R a i n e L e v e r e t t
Year Three - Lie Detector
A rush of fear, a rush of defiance - both balanced to create an unhealthy equilibrium, a lack of concern and a drive to be void. She knew she would pay for it, she knew the boy and his two henchmen would probably beat her senseless, and her heart beat fast, faster than normal, because of this. But she accepted her fate - she was better at doing that than anyone, and she was the best at simply closing her eyes and keeping emptily still when the danger ordered her to move.
But the chanting voices, the harsh commands, they ceased. In their leave, an eerie silence replaced them, and her eyes opened (as far as her right one would allow). A rustle of paper. A breeze drifting by, more delicate calls of birds in the distance, more leaves bristling.
Her head turned.
There stood a young man - a boy whom she had no idea was there. A boy whom had, somehow, slipped past her awareness. She hadn't heard him approach, she hadn't heard him move or breathe at all. And this revelation surprised her. Her hand didn't move from her cheek, but her eyes were fixated on this mystery of a person.
Lanky. Fair height. Fair skin too, and dark, inky black hair. His eyes .. his eyes were strange, caught hers almost immediately. Maroon in color, a dull shade, but caged. Restrained. Watered down on purpose, it felt like, as if he was hiding something. The boy didn't speak, but held the papers she needed very dearly in one of his hands. It was tensed - her eyes studied it, the tendons visible, the fingers curled to a small degree. Slowly, the hand holding these papers drifted to the side, towards her.
He was handing them back to her.
For a moment, the shock left her unable to do anything but stare. The pig got into his face, hissing, "What the fuck? What are you doing?", with an expression akin to an angered rottweiler stuck on his mug. And yet this boy didn't speak a word. He didn't utter a sound, he didn't move an inch. He just .. stared, his hand held very still, clutching her documents as if they were the only important factor there.
Raine snapped out of the surprise, and blinked. Rendered completely silent, the girl's hand reached up, slowly, cautiously. Being honest, she felt more intimidated by this boy than she did by the pig spitting in his face. His composure was .. well, she couldn't really explain it. It reminded her of the way people described her in danger, except even more intense - icy, completely flat, unfazed. Her fingers closed on the papers, and she slipped them out of his hand, drawing her arm back to her chest and holding the small packet of papers close to her chest.
When the pig demanded that this mystery say something, his eyes dropped down to her - briefly making contact with her own. Raine stared back, locked, unable to look away. For some reason, she wanted to sputter out a thank you, something, anything. She had this urge to speak to him and make him speak back. Why don't you say something?
But the staring contest was broken when the pig gripped the collar of his shirt, tightly enough to draw his attention back forward. The pig threatened him, giving him a nasty question, "Tell me, what the fuck made you think that you could help this good for nothing bitch." It made an ice run through her veins, those words. And there was a silence, a deep, tense silence. She slowly looked behind the main pig at the other two that followed him, whom both looked confused as confused could be at the situation that had taken such a turn. Her eyes wandered - a bird fluttered overhead, twittering the same tune she had picked up on but a minute ago. The breeze huffed again, softly passing through the space the small group was tucked in.
Her eyes fell back, from the sky, to the pig, and she looked just in time to see the young man shrug. No words still, no change - just the simple motion.
No, no, you're gonna get yourself hurt. She didn't give a shit about what happened to her, but when other people risked themselves for her sake, there was a problem. She felt a sudden impulse to stand, get the pig's hands off of this boy, but she didn't. Her body wouldn't respond.
"Would you look at this guy? The fuck is he even doing?" The pig was staring back at his other two flankers, who glanced at each other and shrugged, guffawing at the words. "Kid, I'm gonna beat the shit outta you first, and then I'm gonna get what I can outta her - "
Before the pig could even finish, another voice - a deep voice, loud enough to be heard by all in the area, a voice that stammered a bit near the start - rang out from behind her. Heads turned.
"Wh-what's going on?"
C a s p e r J e a n a n
Fourth Year - Size & Strength
Oh no. Oh no, what am I seeing?
There he was, walking to his first class. He had taken a route he usually wouldn't have, a fresh path, something new to start off his last year - and he had walked right into whatever was happening here. A girl was on the ground, a guy was holding a smaller guy by the neck of his shirt, and two dudes were in the background flanking the bigger guy.
He had spoken up, knowing he'd probably regret it. However, the two behind the first guy saw him, and their expressions started to melt from amused to anxious. Casper, personally, found himself anxious too, and there was a sort-of horror etching his facial features right then.
This boy wasn't an average boy - oh dear me, no. This boy towered quite strongly over the whole lot of them, and not a person there could compare to his heavy build, not even the leader. His school uniform was in place - the cream button-up, a plain brown tie, dark trousers, and blazer currently draped over his shoulder - along with his own big, scruffy shoes on his feet. His black hair was as tamed as he had managed to get it, and his icy eyes were transfixed on the scene, wide and bright. He was a sight to behold, surely, built like a monster - someone that was not to be opposed.
Or so it seemed, at least.
Casper could almost feel his legs trembling. He didn't think he'd become a part of something like this, ever, but there he was - with several pairs of eyes trained right onto him. Even who appeared to be the biggest of the group faltered in his aggressive expression, taken aback. Casper gathered himself, realizing what was happening now.
"What do you think you're doing?" His expression was still wide-eyed, shocked, but his tone took on a subtle force, demanding an answer to what was going on. Judging from what he saw, he had a good guess as to what was happening anyways.
" .. The fuck is this now? Is he your body guard or somethin'?" The eyes of the person gripping the smaller boys' shirt shifted back to them, and he seemed to jerk them harshly as he asked. Yeah, that was enough for Casper to realize - but it wasn't enough for him to abandon his timid state. His eyes flickered down to the girl on the ground, and with the brief glance he took, he realized that something was wrong with her face. Was .. was it swollen? It was certainly red on one side, and there was a shimmer of something .. a tear streak. Her eye was swollen a little too.
Did these guys -
" .. Hey .. h-hey, quit it, let go of him." Casper, suddenly having found a new reason to stop this, walked forward, towards the bigger guy who was holding onto the smaller guy. The bigger guys' eyes whipped up to him, and he only stared at Casper. He wouldn't let go. "I said let go of him, man." He got closer, and now, the height difference was much more apparent. Casper was trying very hard to assert himself, to intervene, and he seemed to be pulling it off with his expression now changed. Horror-struck, slowly melting into something sterner.
" .. Pfft .. or what?" His tone was quavering now, very subtly. He suddenly didn't sound as confident as he did before. Casper saw the grip tighten, and that was all the verbal warnings he had planned to give.
He stepped forward, and thrusting his hands out, he took a forceful grip on the guys' wrist and practically ripped his hand off of the collar. On accident, Casper threw his arm behind him in the process, causing the guy to stumble. The two flanking him, anxious-looking already, become shocked at the sight.
" .. Or .. or that." Casper found his voice again, finding that it, too, was close to shaking. There were emotions swirling around in him, bad ones that made his stomach knot and a weird hotness rush to his hands. It made his fingers twitch inwards. "Now .. I-I really don't want to have to fight anyone, okay? S-so .. " he paused, swallowing his own skittishness, " .. if you and your, uh - your friends - would just leave, it doesn't have to escalate."
His hands were up, palms forward, as if bracing himself for something. This was so sudden, so .. out of place. He hoped that he wouldn't get caught in the middle of this - he had a decent record, and this would be one of his bigger screw-ups. But if it was for helping some other kids, at least it was worth getting in trouble for.