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Yes we're here. Yes we're alive. Will we tell you why we were gone for so long? Maybe later. Just read the chapter! Thanks.

Disclaimer: We do not own Jessie

Chapter 8: Pools of Topaz

Alright, so far he hasn't combusted yet.

Ravi has been seated in his first period Advanced Geometry class for a whole ten minutes without him having an anxiety/panic attack, without him drawing negative attention to himself (or any attention at all), and without him completely embarrassing himself. All he has to do is make it through the next 30 minutes without anything bad happening.

Ravi isn't going to lie. He drew a bit of attention to himself when he walked through the door. It would probably be impossible for people to just completely ignore him at this point. But the less attention the better. Before he stepped into the classroom, the other students were scattered around talking, laughing, catching up on homework, or sleeping on their desk. But once Ravi walked in a noticeable silence filled the room for a moment as all eyes suddenly landed on him.

It was very uncomfortable, and nearly caused Ravi to turn around and run out of the room. But just as quickly as the silence came, it was gone, and the students went back to doing whatever they were doing before. At this, Ravi sighed in relief. He took a seat towards the back of the room as the bell rang and his teacher walked in.

And he can successfully say that he was able to go ten minutes without any issues.

But of course, all good things must come to an end.

"Alright," Mrs. Palmer, Ravi's 50 something year old Math teacher, addresses the class once she finishes her short lesson. "For the remainder of class I want you to work on the questions at the end of this chapter with the person next to you." Her words are met with a couple of grunts and plenty of smirking faces. "This will be graded so don't try slacking off on this." A chorus of groans fills the air as Mrs. Palmer smirks, feeling like she won a battle.

A battle that Ravi seemingly lost.

Ravi looks around in panic as each student pairs up with the person sitting next to them, getting to work on the assignment. He didn't even consider the possibility of group work amongst his peers. He was hoping he would be able to get through the school day with as little human interaction as possible.

He sinks into his seat as reality of the situation dawns on him.

He's not sure how much time passes. Seconds, minutes, years. But the longer Ravi sits there while all the other students busy themselves with the assignment, the faster Ravi's heart beat seems to get and the hotter the temperature in the room seems to be. His eyes widen, as the familiarity of a panic/anxiety attack builds up in him. He looks to the front of the room. Two girls are laughing at something as they work. Are they laughing at him and his inability to socialize with anyone? Of course they're laughing at you! a voice in his head yells. He looks around. Someone else glances at him but goes back to solving the geometry equations. What is she thinking? Is she mentally judging him? She probably thinks you're pathetic for sitting there alone like a waste of space. The voice! There it is again! When did Ravi start hearing these voices?

A thought dawns on Ravi. What if he's unable to find someone to do the assignment with? What if nobody bothers to pair up with him, or what if his inability to do anything right cause him to sit for the next 30 minutes with nothing to do but succumb to the inner darkness within him? What if he's never able to do group work for the rest of the year? What if he's unable to participate in school at all? In society in fact? His body starts to shake and he feels his throat closing like he's suffocating. His mind is spinning and he suddenly starts to see small black dots in his vision. He feels lightheaded, like he might pass out. The walls feel like they're closing in—

"Hey."

As if a switch was flipped to Off, everything stops. Ravi's heartbeat slows to a manageable pace. He stops shaking and the black dots dancing in his vision disappear. The walls snap back to their original position and the temperature in the room goes back to normal.

It's as though the voice that spoke served as a distraction from Ravi's panic/anxiety.

Ravi suddenly remembers his motor skills as he turns his head to look at the source of the voice. It's the girl sitting next to him. Dana Ramon. He recognizes her from some other classes they had together. They've basically been in some of the same classes since 7th grade. Ravi's never had the chance to talk to her, nor the incitement or the willpower. They're barely in the same league anyway.

