Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 10 - Khaleel

Loyal faced the entrance to the girls' bathroom and refused to budge. His was tense and irritated. Did that chick from earlier have do something to do with it? She had to be the target Hino talked about. What was her name again? I couldn't remember. Honestly, I couldn't care less about any of this bullshit. I had bigger things to worry about. How was I was going to make it through an entire year in the student council? It couldn't be done. Maybe I could stir the pot a little, start some shit bad enough to get under Tomasia and Matilda's skin? I could show up topless? My battle scars always put people on edge. Yeah. That could work.

Zander nudged me. "What's up with him?"

I shrugged. "Don't look at me. Yo, Loyal, you do realize if we're late for Hermans' class, we're dead men walking?"

"I can deal with Hermans," came the bored reply. It wasn't like him to risk a lecture from our history teacher. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with him today? I hadn't seen him this riled up since he forced Neal Dobberman out of the academy.

"Like you dealt with the new girl?" I teased.

He gave me the side-eye. I definitely hit a nerve. Loyal pulled out his phone and read an incoming message. "Late payments from Basil Bhak," he announced. "Zander, take care of it."

"Pretty sure that's Khaleel's job," Zander retorted.

"And today I'm asking you to deal with it," Loyal said, his bad mood worsening.

Zander's expression soured. He always had a problem with authority. Loyal was usually pretty transparent about all of his requests, but his issue with the new girl seemed to be messing with his head a bit. I could sense it, and I was sure Hino and Zander could as well.

"I'm not the enforcer but I can try reasoning with him," Hino offered, trying to keep the peace. Zander waited for a better explanation. It was Hino's turn to nudge him. "He'll tell us when he's ready to, don't force it out of him."

Well, that was true enough.

I watched our friends make their sluggish exit. Unfortunately for Loyal, I wasn't the type of wait things out. A patient man can be dangerous, or at least that's what Kumar Uncle always told me. I couldn't act like everything was fine when it clearly wasn't. Loyal didn't have a reputation of wasting time on people who didn't matter. So, the fact that he was willing to stake out in front of the girls' bathroom said a lot.

"Friendly reminder, I don't hit women," I said, scratching the back of my neck.

"I haven't asked you to."

"I'm just saying."

"I would never ask you to do that."

The target in question came out of the bathroom with Matilda. I couldn't help but smile at my good fortune. I wasn't able to get a straight answer out of the Vice President earlier today. This was the perfect opportunity to finish the conversation we started, and this time, I would make sure no one interrupted. Not the student council or their precious leader. That cold and heartless woman had the nerve to excuse me from the entire meeting because I refused to take notes. I was forced to join the council to see how my 'poor actions' impacted my peers. I wasn't there to become her fucking lap dog.

Loyal's target glared at him. At first, she looked small and seemingly harmless, but the longer I stared at her, the more complex things became. She was harbouring a ton of wrath in those icy blue eyes, and her firsts were tightly clenched, hinting at her struggle to stay composed. Maybe it wasn't a question of what she had done to Loyal but what Loyal had done to her?

"Are you looking to get dropped again?" she asked my friend.

I couldn't suppress my laugh. "That's a joke right?"

"Excuse me?" she glared daggers at me.

"You think you can drop him?"

"He's got bruises to prove I already have," she deadpanned. "Asshole."

My brows scrunched together. She didn't realize who she was talking to, otherwise, those words would never come out of her mouth. It was hard not to chuckle at her assertion though. I let the target brush by me, for my friend's sake, but I couldn't let Matilda follow. I got a hold of her wrist straight away.

"And where do you think you're going?" I asked.

"Let go," she said, pulling away.

"Arisa Hoffman!" Loyal called out to his target.

Hoffman! That was her name. Yup. She was definitely the girl Hino told us about. I watched her with brewing curiosity as she ignored my friend.

"If you don't give me back what's mine then you and I are going to have problems," Loyal went on.

"We already have problems," Arisa retorted. "If you didn't want anyone to find it then you shouldn't have sent it off the rooftop."

I never saw Loyal move behind a target so fast. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, getting her to curse him out repeatedly. The entire hall gasped, students and teachers alike, but no one made a move to help Arisa.Why? Because messing with the Wilson family was not a smart move. They invested more money into the academy than my old man, so much more in fact, that they practically owned it. Matilda scrambled to get her phone out. I could only assume she was going to call Loyal's twin for support. I snatched the device out of her hands.

"What are you doing?" she scowled. "Give it back!"

If anyone could put my friend in line, it would be his sister. I knew that but my priority was to protect him, not some new transfer student. I had a feeling this was the reason he wanted me to stay behind. It was my job to make sure he completed his transaction without busybodies like Matilda interfering.

"You know you're starting to piss me off," I said, loosening my tie. "I've been putting up with it to be nice but enough is enough."

Matilda launched at me and tried to retrieve her phone. I was able to keep her at bay for a couple of seconds but then she got a hold of my tie, and pulled me down to her eye level. This time I was able to see her face burn red up close. Her long lashes batted at me, unsure of what to do next, and that tempting neck of hers rattled my insides.

"Are you waiting for a kiss?" I teased her.

She released me. "G-Get over yourself."

I kept my head down and searched her eyes for an honest answer, wishing I also had the ability to tell when people were lying. Then maybe I could get a sincere response out of this frustrating girl. I slipped her phone into my back pocket and surrendered my arms behind my back. Her eyes caught the light and changed from brown to hazel again.