Chapter 2

I WAS SLAMMED INTO THE WALL.

My back hit the bricked wall, a loud oomph escaping my mouth. I tried my best to hold in the smalls snigger that threatened to escape as I looked at Trevor's face. The right side of his face was completely bruised, a purple ring around his eye. As awful as it sounded, a satisfactory feeling settled inside me. How many times had he given me black eyes and laughed? How many times had he made me bleed and took a photo to laugh and share with everyone?

"You think this is funny?" he hissed, pinning me by my collar.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I managed to crack a humorless smile, "You were the one who taught me bruises were meant to be laughed at."

I choked as he tightened his iron grip. I watched as his face grew red in anger, the veins on his neck popping out.

"You want me to show you something hilarious then?" he growled. In anger, he tossed me to the floor carelessly. I landed with a thud, my face scrunching up in pain. Trevor loomed over me, his fist poised and ready in the air when he paused.

My hands were in front of my face, in a pathetic attempt to protect myself. However, I peeked over them when nothing happened.

Trevor stared down at me with a somewhat unreadable expression and I slowly, but cautiously lowered my arms.

"W-What's wrong with you?" I stuttered out. While I liked to take Trevor on, his big build did make me wary, especially when we were alone like this.

He blinked rapidly, as if trying to get rid of an unwanted thought. He tightened his fists, lifting them a little higher, but didn't move after that. My breathing was shallow, my heart pounding both in fear and anxiousness. What was he waiting for?

He breathed harshly through his nose, and slowly began to lower his fists.

"Go."

"What?"

There was no way I had heard him correctly, but the guarded look on his face told me otherwise. It seemed like he was having an internal battle with himself, a conflicted look on his face. I watched as he unclenched his fists, only to ball them up.

"I said go!" he suddenly shouted. I flinched at the loud volume of his voice as I slowly clambered to my feet. I didn't wait to be told a third time, and I scrambled away from Trevor. I looked over my shoulder before he disappeared from my line of sight to see him still standing by himself, raking a hand through his hair roughly. Just as I was about to leave, I watched as he raised a fist, and sent it flying straight into the brick wall where I had been pinned against only minutes earlier. A silent gasp left my mouth as I covered my mouth in shock.

He recoiled with a hiss, blood oozing out of his knuckles. My feet automatically itched to go over and help. I watched with sad eyes let out an enraged cry, looking up at the sky. But as all the memories of him as he stood over me with my blood on his fists flashed in my mind, I found myself rooted to the spot.

I silently observed him, a new side beginning to show. What was he so angry with, that he would put his fist in a wall? He hardly thought his fist would go through the wall, did he? What could have provoked Trevor Jenkins this much, that he would pass up an opportunity at taking a swing at me?

I slowly backed away, having seen enough. I looked down at myself as I rushed back inside the school, sighing at the small hole in my shirt. We didn't get very many clothes, so the ones I had, I liked to keep in as good a condition as I possibly could. While I was mumbling profanities under my breath, most of which were directed at Trevor, I bumped into someone, causing me to stumble back a step.

"Sorry -"

I blinked as I looked up at the guy I had met yesterday and smiled brightly.

"Oh hey, it's you!" I exclaimed, "See you came back for another day in hell."

The guy whose name I still hadn't learnt gave me an easy-going smile, "I'm stuck in this place for the next while, unfortunately."

I shook my head sadly, "That's a pity, you should've chosen somewhere else. This place sucks."

He shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "It's not too bad at the moment."

The conversation died down as we both idly stood across from each other. I found myself once again staring at him, something I desperately needed to stop doing. But as my eyes trailed down his face, they caught on a small section of what looked like a tattoo, on the back of his neck.

He coughed exaggeratedly, and I snapped my gaze back up to his. He didn't seem too bothered, as he tossed me a friendly smile.

"I think after accusing me of trying to, what was it again?" he pretended to think for a moment, "Ah yes, flushing your head down a toilet, I deserve a name?"