Dana is one of those people who get stereotyped as the rebel, or wild-child, or in some circles, emo. And this is all strictly from appearance. She has the left side of her hair shaved off, and has died her long brown hair purple. Not a bright purple, but a deep, muted type of purple, a type of purple that this generation would consider aesthetically pleasing. It's a really nice color, Ravi decides. It suits her. She has about seven or eight piercings in each of her ears (which must be fun at airport security), a nose piercing, and the snake-eye piercing on her tongue. Her eyeliner isn't too heavy, but it's there, black, and prominent. She wears a black ripped Metallica t-shirt, and red and black checkered pants. Her black vans look like they have been through hell and back. She sports a variety of bracelets, including ones that says Panic! At the Disco, and Black Lives Matter, a Pride bracelet, a beaded bracelet that says Colombia, and a few more that Ravi can't really see. It is rumored that she has a tattoo somewhere on her body, but nobody really knows for sure.

Her appearance nearly screams delinquent, but Ravi knows that she's as far away from a delinquent as China is from the United States. She's been in the top 10% rank in their class since she started school here. She gets straight A's, and is actively involved in school activities. She's in the Yearbook club, Glee club, Latino Heritage Club, Humanitarian Club, Robotics, and she's one of the fastest runners on the Track team. And Ravi is pretty sure that there's plenty more school activities she's involved in.

Not to mention she's notorious for being one of the nicest people at Walden Academy.

So yeah, she and Ravi definitely are not in the same league. She's cool, smart, friendly, mysterious, and loved by everyone. And he, well we already know what he thinks of himself.

Ravi barely responds to her. He just blinks a few times, his mouth agape.

"Do you want to work together?" She points her pencil at her math textbook, open to the page they need to work on. Ravi takes note of her red fingernails.

Ravi looks back up into her brown eyes. They're kind, he can tell. They're unlike the cruel eyes that have judged and mocked him in the past. These eyes seem warm and welcoming. Soft and friendly. Still, Ravi is cautious because even sugar sometimes looks like salt.

Ravi once again remembers his motor skills and nods. "S-sure." He stutters. Dana gestures for him to scoot over and he does, his hands shaking as he does so but this time not because of panic/anxiety.

"Geometry isn't my strongest subject this semester so please bear with me." Dana apologizes. She pushes her book over so Ravi can see.

He leans over to get a better look at the book. "Uum, I-I'm not too good at this either…" he mutters. He fidgets with his hands that sit in his lap, waiting for this first set of human interaction to blow up in his face.

To his surprise, Dana waves him off. "Oh please. I saw your grade on the last test. You got every single question correct, plus the extra credit." His weary eyes look into hers as she smiles at him. "It's pretty impressive, especially in advanced geometry." Ravi's heart skips a beat at the compliment. When was the last time he's received a compliment like this, or at all? Never. That's the correct answer.

Ravi's lip twitches into a weak smile (well, more like a grimace). "T-thanks." He forces his hands to stop fidgeting, and he picks up his pencil to start working.

They finish the assignment in ten minutes, way before anyone else finishes. For someone who isn't strong in geometry, Dana know how to do just about every problem, and got everything correct. She must be one really humble person if she thinks geometry is her worst subject because she's pretty darn good.

Dana closes her textbook and sits back in her chair. "This is what happens when two kids in the top ten percentile of their class work on an assignment together." She smirks.

The start of a new conversations startles Ravi, as he was prepared to go back to being antisocial, but he's not complaining. He didn't expect anything more from Dana, especially after the compliment. It makes him feel slightly better that someone is taking time to talk to him without demeaning him. "Yeah. I guess it is." He chuckles, unsure of what else to say and how to say it.

Dana doesn't notice how he struggles to converse. Or maybe she does notice but doesn't mention it. "I feel like we probably should have done introductions prior to starting the assignment, but I guess I'm kind of a backwards person." She holds out her hand for Ravi to shake. "I'm Dana. Dana Ramon."

Ravi pauses, staring at her hand. He doesn't want to take too long in fear that she might withdraw or think of him as weird, so he takes her hand and shakes. "I er, I know." He states. "We've been in the same classes since 7th grade."

