Deadly Secrets

Chapter 23: Causing a Scene

[Revised]

"I just want to talk."

At this, Aurora whipped around and crossed her arms. "About what exactly?"
Brad's eyes darted around the room, like a mouse trapped in a corner looking for an escape route.

Orion stood up.

"You better go before I punch you to the ground. You still owe me one," he cracked his knuckles and his neck, then he grunted.

Brad visibly recoiled, almost bumping into the person seated behind him.

"Please, Aurora. It-it will be quick." He wanted to place his hand on Aurora's shoulder, but Orion stepped out from behind the bench and began to make his way towards him.

"What's your problem, man? She obviously doesn't want to have anything to do with you," Orion shoved him, and Brad stumbled backwards, causing a stir amongst the surrounding audience. A few murmurs rippled across the crowd, and a few of them even began to take out their phones to film the scene.

Aurora was behind Orion in a second, wrapping her arms around his biceps in the attempt to pull him back. "It's okay Orion," she whispered in his ear, "I'll see what he wants."

"You don't owe him anything," Orion snarled. He attempted to shake her off, but Aurora held her ground.

When Orion didn't show any signs of standing down—he was practically growling now-Saffron also jumped up from his seat and in two strides he was by his side. He wrapped both arms around his torso so he could also restrain him. "Don't get involved Orion. He's not worth it." Aurora pressed, tightening her hold on his arm.

Orion's anger simmered down until only his hands were shaking with the remnants of his rage.

"Alright! I'm calm. Get off me," Aurora and Saffron simultaneously let him go-Saffron returned to his spot at the table while Aurora stepped forwards and grabbed Brad's hand.

"This better be quick." She hissed, dragging him behind her.

Zara, who up to that moment had been silent, finally spoke up. "I think he was high."

"Unsurprising," Saffron muttered, his attention once again on his phone.

Orion lumbered towards the table, grinding his fist against his temple. "I need a smoke," he announced. He grabbed his backpack and swung it over a shoulder, muttering a 'see you' under his breath as he left for the courtyard.

And then there were two.

Zara drummed her fingers against the table, annoyed at Saffron for not investing any of his usual attention in her.

She tilted her head to one side and adjusted her glasses, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. She looked over at the table again—only Max and some chick were there. She was holding his hand and saying something to him. The other two were gone. Zara couldn't stand the sight, and decided to leave rather than sit there and be a wallflower or a peeping Tom.

"I think I'm gonna go..." Zara began, expecting Saffron to do something rash like, stop her or something. Instead, quite frustratingly, he grunted without looking up from his device.
Zara snorted and stormed away, unable to deal with him any longer.

-:-

Max sat in the cafeteria surrounded by the three stooges, his eyes trained on the Coke in his hand whilst his thoughts ventured elsewhere. To his displeasure, Zara kept crawling back into his mind, no matter how many times he attempted to subdue her. It certainly didn't help that she was sitting just a few tables away from him. When he walked in, he had made sure that he was seated so that she was in his peripheral vision. For some unknown reason, he wanted to keep an eye on her—after hearing about Zara's morning incident with Robert, it wasn't impossible that he was going to attack her as soon as everybody's backs were turned. The moron was also a coward.