Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 28 - Khaleel

I couldn't contain my yawns. They had a will of their own and I was not about to fight a natural instinct. Then again, this was what happened when I stayed out later than I was supposed to. It was what happened when I binged my favourite tv show until three in the morning. After that, insomnia befriended me, and filled my head with thoughts of Loyal and Arisa. Did he really have a crush on her? How could I ask him without making a big deal out of it? I scratched my head in frustration.

"Should I just let this play out?" I thought, walking through the halls of the academy. I had twenty minutes to spare before the first bell rang. I could grab a bagel from the cafeteria and scarf it down on my way to first period. Hino texted the group saying he wasn't going to be at school today because of a doctor's appointment. That was fine with me. If he was around, he would try and stop me from questioning the do-not touch list.

Tomasia was on it for obvious reasons. Loyal wanted to make sure no one messed with his little sister. Then there was Amal Dahir, a student teacher who was harassed with attention last year. Loyal had developed a soft spot for her when she said she was going to quit teaching at private schools. And then there was Francine Visser, an exchange student who came to Jackheights for a three-month program. Loyal was instantly smitten by her. He made sure Zander was the first to learn about his feelings for Francine, and after that, the rest of the school fell in line. When she returned to the Netherlands, Loyal was in a foul mood for weeks. Not because his short-lived romance ended before it could blossom, but because he found out Francine already had a boyfriend.

"Now it's Arisa," I grumbled. "Fucking perfect."

Every time Loyal got serious about protecting someone, whether it was a student or a teacher, I had to deal with the backlash. All the scumbags harassing Amal ended up on the rooftop, where I had to remind them that she was on the do-not touch list. After Francine left, Loyal's bad attitude landed in my lap. Hino and Zander were away kicking and dribbling balls for trophies, so I had to put up with his impulses, and all the trouble it caused outside of school. All that to say, I didn't like the idea of Arisa being on that list. I saw the appeal, I really did, but that didn't mean she deserved to be protected. Not after the whole 'devil' shit.

I turned the corner into the administrative wing, and spotted the spitfire walking in my direction. My eyes went wide. I was surprised to see her wearing the school uniform and absolutely owning it. Time stood still for a moment as her golden locks swayed behind her and her bare legs soaked up all of my attention. "Damn," I covered my mouth. "I can absolutely see the appeal."

A senior stopped Arisa in her tracks. I recognized him right away. He was on the school's basketball team and played with Zander during the offseason. I couldn't remember his name though. What was it? What was it? Ah, shit this was going to kill me. I wanted to hear what he was saying to her—although, I could imagine it was something along the lines of, 'go out with me'. I moved in by the water fountain and heard those exact words come out of his mouth. I scoffed. Another reason I didn't want Arisa on the do-not-touch-list. If there were other idiots pursuing her, protecting her would become a daily pain.

I hadn't seen her fight yet, so I wasn't sure what she could or couldn't handle. Loyal was probably indifferent. He always made it very clear that girls he liked weren't supposed to be touched by anyone else.

"So, how about it, baby girl?" the senior asked. "Movies? You, me... tonight? Sound like something you would be interested in?"

"Please don't call me baby girl," Arisa replied. "And no thank you, I already have plans."

"With who?" the senior asked. "You're not seriously interested in that human lie detector, are you? I heard what happened yesterday, on the second floor. He's a little aggressive, don't you think? Come on, I'll treat you a lot better than that guy."

Arisa tried to move out of the way but the senior forced her against the lockers. "Why are you playing hard to get?" the creep asked.

I scoffed. "This little fucker."

Before I could intervene, Loyal appeared out of nowhere and loomed over the senior. "Who do you think you're hitting on so early in the morning?"