Dana nods. "I figured you would notice that. Kinda hard to miss a girl with purple hair, yah know?" Ravi concludes that he likes talking to this girl. She hasn't mentioned his awkwardness yet and makes him feel as comfortable as someone in his position can feel.

"I'm er, Ravi Ross." He mumbles. Surely she knows about his suicide attempt. The whole school knows. Will she mention it?

"I know," she says and for a second, he fears that Dana, this nice girl who seems so friendly towards him, will say something about his absence, "since, you know, we've been in the same classes since the 7th grade." She repeats his words with a knowing smirk.

Ravi breathes out a short laugh. "Yeah. Right." He nervously says. She didn't mention his absence thank God. The relief that washes over him from her statement was refreshing, because for the first time in a long time, he doesn't have this uneasy feeling in the pity of his stomach that made him feel like running to the far end of the earth.

"What class do you have next?" She runs a hand through her hair nonchalantly.

"English."

"With Ms. Stone?"

"Uhh, no with Mr. Fraizer."

"You mean Mr. Edgar-Allan-Poe-reincarnation?"

Ravi laughs again to his surprise. It catches him off guard how much this girl is making him laugh. "Well yeah him." Mr. Fraizer is well known for his wackiness, ridiculous antics, and his notorious love for Edgar Allan Poe. His room is filled with posters, quotes, and paintings of the poet. Yet despite all of that, he's arguably the best teacher at Walden Academy. Every student that has his class looks forward to that period of the day, and every student who is not that fortunate drips with envy. His classes are always vibrant and lively, and he has a way of engaging you in the lesson, and making you want to learn more about sonnets and hyperboles. Nobody that takes his class ever fails.

Even Luke manages to pass his class.

Dana nods as she mindlessly doodles in the corner of her notebook. "I have him last period. Something to look forward to I guess. Did you read those poems he assigned for homework?" She doesn't seem to realize what she asked and who she's asking. Ravi almost instantly freezes, at a loss of what to say.

"No because I spent all of last week in a hospital bed after failing at taking my own life" is what Ravi wants to say, and what someone with more confidence than Ravi would say. Instead, he looks at his hands which are once again fidgeting in his lap. "Umm, I, err…"

Dana's head snaps up. She stops doodling as she realizes her mistake. You idiot! Of course he didn't. He almost died, she internally scolds and mentally slaps herself as she glances down at his left arm. She's tried her damned best to ignore it and not make Ravi feel self conscious about it. She's knows for a fact that the reaction of the rest of the student body isn't too pleasant or subtle, and the last thing he needs is one more person pointing out the obvious.

Dana does what she does best, and makes a potentially awkward situation seem casual. "Riiight, well don't worry because I'm not sure if anyone really read those. They kind of just go on and on about things that nobody really understands…" She quickly goes back to doodling, but it's an ill attempt at looking causal, at least to her.

Ravi looks at his left arm. He's wearing his favorite hoodie and the sleeves are hidden his bandaged arm, but everyone knows it's there. For a split second, he wonders to himself why he should hide his bandage, his scars? Why should he console this from everyone else? Who's feelings where he trying to protect? His or everyone else's? "Thanks, but you don't have to do that." Before he knows what he's doing, he's rolling up his sleeves, revealing his casted arm and the old scars scattered on his right one. "You don't have to ignore this or anything." He gestures toward his arm. What the hell are you doing?! The inner voice yells at him. He ignores it.

He sees the sympathy behind Dana's eyes as she looks down at his arms. "There's more." She murmurs, her eyes dancing over the slice marks on Ravi's arm.

Ravi shrugs. "Y-yeah. I guess I'm pretty damaged, huh?" It's the first time he's said it out loud.

Dana shakes he head as she reaches for his right arm, picking it up to better view the cuts. "Not damage." She states. "Battle scars." She looks into his eyes.

