by Bob Dattolo
Even though I’m pretty sure a ton of things can be settled that way.
In this case, the part of me that revels in the idea of bloodshed and death is a piece of me. I need to corral it and use it for my purposes. If I don’t and let it get out of control, then it’s nothing more than an addiction. One that leads to bloodshed…and probably losing Mom.
I don’t want that, so I stop myself. Like I stopped myself during the game. I could have destroyed most of the kids playing with a few good hits, but I held back. Just like some of them did as well. The wolves didn’t hold back much, but Nathan? Marisela? Rhett? Destanee? Yeah, they held back a ton. After all, no one died from having their skull caved in.
Not that we abided by the no broken bone rule. Coach was beside herself with glee when we were done. She thought it was the best thing. Not that the norm basketball games continued. They were staring at us from the second round on. So…yeah, the class saw my jiggly bits. I just don’t care.
Now.
A month ago? Yeah, that would have been bad.
A face became clear in my eyes, and I realized Eric was pushed away from me, a look of rampant fear across his face as I growled at him.
Silence filled the cafeteria around us as they watched this mess-up unfold.
“Eric? You seem to have a problem with Dave. Can you clear that up for me?” I made sure to speak loudly enough that plenty of others could hear me.
He didn’t answer.
“Eric?” I spoke louder, “I asked you a question. What is your problem with Dave?”
He blinked a few times, but still cowered away. He kept trying to pull at his magic, but it wasn’t responding well through his terror. “I…I just…I don’t like him!”
Pinching the bridge of my nose didn’t help me push the anger back, “Don’t think I don’t get that…but why don’t you like him?”
“He just rubs me the wrong way!”
He rubs him the wrong way? That’s the reason? That’s really the reason? My anger grew a little more, and kids began to push back from the tables around us.
The principal rushed into the open circle that’s at least 20 feet out in every direction, “What’s the meaning of this?!”
Warren called out, “Ceri attacked Eric for no reason!”
I have to give the principal credit, because he waded through the aura I have to be casting, and stopped just shy of us. “Young lady! Back away from that student, right now!”
I took two steps back and tried to rein in my anger. “You don’t have the whole story.”
Eric pushed up from the table, “Don’t listen to her, she’s a liar!”
The principal nodded, “I understand, Eri…”
My rage flowed out again, stopping him. “You didn’t listen to me and you’re not listening to me now. I came over here because Eric, Chuck, Warren, and Mark have been making Dave’s life a living hell today. I’ve only been here one day, and I’ve already seen them purposely bash him into lockers and drop his things, then the door to home room. Now during lunch, Eric was stopping Dave from sitting here, to the point that he had him pushed over backwards on the table.”
“Young lad…”
I fought my magic from trying to flow out and be visible. It hurts to use it a ton now from the damage I took, and I don’t want to strain things. “Here’s my ultimatum. Challenges are allowed between supernaturals. The next time I see Mark, Chuck, Warren, or Eric messing with Dave in any way, I will call a challenge. Be it against one of them or all four of them. I’ll be honest here, I do not like bullies. At all. If you support the bullies and not the normal students just trying to get to graduation? Then I’m pretty sure that puts you in the bully category as well.”
Eric pushed forward, pulling magic up in a big cloud. “How dare you threaten me!”
He didn’t like that I smiled and backed away from him, “Not a fan of someone stopping you from being a bully? How sad for you.” The principal held his ground as I walked past him towards food. I wasn’t sure he’d do that.
As I expected, a wave of magic hit me, pushing me forward as the spell tried to get me to crap in my pants. Too bad for him I already went…and whatever it is inside of me that eats magic like this clicked and began sucking in the power. I managed to get it to do it slowly, so he laughed uproariously, thinking I was pooping myself, while his magic was leaching away.
His face fell a little as I reached our table, “Next time you want to hit me with a spell that makes me crap my pants, maybe you should practice it more?”
The principal stared at me, then back at Eric.
Then the kid started freaking out as he felt his magic continue to drain no matter what he did.
Me, on the other hand? I began to eat.
What can I say? I’m starving.
The table Marisela brought me to was full, and two of the people that I wanted to talk to were there. They must be Syl and Melissa.
They all split their time between watching Eric freak out and me cramming food down.
“What the fuck was that?” Tara finally asked.
“Umm, which part?” Do I have to say that it’s obvious that she’s talking to me?
She nodded, “How about all of it? What the hell? Do you even know Dave to get into Eric’s face like that? And how did you stop his spell from hitting you?” She sniffed, “I don’t smell poop?”
That made me pause, “You say that like he’s cast that spell at others?”
She looked at our tablemates, “Raise your hand if you’ve been hit by that spell?”
All but Nathan and the two newest people raised their hands.
“You have to be kidding me! Why hasn’t anyone stopped him before? Or them?”
One of the new people responded, “The exchanges with others were over and done quickly. Mages are…difficult to assess, so those without magic tend to steer clear of them as much as possible. How were you able to stop the spell from hitting you?”
