Bully (Angel & Demons Trilogy Book 1)

by Ashley Love

  Outside the library, Kira farewells me with a fist bump, and I just stare at it for a second before she has to literally take my hand and form a fist out of it, bumping both our fists together for me. I cock my head to the side.

  "What was the point in that?" I ask, and Kira just laughs, shifting her backpack onto her shoulder.

  "Dude, you're like an alien," she replies before turning and walking down the hall. "See you at 7:30."

  I nod and watch after her for a moment before stooping down to stuff my last textbook into my backpack. A couple girls come out of the library next to me and nearly run me over as I squat there on the floor fumbling with the zipper on my bag. I mutter an apology and scoot off to the side, standing and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

  I glance once more down the hallway where Kira is walking, and I see her pushing her way through the door into the stairwell, disappearing from sight. I almost turn around and head the other direction towards my locker before math class, but then I stop.

  The Cancers are sitting against the wall beside the stairwell that Kira just entered, all five of them, including Zane, and I watch as they exchange glances and wicked grins, and then all of them are pushing themselves to their feet and entering the stairwell after her. My brow furrows as I stare at the door sink closed after all five Cancers go in there, and I chew on my lip.

  This doesn't feel right.

  Gritting my teeth, I grip my backpack straps a little tighter and start walking towards the door to the stairwell. I could be wrong about this. To my knowledge, the Cancers have never really bothered Kira. She is all but invisible to them. But Kira is alone in that stairwell right now, and the way the Cancers had looked at each other before standing and going after her left a roiling feeling in my gut.

  My suspicions are confirmed when I push through the door to the stairwell after them and hear laughing and the sounds of a scuffle. I peer over the railing and see shadows moving on the landing below. I'm nervous. I'm always a little nervous when I'm around the Cancers, but it's one thing to mess with me, and another to mess with one of my friends. So I swallow back my reservations and force myself to walk down the stairs before I can change my mind. Kira needs me, and Kira is a good friend, one of the only good friends I've ever had. So I need to be a good friend too.

  When I get to the bottom of the twin flights of stairs, I find the five Cancers standing there laughing. Gordon and Noah have Kira shoved against the wall, and Ryker is rifling through her backpack, dropping papers and books aside, probably looking for something worthwhile to steal. Kira looks pissed, but also scared. Who isn't a little scared when they're dealing with these five guys? They have a reputation that ensures that people will be scared.

  The Cancers have their backs to me, so they don't see me at first. Kira is the one who spots me, and she shakes her head mutely, warning me off. She's such a good friend. Even when she's being picked on, she still tries to warn me away because she doesn't want me to be bullied too. It warms something within me. I can't leave. I won't just leave Kira here.

  I clear my throat, loud enough for them to hear, and all five of them look back. Slate grins a sharp, feral smile when he sees me.

  "Ariel," he greets, "What brings you to the South Well?" His voice is like poisoned sap, dripping and cloyingly sweet. I suppresses a shiver, trying very hard not to think about the feeling of fire licking at the back of my hair.

  I want to say something, but I have no idea what to say. I've found that when it comes to bullies, words don't really do anything. Plus, my throat locks up the second I see Zane staring at me out of the corner of his eye. I make it a point not to look at Zane. Maybe if I pretend he doesn't exist, Project FAZ will be a success and I can move on with my pathetic life.

  I grit my teeth, and then, without a word, stalk forward and pull Kira's backpack out of Ryker's hands. To my surprise, Ryker just releases it, probably more out of surprise than anything. I hand the backpack to Kira and grab her arm, pulling her away from the wall where Gordon and Noah are holding her.

  "Get out of here," I say to her, and Kira just eyes me strangely, stuck in place, not knowing what to do. Gordon's hand still has a pretty decent grip on the lapel of her jacket, and I glance at it before grabbing it. I'm halfway sure I'm dreaming when I take Gordon's hand and place it on my own jacket, giving Kira a push towards the door.

  "Go," I urge, and Kira swallows, glancing at Gordon's hand now on my chest. All the Cancers are just standing there watching this happen, to both Kira's and my surprise.

