ANIMALS

8 - Suspension

~Marcus' POV~

I couldn't help myself.

I stared down at my bloodied fist, surprised that I actually managed to hit Tristan. He was equally as surprised, staring at me as blood trickled out of his nose. Everyone was stunned, silent, as I slowly composed myself and hobbled over to Bethan.

"MARCUS FINCH!"

Crap.

I turned to see Miss Sanders storming over to me. She had a look on her face that could send even the bravest man running. I would have headed for the hills myself if I wasn't her target. She was a full head-and-a-half shorter than me, but she was scary when she wanted to be.

"You know it's against school rules to hit another student!" she spat in my face. My bloodied, broken, bruised face, mind you. I scoffed.

"Miss, look at what Tristan did to me!" I exclaimed, gesturing to my face. She turned to Tristan, whose smug little smile disappeared as she trudged over to him. Tristan towered over her, but I could see the fear in his eyes. It was my turn to smirk.

"Is it true that you did that to him?" Miss Sanders demanded, emphasising the words 'you' and 'him'. 

"Uh . . . No, Miss, he-he's just making that up." Tristan replied, trying to play the victim. I never realised just how much of an asshole he really was. 

"Hmph." was Miss Sander's answer. She walked back over to me. "Suspension for a week, Mr Finch. I'm sending you straight to your locker to collect your bag and books, and to the office where I shall call up your mother myself."

I knew it was worthless arguing with her. "Okay." I said. The crowd began to dissapate. Melanie and Anna said their goodbyes as the bell for fourth session went. Tristan began walking away with his friends, when Miss Sanders called him back.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr Blake?" she asked cuningly.

"Uh, with my friends to last session." he replied dumbly.

"No you're not. You're getting the same punishment as Mr Finch."

"But I didn't-"

"LIES!"

Tristan flinched. Hell, we all did. 

"I will meet you both at my office in exactly five minutes, where I'll call your parents and have them pick you up. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Miss Sanders." Tristan and I said in unison.

"Good." She walked off. Tristan stalked off in the other direction without saying a word. Which left just Bethan and I standing in the middle of the oval.

"I'll walk you up there." she said.

"Oh no, you don't have to." I replied.

"But I want to. Besides, you're in no shape to go walking around by yourself. You're gonna need to go to the hospital."

"I know."

Bethan walked me up to my locker, then up to the office. Before we went our separate ways, she pulled me into a hug. I flinched a little at the pain, but hugged her back regardless.

"Thank you, Marc." she said. 

"For what?"

"For doing what you did. It was brave, and even though he could have killed you, I'm lucky to have a friend like you." She pulled away. "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Sure thing, if my mum doesn't confiscate my phone." I chuckled, then flinched at the pain that shot through my left side.

"Get that checked out, okay?" 

"I will."

"Okay. Bye."

"See ya."

***

It's safe to say that Mum wasn't too happy that I got suspended, but one look at the state I was in and she took me straight to the hospital. After an hour of waiting and several X-rays, the doctors told me I had a broken nose and a cracked rib. I felt like I should have had more injuries, with the amount of pain I was in. I was probably bruised up real good. I was going to be sore in the morning.

After a couple of rather painful procedures to put my nose back into place, they put me in a chest brace to fix my rib. I hurt everywhere. They gave me a dose of morphine and sent me home, telling me to get some rest and not to engage in physical activity for six weeks. Well, a normal person would have to stay out of trouble for six weeks; I'd be fine by the end of next week. I heal quicker than humans; it's one of the benefits of being what I am. However, to avoid suspicion, I'd have to wear my bandages until a normal person would be healed.

I was starting to feel better already once I got home, but that could have been the morphine kicking in.

Mum looked at me as I ate an apple. I was starving.

"What?" I asked.

"What you did was wrong, you know that, right?" she stated, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Mum. I couldn't help myself though. One look at his smug, douchey face an-"

"Language, Marcus!"

"Sorry. But you get what I mean. After what he did to Bethan, I can't stand to see him walking around so proudly." I looked at the ground, rage burning a hole in my chest.

"Sweetie, it's lovely that you care so much about Bethan and I know how it feels to see your friend suffer and not being able to do anything about it. But you can't let your feelings get to you like that. You know what happens if he takes over." 

I knew exactly what Mum was talking about of course. See, the 'primal' side of me never really leaves, even if I only shift under a full moon. Sometimes, if I get emotional enough, I go out of control, and my 'wolf' instincts take over. I almost beat a kid at my old school to death because of him, the animal inside me. The poor guy must be scared stiff of me. I never saw him again, seeing as though I was expelled immediately. 

I sighed in defeat. "I know, Mum."

I told her I was going to go rest, and she agreed immediately. As I lay in bed, I thought about what had happened. It was dangerous of me to let my feelings take control like that, but I couldn't really help it at the time. It just kind of happened.

I was so glad I had a week to cool off, because I wasn't sure what I'd do to Tristan if I saw him again.