by T R Tells
I had hoped Trey would be there. Walking through the double doors of the large cafeteria that was already crowded with eleventh and twelfth graders, I spied him sitting at our usual round table in the corner.
I hurried through the line, gliding along the white tiles, careful not to bump into anyone. However, when I got closer to him, I realized that his eye was bruised. I almost dropped my food.
"What the hell happened to you?" I exclaimed and slammed my tray down on the table. He looked up at me, half-smiling.
"Ah, it's nothing, Hira. I don't think it's even noticeable. I had gone to Mahogany's house—"
I frowned. "Wait, did her dad do this? It's one thing to put his hands on his daughter, but you're still a minor, and he—"
He held up his hand, waving it down so I could keep my voice low, since people started watching us. Trey leaned forward so he could whisper in my ear.
"It was… actually, Mahogany."
I pulled apart from him and frowned, wondering if he was serious, but the glassy look in his eyes confirmed it.
"I don't know what's wrong with her, Hira. I wish I could do something, but I think it's far worse than being sick. There's something different about her entirely.”
My stomach did a flip. I recalled Alessander's words about trusting my gut. I was starting to think that my friend might have developed Apathy. I didn't know how far along it was or if it would lead to something, but it was high time my best friend knew what was going on. Maybe we could save Moa together; I knew I wouldn't be able to do this alone.
I was about to tell him everything, but that tingling sensation returned, and my body was already turning around to the doorway before I knew what I was doing.
My heart sunkt, and my eyes widened.
I stared as the pink-and-blue haired bane of my existence strutted through the school's lunch doors.
Veronica.
Chapter Twelve
Trey had said something to me, but I was already out of my seat. My attention was focused solely on Veronica she smiled wide, like she knew that her presence was already bothering me.
"That look on your face must mean you're happy to see me," she said, grinning from ear to ear. She had her hands on her hips, wearing a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and black Nike sneakers. Thankfully, her shirt wasn't too revealing, and it only showed the top of her cleavage.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
We stood somewhat in the center of the cafeteria near the trash receptacles. Several people gave us odd looks, pausing, I assumed, because they thought they would see a fight.
"I obviously registered here to get closer to Alessander."
Of course she did, fucking stalker was what she was.
My hands clenched into fists, and I had to control the urge to punch her in the face. "You do know that Alessander regained his memory, right? He wants nothing to do with you so you can get gone."
Veronica smirked and then chuckled in my face. My entire body was heated. I had to dig my nails into my palm to keep myself from attacking her.
"And you really think that was going to make me disappear? Yes, it's a setback, but it's far from making me 'get gone.'" She approached me and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "And I have a bit of a surprise that will guarantee I will have Alessander."
My heart collided in my chest at the way she said 'surprise,' and my stomach did its usual flip, but this wasn't my 'intuition' when things were going to get bad. This feeling was something different, and it made me nervous and sick.
"What's the matter, Hira? You look a little pale." The way she said my name, even though she was smiling, was like a viper, and her words were spiteful venom.
I was about to respond to her, but I was cut short when someone yelled: “Fight!” I turned away from Veronica and saw people gathering around the right side of the cafeteria where a circle had formed. I flinched, the sharp sensation on the back of my neck was like someone had shocked me with a defibrillator.
"Duty calls, right?" Veronica smirked. I ignored her and rushed to the other side of the cafeteria. From my peripheral, I saw Trey running next to me with his brows knit together in concern.
"That was Veronica, right? What the hell was she doing here?"
I kept running and glanced at Trey. "Hoping to ruin my life, that's what. She's not going to stop coming after Alessander."
We finally made it to the large group of students that were huddled together in a circle like an audience in a Roman coliseum, jeering at the spectacle before them. Luckily, with Trey being so tall, he could pull me through the crowd of people, pushing them aside until we were close to the front.
"Thanks," I told him. My eyes widened when I saw who was fighting. It was Brodie and Jett, no shock there, and they were bullying Noah. "Oh, God."
