He stood looking ahead, calmly ignoring her violent outburst. “You realize other people are looking at you right?” She blushed a bright scarlet. “Not the best impression for your first day. She looked around at the crowd, then grabbed his hand, covertly dragging him away to a more secluded alcove.
She fisted his shirt, pulling his face on level with hers. “Just answer this. What did he do to you?” She asked, clearly restraining more violent urges.
“Do,” he mused, watching a cloud drift across the sky. The insistent tapping of her foot brought his attention back down to her. “He didn’t really do anything.” She yelled at him, flitting around him in a furious whirlwind and insulting him for his stupidity and poor character. “What he said, however, pissed me off,” Aeron continued.
“You don`t beat people up for something that stupid! Argh, you`re such a jerk Aeron, I shouldn`t even talk to you, I already figured that out earlier anyways, small minded bullies like you are just trouble and it would be easy to ignore you if you weren’t attacking my family!”
He looked at her askance. “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I hardly beat him up.” He muttered, “I don’t understand why you have such prejudice towards me. You should have remembered your past, should have remembered me.”
She looked confused at that and he shook it off. “Anyways, one little warning punch can`t really be considered a full assault in any realm besides human courts.” She growled again, more accusations and fists wildly flying at him.
“You liar! We saw you. You were holding a guy up by the collar!”
“We?” Aeron asked gently. “Who else was in this ‘we’ you mention.” She blushed and turned away, lips pursued against an answer. “Regardless, have you considered that there are other blond guys in this school that might be trying to beat someone up?” She looked blank so he added, “Like your beloved bro.” She scoffed, trying to push aside the possibility. “I punched your ‘brother’,” he held up finger quotes in the air,” because he wouldn’t stop attacking some guy.”
“My brother,” she said icily, “would never do that.” Cheeks fiery she exploded, “My brother has never hurt a fly!” She walked away then, “You rotten liar,” she huffed.
He was unruffled. “I can`t help who he is. Even our relatives get angry with other people, you know.” She growled, so he was inspired to elaborate. “It seems the victim was someone you accidentally kissed when falling down. Your brother wasn`t a fan of that.” His calm manner was infuriating beyond words, and she was accordingly silent for a few beats. She then stuck her tongue out at him and flounced away.
There were some others in the crowd, but they parted for her. Whispers spread through the school like wild fires, And it was clear that several had done the rounds on her. Some girls whispered and pointed at her hair, oohing and awing. Some boys chuckled and pointed at other, more prominent attributes, joking and sharing their ratings with friends. Such merriment was soon silenced, however. Some of the members of Aeron`s earlier bus riding gang retinue circulated through the crowd, whispering secrets behind their hands shielding their mouths from any lip readers in the crowd.
Those they talked to gasped in shock. They ran through the crowds themselves, sharing the news with the closest of their friends in complete secrecy. So, naturally, it spread like wild fire through the grounds, all of them looking with fear at those big three suspects; Aeron, Darien, and of course Alyss. The longing looks and jealous glances were now absent, fear and hatred more prevalent than before. Soon the rumors of Alyss`s good sense of style and her connection o that hateful boy intermingled, leaving the student body unsure of how they felt about her, but very sure that life would be easier for them all if she had never even moved up North in the first place from where she had come.
Whispers began among some of the most popular and influential students. “We can`t just all ignore her,” They agreed. “She, and them, would only give us so much more grief over that.” The others nodded in agreement.
She walked back to the courtyard, and started to run when she saw that her brother was walking away from it. “Wait!” she called. He turned around, and smiled when he caught sight of her. He caught her up in a big hug and assured her he was alright.
He then shooed her off again as Jackie came running into the courtyard, yammering about how worried she was, “Glad to see no one is super hurt. But Alyss get this, I heard on my way here about the celebratory bonfire coming up in honor of the boy`s lacrosse victory. “More importantly,” she confided, “one of the guys from the team is having a party at his place. I don`t know how he can afford to live in that place by himself, but it should be lots of fun!” Darien stared off after as she walked away. He smiled, and disappeared into the crowd that had almost magically appeared once all the violent currents had disappeared from the area. Jackie in turn leaned in close to ask if Alyss was okay in a whisper.
“Oh, no, it`s okay,” Alyss responded. “I’m still incredibly peeved right now but I need to focus on school right now and leave brooding for later. By the way it’s pretty cool you are still cool with me even though I seem to have become enemies with a wannabe mobster.”
“Ah well, I’m not a fan of that, but as long as I don’t end up in the middle of it, then I still want to be friends and help you start out here.” At the other girl’s promise to try to keep her fight against tyranny limited to just the person in question.”
Aeron was standing
