-Two years earlier-
Panting, I raised a shaky hand to wipe the blood from my chin.
Around me six senior boys lay groaning, clutching their injuries and fighting off unconsciousness.
...I had let them get a single hit in before returning the favour.
Tenfold.
I grimaced at the sight of blood on my hand, bending down to rub as much of it off on the grass as I could.
... At least everyone learned a valuable lesson today.
Quality beats Quantity.
I couldn't say that the fight had been easy, or that I had come out unscathed, but it was clear from the start, I had the advantage in skill and experience.
It was thanks to those things, as well as a great deal of luck, that I had managed to last this long.
The first time one of my classmates attacked me, I'd been shocked. Since then, the number of unprovoked attacks had only grown, to a point where it was becoming a nearly daily thing.
In the last three months since coming to this school, I had been in more fights than ever before, with no apparent reason as to why everyone suddenly felt the need to make my life a living Hell.
It seemed the more fights I won, the more people came to challenge me.
Which was understandable, but I still couldn't figure out why there were so many delinquents at such an elite school in the first place.
They sure didn't mention them in the fancy brochure...
Hopefully, the statement I had made today by beating this group single-handedly was worth the sore knuckles and bloody lip.
Cause it would be a real pain if I had to kick the butt of every student in the school just to send the message not to mess with me.
I sighed, straightening up tiredly.
This was the year I planned to start my life as a teenage girl. Starting high school was going to be my chance at making normal teenage friends and trying normal teenage girl things.
My cheeks reddened at the thought.
Ever since Monica had been born and the realisation that I now had a baby sister... part of me wanted to become...
I stared down at my scuffed knuckles.
... Gentler.
Besides...
I winced, shoving my hands into my pockets.
...It would worry Vain if he knew I was constantly running around brawling with half the school population.
Especially after I promised both him and Devin that I wouldn't fight any more...
Someone whistled appreciatively behind me, catching me completely unaware. I spun...
But there was no one there.
"Wow." Commented an impressed voice from above. "This wasn't what I was expecting."
I glanced up, paling when I saw the speaker nestled up in the branches of the tree.
A lanky boy grinned down at me, the light shining through the trees making his wild golden hair shine.
For once in my life, I couldn't think of anything to say.
"Hello!" The boy greeted, smile widening enthusiastically as he noticed me looking at him. "I'm Nigel!"
He leapt down from the tree, swinging a trombone over his shoulder.
"And you're Maddison Trampth."
Somehow, his smile got even brighter as he held out a hand for me to shake.
"You're cuter than your reputation led me to believe. Really, I was expecting some sort of big..."
I did what any girl who was approached by a weird guy with a trombone would do.
I punched that creep in the face.
My fist connected sharply, sending Nigel's head back.
I regretted the act of mindless self-preservation pretty much instantly, sending my fist a horrified look of betrayal.
My fist just shrugged back, blaming feminine intuition for its impulsive crimes.
After a slow second of me freaking out, Nigel looked back at me, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Um... What was that for?"
I stared at him.
Sure, it wasn't like I intended to really hurt him, but he wasn't supposed to be this unaffected.
Before I could even begin to ask exactly what planet he had come from, Nigel suddenly gripped my shoulders, bringing his face close to mine.
I tensed, attempting to pull back... to most likely punch him again... but strangely I couldn't budge in the unusually strong grip.
My eyes narrowed, the sudden confrontation helping my brain to finally locate my vocal cords.
"What are you.."
"Your lip is bleeding!" Nigel exclaimed, sounding legitimately horrified. He met my eyes, concern obvious in his worried expression. "Does it hurt? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
I stared at him, even more stunned than before.
The look on his face somehow seemed... childlike.
It was just a split lip, but it could have been a broken arm from the way he was reacting.
I shook my head, both in answer, and to clear it.
Did this guy even realise his squeezing me like a vice hurt more than the injury he was so concerned about?
"It's fine." I snapped, turning my face away from his intense stare.
I didn't know him... And I had sort of punched him in the face not one minute ago... So I wasn't really expecting to suddenly be fussed over.
It made me feel a little guilty...
Even more so, it made me feel embarrassed.
"Do you mind letting me go?" I muttered, doing my best to avoid his gaze. All while being trapped only inches away from him. "You're starting to hurt me..."
He let me go like I was a hot brick, literally jumping away from me.
"Sorry...! Sorry," He held his hands up as if to reassure me he wouldn't touch.
He studied me nervously for a long moment as if afraid my arms would fall off.
When I did little more than rub the circulation back into my arms, he chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Sometimes, I... Ah... don't know my own strength."
The words were apologetic... As well as a little sad... Maybe.
I raised an eyebrow at him, just plain thrown by the strangeness of the situation.
It wasn't every day I met someone who was so openly friendly... kind of dorky even ...
Yet made my instincts scream DANGER.
Nigel met my wary gaze for a moment, a slight smile on his face.
Silently acknowledging my apprehension.
He looked at me fondly, but there was something guarded in his gaze.
Before I could begin to interpret the expression, he jumped again, as though a sudden thought had occurred to him, holding his hands out towards me in the "wait" signal.
"Stay right there! I know what to do!"
Before I could say anything, Nigel sprinted off, exiting my life just as abruptly as he had entered it.
I stared after him, debating whether or not I should take this opportunity to escape.
... But he had asked me to wait... And I kind of did owe him, for punching him in the face for no reason... Other than he freaked me out...
I looked around, surprised to find myself alone....besides the abandoned trombone laying in the grass.
I should have noticed the guys I had beaten up leave right.
Then again, I don't I would notice a bomb go off in the same room as Nigel.
From the moment I had laid eyes on him, my first instinct had been to stand still. Stay silent.
And
Not. Look. Away.
Friendly as he may be.
Safe, he definitely wasn't.
In the end, exhaustion won out over caution, and I went to sit against the tree Nigel had jumped out of.
Whatever it was that lunatic wanted with me, he seemed the sort to energetically hunt me down and enforce it upon me.
"You can run, but you can't hide," I muttered to myself, deciding to rest my eyes for a bit. "Might as well get it over with."
The last bell went off in the distance, signalling the end of the school day.
It would still be another hour before Vain finished his after school duties, so I would have to wait a little longer before walking him home.
He had asked me not to bother, but I couldn't bring myself to let him walk home alone.
Maybe I should just follow him.... like a stalker.... at least that way he wouldn't be mad at me when he saw my lip.
The longer I could keep Vain in the dark about this whole fighting thing, the better... Since he would probably kill me himself the moment he found out.
Then again, he probably already knew.
I had never been able to keep a secret from him.
"Here you go." Said a cheerful voice from beside me, followed by a cold sensation on my lip.
I jumped, my eyes snapping open to see Nigel crouched beside me with an icy-pole pressed to my lip.
He smiled at me, like a dog that had just retrieved a stick. "This is for your lip. I was told once that cold things are good for stopping pain."
Slowly, I reached up to take the stick from his hand, holding the sweet ice against my lips.
From his red cheeks and fast breathing, I knew that had run all the way to get this for me.
The feeling that the boy in front of me was a hazard was still there.
But there was a difference between being dangerous and being bad.
"... Would have been fine, idiot," I muttered.
At my words, Nigel blushed. His smile filled with relief.
"You're welcome, Maddison."