Dangerous: A Marcel Styles Fan Fiction

16: Vendetta

16: Vendetta

   Unlike my previous sessions with Marcel, this time there was no aftermath which struck butterflies into my stomach whenever I thought of him. We hadn’t done anything but math with kissing breaks. It made me feel better knowing the only act of something more than friends was something as simple and meaningless as a kiss.

   When day broke again, I went to school a little later than usual. Immediately, I wished I had taken less time to get ready, or gather my stuff, or even make the journey to the building, for what I saw when I entered was something I’d been forced to grow used to.

   Marcel and the last untouched member of Kevin’s posse, Cory, not only jousted verbally, but were in a full out brawl like the one in the gym, with kicks and punches. Judging by the blood dripping from the jocks, nose, and his purpling face, Marcel was, once again winning.

   “What happened?!” I demanded of Georgia Rose when I found her amongst the crowd of students.

   “Well on his crusade to murder the jocks, your boyfriend saved the stupidest one for last,” she replied, inspecting her long, hot pink nails, “Cory called him out, and they’ve been at it for the past three minutes. If it’s any consolation, Marcel’s winning.”

   “Yeah, I got that!” I snapped.

   “Well tell him to stop!” Georgia Rose backfired, “He’s only a couple hits away from assassinating Cory!”

   When he’d taken his rage out on Lionel, the motion that had made him release the boy pinned to the bank of lockers was my touch. Though it had never been tested to its full extent, my touch was the one most likely to snap him out of it.

   I dropped my bag beside Georgia Rose, trusting her enough to guard is and stepped forward from the crowd just as Marcel threw his third accurate punch in a row at the jock, who refused to fall no matter how many times his hits missed.

   Like last time, when I got close enough, I said his name and put my hand on Marcel’s arm, only, this time, it didn’t go as expected. Cory was on me the second I interfered. He shoved me out of the way, also making my glasses fall to the floor, with the words, “Back off, slut!”

   “Don’t fucking talk to her like that!” Marcel growled over the noise of the crowd, who were in a complete uproar after I’d been shoved. Riley Donovan and Jimmy Rodriguez helped me again to my feet and Tara Art handed me my glasses just in time to watch Marcel go berserk.

   Marcel was on Cory quickly, punching his jaw and gut continually until he crumbled. Unlike when he’d fought Kevin, the defeat of the jock didn’t stop Marcel from fighting and kicking him even when he was down. I made sure my hand covered my gaping jaw as he continued to fight viciously as the crowd chanted as per usual.

   As a finale to Marcel’s third beat down, the former nerd grabbed Cory by the back of his shirt and forced him to stumble along towards the closest bank of lockers on legs already giving out. He stepped to one of the open lockers in the bank and shoved Cory in, like the three jocks had done on the second day he’d been here back when he was a nerd. He closed the door with his elbow and turned to face the crowd of students stunned so silent, I could swear I heard everyone’s heartbeats. “Anyone else?!” he demanded with fire still ablaze in his eyes.

   I turned my gaze specifically to Lionel and Kevin at the edge of the crowd – Lionel with his purple throat and Kevin whose split lip was only just starting to heal – who both held the same expressions of terror. They avoided Marcel’s stare when he passed it over them.

   At this point, though my heart was thumping loudly and I nearly felt rooted to my spot, and sick to my stomach, I stepped forward and grabbed Marcel’s leather decked arm at the elbow, pulling him out of his battle stance and away from the dead crowd.

   I took him away to a place I knew we could be alone, and, though the girl’s bathroom across from the office seemed a bit misleading, I knew it wouldn’t be packed with the drama which had just occurred in the hall.

   I spun to face him with wide eyes. “What the hell is wrong with you!?” I demanded of him.

   I hadn’t even made him flinch with my tone nearly as enraged as the one he’d used when he’d addressed the crowd after finishing off Cory. He took in a breath and caressed my chin between his two fingers as if he were going in for a kiss.

   “Veronica, those pricks didn’t only hurt me, but they insulted you,” he breathed, “And if literally punching sense into them is the only thing forcing them to give you the respect you deserve then I want to be the one to do it.”

   He left me on those words. He left me with an explanation, not only of why he’d beat up the bullies, but why he’d changed. As I’d thought it was more for me than for him. As a nerd he would have had no chance to make whatever we had public – even without the sex any communication between the two of us would have been kept a secret – but as the bad boy of the school, even if we were picked on, Marcel would defend me. And though it turned my stomach to think of, I had to face the music. This would be my life until things settled down and Marcel could stop the violence and aggression, only because he was in love with me.