From The Ashes We Rise

Chp 38: Props and Mayhem

~Next day~

Ariff's POV

Sucks to be them, I thought to myself.

I waited at the canteen for the group to show their ugly faces. I usually saw them around there. They're not really intimidating to me. I didn't know why they liked to threaten people if things didn't go their way. Maybe it's their ego.

"You sure or not, don't wanna come and see?" I asked both of them in class.

"I prefer not to be chased by them after seeing me behind you," Delta said, shuddering.

"I'd rather not mess with whatever you've planned," Ebony added.

I huffed. "Sure, sure...y'all are concerned for yourselves but not your friendly neighbourhood catboy."

Delta rolled his eyes. "We'd rather not get in trouble."

"Besides," Ebony began, "you're the dangerous one."

So there I sat, waiting forever. When I thought my plan was going to fail, I heard a faint yet familiar voice of Leo, probably scolding a poor student. The teachers couldn't really do much about him; nothing could make him stop. He was a lost cause, to put it simply.

I stood up and made my way around the corner where I saw Leo and his gang intimidating the student.

"You got problem is it?!" Leo roared.

The student, probably from the lower secondary, cowered under his glare. He furiously shook his head. I could see from afar that he was almost gonna cry.

From the looks of it, the student must've accidentally spilt a drink on him. Leo's shirt was stained green with whatever drink that was in that cup. The group was towering over him and looked like they were gonna beat him up soon.

I didn't want to know what they were saying, so I tried to drown out their voices with my other thoughts. I really don't know how I was gonna knock some sense into them all.

"Now get lost," I heard one of them say, derailing my train of thought. I was forced to step back to hide. The student dashed past me while breaking down into tears. Poor thing...

I turned the corner again to find the group gone. I peered into the bathroom. Nobody. I decided to enter anyway. Maybe they were hiding.

Suddenly, I felt someone pushing me from behind. I yelped as I almost face planted onto the bathroom floor. I sat up and looked back to find the boys glaring at me. Looks like I became the victim.

Leo stepped forward and grabbed me by the shirt. He lifted me up until my feet were off the ground. He was way taller than me by the way.

"You being busybody ah?" he hissed.

I didn't respond. Apparently, this made him furious as I was flung straight into the mirror. The back of my head collided against the mirror, practically shattering it. I rubbed my head, writhing in pain.

I stood up again, showing no signs of fear. That wound will heal soon enough. A soft growl rumbled in my throat.

I raised an eyebrow. "So, you wanna dance?"