The Sass Vibe

Chapter 2: The Tiger on the Loose

I made it. I made the train. Just as the doors were inches from closing, I roly-polied inside and landed in a perfect crouch.
Rolled. Polled. Perfect. Flawless.
Dayum.
The Xenia powers are efficient today
I grinned to myself, standing up and walking over to the nearest pole to hold onto.
However, my happiness and pride dissolved pretty quickly when I noticed that I had quite an unpleasant audience in my wake.
Every single seat on the coach was taken either by a business woman or man, all wearing boring, zombie 'smart' suits which consisted of the colours grey or black.
Bleugh.

Well, that wasn't the only thing which made my smile a bit wonky. All eyes were on me, and not in a good way; it was one of those 'if looks could kill' moments, and with the Zombie Mafia in front of me, I would be way, way down to the core of the earth right now.

Stop being a little weakling today, Xenia!

My conscience was pretty ugly today, but right all along. By now, I'm sure there was no trace of my smile, and my eyes were narrowed. Turning around, I made sure to make eye contact with every single one of these little... Blobs of grey and black, and raised my eyebrows in a manner that suggested 'got a problem?'.

Honestly? You want me to be honest, right? Secretly, the weak little Xenia was back, urging me to drop my gaze and duck my head.

This isn't you. You're meant to be shy, scared, intimidated.

I pushed the thoughts away, and listened to the Present Xenia, the one I worked so hard to create, soothe me.

Hold that stare, tell them you're not scared of them. Show them you're not some little weak girl who's going to cry over judgemental monsters!

That thought made me proud, in a way. I've changed. I can do it with ease now. I can, I can, I can. A smile was about to explode on my face, but I realised I was still performing my little show so I forced my lips into a smirk instead.

Unfortunately, like everything in this world, the Xenia powers had a limit, and Karma, like everyone tells me, really is a female animal, because while focusing on my stare-0ff with the now scowling humans in front of me, -I'm sure the only thing to make them satisfied is have me break my neck-
my grip on the pole loosened unconsciously.

And I was in a train. A moving train.

The transport suddenly swayed sharply to the left, and that of course caused me to lose my balance. My hands instinctively latched onto the pole, and the train was still turning, causing my body momentum to be lost and lurch to the right, me somehow, somehow, executing a perfect 360 spin, stripper style and all, in the process.
I felt my face heat up.

Wow, you're quite talented today.

That soothing mind of the Cool Xenia wasn't very soothing at the moment, clapping sarcastically in my head and, if it had a face, would probably have a mock-shocked expression.

My legs decided to take a little vacation at the moment, because they sweetly refused to negotiate with me, just magically existing by dangling there.

Resisting the urge to stare at the suddenly very interesting floor and hide my face in my hands, I looked up through my humiliation and embarrassment to see pigs.

Have you ever wondered where to find a pig dressed in a suit?
They're easier to find than I first assumed, it turns out.

My cheeks, probably red, weren't just flushed in embarrassment any longer. Anger was bubbling up inside of me, and I surprised myself, once again today, by sweetly snarling,

"Enjoying the view?"

The man closest to me recovered from his snorting after a few moments -see, pigs!- and fixed his beady little eyes on me, or more specifically, my jeans, whilst saying,

"Oh yes, very much so, darling."
I cringed. I was actually about to gag, when-
"How bout we-"
"How bout no."

Hold the goats.

That wasn't me who said that. I was planning to say it, after the guy finished his sentence, I'm not that impatient, but my voice wasn't that deep or..or that gruff yet smooth at the same time.

Basically, I wasn't a man.

So who said that in my defence?
Looking around, I noticed a corner to my right that I didn't really pay attention to. I almost didn't even spot him now, but I did make out a guy, about my age, maybe a few years older, leaning against the wall dressed in a navy blue hoodie and dark jeans. His hood was up, but I just made out messy ruffles of dark- almost black- hair peaking out.

And them eyes.
My anonymous hero was close enough for me to see that his eyes were the most deepest green I've ever laid my plain eyes on, yet at the same time it wasn't the colour that made me want to drop my jaw to the floor.

It was the intensity of them.

The emotions in them were hidden expertly, but they stared into my own as if saying,

I expect something strong from you.

I was stunned. No one, not even my mum ever said that to me or showed any signs of this urge, to be strong.

It was always me motivating myself, because, well, no one really wanted to stick their noses into my business, and no one really expected me to be anything but innocent and obedient and just... A little angel.

Yet, this complete stranger, who didn't even say a single word to me, not even a raised eyebrow, just a look, managed to make me feel so much more confident.

I noticed something, then.
It was almost impossible to see, but just the slightest of smirks was evident on his lips, as he mouthed,

Kill it, tiger.

And oh, did the tiger kill it.

*unicorns* *unicorns* *unicorns*

"Xenia Lockheart."

"Here," I raised my hand to show the police officer who that was, and almost scoffed at his surprised face.

What, never seen a girl?

" This way, please," the young guy mumbled, beckoning me to follow him with his hand.
I stood up from the painfully uncomfortable and cold -oh, how freezing- metal chair in the waiting room and ignored the low whistles sent my way from my fellow criminals.

Criminals. I'm a criminal. I almost laughed.

"Your school representative has come to retrieve you." The officer, whose name tag read John Lonter, attempted at small talk.

"Okay."

"I'm sure you won't get into too much trouble, ma'am, these things happen all the time. I think that you'll get away with it,"

"Really."

"Positive; I actually wouldn't be surprised if you have been framed somehow; a lady like yourself, breaking an innocent citizen's hand and nose? Come on. Society is turning ugly these days."

"It sure is."