Dreams

Chapter 2 - Stepping Straight into Danger

Katie

"What did you say, dollface?" This big dude turns to face me. 9th grader, no doubt. He's still holding Luke. "You heard me." I snap. "Let go of that boy before somebody gets hurt. Or are you deaf, too?" Luke and his friends are gaping at me, wide eyed.

The guy drops Luke (which is exactly what I was going for), who's gasping for air on the grass. "You take that back right now, little girly." The guy growls, turning his hands into fists.

I fearlessly look up at him. "Why should I?" I ask calmly. "Cause' I ain't goin' be the one crying 'boo hoo hoo I want my mommy' to the principal, buddy. Obviously you're too dumb to understand."

Luke and his friends are gasping now as I smirk up at the fuming bully. "OOOOOOOhhhhhhh you messed up girl!" The big dude's goons are screeching. "Boss'll show ya!" The guy steps up to me as I stare at him nonchalantly.

"Kai! Kai!" The goons are shouting. Kai. Duly noted, I think. Luke and his friends have their hands over their mouths, terror in their eyes.

"Another word and you're dead." Kai growls at me. There's a long silence, and everyone's staring at me. I smirk at him. "Dumbhead," I say quietly, a smile streaking my face. Kai throws a punch at my face, which I dodge in an instant.

The force pushes my curls back. I'm shocked for a second, but I recover with a condescending smirk, pushing down his fist, which is still up in the air. "Adorable," I say. "You were almost as good as a newborn."

Kai screams and goes for a more powerful punch, which I'm just barely able to hold back with my palm. "Super original." I smile.

Now it's my turn to go for his stomach; unlike me, he has no clue how to dodge. He falls back and does a tumble roll on the grass from impact.

The air is filled with gasps and Kai's goons shoot their heads dangerously in my direction. "Oh, you're dead, girl!" One shouts, pounding his fist down on his hand.

"We'll show you who's boss!" Another screeches with a big stomp in my direction. "You mess with Kai, you mess with us, princess!!"

One guy says as he cracks his neck. Kai starts pulling himself together, fuming.

I watch as he stands up, looking not the least bit concerned. "You messed up, you little freak." He says through gritted teeth.

"Did I, now?" I tilt my head, sarcastically pretending to be confused. "Bring it, pinhead." "GET HER!!!" Kai screams at the top of his lungs, and his goons charge at me like bulls at a matador.

I dodge each and every one of them as they trip and fall onto the ground, unable to get up again. "Coward," I hiss at Kai. "Can't even fight for himself, just uses others as his shield."

"Say that again and you'll have your death sentence written on your grave," Kai threatens as he winds up.

"Very bold of you to assume-" Before I can even think there's a fist in my side. I fall to the ground, the impact hitting me like a boulder.

I scream in pain. "KATIE!!"Luke cries. "Stupid girl," Kai says ruefully as he gets down to my level. I wince in pain, just barely able to put on a menacing face towards him. "You could never be a fighter, girl. You'll never be good enough."

With all of my force, I punch Kai in his stupid, ugly face.

***

"Miss Lilligan, remind me why we're here again?" The principal, Mrs. Catherine asks.

"It wasn't my fault!" I cry in my own defense. "Katie, Katie, Katie." Mrs. Catherine sighs, resting her head on her palm. "I am very fond of you, I can assure you that much, Katie. Although, I'm sure you know that your martial art tactics have a cost of an hour of detention and a call home."

"Look, he started it! Kai's no angel!" I yell.

"What did this student do that is so unforgivable to you?" Mrs. Catherine asks sincerely, looking fatigued. "For your importance, Mrs, he was bullying my friend, Luke!""Miss Lilligan, I can assure you with the utmost efficiency that Mister Azule has no problem with taking care of himself." Mrs. Catherine tells me, fidgeting slightly with her shimmering gold and sapphire embedded necklace.

"I mean this is the nicest way, but if he could fight for himself, Mrs, then we wouldn't even be here in this situation!" I protest.

"Katie Lilligan, are you telling me that Luke Azule is incapable of fighting for himself?" She asks slowly, fixing her cat eye glasses without taking her eyes off me.

I blush, embarrassed. "N-No, Maam'. Mister Azule is more capable of fighting than I am." I say quietly, hanging my head.

Mrs. Catherine sighs, intertwining her hands on her desk without another word.

There is a long silence up until she lays back in her chair for a second. She gets up and starts rummaging through her documents.

She runs her hands through documents until she finds a section with the name 'Katie Lilligan' on it. I gulp, watching as she takes out some professional-looking papers.

Before I can say anything or even ask what the papers are about, Mrs. Catherine pulls out a file with the name of someone I've been trying to forget. . . someone I didn't even know she knew; Emerald Lilligan.