He's never thought of it that way. "Battle scars." He nods in agreement. And it's all weird because he woke up this morning fearing this school, fearing his return to the one place he felt he did not belong, fearing the reaction and treatment of other people, and here was this girl who he never once spoke to, who was treating him like someone with thoughts and feelings, and simply calling his damage 'battle scars'.

As if to say he's been at war with himself and finally, finally he's won with the scars to prove it.

But did he really win though? Did he really?

The rest of the school day passed without too much happening to Ravi. Dana and Ravi talked a little for the remainder of class until the bell rang and it was time to separate. To his surprise, Luke was already standing outside of the classroom door waiting for Ravi. He wondered if Luke sprinted to the room to get there before Ravi got out. The thought warmed his heart that Luke's top priority was being with Ravi and making sure Ravi was comfortable.

For the first half of the day, he had an escort to each one of his classes, alternating between Luke and Emma, Luke and Zuri, or just Luke. But no matter what, Luke was always standing right outside of his class once the bell rang.

Ravi had maybe one or two panic/anxiety episodes after Geometry, but they were short lived and quickly dissipated after only a few seconds. Ravi wonders if that means they're starting to go away. A couple of his teachers ask him how he's doing and remind him that if he needs anyone to talk to they are there for him. He nods and thanks them, and finds somewhere to sit every time. Some students also took the time to greet him or say a simple 'hey'. Someone even stopped to help him pick up his books after they were knocked down by some students rushing to their next class.

Nobody every helped him before. Everyone used to take pride in knocking him over.

Lunch finally came, and Ravi nearly had another panic/anxiety attack when he realized he had nowhere to sit and would have to sit by himself, alone with just him and the darkness of his room. But then he saw Luke, Emma, and Zuri sitting together, waving him over. They never usually sit together, each Ross sibling having their own social groups they sat with. But they seemingly ditched their peers to have lunch with Ravi.

The thought of him having people to eat lunch with for once was so overwhelming it nearly brought Ravi to tears.

He rushed over to the table his siblings reserved and nearly slipped on a puddle of grape soda in the process. His siblings greeted him with smiles, and seemed genuinely happy to have lunch with him. Ravi ate most of his lunch, and listened to his siblings talk about various things, occasionally joining the conversation. They seemed relieved that he was okay, or was okay on the surface. Was he truly okay on the inside?

Maybe not at the moment, but Ravi doesn't doubt that eventually, he'll truly be okay.

The rest of the school day went like the first half. Luke and one of his sisters would walk him to his classes, his teachers would approach him, he would sit in the back and do his best to ignore the not so sly glances of his classmates, and the cycle would repeat. This continues until the end of the school day after Ravi's last class. After Ravi packs up his belongings and swings his back onto his back, he walks out of the classroom expecting to see Luke's freckled face, but instead meeting the smiling faces of Emma and Zuri. He furrows his eyebrows at the absence of his brother.

Neither Emma nor Zuri notice. "You ready to go?" Emma asks him as they begin walking down the hall.

"Uhh, yeah," Ravi looks around, expecting Luke to pop out of some obscured place, "but where's Luke?"

"He was sent to the principals office before last period." Zuri informs him as they approach Ravi's locker. "I think he has detention."

Ravi opens his locker and starts putting away his books. "Detention? Why?"

"He got into a fight before last period."

Ravi nearly drops the books he was taking out onto his toes as he jumped back in shock. He quickly gathers himself and stuffs the books into his bag. Luke? In a fight? Luke was known to cause some ludicrous trouble around the school, and has gotten detention for many reasons, but never was he involved in a fight. It's not like him to fight other people. He's never been a violent person. At least not really.

"A fight?!" The shock and astonishment is evident in Ravi's voice. Zuri and Emma slightly flinch at his reaction. Ravi all but slams his locker shut. "Why on earth would he get involved in a fight? And with who?"

Emma gives Zuri a knowing look. She knew Ravi wouldn't react well to the news since he's never been an advocate of violence. She contemplated on telling him, but she and Zuri didn't think lying to Ravi would do anything to help him. It would only aid in harming him. "We don't know. We weren't there. We just heard about it through the rumor mill."