Noah already had a busted lip, and their clothes were stained with food. Their cheeks were wet from crying, but they had their fists up to protect their face.
"Damn it, here they go again. Why can't these assholes leave people alone?" Trey mumbled. There was a dark look in his eyes that made my neck hairs stand on end. "Do you know that kid?"
I nodded. "Brodie and Jett were picking on them a while ago because they are transgender."
"Of course they were. Hira, stay here," Trey said and started to approach Brodie and Jett. "Can't you dumbasses focus on something else besides tormenting others?"
Brodie and Jett both turned around, snickering.
"Nah, man, it ain't even like that," Jett started to say. "The fag here started to threaten us, and you want us to just ignore it?"
He bumped Brodie’s fist, and the two started laughing.
"Since he wants to be a dude so bad, we're going to pummel him like one."
Because Brodie and Jett were distracted, I noticed Noah creeping towards the corner, and watched as they picked up a tray of food. I had every inclination to tell them what they attempted to do would not end well. Still, the plate had already flown in the air—catching the attention of Brodie and Jett—and landed on the other side of them, falling on someone's sneakers.
The cafeteria went quiet, and before I knew what was going on, there was an array of multicolored food being thrown in the air, and someone had shouted: “Food Fight!”
Honestly, I had never been in a food fight. I thought it only happened in the movies. I dove under a table, watching the entire cafeteria being covered in a mixture of today's taco special. My stomach grumbled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten.
Damnit, what was I supposed to do?
There weren't any of the usual Apathy Currents or clouds hovering over people's heads. Actually, this had been the less 'stressed' in school I had been without Apathy clouding around me. Frankly, I was powerless to do anything, but I knew that the best thing to do was to find Noah. If he had some kind of Apathy in him, I needed to calm him down before he manifested an Umbra Shade.
I trained my eyes on the torrent of a hundred different students throwing food from one area to another so I could try and find Noah. Instead, I saw Trey tussling with Brodie.
"Trey!" I shouted his name, but it would be impossible to hear me over the fray of the students. So, instead, I took a deep breath and sprinted across the cafeteria floors like I was a soldier crossing a battlefield.
"Trey!"
I was closer to him now, but I had ended up slipping on taco meat and fell backward. My breath caught in my throat as the ceiling came into view, followed by my back hitting the hard floor. I bit down on my tongue, tasting coppery blood.
Son of—
I gritted my teeth. My back sent waves of pain throughout my entire body, and I don't know why, but slipping on the cafeteria floor was worse than fighting an Umbra Shade, I kid you not. I slowly sat upright. The tingling sensation in my neck made my eyes widen to see Noah underneath a table several feet across from me. They were staring intently at Brodie and Jett, who were fighting Trey, but what made my blood run cold was what was behind them.
&n
bsp; An Umbra Shade with bright red eyes glowering at me, and its inky black tentacles circling around Noah. There was a thick scarlet mist that permeated from them, letting me know that this creature would pose a problem.
I wanted to go over to Noah right this instant and pull them away from the whispering words of the hellish creature, but Trey's cries of pain snapped me out of it, and I scrambled over to help my friend.
Before I could assist him, Jett had seen me coming and grabbed me by my arm. How I wished he had an Umbra Shade or Apathetic intentions for me to use my powers against him, but all I could do was swing at him.
—And then a booming male's voice loudly sounded over a speaker in the room. The food fight stopped, as did the shouting, when Principal Isaac Whitmore stepped into the cafeteria carrying a bull horn to his lips. He had a balding head “hidden” by a gray toupee, wearing a dark blue suit and red tie.
"Get to your designated classes now, or you are all suspended."
A room has never cleared out so fast.
I suckered-punched Jett in the stomach, and he released me, gasping and holding his stomach. Brodie had stepped away from Trey, and I ran over to his side. He had a busted lip, and the bruise where Mahogany had punched him had a small bloody gash.
