I kicked Aiden in the balls.
I kicked Aiden fucking King in the balls.
My feet skid to a halt at the threshold of the classroom.
I’m panting.
My hands are sweaty.
The wave of adrenaline vanishes from my system, leaving a tremor in my limbs.
My shoulders shake with suppressed laughter. If I didn’t worry that my classmates would start calling me a lunatic, I would’ve laughed so loud right now.
I want to run, jump, and bump fists with myself.
It’s a strange type of freedom that I haven’t felt in like… ever.
I was always quiet and introverted, but right now? I feel like I can punch the moon and kick the stars.
With a deep breath, I push my shoulders back and stride into the classroom with my head held high.
Some snickers and ‘Frozen’ remarks get thrown in my direction, but they’re like white-noise.
These little minions can give me their freaking best and it wouldn’t matter.
I just kicked their king. In the nuts.
I’m smiling inwardly when my gaze falls on the other three demons.
Cole is sitting at his desk, reading his physics book. Xander sits on the top of the desk arguing with Ronan who’s standing.
The rest of the class are either trying to get in on the conversation or they’re watching.
The sad part is, I think they’re doing it subconsciously. They’re drawn to everything the four horsemen represent.
Power.
Charm.
Wealth.
Ronan is Death because he’s an impenetrable rock in the midfield.
Cole is Famine; silent but deadly when he attacks.
Xander is War; all he knows is how to wreak havoc.
And he did something to Kim. Because even now, she’s not here.
Kim was never late to school.
It could be my false sense of courage or the remains of adrenaline still buzzing through my veins, but I don’t stop to think about it.
I grip my backpack’s strap and stride towards the trio.
“I’m telling you, mate.” Ronan taps his index finger on the table in front of Xander. “She came to the party because of me.”
“Everyone came because of you,” Cole says. “You threw the party, remember?”
“La ferme, Captain! That’s not the point.” Ronan continues speaking to Xander. “Face it, she was there for me.”
“If it helps your ego, sure thing.” Xander laughs. “Can you pass me what you smoked last night?”
Ronan frowns. “Why?”
“That shit is good if it makes you believe things that don’t exist.”
“Screw you, Knight.” Ronan lunges at him.
In that exact moment, Cole’s neutral gaze meets mine. He clears his throat and the other two who are still bickering grow silent.
“Frozen?” Ronan jerks back as if he’s been punched. “Am I seeing things or is Frozen actually in front of us?”
He searches behind me and all around me then he grins. “Are you here to confess your love to me? I knew you always had a crush on me, but sorry, I only take confessions in the afternoon. Rules are rules.”
I ignore him and face Xander. “Where is she?”
Xander hops down from the desk. “Where’s who?”
“Kim,” I grind out.
“Oh,” Xander’s brows draw in feigned concern as he searches underneath the desk. “Captain, have you seen a little Kimberly around here? No? How about you, Ro? Search your pocket, maybe she hid in there.”
Ronan makes a show of stuffing his hands in his pocket. “Nope, not here.” He smirks fishing out a condom packet. “But I found this.”
My lips thin in disgust.
“Quoi?” Ronan asks. “Always safe.”
“I’m not here for your games,” I tell no one in particular.
“Then what are you here for?” Xander asks.
“Kim. Where is she?”
“If you don’t know where your friend is, how am I supposed to know, Frozen?”
I step closer, still clutching my backpack’s strap. “I know you did something to her yesterday.”
He smiles like a maniac. “Do you have proof?”
My nails dig into my palm until I almost draw blood.
“Hold up.” Ronan steps between us. “What happened? What proof? Someone fill me in.”
Cole shakes his head at him.
“What? I feel left out.” Ronan kicks his friend’s leg. “First, King flipped his shit at practice yesterday, then Knight does some fuckery behind our backs, and now, Frozen is speaking to us. You’ve got to admit that there’s nothing normal about this.”
Only one sentence remains playing like a loop in my head.
King flipped his shit at practice yesterday.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Aiden is an exemplary player and student. He doesn’t just flip his shit.
Does this have to do with what he did yesterday?
“Someone fill me in.” Ronan stares between his two friends. “Someone? Anyone?”
“Stay away from Kim,” I tell Xander with as much venom as I can manage.
“Or what? You’ll stop me?”
I’m about to reply when, unfortunately — or fortunately, it depends on how you see it – the teacher comes into the class. Everyone takes a seat and I find an empty one near the back.
My gaze meets Xander’s playful one. He sits in the row beside me, throws me my phone, and smirks.
