Heartless

Chapter 8

When the next morning rolled around. I made sure that we were all packed just in case we wouldn't be staying with Quin anymore. We left our bags in the twin's room as we left the house.

The District Office was close enough that we could just walk. Which is good because Quin is fourteen and can't drive and we would have had a hard time getting her parents to take us. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not ready to be in one of those moving metal boxes so I'm more than happy to walk.

Jade reached for my hand as we walked. I smiled as I held her small hand in mine. She has never asked to hold my hand before. Maybe I will finally be close to my cousins now, I thought, but I hoped too soon.

A boy passing by bumped right into me. "Watch it!" I exclaimed, but he looked like I was the one who needed to apologize.

"You're not from around here are you?" He asked.

"What gave it away?" I asked sarcastically. I knew that this town was small enough that any newcomer stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Then I will do you the courtesy of warning you to stay out of my way in the future, but I will only let you off easy this one time."

I bristled at his tone. "I'm sorry, you are warning me? I'll have you know that I am not the one who needs to stay out of your way. Try the other way around. Where do you get off talking to people like that and threatening them? Why, you look as harmless as a daisy." I scoffed, looking him up and down. He seemed quite frail and only stood a few inches taller than me with his hair shaved closely to his scalp. He couldn't have been more than a year or two older than me and Quin.

"And I'll have you know that you're messing with the wrong guy. I have a proposal for you, unless you're all talk. Come Monday, I'm challenging you to a fight in front of the whole school."

"Fine." I announced.

"Good, I look forward to putting you in your place."

I let him have the last word. Let him feel smug. Let him underestimate me.

"What a prick." I said to Quin when he was out of earshot.

I hope I wasn't making a mistake. I'm not scared of guys like him but having the whole school as an audience isn't exactly ideal. I wanted to keep a low profile in our new home. Especially, since we got chased out of our old home. The last thing I should do is ruin the second chance that Brienna and Percival gave to me, maybe even sacrificed themselves for...

"You just made a huge mistake." Quin said.

"Oh, relax, he wasn't even man enough to fight me now. He's putting off the fight until Monday, if either of us is scared, I think it's him."

"No, you don't understand. He's a royal."

"A what?"

"They're the most powerful kids in our school. Every school has a hierarchy that is determined by how powerful their ability is."

"How is that okay? Why do none of the adults stop them?"

"Why should they? That's how our society works. They want us to get used to it in a controlled environment at school. He is no coward, Fantasia. He expects to make a spectacle out of you in front of the whole school."

Things were starting to fall into place. Her home life was beginning to make sense to me. Her parents lost everything when they lost their power and had a daughter without an ability. Their situation looked bleak but I don't exactly agree with how things were run here. People should be more than what they can do.