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Chapter Six

So many thoughts had been running through my head. The main thought was the fact that Lukas had become my friend. I had made my first friend. I didn't try to stop the warm feeling filling my stomach as I sighed in relief, blushing softly when I remembered our light-hearted conversations. I don't think anything can ruin my day. Not even Ryan or Linda. I smiled to myself as I walked down the halls to my locker.

Today, I will be unbreakable.

As soon as the word ran through my head, I had been shoved into the lockers to my right by a brute force. My smile barely lifted off, and I felt the handcuffs encased around my wrists dig into my skin when I tried summoning a weapon on instinct. The loud bang of my body against the metal lockers attracted attention, and groups of eyes turned to watch the new arising commotion. Ryan glared at me menacingly as I smiled back, hugging my books tightly.

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face, hybrid," he spat in disgust.

"Good morning to you too, Ryan," I greeted kindly. "What's got you in such a bad mood?"

"Again, it's that stupid fucking smile."

I almost had to hold in my eye-rolling at his pitiful excuse. To be so worked up by someone's happiness— how selfish and amazingly idiotic! Before I could stop myself, my mouth opened up to retort. "It must be so much work to be annoyed by someone's once-in-a-lifetime happiness," I replied with an innocent tone, smiling sweetly in his direction. His eye twitched. "Don't go about being so moody."

My smile disappeared when I saw a glowing spear aiming towards the direction of my stomach. What? He's actually trying to kill me? Its path was obstructed by a sudden blue forcefield appearing around me. My eyes widened at the glowing blue orb.

Someone else is jumping in... to protect me.

The color of the forcefield was unfamiliar to me, and the spear pierced into the opaque glass, cracking it lightly. I heard someone gagging, as if also struck by the spear itself. I looked around, my gaze searching the crowd. I saw a boy clutching his stomach with his right arm, his other one glowing a bright baby blue. I've seen him around before. He always watched whenever I was confronted by Ryan. He never really did anything. Why now?

Both the spear and the shield disappeared, and the boy dropped to his knees, coughing vigorously. I immediately ran up towards him, my eyes wide and my mind running with worry. He's one of the lower tiers in our school, so he couldn't stand up to Ryan's semi-high tier attribute. Everyone backed away from me as I stood on my knees, my hands on the boy's back, trying to help him breathe properly as he continued with his coughing fit.

Ryan's eyes glazed upon us, and I looked over my shoulder to look back at him. His eyes terrified me with their intense stare. "You're both low pieces of trash. Stay down where you belong, scum."

He walked off, as did others, completely uninterested now that the pursuer had left. The boy in front of me began to calm down, and I pulled out my unopened water bottle, handing to him as he clutched his throat. His eyes flashed with confusion.

"Please drink the water," I pleaded, worry consuming me. "Your coughing is too heavy, so I'm afraid that you might be sick and need water. And besides, you protected me from one of Ryan's most violent attacks."

The boy did as told, and I ushered him beside the lockers so that he wouldn't block anyone's path as they headed to their classes, waiting for the bell to ring. After a few minutes, I managed to be able to help him. I stood up, brushing off the dust on my leggings. Oh crap. We're both late to our classes. I ran a hand through my messy brown locks and looked over at the boy, who had followed suit and stood on his own two feet. Turning to him, he looked down at me and I smiled.

"Thank you so much for saving me," I said gratefully, bowing slightly. "I don't think I have ever seen someone so brave as to doing that."

"N-No problem," the boy responded in a stutter. He put his hand out. "My name is Dexter. It's nice to finally talk to you after so long."

I shook his hand. "Meredith."

"You're quite popular and powerful. It intimidates me, to be completely honest with you," Dexter commented, looking down at me with a quirky smile. "How come you don't defend yourself when you have so many attributes to choose from?"

"Ah, these stupid handcuffs keep me from using my attributes," I replied, putting my hands up to show him the silver rings around my wrists. "They tighten whenever I try to use my attributes." I looked up at him, seeing his eyes staring intently at the handcuffs. "It's not a big deal though. I can deal with the beatings."

"Ah, I see."

That was all he said for a while. After a moment or two, he looked into my eyes and smiled.

"I guess we should go, since we're already late to our classes," Dexter suggested.

I nodded. "Agreed."

As he turned around, he glanced over his shoulder and saluted, walking down the empty halls. "Maybe I'll see you later sometime today!" I nodded again. "Goodbye, Miss Meredith."

I waved him off silently. As his footsteps became silent and were no more, my heart dropped.

It's different.

I stayed in my spot for a while, frowning slightly upon Dexter's last words before he went speeding towards his class. Why? I didn't feel the same rush in my heart as I did in my head when questions swarmed me like a bee colony searching for a hive. My cheeks didn't prick with a blushing heat, and I frowned once more.

When he says "Miss Meredith", it's.. different from him.

From Lukas.