Marisela smacked the table, “Are you saying he cast it, but it didn’t hit her?”
He cocked his head, “No, it hit her, but it didn’t cause her to shit herself.”
The rest of the table stared at me, “What the hell? That’s impossible!” Nathan said.
“Umm, no? Not impossible? And no idea. It’s just how I am.”
Behind me, Eric collapsed and was rushed onto a stretcher and out of the room. That left the table staring at an empty door while I continued to eat. To be nice, I did cut the thread of magic so that I didn’t drain him completely.
“What. The fuck. Just happened?”
Syl nodded at Rhett, “That is what I would like to know.
Through a bit of fancy wording on my part, I avoided most of their questions. I was finally introduced to Syl and Melissa, though.
Why did I want to meet them?
As far as I can tell, they’re both fey.
Not that I learned much. They all wanted to turn it into question Ceri time, so I let it happen. My classmates did this at the academy, too. Not that these possible friends asked many questions. Or any that I wasn’t expecting.
Not that Melissa asked much at all. Every time she tried to speak, Syl overrode her, leaving her staring down at the table each time. I rather thought they’d be sitting next to each other, but he’s on one side next to Rhett, while she’s on the other, next to Marisela. So…they’re not friends?
Interesting. And unexpected.
I rather expected people to sort of group together. I don’t get what would drive them apart. I can see it if they’re part of a wolf pack and don’t get along, or maybe if they just don’t gel personality-wise? Could that be it? Syl seems…kinda like a not-so-nice guy. Melissa seems really nice, but she’s cut off so often that I haven’t heard a full sentence from her. Even when she said her name when we were introduced, Syl jumped all over that and stopped her short.
Lunch ended with only a few comments about the amount of food I was eating, mostly in shock. No one else made any
comments about being fat or anything like that. Not that this table would. Most of them know what it’s like to need to eat a lot. Well, not Nathan, but he knows what it’s like to need to eat or he goes on a binge and kills people.
Personally, I’d rather eat like I do than the alternative of what he’s facing.
Lunch ended with me feeling pretty good about things so far. Sure, I heard the mages making snide comments about me all during it, and the principal stayed to the side of the room watching things, but I can live with that. More importantly, the mages can live with that.
I seriously don’t like bullies.
Physics was next, and Mr. Crosland greeted me happily when I walked in. Assigned seats again, so he gave me my choice of two options, and I grabbed the closest simply because it was close. No one was sitting near either of them, so it’s not like I can see who my seatmates are.
Syl sauntered in a minute or so later and slid into the seat next to mine.
He sniffed a few times, “Hello again.”
“Hey, Syl.” My initial response was edging towards level, but I made it upbeat by sheer force of will.
He leaned into me, possibly trying to use his looks on me? Honestly, he’s gorgeous. He doesn’t even look human. I mean, he’s not, but you know what I mean. He’s beyond gorgeous. “You’re different.” His entire focus was on me.
“Thanks?”
Magic pooled out of him and poked around, but no spell came from it. I’m rather shocked by that.
“You know what I mean.”
I gave him a half smile, “Well, I do have a vagina, perhaps you’re just not familiar with them?” His eyes grew wide and his cheeks started to turn red, so I threw him a bone. “I’m sorry, I’m kidding. I do know what you mean, but I’m not going to explain it.”
His rising power stopped and then receded, but I have a feeling I just made a long-term issue for myself. “I see. So you’re a girl of mystery is what you’re saying?”
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
Nathan moved into the desk in front of me, cutting of Syl’s response. “Hey, Ceri!”
“Hey, Nathan. You recovered from gym?”
He broken into laughter, getting kids to stare at us. “Oh my God, that was awesome!”
Syl looked between us, “What happened in gym?”
“Team keep away.” Nathan responded. “Three teams of three with Ceri being on a team of four. We slaughtered the rest of them!”
Syl raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
“It wasn’t a slaughter.”
Nathan nudged my arm, “Yeah, right. In that last round, no one got the ball once!”
I laughed at that, it’s true, we did well on that last one. “Okay, that one was bad, but the others weren’t slaughters.”
“The longest another team held the ball was a minute and forty seconds. You can’t tell me that’s not a slaughter.”
“Well…”
“Yeah, I’d say that’s a slaughter. Especially with four teams. Not that I get to play with the shifters.”
I wondered about that. The fey can have healing all over the place, from human-level up to shifter. I’m not aware of any that heal like a vampire does.
“It was a fun game. I’ve never played that before.”
“The norms got a good look at the goodies, too.”
Syl smiled, “Let me guess, they freaked out when they saw skin?”
Nods from both of us. “Yeah. It was a bit of a shocker. I’m impressed that coach let us go that entire last round with so much showing.”
“The teachers have been given a lot of information on the supernaturals. Not everything, obviously, but enough so that they’re not shocked when things happen. Like you during lunch? Most other high schools out there where a threat like yours was made would have resulted in the cops being called. Here? They sort of have to let it go. It’s legal and all…but what are you going to do when they call your bluff and go after Dave?”