  She gives me a pointed look, trying to communicate something, but I'm too distracted by Zane in my peripheral vision to understand what she's trying to say with her eyes. Then she turns and scrambles for the door, jerking her arm free of Slate's grasp as he reaches out and tries to grab her again.

  "Leave her alone," I hear myself saying, and Slate looks back at me, eyes angry. "If you feel it's absolutely necessary to belittle people, then do it to me. Leave my friends alone."

  All five of their eyebrows shoot towards the ceiling, and Noah laughs next to me. "Never thought I'd see the day Riley grew herself a pair," he says, coming forward. I stiffen as he and Gordon shove me back against the wall where Kira just was. I'm angled awkwardly because the bulk of my backpack behind me is blocking me from being flat against the wall.

  "Is that it, Ariel?" Slate asks, grinning that toothy grin again, although his eyes are angry. "Are you finally a big girl now?"

  I look up and my eyes accidentally fall upon Zane. Damn it, I've been really good about not looking at Zane at all the last few days. This is the first time I've actually looked directly at him in what feels like forever, and it's like drinking a tall glass of water when you're parched. I instantly feel better, and that shouldn't be happening, because Zane is here too, and he's part of the reason that I'm still stuck here pinned against the wall.

  I can't help but stare at him for a few seconds, taking in what I've missed out on the past few days. He's staring at me with a mixture of curiosity, admiration, and reservation. There are three jagged gashes on his chin, one of them bisecting his lip, and he has a massive bruise adorning his upper cheekbone. I wonder if the other Cancers did that to him. Maybe they don't just beat on other people; maybe occasionally they beat on each other.

  When Slate steps forward, I tear my eyes away from Zane's face, looking up at him. Slate seems to have noticed me staring at Zane, because the look in his eyes is not the same as it was before. He looks livid. I recall Mason saying things about Slate, how he has a strange possessive obsession with Zane, and I gulp nervously.

  "You know, I never pegged you as stupid, Ariel," Slate says, just before throwing a slap. As my head whips to the side with the blow to the cheek, my ears ringing a little, I briefly consider to myself why this is all so necessary. But my thoughts are cut off by Ryker hitting me, and then Gordon gets in a punch.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zane back up a step, and I'm overwhelmed with confusion when suddenly he turns and leaves the stairwell without even laying a finger on me. I don't have long to ponder why before one of the remaining four Cancers is hitting me again.

  They aren't really hitting me all that hard, and as far as beatings go, this isn't the worst I've ever experienced. When the stairwell door opens again a minute or so later, Kira walks in with Victor trailing behind her.

  "Hey!" Victor shouts, coming forward and grabbing the Cancers one by one, jerking them away from me. My ears are ringing, but I don't lose my balance when they let me go. "The four of you, to the office, now," Victor growls, giving Slate a hard shove towards the door.

  The Cancers grumble and snicker to themselves, wandering out of the stairwell, and Victor glances back at me. "You okay, kid?" he asks, and I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, finding a little bit of blood there from one of the punches. I nod to Victor, and he looks at me for a moment, like he wants to do something more. But then one of the Cancers mutters some offhanded insul
t about me, and Victor turns, snapping at them to get their asses moving, disappearing from the stairwell.

  Kira comes forward quickly, grabbing my arm. "Oh my God, you alright?" she asks. "Jesus Ariel, you shouldn't have done that."

  I just chuckle a little. "I wouldn't want you to steal my thunder," I reply, smiling a little and pushing myself away from the wall. I have a headache, but other than that, I'm fine. This wasn't that bad, all things considered.

  Kira rolls her eyes. "You're an idiot," she says. "But thank you for helping me."

  I shrug with a small nod, just as the five minute warning bell rings, signaling our next class is about to begin.

  "I'll see you later?" I ask her.

  Kira gives me a small smile. "Yeah," she replies, and I wipe my mouth one more time before sniffing and shifting my backpack onto my shoulders again, leaving the stairwell. I feel Kira watching after me.

