Finding Fae

The morning was, to put it plainly, confusing. Rex was being extra annoying and insistent, which only seemed to make Zane angrier than he already was. By the time Science ended, I was sure Zane was going to end up in a fist fight before the day was over.

English wasn’t much better. Victoria was on her high horse, as usual, but seemed to be particularly thrilled about teasing me for not being able to swim. Malachi just kept staring at me, which was freaky on it’s own, but add the contemplative look and it was downright unnerving. Of course, this didn’t go unnoticed and Victoria tried to “accidentally” stab my hand with a pencil. Ben waited until everything was quiet before he tapped the back of my chair with his foot and winked, holding a small flame in his hand with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He sent it towards Victoria where it sort of turned into a firework in front of her face, making her scream and jump out of her chair. She ended up getting detention and Ben couldn’t stop chuckling to himself for the rest of the class. I had to give it to him. It was pretty amusing, Despite Blaine’s obvious disapproval, he still smirked about it.

“Ugh! I’m starving,” I said as I tossed my bag into my locker except for the bagged lunch. “Some heathen ruined my breakfast this morning.”

“We’re supposed to be taking care of her, not starving her, Ben,” Blaine rolled his eyes as we went to the cafeteria.

“It was just a bit of coffee. A little caffeine never hurt any one,” he laughed and rushed to the table.

When Zane saw his brother, he scowled then left, leaving me super confused.

“Is he okay?” I asked Blaine.

“Yeah, the broody, angry type is more your thing,” Ben said.

“He’s mad because I’m with Fae tonight,” Blaine shrugged. “At least, that’s what I’ve gotten from it.”

“Why not just let him stay with her?” Nando asked.

“Dad,” Blaine said and Ben and Nando looked like they understood everything.

“Why is that significant?” I asked.

“Our family is... different,” he said.

“We need to talk,” I jumped at the sound of Malachi King behind me.

“If you want my appreciation for pulling me out of the pool, then thanks,” I narrowed my eyes at him as I turned around. “But I don’t see how that requires a “talk” between us. You’ve made it clear you don’t like me being here and I’m sure my continued presence irks you to no end, but like I don’t really give two craps about you or you opinions.”

“That wasn’t multiple choice,” he glared at me. “Now be quiet and follow me.”

He stormed away and I laughed a little before going back to my lunch.

“You know, Malachi King doesn’t do anything without a reason,” Nando said. “You should probably see what he wants.”

“Pass,” I rolled my eyes. “Besides, it’s probably him wanting to tell me how much he hates me and that I should leave again. He’s turning into a broken record.

“Actually, Fae,” Ben said, slowly. “You really should go. He’s not the kind of person you want angry at you.”

“He already is, simply because I exist, what could possibly be worse?” I looked at him like he was truly insane.

“He did save you this weekend. If he hated you that much, why would he have done that?” Blaine said, taking my sandwich from me and putting it down before pushing me out of the chair and nudging me towards the direction Malachi had stalked off to.

“It’s a conspiracy, I swear,” I muttered. “Fine. But I’m taking this with me.”

I grabbed my sandwich and left. Freaking jerks.

“Took your sweet time,” Malachi said, looking like a bit of a storm cloud outside the cafeteria. “Come on.”

As he walked, I ate. I didn’t care where we were going, but I was getting irritated again the longer it took him to get to where he was taking me.

“In here,” he said and opened a door that lead to an empty classroom.

“I this the part where you knock me out and drag me out to the woods some place, leaving me to die?” I snorted when he closed the door behind himself.

“What the hell are you doing?” he hissed and I rolled my eyes. “Don’t give me that crap. What game are you playing at?”

“I’m not playing a thing, idiot. I’m just trying to survive for a few more months then I’m ditching this place,” I spat back. “If I live that long, which, at this current point in time, seems very unlikely. Not that it concerns you all that much.”

“Do you honestly think I’m going to believe any of that?” he glared harder at me. “How did you manage to make a Call?”

