KNOCKOUT

IV: FOOTWORK

THE WAY A FIGHTER MOVES AND PLANTS THEIR FEET 

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WITH THE END OF WINTER BREAK comes the beginning of the spring semester at Carlton.

Zenon watches with no small amount of amusement as her cousins fight over a white convertible, affectionately dubbed, "the Viper," like it's the last meal on Earth and they're all starving.

"That's not fair!"

"What are you talking about?! You had it last time!"

"You had it for the entire last year!" Dion bellows.

"Because you lost a bet! I got it fair and square."

Doris snatches the keys. "We're taking it."

"Like hell you are!" Irene bares her teeth. She lunges for the keys, but Doris spins out of her reach. "Give. Me. The. Keys!" 

"Over my dead body!" Doris howls, dancing away. 

"Oh yeah?" Irene growls, advancing forward.

"Whoa, whoa," Hale says, forever the peacemaker, stepping in between Irene and the twins. "Guys, calm down, it's just a car." Then he pales, already realizing his mistake.

Zenon snickers. Now he's really done it—what an absolute idiot.

"Wait—wait! That's not what I meant! I—"

For the next few minutes, Hale's badgered down with shouts from both the twins and Irene about how the Viper isn't just a car. Zenon's pretty sure the words "moron," "idiot," and "fucking dumbass," were thrown around more than a few times.

If there's one thing Irene and the twins can bond over, it would be their unconditional love for the Viper. And ideally, the twins and Irene could share the Viper, but Irene would sooner slit her own throat than share anything with the twins.

A particularly cold breeze wafts by, and Zenon shivers a little. The sun's shining brightly from the sky. Entirely too cheery and therefore, inappropriate, for going back to school.

Irene and the twins continue arguing in the garage.

"Guys! Hurry up!" Zenon yells. "We're going to be late!"

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Hale announces, pulling a coin out of his pocket. "Heads, Irene gets the Porsche. Tails, Dion and Doris get it."

Both parties reluctantly agree, and Hale flips the coin high up in the air.

It lands heads.

"Ha!" Irene crows, plucking the keys out of Doris's limp hand. "See ya, suckers."

The twins glare at Hale as they shuffle in defeat towards the third car—like it's Hale's fault the coin landed heads.

Once they're all ready to go, Hale glances at Zenon wearily. Zenon raises a challenging eyebrow, almost daring him to make a comment about her ride.

Hale looks like he's about to, but then pauses, shakes his head, and climbs into the black Corvette.

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For a hundred and eighty days a year (two hundred and fifty-two, if you include weekends), Carlton is home to kids of politicians, CEOs, diplomats, celebrities, and sometimes, even rulers of foreign countries.

Aelius knows his uncle's an important man, but didn't realize exactly how important he was until he announced over winter break that Aelius and his sister would be attending Carlton —one of the hardest schools to get into in the entire country. He managed to convince the headmaster to admit Aelius and his sister in the middle of the school year.