Light

Chapter 22: Meteor

"For the fifth time, I'm not going to play the damsel in distress!" 

I crossed my arms in a huff, not caring if I was ruining the plan.

"But it'll be more believable, because you're the only one who can't actually swim! And you're easy to carry, so quit being such a whiny b–" 

The cushion I threw hit Josh right in the face, stopping his rant.

"Kai carried you up the stairs easily as well, and you're a good actor, so why can't you be the one to get dumped in the lake and play the helpless victim?" 

I was caught Darius shrugging at Dad, who was starting to frown. He looked tired. Dad had spent the last few hours setting up his 'business', and doing a load of paperwork, because he still had trust issues with computers. Dad took a moment before speaking, and I felt bad for making his job more difficult.

"Holly, remember the purpose behind this – we're convincing Larissa's Dad that The Hessians are good guys. If he sees them helping his own daughter, it will instantly boost their reputation. Rumours will help The Hessians good reputation even more, they'll be like Robin Hood. I'm not asking you to play the victim to show that girls are weak or anything." 

Dad's frankly stated admission calmed me down a little.

"But, what if I drown for real Dad? I can't swim!"

"Don't doubt my abilities," Kai coldly interjected.

The Ice King had decided I was worthy of a sentence. It took more self control than I was willing to admit, to not roll my eyes at his stern face. According to the plan, Larissa and I would go shopping, and on the way back the car will get stopped by Darius. We'll be chased to Purslane park, be pushed into the lake by them, and get rescued by Kai, Luke and Stephan. So annoyingly cliche, but it'd work to boost The Hessians reputation.

"I'm not! What are you talking about? You'll be getting Larissa out, Stephan is the one who'll be helping me," I really wanted to add something about how Kai didn't listen to the plan properly, but I didn't want to make him look bad in front of everyone. Luke was already smirking at me when he thought Kai wasn't looking. Stephan was looking uncomfortable, but he kept a smile on his face.

Every time Kai spoke it annoyed me, and the fact that he would rescue Larissa made me a tiny bit jealous. I was trying to get over it but knowing her, she would be drooling all over him after. Especially since Kai would be at school as a student. He'll become her new squeeze, and I'll be there in the back, invisible as usual.

Darius jumped up and clapped his hands, drawing all the attention to himself. "Okay, let's go over the fight. Ready Holly?"

Instantly, I lost all bravado I had when sassing Kai and felt horribly self conscious. I managed to smile weakly, and Darius walked over to the corner of the living room. Thankfully, Dad began going over his fake backstory to ensure everyone had the same version in their head, so no one was looking in my direction. 

"So it's going to be three moves. First, I'm going to threaten you with the switchblade, then have you in a choke, and from there I'll drop you into the lake. Let's go through it," Darius took out a pen from his pocket and thrust it at me.

I flinched instinctively and raised my hands. Darius could no doubt do a lot of damage with just a pen, he was wielding it like a real blade.

"I thought you'd be more worried about me seriously hurting you during the fight," he said with smile.

"I don't doubt your abilities," I said pointedly, feeling Kai's stare burning a hole in my back.

Darius rushed at me all of a sudden and I shrieked. Blushing with embarrassment at myself, I tried to recover and remember what the next move was. I wouldn't stand a chance if I was ever attacked in real life.