Hopelessly Broken

5. Punches

4.05.20

I saw his hands go up and my world went a shade of red. "Listen, man, I really don't want to fight," I stated, "but if you hit me, I will hit you back with no hesitation. This is a warning."

"You've got one!" Jack shouted before throwing his fist at me. I dodged it smoothly to the side with a lot of speed, but he had predicted my movements and gotten a good hit on my upper arm. The searing pain that I felt didn't come from the blow but the cheering from the crowd. I'm not the good guy in this fight as far as the student body was concerned. In fact, to everyone except for Blake I was public enemy number one.

I sighed lowly before pulling up my sleeves as if I was about to do something dirty. The teachers and everyone else here already hate me, why not give them a real reason by beating up the favorite. I darted into the fight with a replenished fire burning in my mind, and it seems that Jack really underestimated my skill. I hit him square in the nose to make up for my broken one, and when he looked at me again I couldn't help but smirk. Jack and I have always been locked in a slight power struggle with me as the proclaimed jackass bad boy and him as the likable school jock. Girls drooled over him and boys wanted to be him meanwhile I was supposedly a good place to find drugs. Of course, I don't actually sell drugs or really do anything that would peg me as mysterious other than wear black, but if Jack hates someone, they all do. Now that he had actually started a fight, I can prove that I shouldn't be messed with.

"You hit like a girl, Devon," Jack taunted through the blood that was pouring out of his nose. Does this boy actually have a death wish?

"Then I guess I girl can break your nose and make you fall onto the ground," I retorted before crouching so that I could get right into his face. "Let this be a record that whenever you hit me, I will hit you back."

"This isn't over yet." He grabbed onto my collar and hit my jaw so hard that I actually felt pain. No matter, I won't let him see that I was in any kind of pain from his blow.

I let out an animalistic growl before leaping onto him like a predator would to its prey. We fell onto the floor in a tangle of limbs, and unfortunately he landed on top. I felt a punch land on my throat, and I couldn't suppress the harsh coughing fit. His hand pulled my hair harshly, but I can't let him win. I have to prove myself!

I pushed off of my shoulders with a lot of force and flipped us over so that I was on top of him. I took my fist and slammed it into his eye so hard that he shouted in agony. Take that, bitch!

Suddenly, two strong arms began trying to pull me away from the brawl. I writhed to try and get free, but another pair of arms assisted the first. My eyes shifted slightly to see that Blake and the principal were holding me back from attacking again, and I reluctantly stopped my attempts to break free. My eyes narrowed at Blake, and I figured that my look told him exactly how betrayed I felt because he looked away when the principal began dragging me away from the conflict.

"Starting a fight; do I need to call your parents?" The principal asked insensitively. Eh, she hardly even knows me, and she strikes me as someone who doesn't really care about her students.

"I'd like to see you try," I challenged lowly.

"Fine. What is one of their phone numbers?"

"Neither has a phone... Actually, I wouldn't know if they did."

"Stop fooling around! Just tell me where I can call your parents!"

"I don't know my parents!" I shouted. What had started as just me messing around with the principal was making me pissed off.

"You could have said that!" she scolded back at me before punching in the number for the orphanage with an angry index finger. "You're going to tell them exactly what you did!"

"Hello?" A masculine voice answered from the other end of the phone. It was on speaker, so I couldn't bullshit my way out of this one. Before I could even consider speaking, the principal made a 'hurry up' hand motion, so I scowled at her.

"Hi, may I please be referred to Megan Whittsiker?" I asked. If I was gonna do this, I wasn't going to do this with the receptionist. He's a bit of a bitch, not going to lie.

"Please hold."

"Who the hell is Megan?" The principal seethed.

"My caregiver."

"Uh huh," she murmured without truly believing me.

"This is Megan," Megan declared from the other end of the phone. I heard a loud commotion on the other end of the line, so I knew that she was probably dealing with the troublesome 13 year old that was suspended last week.

"Meg," I responded.

"Devon. Why are you calling me from school?" Of course she would memorize the school's phone number.

"I got into a fight."

"You... A fight... I don't believe you."

The principal sighed before piping up from her chair, "Well you'd better find it in yourself somewhere, Ma'am. Please come to the school to talk with me in person."

"I guess I could ask for someone to take my place... I'll be there in 30. Please get the other student in there so we can both have the two sides of the story," Meg commanded before the line went dead.

The principal looked at me with a glare before asking, "Was anyone else involved other than you and Mr. Jackson?"

"No."

"Tell me your part of the story right now."

"I am waiting for my caregiver."

"Tell me right now or there will be consequences."

"No."

"Miss Garrison, there is a kid here to see you," a voice proclaimed over the loud speaker.

"Go sit in the main area," Ms. Garrison commanded angrily.

I emerged from the den and sat in one of the hard plastic chairs in the lobby. Suddenly, I came off of my adrenaline high, so I felt a sharp pain in my jaw and neck.

"Excuse me, c-can I p-p-please use t-the bathroom?" I stuttered through the pain at the receptionist before going into a major coughing fit.

"You can, but don't be too long or I'll send someone after you," she replied before going back to work. I exited the room, and I was immediately glad that the bell had rung because no one was there to see me in pain.

I slammed open the bathroom door before staggering over to the sink to see two more bruises forming on my face and throat. I have to admit, he hits pretty hard when he wants to. I ran the cold water until my hands were freezing before pressing them hesitantly against the bruising skin on my neck. I coughed violently at the slightest pressure, and I wondered if I should probably go see the school nurse.

Screw it, I need to go see the nurse to make sure I'm okay.

I'm sorry for my sort of long break, but something took my motivation down enough that it took me this long to regain it. Point is, I'm back biotches.