My cheeks flushed in embarrassment, "I told you I was sorry about that!" I groaned as I hung my head in shame, "You're not going to let me forget that, are you?"

A cheeky smile surfaced and I noticed the more we talked, the more comfortable he seemed to be.

"It's not every day you get accused to shoving a girl's head down a toilet," he commented. Sticking a hand out, he introduced himself. "I'm Xeros."

I slipped my small hand into his, immediately feeling the warmth from his seep into mine. I shook it lightly before pulling back.

"I'm Isla," I greeted with a small smile, "It's nice to meet you Xeros."

He opened his mouth to reply when we were interrupted by a familiar scoff. I turned my head, sighing when Trevor stood a few feet away, watching us with beady eyes. I shut my eyes briefly in annoyance. After telling me to leave, he comes and finds me?

"What are you two doing?"

The playful, easy-going expression Xeros had seconds earlier disappeared as he raised his pierced brow at Trevor.

"What's it to you?"

I gaped up at Xeros, surprise filling me. No one had ever stood up to Trevor, let alone for me, so to see someone who had just transferred defending me...

Trevor wasn't someone to back down from a fight as he took a threatening step forward.

"What did you just say?" he hissed, latching his cold eyes onto me.

I found myself shriveling up at the intensity of his glare. What had I done this time?

"Ah, so you're nosy and hard of hearing. Got it," Xeros replied, his face completely straight.

Trevor's face grew red in anger as he came face to face with Xeros. Any closer and their noses would be touching. The hallway was wide enough for the two of them to fight.

"Do you have any fucking idea who I am?" Trevor snarled at Xeros.

Xeros shrugged his shoulders, as if to say he didn't care.? Fuming, Trevor's face reddened to the shade of a tomato. In the blink of an eye, he pulled his fist back, letting it loose in Xeros' face. I let out a shriek as he stumbled back a step, but didn't seem too bothered.

"That's all you got?" Xeros taunted, a cold smirk on his lips.

Trevor shook his head as he stood, his feet hip width apart. Xeros' first punch landed on Trevor's chin. He noticed it too late, and the second punch came as quickly as the first one. Doubling over, his hands rested on his stomach as he expelled choked air. However, he quickly recovered, standing straight. His eyes were wide with rage, shooting a deadly glare at Xeros.

"You...fucking. . " Trevor took a large step forward with each word. On the third, he attempted to take a swing at Xeros' face, "Asshole!"

However, his shot was slow, and the second he released it, realization dawned on his face that it wouldn't do any damage. Xeros easily ducked under the impending blow. Before Trevor even had the chance to blink, Xeros let a fist loose into his ribs. I let out a hiss as I watched Trevor clutch his stomach, pain taking over his features.

Xeros went in for a third hit, when Trevor dodged to the side, by a millisecond. He let out an enraged cry, blindly swinging at Xeros. His hand curled into a fist as he aimed for Xeros' nose, and hit the bridge of it. Blood splattered down his face and shirt as Trevor shot him a satisfactory grin.

Xeros lifted up the bottom of his top, wiping away the trails of blood flowing down his nose. He let out a brief chuckle, throwing Trevor off guard for a moment.

"What are you –"

In a blink, Xeros slams his fist into Trevor's ribs, eliciting a pained groan. Trevor staggered back, as Xeros refused to give him a second to recover. Instead, he let loose fist after fist into Trevor, uncaring for his bloodied form.

"Stop it!" I cried, staring in horror as the two boys wrestled to the floor, "Stop!"

My shouts were lost in the loud grunts and punches they were both throwing. Trevor seemed to be start to understand Xeros' techniques as he began to dodge nearly half of them. I ran my hand through my hair, wanting to interfere.

"What on earth is going on here?!"

We all froze, Trevor with his fist poised midair, as the loud screech of our principal filled the hallway. My heart sank in my chest as her eyes landed on me.

"All of you, in my office!" she shouted, her face turning a light shade of purple in anger, "Now!"

My heart fell in my chest. Getting called to the office meant parents had to be called in. If my Father was called in...

I was better than dead.