Moving Forward

The Buzz around School

Nathan's P.O.V.

I heard some kids talking about something called the 'Friday Fall' in some of my classes this morning." I told the guys during lunch. "I haven't been able to find out what it is, but it has several of the students scared."

"I heard it too." Silas supported me. "That Greg kid has something to do with it. No one has said anything about what it is; they are just warning others that it is going to happen sometime today."

"Keep your ears open." Kota ordered. "We need to learn what it is and see if we need to step in."

"Should we tell Shan and Foxy?" Gabe asked, sounding worried.

"I just messaged them." Marc tucked his phone back in his pocket. "I have Corey going through school records to see if he can find anything about it in the files."

"That isn't going to be much help if it is supposed to happen today." I frowned at him. "That is a lot of files to go through."

"We can only watch and report." Kota reminded us. "We only step in when we can help and not create more problems.

"Kota and I will remain at the school to keep an eye out." Marc informed us. "Text one of us if you learn what it is." Kota nodded in agreement to Marc's order.

We hadn't even started to change into our gym clothes for last hour when the Fire Alarm started blaring. At the same time, our phones started shocking us. North and Gabriel were in trouble. We had no choice; we slipped out of the locker room and headed out to help our brothers.

"By the time we reached the second floor, Kota and Mark were already there. It was a mass of bodies, fists swinging and chokeholds. Shit, I understood now why Judo wouldn't work here. A group of guys was trying to drag North and Gabe to the balcony railing, attempting to lift them over it. Holy shit, they were going to throw them over it to the floor below. A girl appeared out the crowd and started swinging and kicking. She fought dirty, going for the balls and the throat. She was enough of a distraction for North and Gabe to get free and to start fighting back. Her bony fists and sharp-toed boots were doing damage wherever they landed. We waded in to protect our brothers' backs, careful to avoid the girl. No way in hell did we want her to mistake us for one of the bullies. Silas and I worked as a team. We would grab a guy on each side and toss him into a group of his friends, causing them to fall into a tangled mess. We didn't care. They attacked our friends. They were lucky we didn't do worse. Gabe started screaming when the girl went over the railing in his place. Everyone froze as we watched her fall. She shifted her body and landed on her feet as she tucked herself into a ball, rolling to lessen the momentum. She stood and headed for the steps to return to the fight, the football team following her. By the time Shan and Foxy ended the fight, the girl was gone. We were directed into a classroom, told to sit and not move a muscle. Hendricks and the Football Coach stormed in and started ranting, issuing orders and getting nowhere. Shan got into their faces and told them the way it was going to be, refusing to be bullied. I was glad I wasn't the one Shan was mad at. He was scary.

Mr. Blackbourne canceled our pool party/sleepover for Saturday. He decided we would spend the day touring museums. We weren't interested, well, except for Kota. We tried to get Foxy and Shan to get us out of it, but they refused. They said it was a Family/Team matter; we needed to work it out among ourselves. Gabe decided he was too sore for all the walking. Silas had to help his dad on an emergency job. Suddenly Uncle needed North to work at the Diner while he went to some meeting. Kota and I had no excuse. Around lunchtime, Tilly called raising hell. My guests had arrived and I had prepared nothing. She demanded that I return home immediately to entertain my guests. Since Kota had driven us to meet Mr. Blackbourne and Doc, we left them and headed to my house. I had forgotten that I had invited the Toma Team to join us in the aftermath of the fight at school and Mr. Blackbourne's plans for us. We arrived at my house to find the rest of our team there, so much for being too busy or too sore to go to the museum.

We swam for a few hours, than helped Tilly prepare a late lunch. North grilled burgers and Brawts while Marc helped Tilly make salads and other side dishes. The rest of us gathered tableware and drinks. We were starving. There was one brawts left, Raven and Silas were arguing over who was going to eat it. Tilly scarfed it down before they noticed and we laughed at them. Teach them to take their eye off the food. While we were relaxing and letting our food settle before more swimming, I sent a text to Mr. Blackbourne and explained what happened. While it wasn't his place to cancel my plans or any of ours. I made a mistake by not telling him I had guests coming over that I invited and couldn't attend the museum. I should have told him that I would visit the museums with him another day and convinced him and Doc to join us. I had invited them both when we made the plans originally, but he refused the invitation. I repeated the invitation. We planned to swim some more, order pizzas for dinner and watch movies. Maybe play some games. It would be nice if they joined us.

Colt's P.O.V.

Sven had a meeting in Virginia and James had to return to Charleston, so, I took the kids to the line shack for the weekend. We went by horseback, giving the boys some practice in trail riding. After all the work they had put into the Haunted House and farm, they deserved a break. They would be working their rears off soon enough, getting everything needed for Thanksgiving. They had families that their team were sponsoring, charity work their schools were involved and than the ones their sororities handled. While the turkeys were ordered, they had to gather the rest of the things for the meals. Not to forget their classes, their mission and all the pies they needed to bake two days before Thanksgiving, then the massive delivery to all the families and the coming guests.

The ride was five miles through the woods, parallel to the hiking trails. The leaves had already turned color and most had fallen, crackling with each clop of the horses' hooves. The breeze was cold, but gentle as we rode. The sun peeked through the bare branches as I led the way. I could feel my shoulders relax as I rode; my tension eased. Hell, I needed a break as much as they did.

We needed the Toma Team to begin their training for lead team. Sven had intended to return to the team full time now that Chel was older, but he needed to fulfill his council duties with his grandfather being ill. Once we had the Toma Team trained, Shan, Foxy and myself would take seats on the High Council as Bjorn had intended. That would be six members. Chel had already started her training and attended all meetings. We just needed to start Luke and Victor's training. Thankfully, James had accepted one of the seats last spring. We had a decision to make. The South Carolina chapter was a wreck. Someone took advantage of the High Council's distraction. Three of our top Elders were murdered, our teams were ordered to commit crimes, several of our teams were being cheated out of money they earned and had their records falsified. Once we had the mess cleaned up we would have to decide if it was worthwhile to keep the chapter open. If we decided in favor, there would be heads rolling. Any chapter that treated the female members like hookers and the males like servants deserved to feel my boot shoved up their ass. Our goal was to help others attain a better life through better education and hard work, not have them end up in prison. That is why we agreed to do the Ashley Waters job. The students there deserved a better education, to attend school safely. Nor should they have to put up with a building falling down around their ears because their principal had sticky fingers and thought he deserved the school's money. While not everyone was suitable Academy material, it didn't make them worth less.