Five Things That Never Happened to Jules Callaghan

Rebellious

The rational part of 16-year-old Julianna Callaghan's brain told her that this time, she was in over her head.

But she seldom listened to that part.

Instead, Jules ran with the full force of her emotions. After all, the other girl totally deserved it. Didn't matter that she'd brought her 'posse'; Jules had grown up with four brothers. She could handle herself. Or so she thought.

The mall parking lot wasn't really the best place for a confrontation. It was open, and it was public.

The notion she might have a big audience actually added to the thrill.

Her rival dared her to throw the first punch, and she did, her fist smashing directly into the other girl's mouth. Maybe that would shut her up.

"Cat fight!" Jules heard someone holler, as the scuffle continued. The other girl, Megan, clawed at her face, scraping her nails down the side of Jules' cheek.

Jules angrily lashed back out, this time with a cuff to the side of Megan's head.

"Owww!" Megan howled, bringing her hand up protectively to her ear.

Jules sensed that one of Megan's gang had tried to sneak behind her. She whirled around, fixing the other girl, Celia, with a glare that would make water freeze.

Too late, Jules realised it was a ruse. Megan pounced, tackling Jules to the tarmac. Jules felt her forehead connect with the dirty surface, and grunted in pain.

The next thing she knew, Megan had grabbed a fistful of Jules' hair, and started to repeatedly slam her face down into the ground.

By now, a crowd had gathered to observe the melee, alerted by the shout of the anonymous 'someone' just minutes earlier.

"Megan," Jules heard Celia say urgently, "you better stop. I think someone's called the cops!"

"You had enough, runt?" Megan whispered harshly into Jules' ear, pausing for a moment in her attack. "'Cause if not, there's more where that came from!"

Jules didn't say a word, and remained perfectly still.

"Is she still conscious?" another of Megan's posse named Amber asked fearfully.

"Hey, runt, you awake?" Megan asked, tapping the back of Jules' head.

"Oh my God, Megan," Celia whined. "If you killed her..."

"Shut up, Celia! You're seriously so dense sometimes. Of course I didn't kill her; she's still breathing, anyhow!"

"Good," Celia sighed in relief.

"Guess you showed her," Amber said with false bravado.

"Yup," Megan said triumphantly, and picked herself up.

Jules chose that exact moment to strike. She hooked Megan's ankles with her feet, and swiftly brought the other girl down.

"Hey...!" Megan cried in surprise, as Jules launched a new attack. She landed hard on Megan, pinning her down with one knee, and started swinging with both fists.

Jules knew that she was landing all her blows, and was heedless of the damage she was actually causing her own hands. All that mattered was turning Megan's face into a bloody pulp.

A police siren shrieked in the distance, and the crowd scattered. Jules decided now would also be a good time to cut and run.

For the first time, she got a good look at her handiwork. Megan's lip was split and bleeding. Of course, Jules actually wasn't sure if all the blood was just from that lip alone. It could have been from Megan's mouth, as well, since she thought she'd knocked a few teeth loose.

Megan's nose was also bloody, and one of her eyes was starting to swell shut.

Jules had no idea what she looked like, herself, but she was quite confident she looked the better of the two combatants. She sprang up quickly, and readied to make her exit.

"Somebody stop her!" Celia shouted vainly, "stop her before she gets away!"

Jules rushed for the bicycle racks. She hopped on hers and hoped to put enough distance between her and whatever cop had the dumb luck to be saddled with this particular incident.

She knew when she got home her dad would be furious, but she didn't really care. He'd raised her to pull her own weight and to stand up for herself. What did he think, that she wouldn't put those lessons to good use?

Jules was about to start pedalling when she heard a commanding voice say: "Hold it right there!"

She wanted to ignore the voice and just take off, but a hand seized the back of her shirt and hauled her off the bike.

"Hey!" Jules protested. "Let go of me!"

She flailed her arms, but whoever had grabbed a hold of her was much, much taller, and much, much stronger. Jules craned her neck and caught sight of a man in the uniform of an RCMP constable.

"Quit struggling or I'll handcuff you right now!" he said in a warning voice that left no room for debate.

This guy means it, Jules thought sullenly. She ceased trying to free herself from his grasp.

"Smart choice," the constable said, and lowered her to the ground.

"Why are you picking on me?" Jules went into defensive mode. "It was the other girl's fault. Why aren't you arresting her?"

"Be quiet, and listen," the officer said in a steely voice. "You're in big trouble. We know all about you, Miss Callaghan."

Jules couldn't hide the surprise that he knew her name. But now that she looked closer, she thought she recognized him, too. Yeah, he was Constable Franklin or something like that. He had to be at least six feet, six inches tall. You didn't easily forget a man that height. The last time she'd encountered him, it had been because she'd tried to get into a bar. He'd confiscated her fake ID, and called her father.

She'd been grounded for a month for that stunt, but that didn't stop her from sneaking out of the house whenever she pleased, anyway.

"What's your problem? Do you enjoy wrecking your life?" he asked. "Truancy. Under-age drinking. Assault. Shop-lifting...you're doing a bang-up job making your mark on the world."

"What's it to you?" Jules shot back rudely.

Constable Franklin, or whatever his name was, clenched his jaw and scowled.

"You know what? I've had it. No more wrist-slaps. We're tired of looking the other way. Time was we'd let this sort of behaviour slide as a courtesy – 'cause your dad used to be a cop – but no more. Any other kid with your pattern of behaviour would have been in Juvie by now."

"You can't send me to Juvie," Jules challenged, folding her arms.

"I can't, but I don't think there's any judge in this town who won't look at your record and not agree with me. Daddy's days as an officer of law won't mean squat anymore, and your free ride just ended."

Jules suddenly felt very, very tired, and all her aches made themselves painfully present.

I'll show him, Jules thought rebelliously, as he escorted her to the waiting squad car. I'm gonna bust out of Juvie. And when I do, I'm gonna show him you don't mess with a Callaghan...

END