The Town

Chapter 9: A Fight, a Phone, and a Ghost

My body quickly moved on its own, dropping my backpack and running forward, and before I knew it I was in between the two, catching Carter's fist in midair. A small breeze from the force of the punch rustled my already disheveled hair. I pushed his fist back, forcing him to take a couple steps away from the green-eyed victim.

Carter snarled at me, pulling his face back like an angry dog's. "Move, Ari. I need to teach the pencil pusher a lesson," he sneered.

I kept my monotone voice steady. "No. He did nothing wrong."

"He embarrassed me!"

Carter charged forward with his fist again, but I dodged and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him. He let out a small yelp as I pulled it tight and forced him to the ground.

"You have some issues if him talking back to you made you so embarrassed you have to beat him up."

He grunted and tried to throw me off of him. "Get off of me, Ari! We're going to work together, this is what we do. We punish the evil."

"I would hardly call him evil, Carter."

I glanced at my mystery boy; he was staring back at me. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I even saw a little bit of pink dusting his cheeks. Carter snarled and tried to throw me off again, causing me to focus all of my attention on him once more.

He was able to get his other hand out from under him and swatted it at me. Just barely brushing against my ear. I heard a small clink but ignored it as I grabbed the flailing arm and continued to hold him down until the principal, or whatever this town's equivalent of him, came to take Carter to the office to wait for one of his parents.

By then the crowd was ushered out and sent home by the teachers, including Leonardo. Apparently at this school you don't need the victim's side of what happened. Kon was the teacher ushering me out once everyone else dispersed. On the way he complimented my fighting skills, saying how I will make a really good Bruiser. I guess that was a compliment, but if all the Bruisers act like Carter then I don't think I'll like it very much.

Unfortunately, or fortunately I guess, my walk back to Miss Annie's was completely uneventful. As I entered the bakery, craving something sweet after all the excitement from today, I was shocked to see Bianca and Bernard walking through the shop looking at the different breads. Bianca grabbed a pumpernickel loaf while Bernard took a cinnamon swirl. They turned around in unison and spotted me. Bianca jumped excitedly while Bernard showed a cheerful grin. We met in the middle of the bakery, sitting at one of the small tables. I was the first to speak.

"So, not that I'm not glad to see you guys, but what are you doing here?"

Bianca answered in her contagious, cheery tone. "Well we were planning to walk off campus with you, but when you entered the fray, which you were awesome in btws, we were all forced out. Then Bernard said that this is where you lived, so we figured we'd wait for you here!"

Bernard continued, less cheery but still happy to chat. "Plus our mom told us to get some bread for dinner, so two birds with one stone. Oh, and neither of us got your number, so we came for that too."

I checked my pockets. "Oh right. Sorry, it's been a long time since someone asked for my number. I think I actually left my phone in my room this morning. If you guys want to wait a couple minutes I'll go get it."

They both nodded their heads and went to go stand at the register to check out. I headed up to the condo and into the room, throwing my bag on the bed. I searched for my phone, scouring the room, but came up empty. Maybe I left it in the living room. I searched the living room and kitchen, but still could not find the handheld device. Confused at this point, I headed back downstairs to ask Miss Annie if she's seen it.