For some reason, Sage wasn't scared, but she felt angry when she was called a weirdo. It reminded her of the misunderstanding she had with Clark earlier.
"Call me weirdo one more time." saying this made the bullies laugh.
'Are you trying to get yourself beat up too?' Clark thought.
"You know, it's brave what you're all doing," Sage continued with a hint of sarcasm. "Four against one, it's a disgrace for a guy of your size, Drake." She hoped that telling him how shameless he was would make him back down. She could sense his shame, but Drake wasn't ready to back down; perhaps his pride wouldn't let him.
Lifting his left hand, Drake placed it on Sage's right shoulder. "Weird-do," Drake dared himself and called Sage a weirdo, besides he didn't think she stood a chance against him.
There was a frown on Sage's face showing she was angry, and it wasn't because Drake had called her a weirdo. It was because the big-headed bully had touched her, and the smug look on his face irritated her, if only she could wipe the stupid smirk off his face with a slap. She took his hand off her shoulder and twisted it, also turning in the process. This made Drake scream at the top of his lungs.
This had come as a surprise to everyone, including Clark. They never expected to see a bully getting bullied.
Letting go of his hand, Sage threw a punch to Drake's face. She didn't think the punch would do any harm, so she was surprised when she heard a crack.
"You broke my nose!" Drake exclaimed. "I'm gonna report this to the principal," he said before walking away with the rest of his gang, while Sage helped the now smiling Clark up.
"Yeah, go tell him a girl did that to you," Clark suggested, still clutching his belly. He was in pain, but that didn't stop him from making a mockery of Drake's loss.
To everyone present, Sage's punch was weak, and they felt Drake had let her win the fight because she was a girl, but Drake knew the power packed behind the petite girl punch. She was too fast for him to react. He had really underestimated her.
"Look, I'm sorry for my behavior earlier," Clark apologized.
"I can't stay mad at you; you're the only friend I have."
Keeping the misunderstanding aside, they soon made fun of Drake, whose scream had sounded like that of a scared girl.
Clark was thinking Sage had really changed since the last time he saw her. She now said what was on her mind and stood up to those who bullied her. Since he was the closest to her, he noted the difference first. It almost seemed like she was someone else.
****
School was over for the day, and Sage was left wondering where her cousins were as she walked towards the school exit. She didn't come across them as usual. Stopping five feet away from the exit, she stood there and waited for Clark.
She was meant to wait for Clark by her locker, but she felt a pair of eyes looking at her, and when she turned to see who it was, she saw Drake staring at her with his eyes slitted. Not wanting to be anywhere near him, she walked towards the exit and decided to wait for Clark there.She stood in place, looking at the crowd of students that walked past her so she could spot Clark and signal him to come over.
While waiting, most students who walked past her would bump their shoulder into hers and not care to apologize. It was either they were too carried away with what they were chattering about, or they just didn't care.
Suddenly, Sage could feel something move from her shoulder to her head. She couldn't explain the feeling because she had never felt like that in her life. All she could register was that the feeling was similar to the time she had a mild electric shock, but instead of moving from the source, she wanted to find out what it was.
The feeling was brief as it was triggered by one of the students walking out the double doors when whoever it was brushed his or her shoulder against hers. Turning around quickly, she didn't want to miss who the person was, and to her surprise, someone was already staring at her with furrowed brows.
Sage recognized the person as the new guy from Mr. Hobbs' class who didn't introduce himself. His stares sent chills down her spine like it did last time.
"Hey..." the male figure said then paused to receive a reply, but Sage was lost in her thoughts and she didn't realize the person opposite her was now talking to her.
"I don't think we've met before..." he paused again to wait for Sage's reply. "My name is Xai, and it's nice to meet you."Xai didn't have anything else to say to Sage; he was about to leave, regretting that he just talked to either a deaf person or a dumb person, but Sage spoke up.
"Hi..., yeah, we haven't met before... I'm Sage, nice to meet you too." Sage quickly replied to Xai to stop him from leaving, but she was slightly embarrassed as she had replied to everything he said almost in a second.
Xai, who was about to say another word to Sage, stopped as soon as he saw who was coming behind her. Clark, who had just arrived, gave a questioning look at Sage while standing protectively beside her. Seeing this made Sage chuckle slightly.
Xai, who was in a rush before bumping shoulders with Sage, did not hesitate to leave. Before Sage and Clark could return their attention to him, he had left.
"Where the hell have you been?" Sage questioned Clark in an angry tone.
She knew where he was; he was either stalking Tasha or he was sneaking anonymous love letters into her locker. Well, they were not so anonymous since Tasha knew who the letters came from.
Clark ignored Sage's question as he noticed the wild smile plastered on her face."What are you so excited about?" Clark asked as Sage's smile became creepy. This was unusual because Sage wasn't the type to be happy by this time of the day. Instead, she would groan and mumble at regular intervals, not wanting to go back to the prison of a home she lived in.
"I'm excited because I just had a conversation with someone really cool," she replied, feeling proud of herself for being able to hold a conversation with such a good-looking person.
"Really, who was it?"
"Umm, Xai, the new guy from Mr. Hobbs' class."
Clark gasped, obviously shocked by the information Sage just gave him. "Look, I know I've been telling you to make new friends, but please not with that guy," Clark said, pointing towards the exit that Xai had walked through.
"Why? What is wrong about him, and when have you ever told me to make friends? I'm literally the only friend you have, so it's weird for you to tell me to make friends."
Clark was about to defend himself on the statement Sage made about not having any other friends besides her, but Sage cut him off.
"No, you don't have an imaginary friend, and Tasha does not count as your friend." Knowing she was right, Clark kept shut and decided to convince Sage.
"Well, you can't be friends with Xavier," Clark said with disgust in his voice.
"He looks like a serial killer."
"Would you stop it already? I just talked with him, that's all," Sage said before walking out of the double doors. "He seems okay to me though. When we made contact, it felt as if electricity moved down my spine; we must be made for each other."
Sage had decided to put on an act that would most surely irritate Clark, and it was working. She wanted him to feel the way she does whenever he talks about Tasha.
"The shock is a sign that you need to stay away from him," Clark groaned while walking behind Sage, who gave him a side-eye before she reached the rickety car she drove to school.
"And you don't think you've gotten more than enough signs to stay away from Tasha? I mean, the beatings you receive on a daily basis from Drake."
"Drake bullies who he doesn't like, and I'm not an exception," Clark said, trying to defend himself. "I don't get bullied because of a girl."At this stage, all Sage could do was stare at her best friend blankly, wondering how she ever became friends with him.
"You know that's not true, Clark," Sage said as she pulled the door of her car open. "You should be worried about yourself, not me."
With that, she got into her car, shut the door, and was ready to leave. She briefly waved at Clark as she drove off.
****
A particular someone was also about to leave the school premises, but he had been lost in his thoughts.
He couldn't help but think about the girl he met. "Ah," he groaned. He already had a lot on his mind right now, and he didn't want to have any distractions.
Why is nature so cruel? Maybe coming to this school was a bad idea. He wasn't worried because he found the person he was to spend eternity with. In fact, if things were normal, he would have been rejoicing.
To make things worse, nature decided to bless him with a human mate. He wiped his face from his forehead down to his chin as if that would take his worries away before he turned on his car and proceeded to drive home.
On his way home, he still wasn't focused. Xai hit hard on his steering wheel and let out a heavy growl.