Chapter Nine: Where's the Fight Happening?
"Uh, sure?" It came out as more of a question than a statement. "I mean, you're already sitting there."
He nodded, turning to look out at the night. His skin seemed paler under the moonlight. Whatever he used to slick back his hair was wearing out. His hair was becoming a mess. I noticed he was holding his vest in his hands. I could see the small rose patterns on it. It was beautiful.
His eyes were shut like mine were. Just like me, he was thinking. He seemed tired. Then again, a party can tire anyone out. Especially if you don't party much. I was right about Griffin not partying much. He prefers quiet places and peace. It was understandable. He was given the life of a Reaper. He's had to lead people to their deaths for 3 years. Not only that, he's been dealing with elders. I'd prefer peace too.
"Your family is very... interesting," He commented, his eyes still closed.
"Yeah, they're a bit much at times," I sighed. "But they're pretty cool when you know them like I do. We've never had it easy. But you probably know this already."
He shook his head, "I'm only told about deaths and conditions you may have. I pretty much only know you went through depression."
I hung my head, "Yeah. Worst years of my life."
"What caused it?" I tilted my head his way to see his gray eyes staring back at me.
I let out a sigh, "My grandma died. She meant more to me than you know. It felt like the end of the world to me. It was a truly dark time for me."
I could see a flicker of pain cross his face before it was hidden. It was gone before it was even there. Death must be a touchy subject for him. Though it was a bit confusing how considering he was surrounded by constant death. Before I could start thinking more about it, Griffin stood up.
"Your parents are really worried about you. You should get back to them," He said, not turning to look at me. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait! You're not walking me home?" I shot up.
He shook his head, "I had a good time tonight."
"Wait-" He was gone before I even got the full word out. "You forgot your tailcoat."
With that, I walked Mufasa home.
-*-
I woke up covered in sweat. I glanced at the clock above my door.
4:53 AM
I groaned and fell back onto my pillow. Lately, I've been having more nightmares lately. They've been getting worse. They've also gotten more frequent. Sleep hasn't exactly been my friend. I decided to get up and take a shower. I couldn't just continue to bathe in my sweat.
Once I got out, I changed into a comfy outfit. I had on a light blue sweater with dark wash skinny jeans. I slide into my black socks with white stripes at the top. I decided I wanted to wear my hair down today. I sprayed it with water and applied leave-in conditioner. Once I felt satisfied with my hair, I got to work on my makeup. I just winged out my eyeliner a bit and put on a nude pink lipstick. Afterward, I did my nails simply because I felt like it. I painted them white, nothing too extravagant.
I checked the time.
6:30 AM
I still had time to have breakfast and go. I made myself a bowl of oatmeal and headed to school. Despite the way my morning started, I felt like I was going to have a good day. It was the first day of November. Once I got to school, I was immediately proven wrong. Kira rushed to my side and pulled me into the janitor's closet.
"I think it's safe to assume you haven't heard the news," She looked frantic.
I shook my head, "What news could be so important that you had to stuff me in a closet full of cleaning supplies?"
"Micah has a girlfriend."
I rolled my eyes. That's what she was freaking out about. My ex-boyfriend moving on like I knew he would. In the time I've known Micah, I've learned he doesn't linger too long on one thing. Especially if it makes him look bad. He moves on quickly. He probably already had his sights on this girl. Maybe even while we were dating.
I didn't care that he had a new girlfriend. I knew it was bound to happen soon. What hurt me was that he was probably already messing around with this girl. It hurt that I wasn't the only one in his mind while we were dating. However, I'm the only one to blame for being hurt. I shouldn't have expected such commitment from him.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I don't care," I shrugged. "Now can I get to class?"
She sighed and let me continue with my day. My morning classes were totally draining. They felt tasteless. Like every teacher had already given up. I was relieved when I finally got to escape for lunch. While I was on my way to meet up with my best friends, I couldn't help but hear two juniors gossiping.
