My eyes light up. “Scandalous.” It’s also fair play to punch up and as captain of the rugby team, Khai can certainly take the hit.
For the rest of the break, we trade ever more ridiculous gossip, made more fun by it being one hundred percent untrue. It’s also unlikely to spread, given that even if we both weren’t already pariahs, Lachlan’s stunt yesterday would certainly cement me in the role.
Nobody’s going to take me seriously ever again.
With Keanen’s kind laughter to buoy me, the thought doesn’t hit as hard as it would have this morning.
I say goodbye and am halfway to class when three male students stop in front of me, blocking my way. When I try to move aside, they match me, step for step, letting me know it’s deliberate.
“Can I help you?”
The snarky question is absolutely the wrong thing to say. The largest of the three and self-appointed ringleader is Carrod Melchi. The moment I finish speaking, he sniggers and slides his foot forward. “Got some shoes that need cleaning. Heard you could help with that.”
Oh, ha-bloody-ha-ha. I roll my eyes and try to flankthem again, but they’re nimbler on their feet. “Can you let me past? I’ll be late for class.”
“You can pass once you’re finished. Get to work.” When I don’t obey, he grabs the front of my blouse with one hand to pull me close, planting the other on my shoulders to force me to my knees. I punch at his hand, my pulse increasing every second I fail to get free.
“Let g-g-go of m-me,” I shout, my speech devolving into a tic almost immediately. It’s always worse when I’m stressed or sleep deprived and the past fortnight has provided ample fodder for that exact situation.
“Oh, does p-p-p-poor G-G-G-George w-w-w-want us to s-s-stop?” Carrod lets go of my blouse, giving me a light slap before holding my chin steady in a relentless pincer grip. “I told you what to do. Now get on with it.”
The two students either side echo his efforts, making snide remarks, mocking my stutter, my hair, my dress sense. A mild annoyance that turns more serious with each jibe.
While I frantically try to pull out of his grasp, new students drift over to watch, forming a semi-circle of voyeurs to my increasing distress. A flashback to yesterday but at least then Lachlan was in control. With him in charge, I never felt afraid. Not like I do now with a hungry mob forming in front of me.
Then I see him, walking over. I turn my head away, not wanting another witness to my latest humiliation. With how we left things last night, I don’t know if he’s coming over to watch or to join in.
“Want another turn, Lock?” Carrod calls out, manhandling me until I’m facing Lachlan. “I’m sure she’d l-l-l-love it.”
Lachlan’s fist connects so hard with Carrod’s mouth that his head snaps around ninety degrees. After the second blow to hisjaw, my unlikely defender grabs the boy’s head and smashes it against the brick wall of the science block.
I nearly fall as Carrod drops to his knees, the hand that had been pressing on my shoulder now clutching at my neck for support. I shove away from him, gasping for air as I retreat a few steps, relief replacing fear.
After a minute, the boy clambers to his feet, panting loudly. It’s a mistake made obvious when Lachlan bunches the front of his shirt and jabs him three times in the face, the punches so quick they barely count as separate blows.
When he releases his hold, the boy slumps to his hands and knees again, making a hoarse sound that I don’t understand until I see the marks from where a punch hit him squarely in the throat.
“Why are you teasing her for a stutter?” Lachlan asks in such an ominous tone that I shiver. Even though he isn’t looking at me. Even though the threat is directed at my would-be attacker. “She doesn’t make jokes about your micro penis.”
There are a few titters, pupils moving away now the balance of power has shifted. They’re still looking, still recording, but are no longer as invested in the outcome. Not now everyone knows how it ends.
Even his two mates have split, melting into the sparsening crowd.
“Don’t you think she’s owed an apology?” Lachlan asks.
When Carrod doesn’t reply, still not fully tracking the change in circumstance, he earns another punch in the head. The savage efficiency that Lachlan uses to dispense his punishment sends a thrill of butterflies flapping in my stomach, turning me weak.
I’ve never had someone defend me before. I’m not sure what to do with the surfeit of emotion.
“If you are going to target someone for an impediment, maybe next time don’t pick one of my closest friends, hm?”
The designation is as much of a surprise to me as it is to him.
Lachlan delivers a final kick, catching Carrod under the chin and somersaulting him onto his back. Crimson spatter rains from his mouth as a cough rips from his lungs. In that position, he must be inhaling more blood than air.
I shouldn’t take joy in other’s pain but experience a savage rush of pleasure at his destruction.
“You okay?” Lachlan cups my head to draw me closer, searching my face when I don’t immediately answer.
