There he was. Free De La Hoya. In the flesh.
First of all, I was stunned by how tall he was. He was almost a head taller than me.
"I didn't know there was a girl on the team," said Free.
Huh? Then I realized that Free thought that I was one of the Raging Bulls. I opened my mouth to explain.
"We don't," came another voice. I met Theodore Glass for the first time. Shu was right. He was creepy.
The fact that I knew that he was the ruler of the Snake Pit didn't help matters. I had a sudden urge to hide behind Shu.
"Mr Glass," said Shu. "This is my girlfriend, Rosalie Charmille. Or Rose."
I wanted to run away. I could handle bullies, but this guy was capable of performing experiments on children. What would he do to me if he knew that I knew who he was?
"I have to go," I said. I ran off. I just had to get away from Theodore Glass.
How could I tell Shu and Free that Theodore Glass was dangerous without looking like a total weirdo? I wasn't even sure if either of them knew about the Snake Pit at this point.
Whoops. I bumped into a tall boy. It was Howard.
"Hey, watch it, Ariel!" he snapped.
"It's Rose," I said.
But Howard wasn't listening. Not that I expected him to. Well, he grabbed me and pinned me to a corner. "Listen there, I don't care that you have a pretty face and are dating a Japanese boy."
"What's wrong with Japanese boys?" I asked.
"Americans can't be with Asians!"
"That's really none of your business! And what kind of backwards thinking people told you that?"
Howard suddenly pulled my hair.
"Ow! It hurts," I said.
I could feel his sharp nails digging into my skin. Just then, I felt someone pull him away from me.
"It's rude to pull girls' hair," came a familiar voice. Free was looking at Howard.
"And who told you that?" asked Howard. He didn't wait for an answer. He said, "Girls are annoying. They're so sissy and they wear too much makeup and they wear uncomfortable high heels and..."
"My best friend is a girl," said Free.
He was now glaring at Howard. I didn't know how a seemingly lazy boy could make such a sharp glare. If looks could kill, Howard would be dead by now.
Just then, Shu caught up. "Rose, what happened? You took off so fast."
"I saw this boy hurting her," said Free.
Howard looked annoyed, but he must have known that he was outnumbered, for he went off at once.
Shu sighed. "Rose, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I said. "Free rescued me."
"He did?" asked Shu. He looked at Free in surprise.
"Err... Thank you?"
"So you're Shu Kurenai," said Free. "Valt just wouldn't stop talking about you."
"I have heard about you too," said Shu. "And I would like to know why you left BC Sol."
There was something about the way Shu was looking at Free that didn't sit right with me. Was he jealous of Free?
Just then, I remembered that Shu had once rescued me from a bully. Which was what Free had just done.
Free was just looking at Shu. "You're interesting," he said. Then he turned to me. "So you're Rose, right?"
"Yes," I said.
"The name suits you," said Free. "You're pretty, but you're not afraid to show your claws."
"Did you just call my girlfriend pretty?" asked Shu.
Yeah, he's definitely jealous.
But why? Free didn't seem interested in me. He was talking to me as casually as he spoke to anyone else.
"Maybe I should go," I said. The moment I was out of sight, I ran off.
I didn't know that Shu had such a jealous streak in him. Did I make it worse?