My smile died slowly, leaving me staring at the handsome fey with nothing even remotely resembling humanity in my eyes, “That’s just it, Syl. I wasn’t bluffing.”
Class disappeared in a blur and led to Spanish class…which didn’t have anyone that I know in it. It’s immersive Spanish, so they don’t talk English in the class unless you’re desperate. I had to introduce myself in the language, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do. I can’t say that I’m great in it. I don’t even know why my parents gave us lessons in it. You’d think they’d be against it. Apparently not.
Study hall as a last class of the day…that’s pretty sweet if you ask me. I have a decent amount of homework to get to, so I figured I’d get to work through enough of it to make it worthwhile, focusing a bit harder than normal.
The seats filled quickly, and I recognized more than a few of the kids from other classes. Melissa, Ty, Warren, Chuck, and Dave were there. Warren and Chuck kept giving me dark looks, but they didn’t go anywhere near Dave.
Good. They can live another day. Or they can kill me and I won’t care about Dave being bullied.
Melissa is like a different girl when Syl isn’t coming down on her. Not that she got to sit close to me, but I saw her talking to others. Ty was the closest to me, and he gave me a nod and a smile before sitting. “How was your first day?”
“Umm, pretty good? Better than I expected.”
“You interested in maybe getting together? Having a little fun?”
My head tilted to the side as I studied him, “Are you asking me out on a date? Or just to hook up?”
He shrugged, “Hook up? My parents expect me to find a hyena for something long-term, so…”
I waved him off, “No need to explain. I understand. I don’t think I can hook up just yet? But in a couple days once things start calming down? I’ll probably be climbing the walls by then.”
His smile blossomed, “Niiice.”
Melissa heard us and had a hopeful look on her face that went away when the teacher called us to order.
I had the satisfaction of completing every bit of my homework for the night. That’s an awesome feeling, frankly. At the academy, it was decently common for us to have no homework assigned, but it wasn’t every night. I’m hoping I can keep this up. It helps that I know the majority of the subjects really well, so it’s not like I’m struggling to learn the subject while doing the homework.
Ty got sidetracked with an unfamiliar student and left. Chuck and Warren pretended like they were going to go after Dave, but they never did. They ended up leaving pretty quickly, only saying a few rude things towards me.
Dave paused on his way by as I stood, “Umm…hey. I’m sorry for what I said during lunch, but please, if they do anything to you, can you tell me?”
He has barely said anything all day, so it’s still a shock to hear his voice, “You…you don’t have to do that. I’m okay.”
“Maybe you are, but that doesn’t give them the right to be bullies. Please tell me.”
“It’s okay. You don’t need to get involved. I’ll be fine.” His cheeks turned red, so I’m getting this is upsetting to him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. You don’t have to tell me, but I’ll try to keep an eye out anyway.” I’d hit him with my magic, but I’m not sure I can get it to work.
He slipped away with a nod followed by a head shake. I have no idea what that means, I just knew he didn’t want me to ask him about it. I can appreciate that.
Sighing, I grabbed my books and headed for the door, finding Melissa at my side without warning.
“Hey. How are you?”
She looked down, “I’m good.”
I expected her to say more, so it threw me until we got into the hallway. “I noticed that you didn’t get to say much during lunch? Is Syl always all over you like that?”
She looked away again, “He…I’m…yeah. I don’t…” She stopped talking.
“If you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m here? I may be
new to the school, but maybe that’s what you need? You can bounce it off of someone that doesn’t know anyone involved.”
She nodded quickly and hurried away, leaving me behind in the packed hallway.
What in the world is going on around here? Why would Syl be such a rude prick to a pretty girl like Melissa? She seems so inoffensive that it’s crazy. You’d think he’d be working to tap that ass, but I guess he can be rude and still do it to most people if he’s more powerful.
Everything got dumped in my locker, and I set a reminder to bring more gym clothes with me. If this continues, this is going to be a very expensive year. Either that, or we convince them that we should be allowed to do it naked. Lord knows how they explain it to the parents of the norm students when they tell someone that they saw a naked guy during gym and he was fighting with naked or partially naked girls. Honestly, that sounds like a good time to me, but norms take it differently. I’m sure someone will be complaining to the school board before dinner starts tonight.
Just as I saw on my trips past the school this past week, the outside of the school is a madhouse of kids and teachers and parents picking up. I have to admit that I’m not great in crowds. I’m not horrible and I don’t have a mental disorder about it, but dang…it’s hard, sometimes. I went from a house where I was never around more than 20 people at a time to school, where the mealtimes were the busiest, with every kid being there. I’ve never been in a situation where there are thousands of kids within such a short distance from me…and they all want to leave. Right now.
Okay, barring those that are in sports or after school activities.
That was part of my discussion with the registrar, the principal, and Mom. The school doesn’t allow supernaturals into sports. They can’t trust that we’re not using magic, and a norm can’t hold up against the strength of many supernaturals. When you have someone that can hold an iron cross on those hanging things in gymnastics without any training, you can see why they’d have a problem with that.