  When I walk into math class, I can see Zane out of the corner of my eye watching me too, and I very deliberately choose a seat towards the front so that I can't see him at all unless I purposely turn around. Everything this guy does is messing with my head. Why wouldn't Zane join in with his friends and hit me too? Why did Zane leave the stairwell? The fact that he did that is not helping me get over him any faster.

  I wipe a little bit of remaining blood away from the corner of my mouth and fish in my backpack for my tiny travel-size bottle of Ibuprofen, tossing a few into my mouth to help with my throbbing head. I can feel Zane's eyes burning holes into my back for the rest of the class, but I force myself to pay attention as Mr. Wyatt explains logarithms, ignoring every single thing in front of me that happens to be the color green.

  20

  "How's that new mobile coming together?" Alfred asks me later that night at work while I'm busy folding up an origami turtle for my newest creation.

  I shrug. "I ran out of fishing line my last shift...I'll have to use something else."

  Alfred hums in thought, and then rifles under the counter for a moment, coming out with a spool of black string. "Try this," he says, handing the string to me. "No harm in changing things up a bit."

  I smile. "Thank you, Alfred." I'm getting more used to calling my boss Alfred instead of sir now that it's been a couple months. He disappears behind the Japanese curtains again into the back of the store.

  The bell above the door jingles a little as a new customer opens it, and I glance up, waiting for whoever it is to walk further back into the store. There are so many shelves and mountains of merchandise in this place, I can't even see the front door from where I'm perched at the desk. The customer veers off to the side into the first aisle though, so I look back down at my turtle, listening to their footsteps as they scour the shelves.

  I'm lost in thought, and I keep moving my jaw a little to keep it from getting stiff as fresh bruises form on my face from the stairwell this afternoon. There's a cut on the inside of my lip that I can't keep my tongue away from, but besides a few bruises, I came out of this most recent beating relatively intact. I don't regret stepping in when I did. In fact, I find that it actually feels good. I've never really had anybody I felt connected enough to that I would defend like I did with Kira. It feels good to take a beating knowing that I'm doing it in someone else's place. Makes it feel like it's actually worth something.

  "Well hey, Ariel!" I hear a happy voice greet from in front of me, and I look up to see Lynn coming up to the desk. "I didn't know you worked here!"

  I give her a small smile. "For about two months now," I say, nodding my head in greeting. Lynn is as quirky and volatile as I originally suspected of a theater teacher. She's just like another student. I don't even feel weird about calling her by her first name instead of Ms. Barnes.

  "Oh, did you see the casting sheet for the play? I posted it on the board in the green room," Lynn says, setting what looks like an antique crystal ball down on the counter and fishing for her wallet in her purse.

  "No, I didn't get a chance to look at it," I reply, picking up the crystal ball and searching for a price tag. Truthfully, I forgot all about the casting sheet, what with my mind being distracted by mysterious male voices and big green eyes lately.

  Lynn grins widely at me as she hands me her credit card. "You got the part you auditioned for!" she says happily. "Stephanie, the school mean girl!"

  I blink up at her. "Really?"

  She nods her head. "Yup! Your script is in my office. You can pick it up tomorrow in theater. Congrats, hun."

  I slide Lynn's card through the machine, ringing her up, and a smile spreads across my face. "Thank you," I say gratefully.

  She nods, tucking a dark curl of hair behind her ear. "Where's that crusty old Alfred Singer tonight? He around?"

  "I can hear ya, idiot," Alfred's voice calls out from the back, and Lynn laughs, accepting the paper bag I hand her with the crystal ball and her receipt inside. Alfred pushes his way out from the back again and gives Lynn a big hug. She squeezes him tight and picks him up mid-hug, patting him hard on the back.

  "You know each other?" I ask.

  "Small town," Alfred replies, pulling his hat off and slapping it against his leg once for no reason before putting it back on. Lynn grins at both of us.

  "I better get going," she says. "Ariel, don't forget to come pick up your script tomorrow."

  I nod. "I won't."

  "See you later, Alfred," Lynn calls on her way out the door. The bell jingles as she leaves, and me and Alfred glance at each other.

  "She's a spitfire, that woman," he chuckles, and then turns and disappears into the back again.

