My Mysterious Savior

4.

Ephraim's point of view

"Honestly, this is the easiest way to make money." Dash grinned as he came into my dressing room, waving around a stack of money. "Hello, new pair of Jordans." He sniffed the stack of bills deeply and sighed.

"You're an idiot." Vince shook his head, not moving his gaze away from his phone. Dashiell pouted with a confused head tilt. "You bet with my money." Vince answered the unasked question and I snorted, glad I wasn't part of this argument.

"You two fight this out, I'm gonna get my money." I quickly made my way out of the room.

"Help!" I heard a feminine voice cry out desperately. My eyebrows knitted together as I walked towards the sound. I threw open the back door and immediately saw two people struggling. The man punched the girl and I didn't hesitate before pouncing on him.

After tackling him to the ground, I threw punch after punch as the girl sank to the floor. Slowly I came to my senses and got up. I offered my hand to the girl to help her up but she flinched back.

"No me toques, por favor." She whimpered, standing up on her own and brushing her blonde hair back a bit. She tucked it behind her ear, allowing me to see her split lip and a bruise on her cheekbone.

I frowned at her complex because her face seemed so familiar, something about her felt off. "Gracias." She averted her gaze back to the floor before rushing out of the alley.

"Who is he?" Dashiell came outside with my gymbag hanging on his shoulder, ruffling his dark blonde hair.

"Just some scumbag." I scowled. "Where's my money?" I held my hand up and Vincenzo handed me the envelope. Satisfied with the amount of cash in it, I stuffed it in my backpocket. "Let's go home."

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"Ephraim Hunter Actaeon Navaro!" My name being called loudly made me groan and bury my head deeper into the pillow. "Hunter! Dash and Vince are here!" Mom screamed and I jumped up, grabbing clean pair of boxers and changed.

"Pants, I need pants." I grumbled, snatching pants from the closet and running to the bathroom. I shoved my legs into the jeans before shoving my toothbrush into my mouth. I squirted some toothpaste in as well and then hurried back to my room.

I grabbed a random black shirt from my chair as the other hand kept brushing. I sniffed the shirt and decided that it was clean enough. I opened my window and spat the foam out, throwing my toothbrush in the cup on my desk. I put on deodorant and cologne before putting on socks and taking my bag and shoes. "I'm almost done!" I hollered, shrugging on my leather jacket.

Walking down the stairs, I picked up Evangeline on the way and threw her over my shoulder. "Evie! Put me on the ground!" She yelled as loud giggles escaped her lips. "Ephraim!" She laughed, her black hair waving all over the place as I skipped to the kitchen.

"Ayo, Dash!" I yelled and he looked up to me. "Heads up!" I tossed Evangeline over to him and he caught her bridal style. "Ohh, classy catch." I nodded my head in approval as he continued to twirl around. I put my shoes on and ate a piece of toast.

"Dashiell Carson Wilkenson, you better put my daughter down." Mom said in a warning tone, causing Dash to freeze. "I'd like for her to live past the age of five." Dash put my little sister down slowly because mom was watching him like a predator. "Now get to school." She ordered with a small smile.

"Alright, Clara." Dash kissed my mom's cheek before sauntering out the front door. Then he came back in and picked up his bag and my sister, making her giggle.

"Thanks for having us, it's always great talking to you." Vince kissed her hand and then followed Dash to the car.

"You have fun, baby." Mom grinned and I pecked her cheek. I quickly followed after my friends so we could drop my sister at school.

After doing so, Dash raced to school and we calmly strode to our first class. Vince opened the door for us and we all entered the room. I dropped down in my seat and put my feet up on the desk. "What happened to your face?" Vince questioned from behind me as Lilith, I assumed, sat down next to me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snarled in reply, making me turn to her. I opened my mouth to snap at her for talking to Vince like that but when my eyes landed on her lip, I froze.

"You have a split lip." Vincenzo said calmly. "I was just wondering what happened."

"Just tell him." I rolled my eyes at her behavior. Vincenzo just wants to know what happened to her, he usually does. I don't know what's up with the two of them but he always wants to keep her safe, warm and protected. If I didn't know him better, I'd say he has a secret crush on her but I'm pretty dâmn sure he doesn't.

"Like you care." She scoffed. "But if you must know, last night I got too excited about my pizza and bit my lip."

"Alright." Vince nodded but I didn't believe her. It's just that she didn't have a bruise or else I would question it some more. Lilith leaned her head on her right fist, confusing me because she's a lefty. Which means she always leans on her left hand and cheek.

Before I knew what I was doing, my finger darted out and poked her in her cheek. She winced back and glared at me. "What the hell are you doing?" Lilith asked, taking my finger between her thumb and index finger to pull it away from her face.

"Are you wearing make up?" I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"No, I don't know how to do that except for mascara." She answered instantly. "Now will you two just lay off?!" She snapped, breathing heavily and Vincenzo raised his hands in surrender while I just squinted my eyes at her. "I'm serious." Lilith shot me another glare before turning away from me.

Her temple rested against her right fist as she sat with her back to me. Her left hand started to write down the assignments on the board as she tried to calm her breathing. I frowned at her odd behavior but didn't question it any further.

Lilith's point of view

Why the hell are they all up in my business?! I frowned at the thought and tried to calm down. I could practically feel Ephraim's stare burning in the side of my head and I squirmed slightly, mainly because I'm a terrible liar.

I didn't bite my lip when I ate pizza, I got assaulted in an alley behind an underground fighting bar, but they'd never believe that. The man tried to feel me up when I bit his hand and screamed for help. Almost instantly he punched me in the face, splitting my lip and bruising my cheek.

Lucky for me, YouTube exists with make up people teaching you how to cover up things like hickeys and bruises. After I called for help, this dude came out and beat the man to a pulp. I thought it could've been one of the fighters but I was too scared to look at him. He offered me his hand, letting me see the lion and rose tattoo on his forearm.

I didn't look up, I just said 'thanks' and ran. I asked Sergio about it and he said that the only one with a lion tattoo was that guy, Hunter. Next time I see him at the bar, I'll thank him properly. "Lilith?" My teacher called and I looked at him confused. He pointed to a question on the board and I answered it easily, relieved that I didn't make a fool out of myself.

I turned a bit so my back was against the backrest and glanced at Ephraim, he was being awfully quiet. He was still staring at me like I was a Rubik's Cube and he didn't know how to solve it. Once he saw my glare, he raised his hands in surrender and I spotted a tattoo peeking out from his sleeve.

Nah, he can't be the one that saved me, I thought as the bell rang. I honestly think that he wouldn't even take a second glance. I gathered my stuff and followed some girls because I knew they were in my next class. "Ayo, Hunter!" Someone called out and I froze before looking around to find the person that replied.

"What's up, Dash?" 'Hunter' replied and then I saw Dashiell. I moved closer and nearly gasped when I saw who he was talking to.

Ephraim saved me?!