"I heard Tanner's gonna beat him up right now," One of them whispered to the other.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I spun around and rushed over to them. They both seemed intimidated by me standing there. I hated how people viewed me. Because of my social status, they believe I'm one way when I'm the complete opposite.
"Tanner as in my brother?" I asked. They both nodded. "Where's the fight happening?!"
"Behind the building. Everyone's on their way there now," The boy explained.
I hurried off, but not before thanking them. I kept wondering what reason Tanner would have for fighting. He didn't usually fight, if ever. I was practically running through the halls to the back of the building. I had to stop him from doing something stupid. The minute I opened the doors, I saw a huge crowd. They were no doubt crowding around to see the fight.
I knew I was late when I heard them start cheering. I push people out of my way, trying to get to my brother. When I finally got to the middle and saw him, I felt my anger building up. Not because Tanner was fighting, but because the guy was actually punching him. I felt my protective side coming out.
"Stop!" I screamed. When they kept fighting, I knew I had to physically stop them.
I grabbed my brother's arm and pulled him towards me. The boy he was fighting saw this as an advantage and punched Tanner in the gut. His punch took the wind out of my brother. I decided I had seen enough. I shoved Tanner away and slapped the boy still trying to hit him.
I was fuming. Tanner was being an idiot and so was this kid if he thought he'd actually be able to fight me. He stopped when he realized I wasn't Tanner, but his older sister. When he saw my face, he looked scared. He quickly hid this with a smirk and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Aw, look! Tanner had to get his big sister to save him!" The kid mocked.
This only made me angrier, "Listen, you little dipshit, lay another finger on my brother and you'll wish you would've stayed your little ass in the classroom."
The crowd seemed to be focused on me now. I couldn't care less at this point. Whoever this kid was, he was about to learn not to mess with my family. He was about to learn that looks were deceiving and I could take him by myself. Above all else, he was about to learn his pride would be the death of him.
"Should I be scared?" He raised an eyebrow. "Tanner, please calm your sister down before she does something she's gonna regret."
I realized something in that moment. He wasn't only making me mad, he was pissing of Tanner. He's my only brother, so he's just as protective of me as I am of him. This kid was in for a world of trouble if he kept talking. However, I couldn't seem to calm myself down. Maybe it had something to do with the lack of sleep.
I also realized he didn't think of me as the girl with a fire in her. He, just like everyone else, saw me as a little doe, unable to stand for herself. They all saw me as the girl always under Micah. Up until yesterday, that was true. Now, he couldn't be more wrong. He picked the wrong day to mess with me.
"I don't know what your problem is with my brother, but that ends today. You can either drop it now or-"
"Or what?! You think I'm afraid of a girl?"
That was it.
My fist landed on his jaw, knocking him backward. I saw the fear in his eyes when he looked at him, holding his jaw. I wasn't done with him. He was about to learn what a girl could do to a scrawny kid like him. I kicked him in the stomach, sending him spiraling towards the ground. Before I could conflict more pain, I felt someone pulling me back.
"Tanner, let me go!" I shouted, trying to break free.
"Sorry to say, but Tanner left a while ago," It was Griffin.
"Griffin, let. Me. Go!" I started kicking and fighting, desperate to finish what I started.
"I advise you all to get back to class," Griffin's voice was even but authoritative.
The crowd listened, leaving immediately. Even the kid got up and left. In fact, he ran away. I felt myself grin in satisfaction. He learned exactly why he should fear a girl. Griffin finally let me go when everyone was gone. I spun around to face him, ready to yell at him for not letting me finish the job.
He was back in his normal attire. Instead of all black, he had on a dark red short sleeved button-up with black pants. It was sort of a refreshing change. His curly hair was back. His watch was back on his wrist today. It almost went unnoticed by me, but I could see it's shiny reflection in my peripheral.
"I wasn't done with him!" I felt my anger bubbling up again.
"Mackenzie, you do realize how foolish that was, right?" He crossed his arms over his chest.
I groaned, "Thanks, Jiminy Cricket! I surely learned my lesson. It will never happen again!"
He sensed my sarcasm and rolled his eyes, "Mackenzie, do you even have a legitimate reason to fight that kid?"
