The smirk on Xander’s face isn’t helping. “He’s pissed off.”
“How do you know that?” I whisper back.
He appears completely detached to me.
“The twitch in his left eye.” Xander grins. “He can control anything but that.”
Xander removes my arm from his but just so he’d wrap it around my shoulder.
He smells of sandalwood.
That’s the last thought I have before Aiden slams his fist in Xander’s face.
Chapter Seventeen
I stare in stunned silence as Xander’s body jerks back and slams against a table.
A few girls shriek. Other students gasp.
I’m in the shocked category.
My back hits the edge of a table and I grip the hard wood for balance.
Aiden has never been the violent type. He said it the other day, didn’t he? That he’d rather play smarter, not stronger.
So why is he punching his best friend?
Before Xander can recover, Aiden lunges at him with a slamming punch.
It’s the first time I see him this way.
Violent.
Animalistic.
Out of control.
It’s like a different Aiden altogether.
Xander releases mocking laughter before he shoves Aiden and jabs a punch at his face. Blood explodes from Aiden’s lower lip.
I swallow. Should I interfere? Do something? Say something?
But it’s not like they’re fighting because of me — although I might have played a part.
Aside from the sound of punches, the cafeteria is completely silent. None of the other students utters a word. Hell, I doubt they’re able to breathe properly. It’s understandable.
Aiden and Xander have been close for as long as anyone remembers. No one would’ve imagined that they’d turn against each other.
This fight might as well be the event of the year.
Cole and Ronan are the first — and the only ones — who dare to approach them.
Cole tries to grip Aiden, but he’s like a bull. He shoves him away and lunges back at Xander. At the captain’s sign, the rest of the football team joins. It takes a few of them to stop Aiden and Xander from killing one another.
Two teachers and Coach Larson quicken their pace inside, followed by… Kim.
She called the teachers?
Coach appears pissed off as he orders the football team to drag Aiden and Xander to a disciplinary office.
Uncontrolled murmurs erupt between the students. Even the two teachers appear stunned that Aiden and Xander fought.
RES isn’t the type of school for fights. This place is full of elites and academically accomplished people. Rank, grades, and money are the only things that matter in RES.
Violence has never been something the board had to worry about. Especially not from the two stars of the football team.
On his way out, Aiden brushes past me. My skin electrifies at the harsh contact. I shrink into the table, the wood digging at my back as his hard, metallic gaze falls on me.
The corner of his left eye twitches as he stops in front of me. Hot, intrusive breaths trickle the side of my face as he whispers, “You’ll pay.”
Aiden and Xander don’t come back to class for the second period.
The incident at the cafeteria becomes everyone’s favourite subject of gossip.
I keep getting funny glares, but no one has dared to speak to me.
Everyone’s theory is that Aiden and Xander will get disciplinary actions that might include temporary suspension from the team.
I find it hard to believe that Coach Larson will allow RES to take his two star players, but the board is strict about any act of violence.
My mind goes rampant with ideas shooting all over the place. True, I wanted revenge and to inflict pain as Aiden had inflicted upon me, but I’m not that person. It doesn’t feel good to hurt others.
Even if they’re monsters.
It’s impossible to concentrate during class. I keep watching the entrance, expecting Aiden and Xander to return. The day ends and neither of them does.
Kim and I leave the classroom together, but neither of us is talking. She’s been throwing me glares since lunchtime, and I’ve been too out of my skin to focus on her moodiness.
When we’re in the car park, Silver and her two minions cut into our path.
Oh, come on.
She’s the last person I need to talk to on this shitty day.
She taps her designer shoes on the ground, staring me down like I’m her maid.
“Who the hell do you think you are, Frozen? You’re a nobody, so stop trying to become somebody.”
I grit my teeth, but I choose to ignore her.
Never give bullies what they want.
“You should go back to your frozen castle,” one of Silver’s minions calls at my back.
“Shut it before she gives you a snowstorm.” Kim snarls at them.
I pull her by the arm towards her Mini. “They’re not worth it.”
“Well, I guess I’ll clean up your mess,” Silver says from behind me in a calm, smug voice that pisses me off.
I don’t want to hear what she has to say, but I also won’t run towards the car and show her my flight mode.
No one in hell will see my flight mode.
“Since King is tense, I’ll have to give him a visit and loosen him up,” Silver continues.
I drop into the passenger seat and slam the door shut harder than I intended.
My breathing is harsh and uneven and my ears ring as if someone slapped me.
Loosen him up.
Who cares who loosens him the hell up?
I’m glad Kim pulls out the car in silence. My temper flares when Silver gives me a smug smile and waves her phone on which ‘King’ flashes.
He’s calling her.
Aiden is calling her.
The entire ride home is spent in unnerving silence.
Despite the weight perching on my chest, I hate the strained air between Kim and I.
I finger the strap of my backpack. “What’s wrong, Kim?”
She cuts me a stern look before she focuses back on the road. “I should be asking you that. After years of brushing off guys, you’re suddenly interested Xander?”
I blink. “I’m not interested in Xander.”
“So you just held his arm for show? You walked into the cafeteria for the first time in years with Xander for show, too?” Her lips tremble. “Wait. Did you… did you have feelings for him all this time?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then, what is it? You know he bullied me for years! I’m sure it’s written in some friendship code that you don’t date your best friend’s bully.”
I stare at her reddened cheeks, incredulous. Being the rational party right now is so freaking hard. “And does that friendship code say that you shouldn’t hug your best friend’s bully and cry in his chest? Does it allow you to act all friendly around him when it clearly makes me uncomfortable?”
Kim’s lips part as she hits the brakes, stopping the car on the side of the road. A driver yells and honks, but she ignores him and taps the steering wheel maniacally. “So this is what it’s all about? You’re taking revenge because of that?”
“I’m not taking revenge.”
“Then what?” Her eyes rim with tears. “It’s Xan, Ellie. You can’t be with him… please?”