Ravi groans and starts walking, Zuri and Emma following behind him. He notices the few stares he gets as he walks and subconsciously holds his bad arm close to him as if protecting it. This makes him remember earlier that morning when Luke snapped at everyone for staring at Ravi when he and his siblings walked in. It makes him wish Luke was around.

He shakes his head. "How long is detention for?" Ravi asks the girls. He's never had detention before so he wouldn't know from experience. He believes it's 45 minutes to an hour or so.

"An hour and a half." Zuri responds. "Sometimes less if there's good behavior."

Ravi sighs. Good behavior isn't in Luke's vocabulary. It's safe to say that he won't be getting out of detention any time soon.

They continue walking towards the exit of the school. Ravi considers waiting for Luke until detention is over, but doesn't voice his opinion because they never usually wait for Luke when he has detention. Why would they decide against it just because he wants to stay behind? Emma and Zuri probably have a ton of important things to do anyway. Things more important than waiting with Ravi for Luke to get out of detention. He pushes the idea to the farthest corner of his mind.

As they walk, Ravi takes note of the different groups of cliques and social groups hanging out in the hall. Girls stand by their lockers laughing, gossiping, and fixing their makeup. Some students walk down the hall laughing and joking with each other, playfully shoving each other as they go along. Ravi envies them, and how easy acting like a normal teenager came to them. He envies how they don't struggle like him, and how they don't struggle to keep from an anxiety/panic attack when overwhelmed by the thoughts swarming in their heads; how they don't have to worry about someone adding on to the already heavy baggage that brings hell into their lives; how they don't walk around feeling hollowed and numb, and mentally living in a dark room with no doors or windows, with no escape, with voices telling them that they don't deserve existence.

He wonders what it would feel like to not struggle like he has been.

Ravi's train of thought comes to a halt as a group passes by him. The group is made up of about 5 very tall guys wearing varsity letterman jackets in the school colors. They're laughing, fist bumping, and practically clearing the hallway as if it was the red sea being parted by Moses. It's as though they're some sort of royal court, and everyone must make way for them and bow down to them.

Well, as the varsity basketball team, they are pretty much kings.

Ravi's breath quickens as they walk past him. All he can currently think about is that video. That video that was created by the basketball team, meant to hurt and destroy Ravi. That same video that caused everything to spiral out of control. Ravi remembers it vividly. He remembers the way the cartoon character was drawn, how they mocked his Indian accent and heritage, how they called him a terrorist, and how his siblings laughed along with it. He remembers it all, and how he furiously broke Luke's iPad in a darkened rage he didn't know he had. He remembers how that was like the icing on the cake, the one thing that sealed the deal on what he had to do.

The memories are unbearable. Ravi wants to confront them and figure out who's responsible. At the same time, he wants to run and hide and cry and never resurface. At the same time, he just wants an anxiety/panic attack to over take him. By the looks of it the last one might be coming true.

They continue to laugh amongst themselves, not for a second acknowledging Ravi's existence. They must know what their video did to him. Hell, everybody knows what that video did to him. Yet none of them glance his way if even for a second. None of them look at all sorry for the pain, for the hell.

It's as if they're happy with what happened.

Ravi suddenly feels the chill one gets when being intensely stared at. His eyes single in on the origin of the chill. His brown eyes meet a pair of hazel ones. No, hazel isn't the word to describe them. They are like pools of gold, like topaz gems. Yes, that's it. They resemble two topaz gems that capture and reflect the sunlight back to you. Flecks of brown and green dance around the topaz, adding warmth and comfort to the already glorious gems. The flecks remind Ravi of something sweet, like candy or chocolate.

The topaz eyes are surrounded by the longest eyelashes Ravi has ever seen on anyone in his entire life. They are exactly what girls would be envious of, and it looks as though the lashes help to capture the sunlight into the luminous topaz. It's like staring into the sun, or staring at two bright stars, that succeed in shining in the night sky despite the city lights.

