Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

TWO

Leo Hargrove was never a fan of large crowds.

Hell, he wasn't even a fan of small crowds.

Introverted, averagely muscular, and brown-haired, Leo wasn't socially up to par with most of his other classmates, which unfortunately established him as the stereotypical "quiet kid" — dubbed that by the heavily pretentious students of Grayfield High.

He was called "school shooter" pretty often. Aside from preposterous douchebags such as Troy Raymond, however, Leo didn't seem to care that much. He looked down on most of them, anyways, for they were unable to come up with an original insult.

He would much rather spend his free time in his father's garage, drawing up plans for theoretical inventions, instead of hanging with so-called  "friends" that he knows wouldn't have his back.

The only problem, that he didn't realize was a problem, was that he had no friends, and barely any contact with another human aside from his teachers.

Anytime someone would try to initiate a conversation with him, he would simply turn away from them or slowly distance himself from them, bringing a swift and sudden end to an already painfully nonexistent conversation. He just didn't feel the spark with anyone.

So one could only imagine his surprise when Kai invited him to sit with he and Dylo on the trip scheduled to take place after school that evening. While he definitely was flattered, he swiftly declined, as he was looking to enjoy this trip all by himself.

Leo usually avoided group activities, anyways. He would much rather be in his basement binge-watching Dragon Ball Z or Avengers films while chomping down on a half-eaten sandwich from 2 days earlier.

Unfortunately for him, that wouldn't be the case today.

The blinding glare made it's way through the cafeteria window and pierced Leo's eyes as he calmly strolled to his lunch table. Luckily, his glasses were transitions. Unconsciously, Leo pulled out his laptop and prepared to complete an assignment he had been too lazy to do the night before.

Right before he was to commence work on the assignment, Troy Raymond trotted over, and without hesitation, knocked Leo's laptop off of the table, watching it smash against the floor tile. Hearing the crunch of his laptop crumbling into bits collaborate with the sound of Troy's hyena-like laugh enraged Leo. However, with the patience of a saint, he remained docile.

Kai, however, couldn't just remain a bystander.

Though he immensely lacked confidence, he didn't like bullies. It was only in the moments that he was standing up for others that he'd temporarily gain it. When he was younger, around the age of 13 or 14, he would always try to stand up for the little guy, the underdog. So much so, that his classmates had nicknamed him "The Guardian" because of it.

A scowl had scrawled itself upon his face. His chiseled body fueled with adrenaline, he briskly marched over to Leo's table, picked up his fractured laptop, and carefully placed it back on the table.

As Leo gave a silent thanks for Kai's humble assistance, Kai turned his menacing focus to Troy, gazing into his eyes with a cold stare.

A smirk swiftly engulfed Dylo's freckled face. He thought he knew exactly what was about to happen. "Someone's about to get their ass kicked." Dylo playfully whispered to a nearby kid, who was sitting next to him.

The entire cafeteria slowed to a crawl, going quiet like someone had just pressed the mute button. All eyes on Kai and Troy.

"And...who the hell are you?" Troy huffed, acting offended.

"Troy, we're literally lab partners."

A nervous chuckle exited Troy's mouth as he looked around at the cafeteria in false confidence. "Oh, really?" Now he just looked stupid. nodding his head, slowly becoming intimidated by the dead serious expression plastered on Kai's face.