"You four. My office, now. "
I frowned and looked into Principal Whitmore's cold gray eyes. "What? We didn't even start anything! It was Brodie and Jett who were fighting, Trey was—"
"Fighting, which is against school policy, and I believe I did see you throw a punch at Mr. Fisher."
Was he kidding me?
"It was self-defense, and he was manhandling me!" I shouted at him. I couldn't believe he was really going to overlook any of this.
"Hira," Trey whispered, his head rested on my lap. I looked down at his bruised face as he shook his head to tell me that I would only make things worse.
"What about him?" Brodie said, and I turned to see him pointing where Noah had been hiding. "He threw the first punch at Jett and me! He should be in this punishment as much as the rest of us."
Bastard.
Principal Whitmore sighed. "No one likes a kiss-up, Mr. Thompson. Now you and your partner in crime know where my office is, get there. Now."
Brodie and Jett sauntered together out of the cafeteria. I glared at them as they left, laughing about the situation.
"Come out of here, young man," Principal Whitmore said to Noah. I saw them, thankfully alone and without the Umbra Shade, walking with their head down over to the Principal.
"Noah didn't do anything, Principal Whitmore. Brodie and Jett caused everything; they were discriminated against because of their sexuality. No one should feel like they are a pariah."
His back was turned to me, and he had his hands behind his back.
"That's enough, Ms. Night. Take Mr. Stone to the nurses' office, and then you both can report to my office after school."
I wanted to retaliate, but I knew it would do me more harm than good. I helped Trey out of the cafeteria, but not before an intense sensation shot throughout my body again. A red aura appeared around Noah's feet.
***
Detention consisted of the four of us—Brodie, Jett, Trey, and I—cleaning up the entire cafeteria. There would be no point in lying to my mother about this, and I texted her, explaining the situation. Hopefully, she would be lenient and not ground me.
Mom: That was pretty reckless, Hira. I'm glad you were trying to help Trey, but you don't know what those boys were capable of doing. I'll pick you up after detention, keep your head down and follow the rules.
Well, at least that went well.
Me: Okay, mom.
I was about to text Alessander and tell him the same thing, but he had already beaten me to the punch:
Alessander: I heard what happened, Trey texted me. I should punch Jett for even putting his hands on you.
My heart melted at him 'defending my honor,' but I did not want him to ruin his chances of coming back to school.
Me: Don't worry about it. Gonna take mom's advice and keep my head down.
I began to mop up the thrown food on the floor when my phone vibrated again.
Alessander: Going to be hard keeping your head down when I'm kissing you.
What? I was about to text Alessander what he meant by that, and if he was going to 'sneak' into the school, he needed to know that Veronica had been here. Even classes had ended, I was still cautious of him being anywhere where she might rear her ugly head.
"Hey, if we can't have no cell phones, neither can you," Brodie said to me as I was mid-text. He started to approach me with his broom in his hand, but Trey blocked him.
"Leave her the fuck alone, man, you know you roped us in here. You two should be cleaning this shit up, not us."
"Trey," I whispered and grabbed his shoulder. His muscles were tense underneath my grip. "Let's just ignore them and do our portion of the cafeteria."
Brodie snorted. "Yeah, listen to your side-bitch unless you want to get punched again."
Trey gritted his teeth and was about to take a swing at him, but I grabbed the base of his collar.
"Just ignore them, they’re assholes." I enunciated the last part so they could hear me. Jett pulled his friend over, and they started laughing at something.
Trey shrugged off my hand and started pushing the mop around. I knew it was them he was angry at, but it still hurt that his aggression was directed toward me now.
"They just get on my nerves, that's all. Like, who comes to school to be an asshole?"
I shrugged. "Uh, assholes?"