I shudder. Arsehole.
“Oh, look. Kimberly isn’t in class.” The boastful tone he uses grates at me.
“Mr Knight.” The teacher, Mrs Stone, calls. “Class started, I’d appreciate it if you pay attention.”
“You’ve got all my attention, Mrs Stone.” He gives her a dimpled smile and opens his notebook.
Mrs Stone starts enumerating the class’s curriculum. I retrieve my pen and notebook and start scribbling notes.
Our English Literature teacher is probably the oldest in the school and will probably retire soon. Her grey hair is tied in a conservative bun and her glasses are held by those golden straps that no one uses anymore.
The door opens. The entire class falls silent. Even Mrs Stone stops talking.
I pause mid-scribble and lift my head.
A flushed Kim peeks from the door, her hair in disarray.
Snickers and laughs erupt in the class.
“You’re ten minutes late, Ms Reed,” Mrs Stone scolds.
“I… um…” Kim stumbles upon her own words.
I wince, feeling her discomfort under my skin. She always hated being put in the spotlight.
“What’s the matter, Berly, did you lose your tongue along with the fat?” Someone taunts from the side.
Mrs Stone shoots him a glare. “Another word and that’ll be detention for you, Mr Robbins.”
His face turns ashen, and I want to get up and hug Mrs Stone. She’s probably the only teacher who doesn’t turn a blind eye on the bullying. At least from insignificant people like Robbins. I doubt she’d do anything if one of the ‘Elites’ were involved.
A shadow appears behind Kim’s fidgeting body.
I stop breathing.
It’s like the earth has opened and is now sucking me into its depths to be buried alive.
Aiden places both his hands on Kim’s shoulders.
He has his filthy hands on my friend’s fucking shoulders.
Not to be dramatic, but I think I’m going to throw up.
His gaze meets mine and something sparks in it. A corner of his lips lifts in a cruel, psychotic smirk.
That’s it.
I’m going to kill him.
I’m going to sacrifice my entire future to save the world from his evil.
The smirk falls as fast as it showed. Still gripping Kim by the shoulders, he flashes Mrs Stone his golden boy’s smile. “I’m sorry. Kimberly wasn’t feeling well so I had to take her to the nurse.”
Is he for real?
I’m mortified when Mrs Stone’s expression shifts from scolding to acceptance. “Are you all right, Ms Reed?”
Kim nods without saying a word.
“That was nice of you, Mr King.” Mrs Stone offers him a smile. “Both of you take a seat.”
My jaw is probably dropping to the floor. I can’t believe this.
The dark hole from earlier expands until I can hardly breathe.
He must’ve done something to Kim, and now, he’s making everyone believe he was helping her.
I search his face for any signs.
He’s smiling, mask firmly in place, appearing every bit of the golden boy everyone envies.
The girls want him. The boys want to be him.
But none of them sees that emptiness inside him.
The void.
The… nothingness.
They only know this Aiden. The one he puts on for show. The image he projects their way. They’re too blinded by his fake light to see the shadows.
But isn’t that better? Isn’t the lie better than the truth?
After all, the truth destroys before setting anyone free.
My heart hammers with each step he takes. This time, it’s not fear for me.
It’s for what he’s done to Kim.
I knew that kicking him would come back to bite me, but I never thought it would be this fast.
Or this lethal.
I never thought he’d go after Kim.
My lips tremble as I try to meet my best friend’s gaze and make sure she’s okay. Her head is bowed. Curtains of her mint-coloured hair camouflage her expression from me and the world.
Aiden stops beside me. I catch a glimpse of his hand slipping in his pocket before I concentrate on my notebook, gripping the pencil so hard, it almost breaks.
His body looms over mine like a grim reaper and his eyes burn holes at the top of my head.
A part of me wants to look up and glare back. Like I’ve done for the past two years.
But back then, I didn’t have the slightest clue of what he was capable of.
Now, I do.
After what seems like forever, he saunters to the vacant seat behind me. The seat I was saving for Kim.
She fidgets beside the only empty seat in the class. In front of Xander.
The latter gives her a taunting look as if daring her to sit.
“Ms Reed?” Mrs Stone’s impatient tone calls. “Is something the matter?”
“No,” Kim whispers.
“Then please take a seat so we can continue the class.”
Kim slides into her seat slowly as if afraid there’s a bomb waiting there.
Cole flashes a look behind him to Kim and Ronan winks at me from in front of me.
We’re surrounded by the enemy.
