Raider Red

Chapter 4: Suffering for Loyalty

To anyone looking, Victoria seemed to be paying more attention to the math lecture than anyone else. In reality, she was watching her classmates. She had this class with Raf, Miko, and Vince.

Miko was texting someone (probably Jack), Raf looked to be doing his homework, and Vince was throwing paper balls to a girl with a spiky ponytail, who was ignoring him.

The doorhandle shook for a second and every head in the class turned to glance at it right before it swung open and two men stepped inside. One of them was the Principal and the other wore an emotionless facade over his face, so Victoria quickly assumed that he was one of the MECH agents.

The principal glanced at the man nervously before looking around the classroom. "Mr. McCallister, could I burrow the football players in your class?"

Mr. McCallister nodded. "Go ahead, just make sure they come back to see me if class is over before they get back."

Vince and one of his friends headed for the door, shooting each other shrugs. They clearly didn't know what was going on.

Then the two boys and two men disappeared back into the hallway with a small click as the door swung shut. Class returned to normal, as if nothing had even happened.

Victoria narrowed her eyes.

Silas's plan was rather rude. Incredibly well-thought out and effective, but rude.

When lunch rolled around, Victoria found herself wondering whether Silas wanted it done before or after school. She glanced at Vince's table, where the football team was huddling together, suspiciously quiet.

One of them caught her gaze and spoke up, resulting in every one of them turning to glance at her. They quickly looked back down and the whispering grew more frenzied.

Victoria went over to Raf, who was sitting alone and she sat down.

"So where is Miko and Jack?" She questioned.

He smiled. "They have a different lunch period. Jasper is a small school, so they don't have enough room for all the kids in this tiny cafeteria. Of course, the population is pretty small too, but they haven't had the money to make renovations in almost 50 years."

"Wow, so this place is pretty old." Victoria tilted her head. "How long has your family been in Jasper?"

"I don't know, actually." Raf shrugged. "My parents don't talk much about their past. Jasper seems like it attracts a lot of people who don't want to be found, my family included."

Victoria nodded. "It is off the radar."

She glanced toward the hallway and stood up. "Hey, I'll be right back. Bathroom break."

Raf nodded. "Kay."

Victoria gave him one last smile before making her way out of the public section and into the hallway, which was rather deserted. Small whispers came from behind her, but Victoria ignored them.

They were coming.

She slipped outside and out of view, ensuring that they were completely alone before Vince and his crew came through the doors.

Victoria turned around in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Vince smirked. "You didn't think you could embarrass me like that and get away with it, did you?"

Victoria crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't learn your lesson last time? Those bruises on your face should be lesson enough."

Vince stepped forward angrily. "I gave you everything. Why'd you screw it up?"