Trey snorted but didn't smile. He continued to mop up the mess on the floor. I did the same. "I'm serious, Hira. They've been doing this shit since we've been in tenth grade. And most bullying can lead to anxiety or depression, or even suicide. I'm not okay with that, and it needs to end. Enough lives are being lost because assholes don't have any decency."
This angered me too. I hated knowing how much bullying—any kind of bullying—could affect someone. And it sucked even more when the victim’s attacker didn't get reprimanded. The bullies were only 'lightly' punished, free to terrorize the same victim again until it was too late and go to the next one. It sickened me.
"At least, Noah isn't here. I'm sure Principal Whitmore gave them separate detention in a room somewhere."
Even though they shouldn't have gotten that.
Trey mumbled, "Yeah, guess you're right."
We continued to clean our section of the cafeteria when the doors opened. My heart leaped in my chest, and my smile spread from ear to ear. Alessander. I ran into his arms, kissing his plump lips when he intercepted my hug.
"What are you doing here?” I happily exclaimed when our lips had finally unlocked.
Alessander smiled at me. "For you, of course. I couldn't allow my princess to slave away for someone else's mistake."
"Hope you're going to stretch that invitation over here too." Trey motioned over for us to look at him.
"And my noble steed, how could I forget?" Alessander joked. Trey rolled his eyes and stuck up his middle finger.
I had to tell Alessander that I had seen Veronica in the cafeteria today and that she had registered in our school. Before I could speak, he was already calling out to Jett across the room. His arm securely wrapped around my waist. I looked up to see the protective look on his face. Damn you, Trey look what you did. I hoped Alessander wouldn't start anything, because when it came to the people he loved, he could get ugly if he needed to be.
"What's good, 'Sander man? I heard you got out of that hospital. Good to have you back with us." Jett slowly approached us, he had his hand out to Alessander to give him a handshake—which Alessander took—but his eyes never wavered from Jett's.
Brodie lurked in the background with his arms crossed. “’Sup, Alessander. Sucks that you were caught in that incident a few months back. Maybe you’ll get back on the field with us as fullback again.”
"Yeah, who knows. I'm recuperat
ing, which is good, but what’s not good is you putting your hands on my girl."
They broke apart from their handshake, and Jett took a step backward with his hands in surrender.
"Nah, man. You know I wouldn't have touched shortie, otherwise, but she would have interfered with me and my man's fight. You feel me? And I ain't want her to get hurt."
Trey snorted. "Right, and you were protecting ‘her honor’? Yeah, okay."
Brodie came up behind Jett, and immediately Alessander put me behind him.
"All we were saying is if she doesn't get in our way, then we have no problem with her. You feel me, bro?" Brodie stretched his lips into his usual cocky grin.
From the side of Alessander's face, I could see his lips turn into a frown.
"No, I don't ‘feel you’. If you mess with my girlfriend or anyone she cares about, then it's going to be a problem."
Brodie turned to Jett and chuckled, before turning to Alessander. "That a threat? You aren't even in this school yet." Brodie stepped up to Alessander, and Alessander did the same, despite me trying to hold back his arm.
"Bet. I don't have to be."
The two guys glared at one another, and my heart pounded in my chest so hard I could hear the blood pumping in my ears, wondering who would throw the first punch.
—And then the lights went out.
Alessander and Brodie separated from their stare down, and we scanned the cafeteria. A sharp sensation at the back of my neck made me flinch, and a red smoke aura started to appear from the bottom slits of the doors.
"Guys," I said, getting their attention. They all turned to look at me. "We need to run, now."
Chapter Thirteen
There was only one thing that could explain the scarlet aura surfacing under the cafeteria doors, and it had something to do with Noah. I grabbed Alessander’s arm and pulled him away from the others so I could talk to him privately. He looked at me with a furrowed brow, but followed.
“Hira, what’s—”
“It’s an Umbra Shade,” I told him. His eyes widened, and he swore under his breath. “I saw it earlier on this kid named Noah that Brodie and Jett were bullying.”
