Ruedelia's Repose

N I N E

Anger is an emotion marked by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong.

Anger can be a good thing.

It can give someone a way to communicate negative feelings, for example, or motivate an individual to find solutions to obstacles. Excessive anger, however, can cause problems.

I mulled over that last thought as I stalked furiously away from where I'd left Silas standing, out of the building, and onto the football field where the cheerleaders were messing around on the bleachers and where my brothers and all our friends were sitting at the edge of the field on Milo's picnic blanket.

Any other day, seeing my friends doing something so wholesome and loving as sitting and goofing around on a Yoda blanket would have warmed my heart, but I was too distracted by Alana's strawberry blonde hair whipping in the afternoon wind as she stood talking to Veronica about God knows what to even register the fact that Tommy was calling me over to sit down with him.

Instead, I stalked over to the bleachers where I dropped my book bag, pulled off my hoody, and immediately launched into a berating I'd waited what seemed like forever for.

Alana's eyes widened when I began pointing wildly at her chest, my finger aggressively making contact with her sternum as I yelled, "You dumb, fucked up bitch! I should beat your ass!"

She stumbled back and reached her hand behind her for Veronica, but the cheer captain yanked away any physical support she could've offered and quickly sat down on the bleachers, not wanting anything to do with what was happening.

I smirked.

"Maybe if you were nicer you could keep your friends.", I taunted, and Alana bared her teeth at me in a grizzly display of hatred.

"You black whore!! I hate you!", she screamed, and the field went silent as her voice ricocheted  throughout the space, effectively gathering the attention of everyone around us, but I didn't mind. I wanted everyone to hear as I said, "I'm glad you don't have any qualms about revealing your true nature. You're making this a lot easier for me.", I taunted further, and Alana made some kind of half shriek half growling noise in the back of her throat only a moment before she lunged at me, her hot pink stiletto acrylics aimed at my face.

I let my shoulders loosen in preparation to absorb her attack and counter it, but before Alana could reach me, someone grabbed me by my waist and snagged me out of the way. Too-sweet perfume wafted through the air passed me and I squirmed in the grip of my captor--my rage excited by that sickeningly sweet scent--but to no avail. Whoever had ended what was about to become a long-awaited beating wasn't being easily deterred by my persistent struggling as they carried me away from the scene. I groaned and let my muscles relax, subdued, and soon after, my feet touched the ground.

I whipped around, ready to angrily speak my mind to whomever had taken it upon themselves to interfere, but stopped short when I met the sharp gray eyes of my newest friend, Silas.

I deflated, taken off guard by his presence. "You followed me?", I wondered, and he stood in front of me, idle, for a few moments before he answered, his face still tainted with traces of the anger I'd seen just minutes before at Alana's invasion of his privacy.

The thought had my neck prickling with the rage Silas had managed to snuff out when he'd grabbed me, and I felt my feet redirect themselves back toward the bleachers where Alana could still be heard screeching her lungs out. I stopped short, though, when Silas's voice filled the space between us.

"I had a pretty good idea as to what you were coming out here to do.", he answered, and I almost laughed at how certain he was but stopped myself when I met his eyes once more.