Unorthodox (BOOK 1)

Chapter 9

~Vesper~

Circe's mouth drops in shock.

The nurse's mouth drops down in shock.

Even the boy who's holding an ice-pack to his head, mouth drops in shock.

Talon is unfazed.

I simply close my eyes, trying to be unnoticeable but my wishes will never be answered. "Circe before you freak out, I -"

"What the hell happened?!" Circe shrieks, turning to Talon, who is holding 'yours truly' bridal style.

Talon lays me on top of the table gently near door way. "The jerk that beat up this guy happened, " he says, jutting a thumb at the boy nearby. He is the same one who Circe carried here.

The nurse rushes over to me and starts to tend to the bruises on my arm. With my sight cleared, I could actually get to see him. Realization dawns on me. It is the  same albino boy from detention.

"Hey," I call out to him, "What's your name?"

He looks up at me rather shyly. "Maccabee or you could just call me MB."

I nod. "You okay?"

"A little better, " he acknowledges, "but I don't understand why you did what you did though. You got creamed."

"Honestly, I don't know either," I admit, shrugging, " I didn't even get one hit at him. But I'm used to it. All I know is that it is wrong; very wrong."

He nods in agreement.  He shifts his gaze to the nurse at my knee.  "Think it could have gone a lot worse?"

"Knowing Lance, yes." I straighten up slightly. A question suddenly pops into my head. Actually, it had been haunting me for a while, when I saw MB on the floor. "Does Lance bully you too? Lance did indicate you were running away before."

Talon and Circe stop whatever they were doing to look at him.

There is a silence.  MB averts his gaze to the floor and I could see him visibly tense from all the attention he was receiving. "Yeah, " he mutters, "Yeah, he does."

***

After the nurse finished tending to us, we walk straight to the cafeteria, since the bell rang as she placed the last plaster on MB. She also gave me some painkillers, expecting me to feel some discomfort at sometime in the week.  I was about to refuse them but Talon shut me up with a glare that can cure insanity. I was forced to take them.

Ugh, I hate medicine.

I glance back at MB who chose to tag along. We don't really mind. I can relate. After hearing that Talon basically took Lance down single-handedly in a matter of minutes, it probably seems better to stick with him. For protection.

Or to spare the boy's pride, back-up.

I feel guilty though. I never once thought that Lance picked on other people under the social radar. Thinking that I was the only victim to his attacks on a daily basis was cruel enough as it is. Now, I learn that MB goes through the same thing on a strict schedule. Apparently, he is abused specifically on Mondays and Thursdays. If Lance feels angry on any other day, there are exceptions.

What makes it worse is that, I never saw MB before now; or any of Lance's other victims. It makes me wonder how many are there? Just the thought makes my intestines coil. I was so concerned about my survival, that I forgot others who suffer the same pain. Victims that could actually be crying right now in vacant halls if Lance is up and about again.

Picking up a lunch tray, I take a place in line behind Circe. Talon steps behind and then MB.  I look down at the numerous options. Lunch at Newbourne College is the best according to 97% of the school population. The cafeteria is huge, allowing the voices to bounce freely along the walls. It is the place where you hang out with friends, sharing gossip and running your own clique over the ambrosial menu cooked by the retired, Chinese chef; Ms Bai.