Snippet #2221303

Octo noticed how she blushed when he paid her such a small compliment. It was obvious that she wasn't used to anyone being nice to her. Come to that, he'd heard the other guys say all sorts of stuff. About how the other girls took every opportunity to insult and bully her, taking of advantage of the fact that she couldn't fight and wasn't very confident. Though he wished he hadn't been lumbered with her, he could see Scar's point. If she was ever going to be any use to the gang at all, she had to start feeling better about herself. He remembered how Flower, who was only 14 for fuck's sake, had mugged her for a really nice studded belt she had, and Liz had been so scared she'd just handed it over without a fight. About how RainGirl had called her gutless last month, and Liz had just blushed and turned away, her lip trembling.

He watched her sideways as he gave her directions, noting that she drove like she did everything else. Hesitantly, as if she couldn't quite handle it. She was wearing a black tee and jeans, and there was a scar on her arm, that looked like a burn. It didn't look the sort of burn you'd get by accident - more as if someone had been deliberately torturing her, and this was serious. Theft and name calling among the girls was supposed to be beyond the notice of the guys, but if they were actually harming her, Scars needed to know. But telling him might just make things worse for Liz, not to mentioning making an issue of how she was too weak to protect herself, and humiliating her even more.

They went round a sharp bend, and her bra-strapped slipped off as she wrestled with the wheel. Without a word, he reached across and replaced it for her. Normally, in the gang, a guy would only do that to his chosen girl, but he felt a bit sorry for her.

"OK, just through these lights," he said. "You'll see a silver Fairlane, that's his car. There's no trouble, giving someone money isn't a crime. No drugs and stuff are gonna change hands. He saw that her hands were starting to shake. "Don't be skitty... you're doing fine."