Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. And so, accordingly, I do not own any works credited to that name. (Or to related names. i.e. Uncle Rick.)
Wednesday passed the same as Monday and Tuesday had, except that dance was contemporary and I was going to a party after Kiernan and I worked on our projects.
"Hurry up and change." Lydia told me. She had come up to my room just as Kiernan and I were finishing for the day on our projects. We had finished questioning each other, and were leaving Thursday, tomorrow, to create our portraits. And we were further along in our song, would likely finish Friday. When Lydia had come up, Kiernan hadn't moved, and was instead still lying on my bed, waiting for us. He was driving us.
"I'm going." I said with a laugh, taking my dress and going behind my dressing screen. I quickly changed into the dress, and went to my vanity to put on mascara, eyeliner, and red lipstick that matched the dress. I grabbed my red and white polka dot purse, which matched the dress perfectly. It was a purse that laid across your chest, and rested at a hip. I stuck my phone and lipstick in it.
"Are you almost ready?" Lydia asked impatiently. I laughed, and ran my fingers through my hair quickly. My hair was naturally very wavy, but it was usually a mess. But right now, it looked good, having not had a brush through it or been blow dried after my shower.
"I'm ready, but you've just got to pick me out some shoes." I told Lydia. She was out the door in seconds, causing me to laugh again as Kiernan and I followed after her. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, she handed me my tall black boots that reached just under my knees. I quickly put them on.
There were already a ton of people there when we got to the party. Jay had gone earlier than us, because he had been able to work on his projects with his different partners right after school, rather than at four, because he didn't have class.
For about an hour and a half, I just hung out with Lydia and Maddie. We danced a bit, talked a little, laughed a lot. Eventually, Lydia went to dance with some boy from school who had asked her to dance, and Maddie had to leave because she was supposed to be home by a certain time.
I was standing by the snack table, sipping on a glass of water, when someone approached me. I set my cup down, having finished it anyways. "Hey, you wanna dance?" His words were slurred. He was drunk. He tipped the rest of his cup into his mouth and tossed it away.
"No thank you." I said politely. He set his hands on my hips.
"C'mon baby, don't be like that." He said. I pushed him away.
"I don't want to dance." I said. He put his hands back on my hips, more forcefully this time.
"You're just playing hard to get." He said, bringing his lips near my ear. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. I shoved him away once more, backing up a few steps, but my back hit the wall. He stepped towards me.
"I am not playing hard to get, bastard, I just want you to leave me alone." I told him. He gripped my hips painfully hard, and I couldn't push him off this time.
"No one likes a tease." He told me. He leaned close and whispered in my ear. "Why don't we take this somewhere more private?" I shuddered in disgust. Thankfully, someone ripped him away from me moments later.
"Leave my sister the hell alone. She said she doesn't want to dance, so keep your filthy hands off of her." Jay said angrily. The kid ran off. Jay turned to me, and spoke, tone softer. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. The most I've got is a couple bruises on my hips. I'll survive." I reassured him. He glanced out a window at the rain. "I think I'll just go for a walk and calm down. I'll call you if I need anything, okay?" He nodded, and watched as I exited the house and began walking through the pouring rain.
I wasn't even halfway down the street when the kid showed up again, this time with two friends. They blocked my way walking down the sidewalk. "Can you just get out of my way? I'm really not in the mood to deal with this." I said, irritated.
"Listen here, doll. You can either come with us willingly, or you can take the hard way." The original kid said.
I sighed. "How about we go with the hard way in which I beat all three of you bastards up if you lay a single finger on me?" I asked.
"Like you could do that." The kid smirked.
"You wanna test me?" I asked, pushing stray hairs behind my ear. Whenever I didn't have my hair up, I covered my right ear, but I pushed the hair behind my left hairs though I kept it all over the front of my shoulders.
One of his two friends stepped forward and tried to grab me. I clocked him right in the nose. He stumbled back and fell on his ass, blood starting to pour from his nose. He didn't get back up, just sat there clutching at his nose.
