Flawed

Chapter 19

Connor had an ultra swollen black eye.  

Felix had punched him out of the blue, before storming off, leaving Connor wondering if his skull was cracked.  

Darci, who was unable to work due to her injuries, was at his side in a split second. "Are you alright? Did you provoke her?" 

"No!" Connor said, clutching his face. "I was literally going to ask her to demo the wall, and she hit me!" 

By then, everyone had surrounded him. Darci sighed. "I'll go see what's wrong with her, ask Dr. Charles for help." 

As if on cue, Dr. Charles pushed past Marin and Zane. "Woah man, what did you do to her?" 

"Nothing!" Connor said defensively. "She just punched me!" 

Dr. Charles began examining the already blackening bruise. "Marin, get me some ice. And make sure it's very cold, he'll melt it quickly." 

Marin left, heading towards the drink cooler. Dr. Charles turned back to Connor. "You're lucky she had a glove on. Otherwise your brain might be broken." 

"It already is." Connor muttered crankily.  

Dr. Charles chuckled. "I am so glad I took this job." 

Ru came running out, the sleeve of her jacket ripped. "GUYS! We have an emergency- oh what happened here?" 

"Connor got punched." the BWF's chorused.  

"Oh." Ru was unfazed, and continued to say what she had entered for. "Anyways, we have an emergency." She pointed to her sleeve. "I ripped this on a nail, and then I realized we don't have any spare clothes." 

She was right. All of their stuff had been turned to ashes in the fire. All they had was the clothes in the emergency packs they kept in the van. 

"Ok." Connor said. "Then let's just run to Salvation Army or Goodwill and pick up a few things." 

Ru and Remy gasped. Zane stared wide-eyed at his feet in irritation. Marin looked like she wanted to punch him in the other eye. Ollie looked up from her nails. "What are we talking about?" 

They all started talking at once. 

"We can't just walk into public as who we are when the FBI's after us!" Zane said.  

"How do you just 'pick up a few things' at Goodwill?" Ru yelled. 

Ollie sighed at her friend's over dramatic reactions. 

Marin growled. "I'm not going out when I have already been kidnapped and people will stare at this-" She pointed to the stitches on her face.

"Exactly!" Zane agreed. "People will notice a group of supermodel teens walking down the street!" 

Connor sighed, knowing they were right. "Ok. Then we'll split up. Not totally, just teams of two or three." 

As he waited for a response, Connor sighed internally. It was times like this that he knew he was the rookie, the outsider. Most of the BWF's had grown up together, but Connor had only been there for a week and counting. 

"That could work." Marin said. 

"And we can pick out our halloween costumes!" Ru said, energy radiating from her body.  

Ollie shrugged. "Cool, I want Re-" 

"Ollie and I are partners." Remy said, in a no-nonsense way. 

"Ooook." Zane turned to Connor. "I'm so glad I am no longer the only dude, because clothes shopping with them is a nightmare." 

"What was that?" Marin said with a scowl.

Zane put on a charming smile. "Nothing, Mar-Bear. Nothing at all." 

Marin rolled her eyes. 

Connor ignored them both, pressing the melting ice to his face. "Let's get going."