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She turned around, walking backwards as she flashed them a look of disapproval. They instantly blushed, focusing their attention on the concrete beneath the rock salt instead of her glowering eyes.
Julia grazed over the rest of the students, making sure everyone was still together, still accounted for. She watched Erin talk to a student in the back, her hands moving a mile a minute as her smile broke into a laugh. She was about to turn back towards the front when she heard a rough man’s voice shout.
“Hey bay-bee!”
He stood from where he was resting against a building to their right, a lit cigarette half smoked in his hand. He stepped towards Erin as she ushered the students to continue walking. They plowed on, unconcerned about anything other than their own being.
She kept her sight straight ahead, ignoring him like Julia had told her to do. Until he reached out and grabbed her.
“Hey! I was talking to you!”
The students didn’t notice she wasn’t there anymore. Julia stopped dead in her tracks, everyone passing by in a blur with phones in their hands, distracted by the loud chatter. She watched it unfold before her.
He gripped her arm tightly, twisting her into him. No. His footsteps swayed slightly with his drunk demeanor. No. Erin’s face was blank, but even at that distance, Julia could see the tremor in her hands. No!
“Remove your hand–” Erin began, but it seemed like his grip just tightened. Her voice was stern but her jaw slacked, eyes widened with fear.
“When a nice man says hello,” he began, but Julia was already there.
“You will remove that hand from her person right now.” Julia was stone, her eyes glossed over in fury as her hands twitched at her sides.
He stared back at her eye level, not releasing his grip, but his glare flickered. It was almost as if he wanted to see what she would do. Luckily, those two months of defense classes she and Keegan took were finally going to pay off.
Julia grabbed his free arm and jerked him so hard he gasped. If she twisted it just a little more, she could’ve dislodged his shoulder. If there wasn’t a chance of one of her students seeing, she would’ve and then decked him square in the face, just on principle.
She took a step closer towards him, positioning her body to be a shield, to take a bullet if needed. She took Erin’s arm and pulled it from his grasp. She hid Erin’s body behind hers, a fortress that would not be broken.
“You’re a sorry excuse for a human being,” Julia spat as she took Erin by one hand, the other pressed firmly to her back, rushing her back to the group of students still walking.
Julia wanted to say more to him. She wanted to scream in his smug face while lighting his clothes on fire–an entire eruption of all the frustration locked inside. She wanted him to understand that women are not things, that he can’t just go around and grab people because they don’t want to pay him any mind. Not Erin. Not her.
Julia kept her hand pressed firmly against her back as she walked faster. He shouted to their backs, huffing before falling back against his wall–the sound of his crinkling coat like nails on a chalkboard.
They were almost to the students, but she didn’t slow down. She wanted Erin to be as far away as she could get. It surprised her when Erin slowed down, pressing against the force she held on her back. Julia could feel her pulse quicken beneath her hands.
Erin pulled her towards one side of the sidewalk–not able to rush anymore, not able to force her shaking legs to go any further–dropping her arms to her knees as she leaned on them for support.
“What can I do?” Julia asked, kneeling on the cold concrete to look up at her with empty arms she couldn’t settle.
“T-that,” Erin stuttered. “That, that was so–” She stood and ran her hands through her natural curls–always the same hand, always the same way–her sweaty palms sticking as she pulled her fingers out.
“I know, I’m sorry.” Julia’s voice was one long panicked strain. “I should have gotten to you sooner. I shouldn’t have been so far away. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”
She reached a hand out and touched Erin’s upper arm, rubbing it softly in an automatic rhythm that she fell into as familiar as the hairbrush you put to your scalp each morning.
“Did he hurt you? Do you need to see a doctor? Should I call the police? What do you want me to d–”
Erin cut her off. “No, it’s what could have happened that scares me the most.” Her voice shook in the quietest, most child-like way. Her shaking hands vibrated against the sides of her hips. “If you hadn’t seen me–”
“That would never have happened.” Julia looked right into her eyes. “I always see you.”
“If you didn’t look back at that very moment, if no one noticed I fell behind,” she paused, swallowing audibly as she lifted one hand to her chest just to make sure she could feel the thud.
“I would have noticed,” Julia’s voice was almost a plea. “If you weren’t there, I would have noticed.” I always notice.
If she was focused, she would’ve been walking right next to Erin, and that man would have never gotten that close. She could’ve protected her from every thought that now flooded her mind, every nightmare that currently looped in her head. She could’ve protected her. Protect her. She never wanted to be farther than a breath span apart.
They stood there as the wind whipped against them. The clouds overtook the sun and more wisps of matter danced in the sky. Julia became too aware of how far the students traveled during their detour.