His other friend looked more cautious, but still came at me. I round kicked him in the head, and he fell to the ground, not unconscious, but looking at it. That left only the original kid standing.
"You gonna try me too?" I asked. He looked angry, but let me pass, only to come at me from behind about fifty feet down the street. But I expected something like that, and easily got him off of me. "What the hell is wrong with you, bastard?" I asked. He slapped me across the face. I didn't really feel it, but the rain picked up even more and thunder rumbled in the distance.
"You just beat up my friends!" He yelled.
"Well, duh, I said I would if you didn't let me go past." I said. "What? You expected a girl afraid of breaking her nails or even getting a speck of dirt on her dress? Yeah, that's not me. Not at all. Next time, know who you're dealing with."
He tried grabbing for me again, and I managed to get him off. When he tried yet again, I let him think he had me, while discreetly reaching for my purse. It took me all of a few moments to get out the Swiss army knife I always kept in his purse, and to open the blade and drag it quickly across his thigh. He yelled and jumped back. I closed the blade and put it away.
"You stabbed me!" He yelled. I snorted.
"Please. That's barely a scratch. There's, like, two drops of blood. The biggest thing that did was tear your jeans a little." I told him. He had a look of utter shock and anger on his face. He stepped forward and raised his hand to slap me again, but screamed and jumped back when a bolt of lightning struck about three centimeters from his foot. He probably felt the heat of it much more than I did, being closer, and I could feel the heat a good bit.
"Are you going to keep trying and dragging this on, or are you just going to leave? I could kick your ass all night, if you wanted, bastard." I asked. He turned and ran off down the street. As soon as he was gone, I sank to my knees on the pavement.
I was there for about three minutes before Jay was beside me, shaking my shoulders and telling me to look at him. I faintly registered Kiernan standing near him. Finally, I looked at Jay with tear filled eyes. "I almost killed him." This really horrified me. Even if I sometimes causes things like storms, I had never deliberately hurt a person with my powers. The fact that I had come so close to doing so, when I could've perfectly handled myself and didn't need it for self defense.
"I saw the bolt, Lee. But don't worry about that. He's perfectly alright, and besides, he doesn't know that was you. It's okay, you haven't harmed anyone and you're all good." Jay told me.
"You're sure?" I asked.
"I'm sure." Jay told me, and pulled me close to envelop me in a hug. I hugged him back tightly. He pulled back after a moment. "Now, mind getting out of this rain?"
I laughed. "Yeah, sorry." I said. A minute or two later, the rain had slowed to a stop and the sun had come back out. Well, as much as it would be for this late in October.
"What the hell?" Kiernan asked, looking up at the sky. I cursed. I had forgotten he was standing there. I looked at Jay, panicked, and he nodded slightly.
"Promise you'll tell no one, and I'll explain." I said to Kiernan. He promised. "I kinda have control over nature, including the weather and stuff. Don't know why, never have, found it sometime when I was, like, eight, and I've only ever told Jay about it."
"And yet again, you're full of surprises." Kiernan commented.
"You're not freaked out or anything?" I asked.
"Nah, there are perfectly natural yet stranger things in this world. What's one girl with power over nature and weather?" Kiernan asked. I shrugged at that.
"Hey, Jay, mind giving me a ride home?" I asked. Jay nodded and helped me up from the wet pavement. I was completely soaked, having been out walking in the rain, but Kiernan and Jay weren't as soaked.
When I got home, Mom was in the living room. She took one look at me and asked what happened.
"Stupid drunk guy. Jay scared him off, then he showed up with two friends when I went outside for a walk. One hit and the two were down, but I ended up resorting to the Swiss army to get rid of the original guy. Barely a scratch, but he screamed that I stabbed him. There was, like, two drops of blood. I managed to scare him off, though, and Jay gave me a ride home. It was, unfortunately, raining while I was outside." I explained. She just nodded. She trusted me, and in her opinion, what I had done in self defense was perfectly alright.
I went upstairs and took a shower, then played my guitar for a little while before going to bed.
