Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 12 - Khaleel

Hermans, the history teacher was one of the few people at Jackheights who made an effort to put his students in line. And he was the only teacher my friends and I feared. When we were freshman, a small gang from one of the nearby public schools picked a fight with Zander because of a fan I never had the pleasure of meeting. He treated her no differently than the other hundred girls who fawned over him, but she became obsessed. The chick would wait for him after school to give him expensive gifts and chocolates. Zander respectfully turned down her feelings numerous times, until she caught him on a bad day.

"It was verbal abuse," Loyal told me having witnessed the whole thing. We found out much later that the girl was seeing a scary guy from across the pond. She tried to break up with him because she fell in love with Zander, but when our friend snapped at her, she claimed to be the victim. A huge brawl broke out near Jackheights, no thanks to her, and I joined in to make sure my friend didn't get wacked around with a baseball bat.

We had no idea Hermans lived so close to the academy. He was on his way back from the grocery store when he saw us roughhousing. He was surprisingly a really strong fighter. He brought the whole conflict to an end without causing any real harm to the public school pricks. Loyal, Zander and I prepared ourselves to be disciplined the next day, but Hermans never reported us. All he said was, "If you boys have the energy to throw punches then you have the energy to do well in school."

After that, we came to an agreement—we would always to do our best to keep quiet during Hermans's lectures, we would make sure to complete the homework he assigned, and we would work twice as hard to pass his class. It was a mix of fear and admiration, we acknowledged that, but we didn't want to find out what would happen if our teacher decided to get serious about disciplining us.

Students diligently wrote down his lesson plan when Loyal and I tried to sneak into class. "You're both late," Hermans said, facing the chalkboard.

A few people murmured from their seats, knowing full well he was not the teacher to piss off.

"Sorry sir," I blurted. "I was caught up with some student council stuff."

Loyal raised his brow at me.

"What?" I mouthed rushing to my seat. It was not a total lie. There was no one from the student council to confirm or deny my story, and altering the truth was a lot easier than saying, I was fooling around with the Matilda Hawkins.

Hermans glanced at me. "Yes," he drawled. "I heard you were assigned to the student council for harassing one of Jackheights brightest."

"I didn't know teachers gossiped, sir," I joked, and then broke eye contact when I got glared at.

"What's your story, Wilson?" Hermans asked. We watched him stick the piece of chalk behind his ear. "Were you with the student council as well?"

"No," my friend replied. He wasn't going to lie. I knew he wasn't going to lie. He had it in his head to always tell the truth. No matter how hard it was and no matter who it hurt, even if it was himself. I admired that about him, I really did, but I wished for once in his life he would read the room.

"I was with the new transfer student," Loyal said.

I shook my head, disappointed by his decision.

"Do I want to know what you were doing with her?" Hermans probed.

Her? He knew about Arisa? What was I thinking? Of course he did. It wasn't everyday someone transferred halfway into the term.

"I was retrieving an important document," Loyal said. "It's personal, sir or I would share more."

"Have a seat," Hermans droned. "And try to handle your business on your own time, Wilson, not on mine."

"Yikes," I mouthed at my friend.

Loyal moved to take his seat. "Yes sir," he said, sneaking the middle finger at me.