Those With Wings

Dead Meat

Zero's POV

Oh, God no. She'd done it again.
Rumors circled around my head. "-did you hear about that new girl? Beat up her ex, you know, Mark up. They say she didn't even try-"
"-oh my God, did you hear?!-"
"-say she looked like a ninja-"
"-totally beat the shit out of him, she-"
Yep, Luanna had been at it again. Which meant I'd be the one suffering under it- as usual. Really, was this a never ending circle?
"Heya, Zero," said Luanna casually, plopping down on the chair next to me. I gave her a look. "Did you really beat the captain of the football team up?"
"Yep!"
I groaned. "Lu..."
Her cheery mood darkened. "What, Lu?!" she snapped, "he came at me, so I beat him up! It was self defense, okay?!"
"Lu, I'm not saying you don't have the right to beat him up, but please- next time, do it less ninja-like. The whole school is talking about it and they'll come to confront me about it sooner or later."
"What do you mean?! I- you- why you?! You're just...Zero."
"You're just...Zero."
The words stung, but they were true. " Because I'm "Zero", Luanna. Exactly that. Remember? They can't beat you up, so they beat me up in a feeble attempt to get revenge."
She fell silent, and then uttered a sentence that I thought I'd never hear Luanna say.
"I'm sorry, Zero."
I stared at her, and blinked. Luanna frowned. "I just apologized," she reminded me.
"Uhm-I-errr-"
She gave me a look.
"Er- well, wow...and thanks," I muttered.
She nodded, satisfied, and then leant back in her chair. "Oh, and about the part where you said they'd find you and beat you up...well, it's not going to happen," she said matter-of-factly.
I grinned at her. "Why not, oh-wise-one?"
"Well, duh. They're afraid of me," she giggled, though she looked worried about something.
"Anything wrong?" I asked, my initial smile fading.
"No, nothing," she said quickly.

Alex' POV

I glanced around the cafeteria, spotting Luanna and Zero talking. My sister seemed in a good mood today...
There she was. The girl I'd been looking for. Piper.
She saw me too and waved. I walked up to her table and sat down. "Hey, how are you-"
"Listen, shushnub. I like you, but there's no time for chitchat. Apparently, after beating up Mark, your sister told him something about "knowing your enemies weakpoint". Turns out Mark isn't as stupid as he looks, or he got help."
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Zero. Mark might be being treated at the moment, but he told his little gang to beat up your sister's boyfriend -or you- after lunch break."
I swallowed. "Okay. So we get the hell out of here before the end of the break."
Piper's eyes bore into mine. "That's what I was thinking. Except that they know where we live. Alex, you and Zero are dead meat."