Legacy Mutation (Book Eight)

Chapter 9: Fight & Near Reveal

Copeland walks outside with Tiki at her side. He keeps his hands shoved in his pockets, his bangs hanging over his eyes.

"Hey Copeland?" he asks softly.

"Yeah?"

"Um...do you wanna hang out more this weekend? See a movie?" He looks over at her, smiling lightly. "As friends, of course."

She smiles and nods. "Yeah. I'd like that."

They keep heading towards the field, where they can see the other cousins and friends gathering to play something. They walk past a group of boys, and they snicker.

"Hoo hah, Tiki Tiki," one chants under his breath.

The other guys burst out laughing and Copeland jolts to a stop and looks back at them. Tiki's face turns red and he flicks his multicoloured hair into his wide eyes.

"Copeland, it's fine. Come on," he mumbles, grabbing her wrist.

"No! It's not. They don't get to get away with that," she snaps.

"It was a joke."

"They're being jerks. Watch this."

She storms over, looking up at the guy who made the joke. They stop laughing, and he glares down at her.

"Move it, girl," he hisses.

"No. If you don't have the nuts in that sack of yours to say something to his face then don't say anything at all," she retorts.

He stands a full head taller than her, but she keeps glaring up at him with her father's steely-eyed glare. He snorts a little, amused by her threat.

"You better watch your mouth," he threatens.

"Or what?"

"You'll regret it."

"Ooo, I'm so scared."

Tiki grabs her hand, his face scared. "Copeland, please."

"Hey island-boy, protecting your girlfriend now?" the guy taunts.

"She isn't my girlfriend, Jason," he mumbles, his cheeks turning pink.

Jason smirks and socks Tiki in the gut, making him crumple to the ground with a groan. The other guys laugh and hoot obnoxiously.

Copeland lets out a low growl and gets up in Jason's grill, her eyes blazing.

"Dick," she hisses.

He shoves her, and she falls back, hitting the ground. By now, a ton of kids have started to gather, their eyes wide. Before Copeland can get back up, Dean steps between her and her adversary, his arms crossed over his chest. Jason sneers, not liking the sight of the fourteen-year-old in his way.

"Move it, punk," Jason spits.

"I'm not going to do that. You can't just push people around you know," Dean says calmly, although his face is set with a hard glare.

"Dean, I can handle this," Copeland snaps, getting up.

He glances back at her. "Stay back. It's fine."

Asher, Dakota, and Mitch watch anxiously with their three friends, ready to hop in and help their cousin. Copeland helps up Tiki, who still looks a little sick.

"Ha. You're gonna preach to me now?" Jason asks, his face mocking.

He throws a punch, and Dean catches it. He smirks.

"Shouldn't have done that," he says.

He twists his arm, sending him onto his knees with one move. Jason lets out a strangled noise of pain and Dean releases his fist.

"Get out of here. We don't need to fight," Dean says smoothly.

Just as he's about to turn away, Jason jumps up and tries to grab his arm. Instead, his hand hits the spot on Dean's shoulder where he hid his human patch. The contact makes the patch jinx for a moment. Dean's human form flickers for a brief second, making his wolf eyes snap and his wings appear for a fleeting moment before disappearing again.

Only Jason actually sees anything.

"AGGGHHHH!" he screams, racing away.

His buddies take one look at Dean, who once again looks like a normal boy, and dash away. The other kids watching split off instantaneously, not wanting any teachers to show up. At the elementary side of the field, Venus, Blake, and Keith can be seen moving towards them with wide eyes.

"What the shell, Dean?" Copeland yells, moving away from Tiki.

Dean turns to her, his face sympathetic.

"Co, I was only trying to help."

"You embarrassed me! I'm not weak!"

"He shoved you down. I was just trying to-"

"Shut up. I'm taking Tiki to the nurse's office."

She turns and storms off with Tiki. Elisabeth and the others rush to Dean's side. Venus reaches them with her friends, hugging her big brother around the middle.

"What happened? I saw a crowd and got scared," she mumbles, looking up at him.

He smiles and ruffles her hair. "Sorry Vennie. Just a little tustle."

"Dude, you almost-" Asher starts, but stops when he remembers his friends. He can't mention their disguises.

"What psyched him out?" Lukas asks. "He got as pale as a ghost."

"It was nothing," Dean grumbles.

"You were awesome, dude!" Mitch grins.

"You were so calm!" Elisabeth exclaims, touching his arm lightly. "Usually, stuff like that is ignored..."

"Well, there's always a time for firsts," Dean shrugs it off.

"We better split before the teachers show up," Dakota advises.

"Agreed. Come on," Kelly urges.

"I've got a frisbee. Want to play Ultimate?" Nixie asks. She looks to the younger kids. "Do you want to play with us?"

"YEAH!" the adorable trio cheers.

"Yeah!" Lukas fist pumps and races off with the others.

Elisbeth stays beside Dean, who keeps looking back into the school.

"Copeland isn't gonna stay mad at you, is she?" she asks.

He sighs. "No. She won't."

She nudges his arm, giving him a smile. "Come on. Let's get over there."

He laughs and they take off.

🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕

Copeland waits in the nurse's office while Tiki lays on the old cot inside. He keeps holding his stomach, making little groaning noises.

"Hey Co?" he asks.

"Yeah?" she huffs, still pissed at Dean.

"Thanks for standing up for me. Whenever those guys did that before, I was just left alone." He turns over so he can look at her. "Can you tell Dean 'thank you' too?"

"He was sticking his nose where it shouldn't be," she snaps, crossing her arms.

"He was just trying to help. Don't stay mad at him," he pleads.

She sighs, and is about to answer when the nurse comes in with an ice pack. She starts asking Tiki and Copeland questions, and they answer them wantonly. Soon enough, she declares he rest a bit into next period and leaves.

The two friends remain silent for a while, thinking.

"So, will you forgive him?" Tiki asks, shattering the silence.

"Yeah. Sure," she answers.

He smiles and gives her hand a squeeze. "Thanks again."

"Hey, it's what friends do."