Page 14 of Flagrant Foul
His target was Seth Bower. Seth was the worst one of the group, though he usually had the least to say. Heliked standing back and watching the carnage he caused. Laughing as he orchestrated misery for his own entertainment. He had a fucked-up thing for it, I think.
Sev reached for him as though he were reaching through one of my dreams. His movement was fluid. Decisive. Dangerous.
He took Seth by the throat. A big hand wrapped perilously around a neck that suddenly looked fragile, lifting him clear off his feet. Sev held him against the dented locker and gave him time to appreciate the situation he’d found himself in before starting to apply pressure.
“Think you’re a big man, huh?” Sev’s voice was different from usual. Raspy and raw. Alive with the promise of bad things.
It scared me, but I liked it.
He didn’t give Seth time to answer before he continued, broadening his address to include the two on the floor.
“This is the last time you talk to Teddy without something breaking. Something of yours. Something important. Something like a skull or a rib or a femur.” He stopped to take a breath, and when he exhaled, it came out with a low rumble. “I don’t care how many of your bones I have to break, but I promise if you bother my friend again, next time, I won’t be this nice. Got it?”
The two on the floor groaned and nodded. Seth couldn’t move his head and his face was going bright red and blotchy, but he blinked hard and moved his lips to form a pained whimper. Sev nudged one of the kids on the floor with his foot, and then the other, speaking to them in turn. “You don’t talktohim again…and you don’t talkabouthim.” He turned his attention back to Seth, getting right in his face, so close that Seth screwed his eyes shut when Sev spoke. “Andyou.” Sev raised his free hand and jabbed Seth’s forehead hard with his pointer, so he was in no doubt whatsoever who he was speaking to. “You don’t evenlookat him.”
Sev leaned in then, lips all but touching Seth’s ear, and whispered something inaudible before releasing him and watching dispassionately as he slithered onto the floor.
“You got everything you need, Tee?” he asked me.
I released the breath I was holding and plopped down to Earth, landing in a strange version of reality. A version where homework and books and being prepared for the next day still mattered. I unlocked my locker robotically, put away the things I didn’t need to take home, and closed it again.
Sev put an arm around me as we walked down the hall. That’s when I began to tremble.
He took me to the vending machine near the gym and bought me a Pepsi. I dropped my bag to the floor and sat down heavily, knees bent, back pressed against the wall. Sev cracked open my can for me and sat next to me as he handed me my drink.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
He was normal Sev again. Not the warrior. Not the wolf. Not even a fighter. He was a nice boy with obsidian eyes and a kind smile.
Seeing normal Sev’s normal smile made me start crying.
“I-it’s true,” I sobbed. “It’s true. The things they were saying about me. They’re all true.”
His expression didn’t change at all. Not even a flicker. There was no hint of surprise or disappointment. “You think that changes anything? It doesn’t.”
He put his can down next to him and turned his body toward me. He took my face in one hand and held my jaw, forcing me to look at him when I tried to look down. He drew a semi-circle under my eyes, wiping my tears away with a gentleness I didn’t know he possessed. It made me cry harder.
“Hey, don’t cry, Tee. This doesn’t change a thing. You’re the same person you’ve always been.” He wiped away a fresh sheet of tears caused by his words. Hisfingers were warm on my skin. His face was so close to mine I could feel his breath on my lips. “You’re my Bear. My Teddy Bear.”
“Am I still?”
“Of course you are,” he said without breaking eye contact. “Nothing could ever change that.”
When he said it, I believed him, and for the first time in months, I felt different. Light and free. Like I could breathe and exist without something bad happening. Safe. For the first time in months, I felt safe.
We talked for a while and sipped our drinks, and by the time the sugary concoction hit my veins, I felt a little better. Sev had his arm around me and my head was resting on his shoulder. He was saying all kinds of wonderful things about me, and at one point, he said, “If anyone messes with you again, don’t go to Nate, okay? Come to me about things like this in the future.”
He said it firmly, almost the same way he’d spoken to Seth and the others earlier. It made me feel dizzy. He turned his head to face me and whispered into my hair. “I’llmakethem stop.”
That made me feel dizzy too.
“What are you going to do?” I teased, caffeine, sucrose, and my proximity to Sev blending into a headycocktail that altered my mood. “Fuck up everyone who doesn’t like me?”
“I mean, yeah. Sure. Why not? I’ve got the time.”
A broken laugh left me. It started soft but quickly turned into a dry cackle. “I don’t think it’s really a matter of having the time, Sev. I think there are a few more important matters to consider.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, cocking a brow and giving me a wolfish grin.
