Belle Âme (SAMPLE)

Chapter 5: A Card

Ares leaps up to his feet, completely forgetting about Brent, who groans in pain. He stands beside me. Kevin helps me up from the ground as I continue to bite down on my lower lip. My rib cage where his elbow connected hurts so bad, and so does my butt from landing at an awkward angle on the ground.

"Caroline, I-" he starts to say but is immediately cut off by the booming yells of the security. He looks at me, and I swear, guilt flashes through the brilliant greens of his eyes which are still dark with bloodlust.

Everyone disperses except for a bloodied Ares, a mutilated Brent who is now limply upright by the help of Kevin, then there's Charlotte and me. Two school security guards and the Headmistress, Ms. Taus, loom before all of us, a reprimanding and disapproving look on all their faces.

I'm ashamed even though technically, I'm not part of this mess. I've never been in this kind of position before because I've always kept my head low, even back in Australia. I was always just a floater, a forgettable face among the sea of students, a no-one who doesn't stand out either in a good or bad way. This is just too intimidating and nerve-wracking for me, and I badly want to cry. How have I managed to put myself in this situation? Mum will be mad, and Lady Esther will be disappointed in me.

"... the truth, Headmistress. Kevin, Caroline, and I just came to see what was happening. Caroline tried to stop the fight, but-" Charlotte explains. Too caught up in my own mental panic, I don't even register the first half of what she's saying before Ares rudely cuts her off.

"I hit her, which caused her to fall on the ground. That's why these three misfits are still here, Headmistress. They don't have anything to do with the fight. This is all on Calloway and me."

Ms. Taus moves her glaring stare from each of our faces before settling on Ares, her brow arched unnaturally high up her forehead. "You again, Mr. Villin. Not more than two weeks from your last fight when I specifically told you right after to clean up your act, or I will have no other choice but to expel you from this school."

Expel? No, that can't happen.

"Why don't you ask Calloway why we were fighting in the first place, Headmistress?" Ares retorts. There's a hint of disgust in his tone as he gives a dirty sideways glance at Brent, whose head hangs low, blood dripping down his nostrils.

Ms. Taus looks back and forth between Ares and Brent before sighing defeatedly and pinching the bridge of her already pinched nose. "Mr. Calloway, you should see the school nurse and have yourself patched up. Mr. Villin, go home. But I want both of your parents at my office first thing tomorrow. Do you understand?"

Both boys nod their heads timidly. Brent looks like he's about to piss his pants while Ares looks almost indifferent, like he's had the same thing said to him, immune to the consequences of his actions.

"You three, go home and stay away from trouble," she then says, her eyes moving between me, Kevin, and Charlotte. Scram, the look on her face loudly screams.

"Yes, Headmistress," the three of us meekly say in unison as we watch her turn on her heels and leave with one security guard in tow while the other helps Brent towards the main building's west wing, where the school clinic is located.

"What?" Ares spits, an annoyed look plastered on his face when he sees me staring at him with wide eyes. He wipes the blood around his mouth and chin with the sleeve of his uniform.

"Callie, I think we should go," Charlotte whispers, leaning close to my ear and tugging at my sleeve.

I nod and ignore the pain taking over my entire body, fighting myself from wincing as I bend to grab my school bag. It's silly to even think of getting in between Ares and Brent; I'm too small compared to these two athletes, plus I have zero ideas why they were fighting in the first place. Ares' right-I don't have anything to do with the fight. I should have just stayed out of it, but as the thought settles in, my gut twists uncomfortably.