“I think your father’s idea has many merits. A person must know how to defend themselves. Given how you have a penchant to end up in fights, it would be prudent to learn how to fight back.” Gerald says after we exit the restaurant, he took me out to for celebrating winning the hearing.It still feels so bizarre to me, because I honestly didn’t expect for the Dean and the school board to take my side in the hearing. I’ve never had that happen to me before. Usually, I would be the one getting the short end of the stick, but this time, I won. I won over Stone and his goons, and I won’t have to be paranoid and watch over my shoulder every time I enter campus grounds again.However, my victory came with consequences. I did not miss the pure venomous glare I was shot by Stone’s father the last time I caught sight of him. His gaze promised retribution for what I’d done to his son, and I have a feeling that I’d made a powerful enemy.Which is yet another reason to consider my father’s advice.
I stand frozen at the door, staring at him. He’s attacking his opponent with all his might, not even noticing me. His opponent tries to match his strikes, but Aiden is faster and more powerful. He dodges the other man’s punches masterfully and strikes like a cobra, targeting his most critical places. His expression is single-focused and dangerous, and his unyielding. He looks like he means business, and failure is not a word in his vocabulary.Suddenly, how this man managed to overpower Coraline makes much more sense.What rotten luck do I have to wind up in the same boxing club as freaking Aiden was? Seriously, what the hell?I want to turn and run. Choose another club, reviews, and five stars be damned. But what reason can I give Brennan for turning tail? That I’m intimidated by one of the members of the club? How absurd and humiliating will that be?No that won’t do. I am going to have to see this through until the end. And I’m going to face whatever happens like a man, dammit. I’m
That night as I do my homework, I cannot help but mull over the words of both Brannan as well as the hospital staff.I’ve never thought of my health much. I got as sick as regular children did and got into the same scrapes as they did. I never gave much thought about how my bruises would fade away so quickly, or about how I never spent a day in the hospital except for a broken limb. Even then, I’ve only had my limbs broken twice, both by accidents. I remember now how the doctors remarked about how quickly I healed and called me a good boy for taking care of myself enough to accelerate the healing process. Back then I absorbed the praise as if it was precious but did not think about it further. My mother, when she was alive, never seemed fazed about this. Like me, she was quick to heal.I ponder more about what Brennan said than the doctors did. I thought I was a lousy fighter and a terrible klutz because according to all my past experiences I was. I always came home with bruised knees
For a while, things settled down.After Stone and his goons were expelled, his father made some noise around, even going as far as to publish his rants in the local newspapers, but no one took to them. He certainly did not garner the attention he thought he would, and I have reasons to believe that the university was behind it. Stone did not come after me personally as I thought he would, none of his goons did either. After the expulsion, the rest of his gang avoided me at all costs. It was surreal walking into the campus without the threat of harassment hanging in the air. Through the gossip chain of the university, I heard that Kayla broke up with her boyfriend as well. But that was not my issue.On the downside, the university board figured out who my father was. They tried to approach me about him, to get him more roped into the activities of the university, but I refused. And so did my father, as he knew that I wanted my college life to be separate from him. I did not want to ent
Coraline instantly gets up from her seat and embraces me.“I’m sorry, Jace,” she says, squeezing me.I let her friendly warmth comfort me and wrap my arms around her. I do not like the fact that my mother’s death makes me feel so out of depth. I feel like I’m weak for still getting this emotional over it after so many years. The rational part of my brain understands that losing a parent, especially a parent who entirely raised you is going to be hard, and that kind of wound cannot be healed easily. But the smaller, illogically macho part of me that still reels over the fact Stone managed to send me to the hospital urges me to man up and bottle all my feelings inside. It’s a constant battle to not give into that voice because I’m well-read enough to know bottling up feeling ultimately leads to a nasty climax. So, I force away those feelings and focus on the present, on the tickle of Coraline’s hair on my cheeks, and the pleasant smell of her body wash that still drifts.“It’s alright,”
The paramedics who arrived at the scene manage to stabilize her a bit after asking me and the waiter who served us a rapid slew of questions, and immediately puts her on a stretcher and leads her into the ambulance.“Is she going to be, okay? What happened?” I demand, feeling my heart racing in my chest “where are you taking her?!”The woman EMT of the pair that came from the ambulance turns to me, holding her hands up. “Sir, you need to calm down. Your friend just had a severe allergic reaction to a spice present in the sauce of the pizza topping she ordered, which is why we took samples of the food to determine what exactly she had a reaction to. We need to take her to the hospital to treat her further.”“I’m coming with you,” I tell her.“Alright, you can follow us. We’re taking her to Clandestine General Hospital. However, you better notify and come with her family.”“Yes, yes, of course. I will be there, and I’ll call her parents.”“Of course, sir, we have to go now.”The EMTs ge
Coraline got released a day later from the hospital. She was extremely disturbed to learn about the situation with her life insurance, as she had not even been aware of something like that happening.“He must’ve forged my signature,” she utters in horror, sitting on her hospital bed as doctors fussed around, making sure she was ready to be released, “I do not have any sort of memory about altering my life insurance policy.”“You know, that is a crime, right?” I ask her, “you need to take this to the police, Coraline.”She nods mutely, “I’m afraid I must. But first, I need to talk to him.”And she looked so damned terrified at the idea that I wanted to find Aiden and strangle him for what he did to her. I could understand her hesitance, but as long as she was afraid of him, he would get the power to control her life even without being her boyfriend. I can’t even imagine how he managed to forge the documents and alter her life insurance without anyone noticing. I have a suspicion that h
The incident at the club has me shaken, and Coraline fumes throughout our meeting. We don’t really get any work done as we sit around the table back at my office. She is adamant about pursuing him once again, and I try my best to change her mind.“Get a lawyer and take him to court,” I tell her, “You saw how demeaning he was. He brushed you off without even thinking. Do you honestly think that he would listen to you again?”“He has to. This is illegal!”“And he somehow managed to do it in the first place.” I point out, followed by a sigh. “Look, Coraline, I understand you not wanting to have law enforcement entangled in this. It will become much more complicated.”“I’ve never gotten a police record in my life,” Coraline whispers, “I just don’t want my name to be tarnished like that.”“There won’t be any tarnishing, because you’re not the criminal here. You’re the victim.” I soften my voice, “and no matter what happens, you’ll have my support. Zelt Tech got some pretty good lawyers. We