  I sit back down at the chair behind the counter and finish folding the last leg of my origami turtle. I can't stop smiling to myself. I got the part! I've never been in theater before, but apparently my audition was good enough that I got the part I wanted in Marv's play.

  For a little while I forget about Zane and my mother, and just think about what it will be like to perform in front of the whole school. And I don't even have to be nervous, because I have my friends to support me. Windsor Falls is so astoundingly different from any other place I've lived before. I have friends, and I'm getting to do things I've never done before. Sure, the Cancers are here, but I'm trying not to let them ruin all the good I've come in contact with since moving here.

  It takes me another hour or so to string each of the origami turtles I've made with the black string Alfred gave me, and I attach them to the curved bits of wire, constructing another mobile for the craft shop. I hold it up when it's done to make sure everything is balanced well, and the little turtles bob and spin as they hang there. It's one of my favorite mobiles that I've made so far, besides the Yoda one hanging over the front desk. I glance at the clock. It's six-thirty. I still have a half an hour left until I can leave work for the day.

  "Hey Alfred?" I call.

  "Yeah?"

  "I finished the mobile. Where do you want me to hang it?"

  I hear Alfred taking a swig of his whiskey, the tell-tale sound of the liquid sloshing in the little bottle. "There's a little hook on the ceiling in the back of the store near the antique doll collection," he calls out after swallowing. "See if it goes well there."

  I stand and grab the stool I'm sitting on, pulling it out from behind the counter and disappearing into the guts of the shop between the shelves. The back corner of the shop where the doll collection stands on a tall shelf is out of view and sort of forgotten of, but my mobiles are taking up the majority of the store ceiling at this point, hanging wherever there's room for them, and right now, this is the last place I can really fit one until more are sold.

  I spot the ceiling hook Alfred was referring to in the corner, and I set up my stool, climbing onto it and stretching my arms up to hang the mobile. As I'm standing there, holding the doll shelf so I don't tip over and fall, I hear the bell over the door jingle as another customer walks in. I don't bother looking back. I can't see the front door from whe
re I'm so deep in the shop anyway.

  I hear heavy footsteps as the customer enters and the bell dings once more as the door closes. I miss the hook a couple times, the stool tipping dangerously beneath me, and I utter a small "Whoa" when I almost lose balance completely, catching myself at the last second, the dolls all rattling on the shelf as I fall into it. I right myself and reach for the hook again as I listen to the customer's footsteps walking in the direction of the front desk.

  "Uncle Alfred?" I hear a deep voice call, and I freeze. I know that voice.

  Without really considering the consequences, I whip my head around, looking in the direction of the front desk, even though I know from where I am in the store, I won't be able to see it. I lose balance again, and drop the turtle mobile, grabbing onto the shelf once more. Several of the antique dolls go toppling off the shelf as the stool beneath me slips and falls over. It clatters loudly on the wooden floor and I squeak a little as I fall next to it. One of the antique dolls topples off a higher shelf and lands on my face, and I sputter, knocking it away.

  "Uncle Alfred?" I hear that deep gorgeous voice call again, this time in my direction. It's Zane. Zane is here. Damn it. I hear his footsteps coming my way, and I scramble upright, prepared to stand and run, because I can't see Zane here. I can't.

  Wait. Did he just say Uncle Alfred? Alfred is Zane's uncle?

  "Back here!" I hear Alfred's voice call from behind the curtain, and I breathe out a sigh of relief when I hear Zane turn and head towards the front desk again. A few more steps and he would have discovered me sprawled in the most undignified manner on the floor back here.

  I hear his heavy boots go behind the desk, and him pushing through the curtain into the back. I can hear Alfred's voice speaking, and then Zane's huskier voice reply, but I can't hear what they're talking about. I try not to let the sound of Zane's voice go straight to my heart, but I can't help it. God, this is just what I needed tonight.

  Rubbing my forehead where the doll landed on my face, which just so happens to be the same spot Zane had traced with his finger in the bathroom a few days ago, I push myself to my feet, picking up the fallen dolls and placing them back on the shelf. Thankfully none of their little porcelain faces are broken.