"Yes!" I shouted in his face. "He was fighting my brother! I had to stop him-"
"By picking a fight with him? I'm not sure how much sense that makes," I could see Griffin's irritation.
I knew he was right. I came to stop the fight and ended up starting another one. I thought my brother was an idiot, but I was the real idiot here. My shoulders dropped when I realized this. I could see him tapping his foot impatiently.
"You're right, it was stupid. Thanks for bailing me out," I said before heading back into the building.
Griffin stopped me before I could open the door. He stared into my eyes and I gazed back into his gray orbs.
"As you know, it's my job to protect you. I've realized that's not easy when you're in a school all day and I'm not exactly allowed here since I'm not a student. So, I've come to the conclusion-"
I shook my head, "Absolutely not. You are not coming to school with me every day."
"How else am I supposed to make sure you're safe without revealing I'm a Reaper to your peers?"
"I don't know, but you're not about to join Applewood. No," I was serious. I already had enough drama without Griffin added to the mix.
"Fine," He agreed. "But if there's one more incident-"
"There won't be," I assured him. "If there is..." I sighed before continuing. "You can join."
He nodded before walking in the opposite direction before ultimately disappearing. I shook my head finally headed to lunch. Indie met up with me along the way and explained we couldn't go to our special place. Apparently, it was being redone. I groaned, tired of the day. I was relieved when lunch finally ended. Being around everyone and the whispers around me were getting on my nerves.
Micah and his new girlfriend made sure I saw them. They both passed our table three times. They didn't even have to pass it once to get to their table. I rolled my eyes each time. Him having a new girlfriend wasn't going to make me jealous. However, him trying to make me jealous was going to get on my nerves. But I knew I couldn't do anything about it. I would look like the jealous ex-girlfriend he wants me to be. It'll be a cold day in hell before I give him that.
I made it to my locker and was attacked with a familiar scent. It was a mix of jasmine perfume and desperation.
"What do you want, Taylor?" I asked without turning around.
"Who was your friend?" She placed her hands on her hips. "The tall glass of sexy you were hiding from me!"
She was delusional. I was sure of it now. Instead of telling her this, I raised an eyebrow, "My little friend?"
She rolled her eyes, "The guy at your party last night! The one who was endlessly flirting with me until you came over and ruined it. Honestly, did you have to ruin my chance at love? I thought we were friends!"
I actually scoffed at her, "You and I were never friends! As for my 'little friend', he's not interested. I don't what you drank, but he most definitely didn't want anything to do with you. In fact, he's the one who kicked you out of my house!"
There was no way I'd willingly let Taylor near Griffin. I refused to let that happen. Griffin didn't like her. It was just as I thought. She'd be all over him and he'd reject her. All the more reason to like Griffin. He has good taste.
Taylor looked shocked. I just shrugged and shut my locker. I left her standing there, dumbfounded. I met up with Indie and Kira outside. Kira looked excited about something and Indie was saying goodbye to Bradley. He was leaving for a week. I pretended to gag when they kissed. Once he walked away, Kira turned to me with a smile.
"Elizabeth's having a party this weekend!" She squealed.
"So...?" I raised an eyebrow, shifting all of my weight to my left leg.
"So, we're going!" She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ha! You can go! I'll be at home watching Netflix on my laptop," I stated, starting to walk home.
"C'mon! You can even bring that Griffin guy!" She tried bargaining with me.
I just kept walking, still uninterested. It was just another party and I wanted to stay home and relax. Elizabeth was a nice girl. She's always throwing a party. There was no difference between this weekend and next weekend with her. I had nothing to worry about.
Suddenly something clicked. She'd had alcohol at her party. Griffin was right, it was about time I started living while I can. After all, I won't be around for my 21st birthday anyway. I spun around on my heel and marched towards them. Indie gave me a knowing look while Kira's smile grew wider.
"I'm in."
//
Another chapter! This took longer than expected to write and I finally finished. I really like the cover (not as much as another one I made but I still like it). Anywho, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading!
Tatty bye <3