Silver Bound Girl

Chapter 34

            Willow dropped down beside Rune, her back once again against her locker. He sat with his knees bent, his feet planted on the floor, and with a smile on his face. “I don’t know how you move after your lunches. I’ve never seen anyone put away as much food as you do and still remain relatively normal sized.”

            Her eyebrows went up. “Relatively normal sized? If you weren’t injured already, I’d hit you.”

            Rune laughed. “Face it, you’re a giant. I mean, I’m tall-ish for a guy, and you’re the same height as me, making you twice as abnormal.”

            Willow shook her head, her lips twitching. “You really want me to hit you, don’t you?”

            “You wouldn’t hit delicate little me, would you?” he asked in a falsetto, fluttering his eyelashes at her.

            That had her chuckling. A pair of feet stopping in front of them had them both craning their necks back to see the face that belonged to them. Willow frowned, recognizing the too-bright brown eyes that lay under heavy brows. “Nathan,” she said, shoving herself to her feet using the locker. “What’s up?”

            “You’re alright?” her cousin asked.

            She frowned as Rune clambered to his feet beside her. “Yes. Now seriously, what’s going on?”

            Nathan glanced at Rune until Willow gave him a little nod. “I got jumped. I swear, it wasn’t my fault! I didn’t know he was there until I was halfway across the parking lot. I should have been paying more attention but… Unfortunately, he surprised me.”

            Willow winced. “How bad is he?”

            “He’ll be fine eventually. I didn’t break anything on him, but he’ll have some deep bruises in his soft tissues. I wasn’t able to hold back on the first two blows. I was careful that I threw him into the grass instead of onto the pavement. Though I’m pretty sure that knocked what little wind was left in him out.”

            “Who was it?”

            Nathan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You remember that asshole from the other day? Walter?”

            Willow’s whole body froze, except for her hands, which slowly curled into fists. Rune jerked his head to stare at her, eyes widening momentarily before he put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine,” he said.

            She shook her head and glared at him. “I told you that I should have dealt with him when I had the chance.”

            Nathan looked at his cousin then at Rune, putting the two together and paling slightly at the result. “Damn! Willow, drop it. Trust me, given what I did to him, he won’t be even looking wrong at anyone. If he’s not black and purple with bruises, then I clearly need to join Andre’s kids’ class again.”

            “There, see?” Rune said, squeezing her shoulder. “Justice was served through completely justified self-defence. No one can get in trouble. No court would convict someone trained in martial arts for doing what they’d trained to do when attacked. Especially when it’s his second attack.”

            “Exactly. And I still need your help in figuring out what to do next. I can’t have you fighting my battles, not if I want to survive high school once you leave. Or really, when you’re not around.”

            Willow let out her breath in a growl. “Fine. Fine. I’ll drop it. For now. And really Nathan, if anyone hurts you, Carol’ll chop them up into tiny bits.”

            Rune frowned, but released his grip on Willow. “Carol’s that crazy cousin of yours who wanted to help with the fight with Lance, right?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Are all the females in your family blood-thirsty or something?”

            Nathan snorted. “Almost all of them are. Luckily there are always fewer of them than there are boys, or we’d be overrun.”

            Willow raised her eyebrows, feeling the last of her anger melt away. “You know I have no problems hitting you, right? Rune’s injured so he’s got a temporary pass. You have no excuse.”

            Rune chuckled. “I see what you mean.”

            She turned her bazooka look on Rune, until Nathan coughed to get her attention. “I’d still like some advice on what to do from here. You’re the best at figuring out stuff like that.”

            Willow rolled her eyes. “And you’re second best at it.” Seeing his look, she sighed. “Fine. For now, make sure you’re not alone. You can leave off until Walter’s back to normal, but to be sure, I’d start from now. Then, once he’s frustrated, and you’ll know since he’ll probably watch you, he’s that type, you can give him an opening. But make it into a trap, where he’ll get caught by the teachers or other authorities, for attacking you. But that’s only if he becomes obsessed with revenge. He might just avoid you and try and pretend both that you don’t exist, and that none of this ever happened. Depends on what kind of pride he has.”

            Nathan smiled. “Thanks, Willow. Uncle Allistair’s put me into the same kind of lessons, but I’m just not as good as applying them to real life as you are.”

            Rune looked between the two of them, face alight with curiosity. Willow ignored him as best she could, giving Nathan a look she hoped told him to stop talking. He seemed to get it, snapping his mouth closed, and flushing slightly. “Well then, I’ll see you later,” he said, hurrying away with a half wave.

            Willow sighed inwardly, turning a smile on Rune. “So,” she said, hoping he’d forget or at least ignore what he’d just heard. “So, you still up for bowling on Saturday?”