The Lords, Princes, and Kings.

Chapter Five-

 Have you ever heard ambulance sirens through the rain?

I smiled at Lavender before heading down the courtyard to Carter and Dove. Dove threw a pretzel stick in the air and tried to catch it in her mouth. "Magna Carta, did you finish the homework."

Carter sent me a look. "Could have just said no, mon amie."

She shrugged. "Lavender dropped you off?" I nodded.

"I saw her in the nurse's office with Sol. How is she?"

Dove questioned. I had texted the group last night, but didn't give much detail. Something ran into me. "Hey, Stormii."

Carter greeted. I shrugged Ran off and all four of us made our way to class.

         What about the sound of blood falling into water?

Lavender had cheer after school, so I had a little time after the bell rang. Waving goodbye to Dove as she got on the bus, I noticed a crowd growing. 

      Different densities, different weights.

I made my way towards the crowd. Looked like the lowerclassmen boys. Their voices unblended and I was able to distinguish their words. Another fight, really?

Still, I shouldered my way through, gripping my bag, hanging from my shoulder. Most of the boys stood on the short cement bleachers in the courtyard, so I was careful where I stopped. The biting feeling of the metal bar at the back of the three stepped bleachers grazed my fingertips. I wrapped my hand around it, grip tightening ever so slightly as I saw who was the amusement of the fight.

Thankfully, he looked up and met my gaze. Clearly, I should have dug deeper into the whole Marcus situation.

       Voices. They overlap.

Timothy cracked his knuckles, always one for the theatrics, I scoffed.

      Louder with every drop that forms.

The general of my father's former platoon had a daughter, about five years younger than me. She was deaf. Marcus and I had both learned ASL to communicate with her.

'What the fuck?' I asked Marcus. He shrugged, stumbling away from Timothy's fist. I sighed heavily.

'Watch me,' I signed to him. He nodded before letting out a yelp as he narrowly escaped a jab to the stomach. I motioned for him to jump. He did so, dodging a kick.

'He leans heavily on his left side. He is also impressively slow, use that. Stay on defensive, but try to exhaust him until you can trip him. Do not land a blow that he could report.'

Marcus followed my instructions well, fortunately. One of Timothy's closer friends, Kennedy, grinned at me. I shifted away slightly, glaring at him. His grin turned into an oddly sincere and apologetic smile, and he leaned back. Will, another one of their friends, stood on the other side of Kennedy and was watching me. I shrugged them off.

                  Blood has the same amount of plasma as most ink. That doesn't mean it's flammable.

I turned back to the fight, right as Marcus landed a blow to Timothy's chin... and Timothy to Marcus's gut. I winced as Marcus fell to the ground. The crowd began to disperse, and I jogged down and around the bleachers.

"Tell your sister and mother I said hi." Timothy snarked before he saw me. His smirk faltered for a moment, only to grow. Bristling, I bit down hard enough to taste blood, the metallic taste distracting some part of my mind.

The moment all the boys, and some of their girlfriends, had moved away, I rushed to Marcus. He groaned, later afternoon dew collecting on his clothes. "Hey."

He rolled over and I noticed his cheek bleeding. I held out a hand for him, helping him up. Marcus followed silently as I went around and sat on the second step of the bleachers. He stared at his hands, sitting beside me.

"You have a first aid-kit in your school bag?" He asked, incredulous. I nodded, raising an eyebrow at him. He shrugged and I opened the kit. Putting ointment on a cotton swab, I inquired, "how did that happen?"

He shrugged and I raised an eyebrow at him again. "I don't know," he murmured. I frowned and rubbed the cotton swab on the wound on his cheek.

"You took the blow to the stomach pretty hard, Mars. Sure you don't have to puke?" He scowled; his pride obviously wounded more than he was.

"A band-aid, really?" He groaned, "I don't need Maggie and mom badgering me with-"

"Hush."

He ducked his head, causing me to have to wait for him to lift it again to put the band-aid on.

"C'mon, Mars."

"Mickey," he whined. I looked at him, deadpan, before responding, "you scratched it while playing or something. I'll vouch for you." As much as I disliked the idea of already lying to Aunt Mindy, Mars needed to trust me for me to be able to protect him.

"Maybe I should walk you home..." Lavender would be fine, surely? He shook his head, glancing behind me.

"My sister gets out of cheer in... what time is it?"

"6:24."

"Six minutes. Where's Sol?"

"I'm staying at a friend's place. She also has cheer."

Marcus seemed to be considering something before saying, "I'm going to go to the bathroom... you should go." I opened my mouth to respond before thinking better of it. I nodded and he scampered off. I grimaced, thinking of the bruising he would get.