“Wait. You’re...? Of course you are,” I rolled my eyes and sat on top of one of the empty desks. “Look, I don’t know how I did anything. Up until yesterday morning, I had no idea any of this was real, okay? I don’t know what it is with this God forsaken school and everyone hating the fact that I’m here, but trust me when I say I have no intention of hanging around for long. Hell, if things hadn’t changed this weekend, I’d probably be leaving in a few weeks anyhow and all of you pissy little tinkerbells would have gotten your wish.”

“Tinkerbells?” he growled, kind of like Zane had, but this one was more anger and less animal.

“Now, thanks to your little girlfriend wannabe, I’m pretty sure I’m stuck here until I turn eighteen, which is likely the time I’ll die, because no one seems to know what flavor of weird I am,” I continued. “Add to it the fact that I also found out that I was freaking kidnapped and have been thinking, for my whole life, that my abductors were my actual parents, my best friends are freaking mythical creatures, I’m the favored punching bag for the entire school, and I literally almost died, can you possibly guess the level of fed up I have reached with you and all of your “you need to leave” bull crap, because I would love to find out. Keep pushing, King, and I might end up pushing back, because laying low went out the window Saturday. Now, I would like to get back to my lunch because there’s no telling what will happen between now and dinner that might possibly ruin any chances of me actually getting a decent amount of food in my system for the foreseeable future.”

I pushed past him, leaving him with an open mouth and wide eyes, as I went back to the cafeteria and sat down with a huff, snatching my bag of chips from Ben shoving his apple into his mouth before he could say a word.

“I take it things didn’t go well,” Blaine said.

“I feel better, actually,” I snapped. “Shut up and eat.”

Nando covered a laugh with a cough and ate his carrot sticks, highly amused while Blaine and Ben just stared.

-------

Sunday’s comment about Nando being my emotional support was proving to be true in History. Not a thing was said between us, but just him being there all zen and calm was soothing the end of my nerves that were clearly shot.

I knew that I would need all the calm I could get before going to the next class, which had both Malachi and Rex and not one of my guys to keep me from going off again. I could feel the edge of my temper and it was right there and I was one small shove away from losing it. I had no idea what would happen, since I never really got this stressed out or angry before.

Regardless, I trudged towards Algebra, dreading what was going to happen. There was a high chance I would end up with detention, suspended, or expelled. The real question was how long would it take?

Judging by how Rex was already smiling like I was his favorite person in the world, my guess was less than five minutes.

“You look sour,” he commented and I just glared. “Not enough sleep last night?”

“If you know what’s good for you, shut you mouth and leave me alone because my patience with things that annoy me is very freaking thin right now,” I warned as I sat down.

“Why do I annoy you? I haven’t done anything but try to talk to you,” he asked.

“That’s the part that annoys me,” I snapped. “Take the freaking hint and shove a sock in it already.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you being put in your place, Noble,” Malachi said as he took his seat on my other side.

“Okay, let’s all get one thing perfectly clear,” I said, holding up a hand at each of them. “Whatever bones you two have to pick between the two of you, save for a time when I’m not literally between you. Don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t even breath in my general direction. Got it?”

“Looks like you’ve pushed Fae a little too far, King,” Rex frowned.

I don’t know what came over me, but I grabbed my two inch thick Algebra book and smacked it right across the side of Rex’s face. His eyes almost bulged out of his head with disbelief as he put his hand on his face.

“What wasn’t clear?” I said.

I heard laughter and turned to stare at Malachi. Mister Brooding, Soul Sucker himself, was in a fit of laughter as he held on the sides of his desk to keep from falling over.

“Miss Young,” the teacher said.

“Yeah, I know. Detention,” I rolled my eyes and swung the book at Malachi, catching him with it as well. “Can we call that suspension?”

“Office. Now,” she said curtly and I grabbed my things and got up.

The whole class was quiet as I went to the door. I turned and bowed before leaving, closing the door a little harder than needed.

Much better.