Page 59 of Mistaken Prejudice

His eyes darted to the side, where Andrei was playing, before they returned to me. I was more alerted by his reaction than by the fact he knew exactly where Andrei was when he grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull out of his hold, but he only tightened his grip.

“What the hell, Shay-Lee? Let go,” I urged him.

“You let that mutt defile you?” he rasped through gritted teeth. I looked away from the hand holding me to find his icy eyes that bored into me with what I could only explain as wrath. Pure, menacing, dangerous rage I’d never seen on him before that made me scared. Really and truly, scared. So much that I didn’t even care what he just said. All I wanted was to get away from him. I didn’t even notice how hard his hand gripped me until Andrei forced him to let go. Andrei.

I snapped my eyes away from Shay-Lee to find Andrei beside us. Jaw clenched and gaze set with a threat on my best friend.

“Don’t fucking touch him.” Andrei’s voice dripped with danger. I’d never seen Andrei look so angry, but then again, I’d never seen my best friend act like this before, either.

“Are you okay, Miles?” Andrei asked as he bent before me, turning his back to Shay-Lee. I wanted to respond when a movement behind him caught my eye.

“You son of a bitch,” Shay-Lee barked at Andrei as he attempted to rise off the floor, probably to jump him. But before he did, Diesel kicked him to the ground in a move that looked like it was taken out of a movie. Shay-Lee’s back hitting the wooden floor echoed around the gym and I looked with shock as Diesel stood over him, pinning him down with his shoe pressed against his rising chest. I had no idea where Diesel came from. Considering he was dressed in black cargo, an oversized shirt, and a hat that covered his hair and shaded his eyes, I doubted he practiced volleyball.

“Nah-ah.” Diesel clicked his tongue as he pressed his shoe harder against Shay-Lee’s chest. “You stay put, perra.” Bitch. Shay-Lee’s eyes darkened with rage, which only made the smile on Diesel’s face grow wider. “Jumping a guy from behind is a bitch thing to do, Princesa. I expected a pussy like yourself to be classier than that.”

“I’ll kill you—ugh.” Shay-Lee gasped as Diesel moved his shoe higher on his chest until it prevented him from moving and probably blocked his airways.

“Yes, bitch, choke for daddy,” he snarled out with sickening joy at the sound of Shay-Lee’s gagging.

“You fucker!” Don charged at Diesel and knocked him off Shay-Lee, who turned around while coughing and gasping for air.

“For fuck’s sake,” Andrei cursed before letting go of my bruised wrist and going over to block Lin from joining his twin. I didn’t even notice when Jessie and Levi joined the fight, but they did. And for the second time this year, I found myself in the middle of a school fight. Only this time, I had my side picked.

***

Once again, we were thrown in detention. As we took one side of the classroom, Shay-Lee and his team of gorillas took over the other. And while they kept throwing snarls and curses at us that weren’t even worth repeating, Shay-Lee sat in the center of them in complete silence. A whole hour passed without him moving a muscle. Nothing but a blank expression as he stared at the whiteboard. Something was off with him, and despite how mad I was, it worried me.

“Levi, do you think we’ll still have time to stop for burgers after?” Jessie whispered, quite loudly, in Levi’s ear. Today his hair was dyed platinum white, and I loved it.

“Yeah, we’ll stop and grab some on the way home.”

“Sweet,” Jessie cheered, and I noticed the black eye he received from Lin. Jackass.

The door to the classroom opened, and Mrs. Morrison walked in, dressed in a light pink suit and a white blouse. Her blond hair was loose over her shoulders, and her makeup was on point. She always tried to look younger than her age. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. Today was one of those times it did.

“Mr. Rogers and the rest of the team. Peel your asses off my chairs and go to the football field. Your coach is waiting for you.”

Shay-Lee jumped out of the chair so fast that the wooden furniture jerked back and hit the floor with a loud thump. He was out of the classroom before Mrs. Morrison could even say a word. As Don, Lin, Ty, and Aron ran after him, Jordan lingered behind for a bit. He grabbed the bag Shay-Lee left behind and gave us all an apologetic look before stepping out of the class. And even though I had no explanation for it, I didn’t miss how he stared longer at Jessie.

I was always clueless about what Jordan did around guys like them. I wasn’t talking about Shay-Lee but the twins. They were mean scumbags who got away with everything thanks to their rich daddy. Their father was this big shark, the type of shark you owed favors to, so they were practically untouchable. Unlike them, Jordan was a good guy, yet he stuck to them like glue.

“I was talking to you too, Mr. Williams Dufort.” Mrs. Morrison’s unempathetic voice beamed me out of my thoughts and brought me back to the almost empty classroom. “I would like to have a word with Mr. Bespalov and his friends,” she declared, and I didn’t miss the vicious way her eyes landed on the four of them.

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather stay and listen,” I insisted. Whatever she was about to say, I was ready to hear it too.

“Very well then,” she said as she gave the teacher in the room, Mr. Rosland, one look that made him leave the class.

“I thought I made myself very clear on your first day here, Mr. Bespalov.” She spoke as soon as the door closed behind Mr. Rosland. “And yet, here we are again.” She crossed her arms over her silicone balloons. “Not even two months have passed since the beginning of the school year, and the four of you caused turmoil for the second time.”

“They didn’t start it.” I burst into her words as anger overtook me. “Not then and not today.”

“I did not ask you to interfere, Mr. Williams Dufort,” she snarled at me, her eyes cold enough to sink the Titanic.

“I’m not interfering. I’m stating facts. Shay-Lee was the one who started it.”

“Mr. Rogers will be dealt with accordingly.” She rested her hips against the wooden table. “And now, about the four of you.” She paused and looked at each of them before continuing, “One more disciplinary problem, and I’ll have you expelled from my school. And by that, I mean one absence, one lateness, one word out of place, and the four of you will be out of here before you can blow your noses. I will not tolerate your crap. Is that clear?”

Her words appalled me. How did she allow herself to speak like that to her students? Their silent acceptance of what she had just said was even more shocking. At most, I expected Diesel to at least say something, but no. He sat in silence, in his seat behind Jessie, and stared at his palms. They all did.