Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 55 - Arisa

The cafeteria began to clear out when lunch ended and thankfully, Zander's fangirls were no exception. As passionate as they were, they knew they couldn't follow the playboy all afternoon. It worked in my favour, because if they found out he was going to be in my classes today, I wouldn't hear the end of it. Gossip was like an air born virus at Jackheights but thankfully, no one at the school knew about my kidnapping. A lot of students sensed something bad had happened—no thanks to my bandages but they never pried. Not my peers or the teachers. I was sure it was because rumour had it that I was dating Loyal Wilson and Khaleel Abdul.

Zander was on the list too. His fangirls blamed me for his bad mood, and rather than get yelled at for bullying me, they decided to stay in their lane. I wanted to do the same. I wanted to have student council duties to steal me away, like Matilda, but I was a sitting duck. I couldn't go anywhere without him following me, and I couldn't ask Loyal to put a leash on his scary demon either. The playboy was supposed to watch over me, but I felt like I was the one watching over him.

"I have history next," I told the ticking time bomb. "It's on the first floor. You don't have to go with me."

Zander got up, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and stared at me with a blank expression. "Yeah, I do," he said, his brown eyes cooling into ice.

"Okay then," I sighed.

We made our way to the lobby, where other students were either scrambling to get to third period, or stalling to. The academy janitor was on the move, heading for the cafeteria to empty trash bags and wipe tables. I spotted Tomasia by the auditorium doors, binders in hand, speaking with a nervous-looking boy. He was on the shorter side, had curly blonde hair, and a pale complexion. She curtly handed him a clip board and mouthed something I couldn't understand. He must be a student council member.

Before I could lead Zander in the opposite direction, towards my locker, he bolted to confront his crush. "Oh no," I breathed, connecting the dots. Tomasia was probably the reason he was so upset.

I made sure to stay close and only observe the awkward interaction. "Get out of here," Zander told the student council member.

The boy knew better than to disobey, so he shuffled off right away. Zander addressed Tomasia next. "Did you really feel the need to reply to his texts?" he asked, narrowing his gaze.

Tomasia didn't look amused. "What I do on my own time is none of your business."

Zander looked like he was ready to hit something, anything. "I'm making it my business because I care about you," he seethed.

"That sounds like a you problem."

Zander's head dropped in frustration. He wasn't just angry, he was livid, and I did not want to be around when his exploded. Tomasia must have felt the same way because she discreetly moved past us to the middle of the foyer, where she was forced to stop in her tracks. I followed her eye-line to see who had overwhelmed her. My legs shivered as I recognized the scumbag standing by the doors of the school. It was Neal Dobberman—and he was wearing the Jackheight's school uniform.

"Shit," I gasped, looking over my shoulder at Zander. He had spotted him too, which could only mean one thing. The time bomb had just found a reason to detonate.

"Oh shit!" I cursed, chasing after him.

"Zander, don't!" Tomasia's scream was chilling and stilled the entire foyer. Confused and curious faces turned their attention towards Zander, who ran over to throttle his fist into Dobberman's face. Screams and gasps, that's all anyone could hear. The scum fell on his back and laughed hysterically to give his former peers a good show. I moved to Tomasia's side and hissed at her to call Loyal, Hino, Khaleel—anyone but she couldn't hear me, she could barely stand up right as her knees began to quake in fear.

Dobberman was slow to stand on his feet. Zander allowed him to catch his breath, for what reason, I had no idea? "I told you to lose her number," he said.

I quickly pulled out my phone and texted Loyal to get to the lobby, as soon as possible. I added Dobberman's name to let him know how dire the situation was.

"I told you to lose it, didn't I?" Zander grabbed the collar of Dobberman's shirt and brought him close to his face. "Now you're about to lose your head."

Students circled the fight and some pulled out their phones to record the turn of events. I felt bad leaving Tomasia's side but if that knucklehead decided to throw more punches, no one would be able to stop him. I had to do something to make sure things didn't escalate any further. I got behind Zander and tugged on his arm.

"Don't," I said, sternly. "He's not worth it!"

Dobberman kicked Zander in the gut with one quick move. I had to retract my hold on the playboy when Dobberman sent another kick to the side of Zander's head. I watched my bodyguard drop to the floor. The other students' theatrics and reactions only escalated the situation. Where were all the teachers? Why did I suddenly feel like it was my responsibility to stop this fight? My thoughts were shaken out of my head as my reflexes helped me dodge another aggressive hit meant for Zander—I fell backwards and landed in the most ungraceful manner.

"Two down, two to go," Dobberman grinned.

"What's going on here?" a familiar voice boomed from behind. I looked over my shoulder to find Mr. Hermans racing up with a few other teachers.

Finally, I wanted to scream.

Zander didn't give himself enough time to recover. He was too determined to get vengeance. He flashed a look at Tomasia, who was frozen and terror-stricken. That motivated him to rush in for another attack. I was faster. I blocked Zander's fist from connecting with Dobberman's mouth and urged him to back off, but his footwork was impressive off the court too. He grabbed my wrist and tossed me out of the way. I flinched, ready to fall on my butt again but Mr. Hermans caught me at the last second.

He made sure I was okay to stand on my own before he intervened on the two idiots.