And it's the same eyes that leaves the warmest feeling in Ravi's core.

Ravi has to force himself to look beyond the eyes and to the person they belong to. Grayson Sinclair, co-captain of the varsity basketball team. He isn't as tall as his other teammates who tower over the student body at 6'0 and up, but he is tall enough at a solid 5'8 or 5'9. Ravi remembers how everyone underestimated his talent because he isn't as tall as the rest of the team, but Grayson plays even better than most of the basketball players in New York City high schools (he was ranked in the top 5 percentile in some sports news thing that Ravi can't remember the name of).

His hair is the exact color of milk chocolate, and he wears it in a high fade with the long hair on top of his head tied into a man bun. His olive skin looks smoother than butter, and all Ravi really wants to do is run his hands down Grayson's cheeks, and traces the skin around his high and defined cheek bones. His full lips are stretched out, revealing a pearly white smile and one crooked bottom tooth. The dimples on his cheeks are so dangerously deep it doesn't seem humanly possible.

But once Ravi meets his eyes, he notices that they brilliant smile has disappeared. He thinks it started to disappear before Ravi looked at him. Ravi doesn't recognize the expression on Grayson's face. He can't decipher the emotions running across Grayson's face as they stare deep into each other's souls. His hazel/topaz eyes seem to be yelling with sadness, but they're also whispering uncertainty. His eyebrows furrow, then relax, then furrow again. His lips are downturned, and he bites them rhythmically, as if he wants to say something, or do something. For a moment, he opens his mouth, leaving it agape. Ravi thinks he's going to speak, but one of the taller players wraps an arm around Grayson's shoulders and leads him away, laughing about something that probably isn't that funny to begin with.

Ravi's eyes follow Grayson as he walks away, his head turning too. He watches as the group of basketball players turns a corner, leading Grayson away as they do. As they walk away, Ravi can't help but wonder what Grayson was going to say to him.

"…Ravi!"

Ravi jumps and snaps his head back to his sisters who unbeknownst to him witnessed the whole encounter (or lack there of). "Umm, are you okay?" The concern is high in Emma's voice, alond with the confusion. "You just zoned out for a moment."

Ravi blinks. He didn't realize how long he had been staring at the team, along with Grayson Sinclair. He can't even come up with a plausible reason as to why he locked his eyes on the him to begin with. He hopes they don't ask him about it because he doesn't feel like explaining. "Uhh yeah I'm okay." He's really not sure whether he's okay or not, but this time it's for a completely different reason. "We should just go."

And with that, Ravi speeds off towards the main entrance, his sisters doing their best to keep up with him.

Luke has been doing his goddamned best to protect Ravi from anything that might upset him or trigger him or make him feel uncomfortable all day. He's made sure that Ravi had someone to accompany him to his classes (Luke had to beg all his teachers to let him leave class a few minutes early so he would be the first thing Ravi sees when he walks out). He's kept Ravi away from the mountain of questions and comments that everyone had, and used his eyes to send the deadliest of glares to anyone who crossed him. He's created somewhat of a barrier around Ravi to keep the negative out, and each time Ravi started to panic, Luke did everything in his power to calm it.

Luke has to give himself props. He's done a damn good job at being there for Ravi for the whole day.

He smiles to himself as he walks to his final class of the day. He loves the warm feeling he gets from helping his brother adjust, and from spending time with him in general. He hates himself for not spending more time with Ravi, but he's vowed to do everything in his power to keep Ravi happy and to treat him the way a brother should treat a brother.

"Hey Ross!"

Luke stops in his tracks at the sound of the ever so familiar booming voice from behind him. He can already feel his muscles tensing up as he turns to face the owner of the voice. Evan Carter. The schools resident fuckboy and asshole, and also one of the star players of the basketball team. He's known not only for his slam dunks, but for the way he sleeps around from girl to girl, promising the world to them only to tear them apart. He's known for being the biggest jerk to almost everyone in everyway possible.

And he has bullied Ravi countless times.

