CHAPTER 3 -A HELPING HAND

Finally letting go of his eye, Liam could finally see who the bastard was that decided to dig his own grave, students on their own clearing a path to open up to the reveal the culprit. They didn't want to be an obstruction to Liam ,especially an angry one.

The boy in shorts, with a messy snow coloured hair and deep blue eyes and averagely built.

Liam didn't know which infuriated him more. Was it the fact that he had been hit with a apple that felt like it was shot from a Canon or was it how cramped the students were and they already started cheering for this person which he had plans to deal with cruelty. He was gonna make him pay.

Trudging towards him with gritting teeth and clenched fist. With the way students had quickly parted like the red sea of some sort. There was enough room to see this twerp.

Nolan still laid in a heap , breathing slowly but heavily. His face was covered in bruises. " Was this even allowed in school?".He thought . He only wished he had enough strength to walk away so Liam wouldn't return to finish where he started but all energy had escaped from his legs, infact , he was still frozen in shock at what just happened.

" I'm not afraid you Liam, NO ONE SHOULD!" He yelled. Liam looked at him dead in the eyes, and his unwavering attitude only seemed to get on his nerve the more.

The tenseness of the room increased with each step Liam took towards the boy. Swiftly grabbing the boys neck, he pulled his fist , gathering momentum to strike him with the hardest punch he had before he heard " STOP!!"

Every student turned to see a handful of teachers rushing in. Giving way for the teachers , each student started returning to whatever they were doing before the fight started. They didn't want the teachers to think they had something to do with it and get inflicted with punishment similar to whatever was going to be given to Liam. Considering the fact they couldn't do anything to stop the fight was practically their number one offense.

A hand stretched from the crowd to grab Liam arm. "Fighting in school is an offense, even you of all people should know that" Mrs Naomi barked.

" I knew I couldn't beat you, especially since you have back up like always so I ran to get some teachers. You may not like the truth but I'll tell you anyways. You're dumb and a big bully!". He yelled, swatting away Liam grip of his collar before diving to help Nolan who was on the floor turning in pain. The whole school was still in shock at what just happened and only a few knew this was far from over.

Liam was escorted out with some teachers while Nolan was carried away to the school clinic. He had gotten many cuts and he needed medical attention as quickly as possible .

Recess was over and students returned back to their classes. The whole school was talking about the cafeteria showdown through out the day and people started speculating that Liam was sure to return to get revenge , but when?

It was Late afternoon when Nolan woke up with his face bandaged . The nurse was getting ready to go home for the day. School was over. " What..... Happened to..... Me?". He asked slowly . He was still enervated from all this.

The nurse was obviously irritated, and her facial expressions couldn't hide it at all.

But she forced a fake smile, maybe it was part of her job to be nice to her patients even if she really didn't want to. " You were in such a bad shape after you were beaten up . I just finished tending up to your injuries. You should be well enough to go home now " .

"I guess so".

"Good" she quickly replied, rolling her eyes. She wanted to be anywhere but here.

" But who brought me here?" He asked , sitting up straight on the bed . "I did". A familiar voice came in , opening the door at the same time.

" How are you feeling buddy?" He inquired, sitting next to Nolan and placing his hand on his shoulder

" My face still hurts but the nurse said I should be well enough to go home now".

" Thank goodness. You really took a beating back there. What happened between the two of you? You owed him money or something?".

"Not really. It's not that important but I'm guessing he's gonna finish where he started".

"Nah, he's not gonna bother you anymore. I heard from the principal that if he gets into trouble one more time. He'll be expelled for sure. Even now, he got suspended so you won't be seeing him in school for a while ".

Nolan was grateful and his smile gave it away.

"What's your name by the way?".

"Oh me? I'm Finn. Finn Benjamin ". He said , extending his hand for a courteous handshake.

"Your last name is Benjamin?". One eyebrow raised up .

"Well Benjamin is first name and Finn is my middle name but everyone just call me Finn so... Ya" .

" Well I appreciate your help , I'm Nolan. Nice to meet you" .

They were shaking hands now.

"Sorry we had to meet like this " . Finn laughed. It certainly wasn't the best way to meet someone but he was glad Nolan was ok.

"School is over right?" Nolan noticed the airy silence that wasn't usual during school period even when class was ongoing.

"Yeah. It is. Almost like an hour ago". Not sure where he was going with this.

"How come you haven't gone home?"

" I brought you here, so I guess I felt kind of responsible for you and wanted to make sure you got home safe". He said, smiling innocently.

Nolan wondered why he hadn't met someone like him sooner , maybe because he didn't pay attention to most things around him but he sure looked and sounded like great guy.

"By the way, the principal said you should come see him by tomorrow. I think he wants you to get an apology from Liam or something like that".

"Oh, that's nice. Can we go now?" He stood up slowly.

They walked together, talking and laughing till they got to the school entrance door when they met someone they were not expecting at all.

Ash was the right hand man of Liam, he was muscular and was always in sleeveless shirt to to show his big arms. What was he doing here? Wasn't school over? Haven't every student gone home? Was he actually waiting for them ? All they knew was his presence meant trouble and they were going to be part of it.

Nolan swallowed hard, he was scared, Finn could tell , he could see how frozen in place Nolan was and his leg shaking in fear. But he wasn't going to stand there and watch Nolan get hurt a second time, even if he meant he was going to have to fight Ash.. Stepping in front of Nolan .

"What do you want from us Ash?". His eyes were dead fixed on him. He was going to make sure Nolan know he was safe with him.

Ash smirked and walked closer."You know why I'm here. He wants to see you. He's right at the back. So let's get going or do I have to drag you all the way"

Finn thought as much. Liam wasn't going to go down that easy. Without turning back. "Nolan, get going, I'll catch up to you later"

Nolan stayed where he was. If Finn was acting brave to fool him, it wasn't believable. He knew what was going to happen, and Liam struck at the perfect time when no teacher was around. He had planned this out. But wasn't he suspended, why didn't he just go home. Finn's voice brought him back to reality "Nolan.. I'll be fine, trust me. Now get going. Your parents must be worried you haven't returned from school by this time." He turned back and smiled once more. That innocent smile of his that made Nolan worry even more but he was going to trust Finn on this. It was going to be hard to see the person who just helped him about to get the same treatment.

He whispered "Just be safe ok? And don't do anything stupid" to Finn before walking away .

Nolan walked some distance before Ash called out loud "And don't think we're done with you little man. We still have some unfinished business ".

This infuriated Finn who grabbed Ash arm and looked him dead in the eyes while tightening his grip"No you don't! Your business is with me from now on".

Ash was taken aback by this guy's gut. Didn't he know what was in store for him. He managed to free his arm before walking away, hands in his pocket. "Just follow me ". Finn looked to see Nolan had covered quite a distance before he got moving.

Liam was with some deliquent who gathered round, smoking and injecting drugs into their body. Liam was the only one standing but facing the opposite direction, therefore backing everyone else . Fear slowly crept in as the thought of the worst could happen and there was no one to help him. He was going to run if things were starting to get ugly. Yes. That's right. If he ran to where they were other people, they would be forced to leave him so he wouldn't get any unwanted attention and maybe even get arrested . Yes that's it. And since everyone was sitting, he was sure to get a head start before they could get up and follow him .

Liam turned slowly with one arm in his pocket and made a quick sign. One that made all of Finn's mind crumble. Almost everyone of them sitting down stood up and made a semi circle, blocking every possible exit Finn had in mind.

Liam finally spoke. " Now, there's nowhere to run".

To be continued