! I was so proud of myself. I ev-" I opened my locker and began to answer his question when I was cut off by Jen Byrnes, one of the many girls after Jason and his brother.

The two boys were always nicely tan, and they were tall. Jason was six foot-three and Kasey was six-four. They both had jet black hair and stunning bluish-green eyes, so you can just imagine how crazy all the girls went.

"Hey Jason!" Jen was the snobbiest rich-bitch around. Always got what she wanted...except for the boys. This fact always seemed to piss her off, especially when she saw me hanging out with them. "Do you have plans tonight? There's a new movie out and me and Samantha wanted to go, but we have no one to go with us." She stood between me and Jason. I was tempted to slam my locker door into her head.

"Naw I'm busy." He closed his locker after putting some books into it and grabbing his English book. He then walked over to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. "Today's CJ's b-day." I zipped up my backpack and closed my locker, then looked smugly at Jen.

She kept on a fake smile to hide the anger that turned her cheeks red. "Oh. Well, have fun." She walked past him and did the boob rub, then kept walking, shaking her hips. Of course I noticed this and turned around, ready to yell at her for playing such a move, but Jason held onto my waist and started walking with me to class.

"She's not worth the detention, Chandler. Just ignore her." He said calmly.

I frowned. "Fine. I'll tackle her some other day." I softened my expression and sighed.

"That's my girl." He smiled and opened the English room door for me. I walked in and took my seat in the back. Unfortunately, Jason sat in the very front of the row next to me, so we couldn't talk the entire time.