All Luke wants to do is wipe the smirk clean off Evans face. But he stands where he is, waiting for Evan to say what he has to say. "I'm surprised to see your face here so soon."

"What do you want Carter?" Luke's voice is laced with ice as he speaks. He resents Evan Carter, and he would just love to punch him in his nose, but he's not one to rely on physical violence so he keeps all of his steam in for the time being.

Evan shrugs. "Y'know, just thought I'd check up on yah, see how you're holding up." His smirk grows as some students stop to watch the encounter. "It's a shame what happened to your Taliban brother, isn't it?"

Luke clenches his jaw, his hands going into fists. "Why don't you just fuck off Carter?"

Evan laughs at Luke's angry expression. "Now come on. Don't wanna be hostile when we don't need to be." His conniving voice made the hair stand up on the back of Luke's neck. A vein throbs in the center of his forehead. The steam is boiling inside of him. "Just thought I'd giving my condolences."

They stare each other down, fury staring into deceit. Luke hates how much Evan Carter is enjoying this little showdown. It's evident on his face how much he loves messing around with people. It's sickening to think that someone can get such a rise out of other people's distress.

Luke takes a deep breath to calm himself. Carter knows what he's doing. He's saying the things he knows will get a reaction out of Luke, and it honestly isn't worth his time or energy. His jaw unclenches and his muscles start to relax. He turns to leave, but the words Evan Carter says next is what causes him to snap.

"Tell Ravi that next time, he should cut deeper. It's better for everyone if the little shit would have just died anyway."

Red. All Luke can see after this point is red as he spins around and charges at Evan like a bull. Evan doesn't expect it since he's first smiling like an idiot. But when Luke's fist connects firmly with Evan's jaw, the shock on his face is evident. The force of the punch knocks him off balance and he falls onto a few onlookers who merely push him back up.

Evans face has turned a beet red as he punches Luke right in the eye, causing him to fall to the ground. Evan has the upper hand and pins Luke to the ground with his knees and punches him again. It would seem that Evan is winning, but Luke is so enraged that he's practically turning into Hulk because the next thing they know, Luke is pinning Evan down to the ground and throwing punch after punch at his face.

He punches Evan clean in his nose, hearing something crack. He sends another punch to his temple, feeling his own knuckles bruise from contact with the skull but that doesn't phase him. The next punch is aimed at his jaw again, making the already reddening skin turn shades of purple and blue.

Luke elbows Evan in the chest, causing him to cough nastily. He doesn't stop. He's sweating bullets and a cut underneath his eye is bleeding, but he doesn't stop.

"Don't ever talk about Ravi again!" Luke says as a punch lands somewhere on Evans face. He's not paying attention anymore. "Don't! Ever! Fucking! Talk! About! My! Brother! Like! That! Ever! Again!" He lands a punch on Evans face with every word. Blood pours from Evans nose, mouth, and left ear, but Luke doesn't stop. Evan looks just about ready to pass out, but Luke doesn't stop. He won't stop. Because while Evan Carter was being the happy asshole he always is, Ravi was bleeding out on his bathroom floor. So no, Luke won't stop.

Luke is getting ready to land another punch on Evans temple, which would surely knock him unconscious, when school safety pulls him off of the other boy. He withers and wrestles against them, but stops when he realizes he isn't getting anywhere. The principal stands next to him, staring daggers at Luke. Normally Luke would shrink back, but the blood is boiling so hot in his veins that it takes every ounce of self control for Luke to not lounge at the principal.

The principal speaks, but Lukes ears are ringing and he can't focus on anything except for the school safety officer who helps to haul Evan off the floor. He staggers, and looks ready to pass out. Good, Luke thinks to himself. He ignores the disgust building inside of him, as he rationalizes that he did it for Ravi. He beat up Evan Carter for all the hell he put Ravi through.

It's for Ravi, Luke thinks as he is led away to the principals office.

*Casually goes into hibernation for the next year or so* Just kidding!

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-Bye Felicia