The next morning, I was called into the office when art started. When I got there, the secretary directed me into the principal's office. Mom was in there, as well as the kid from the party and two adults who I assumed were his parents. I noticed the kid was wearing a large bandage over his leg. Over Dramatic, much?
I took a seat beside my mom. The principal spoke. "Are you aware of our no violence policy here?" He asked me. I nodded. "As the only highschool of this town, we have to bring consequence to events such as last night's, even when they do not happen on school grounds."
"And on what grounds would you punish me for?" I asked. I knew exactly where this was going.
"On grounds of attacking Mr. Johnson and two fellow students, one of those attacks allegedly involving a knife." The principal said.
"I'd have to tell you those grounds are false, sir." I said.
"You fucking stabbed me, clocked Murphy, and roundhouse kicked John!" The kid said angrily.
"It was all in self defense." I said to the principal, ignoring the kid.
"Explain." He said.
"I was by the snack table, when he came up to me and asked me to dance." I said, pointing at the kid. "I politely declined, as, one, I did not know him, and, two, I could tell he was drunk. He grabbed me, I pushed him off, and he repeated the action twice more, calling me a tease and saying we should go somewhere private. He ran off after my brother threw him off of me."
"I decided to go outside for a walk, and I wasn't even halfway down the street when he showed up with two friends and said I could go willingly with them or take the hard way. I said I'd take the hard way in which I beat them up if they laid a single finger on me. I swear, I wouldn't touch a person who's done me no harm." I said. "The first guy grabs for me, I left him on the ground clutching a bleeding nose. Second guy comes at me, I round kicked him in the side of the head, left him sitting on the ground, too. And it's a round kick, not a roundhouse kick." I corrected the kid, and he glared.
"A girl who's taken taekwondo so long should definitely know the difference." I said. "Anyways, there was a bit of a scuffle, a few blows exchanged between me and him, mostly him trying to grab at me and me defending. Realizing I'd need to scare him off, I let him think he had won, and took out my Swiss army knife. I left barely a scratch on him. There was maybe two drops of blood. Most it did was rip his jeans. I asked if he was gonna keep trying, told him I could kick his ass all night long. He ran off." I finished.
"You're a lying bitch! You attacked us for no reason!" The kid yelled.
I stood abruptly from my chair, but kept my expression and tone calm. "No, I didn't, because you and your friends aren't worth letting nine years of my life go to waste over. Had I attacked without provocation, using the techniques I did, I'd be kicked out of the organization, and I'd never be allowed to take taekwondo again. I did not spend nine years of my life getting to where I am, just to lose it all to some petty high schoolers looking for a fight." I sat back down and looked at the principal. "It was all self defense against someone who not only attacked me, but suggested trying to force themselves on me." I told the principal.
"While I can't let you go unpunished, you really haven't done wrong in this situation." The principal told me. "You'll be suspended for the rest of today and tomorrow."
"One quick question." I said. He nodded at me to continue. "Am I allowed to watch the football practice tomorrow afternoon? They're letting my brother tryout because he missed the original tryouts and they could use mother player if they think he's good enough."
"You may." He told me, and turned to the kid "Mr. Johnson, you are suspended until next Wednesday. You may return to school next Thursday." The kid just kept right on glaring at me.
When we got home, mom told me to enjoy my long weekend and left for work. She wasn't going to punish, me, not for something entirely done in self defense.
Having nothing else much to do, I set out my tap, easel, and a canvas, and began to work on my portrait of Kiernan. I finished at about lunch time, which is when I got checked my phone while eating.
Jay and Kiernan were asking how long I was suspended, realizing my call to the office had to do with last night; while Lydia and Maddie, who had absolutely no idea about last night, were asking where I was. I texted them all back quickly, answering their questions.
Kiernan texted me back again immediately. He wanted to know how much time he other kid got, and who the other kid was. I told him til next Wednesday, and said I only knew that the kid's last name was Johnson. He responded with saying he knew of only one Johnson whatsoever at the school that was male, and so he knew exactly who it was. I persuaded him not to beat the kid up, saying I had already done that enough.
I spent the rest of the day until dance painting, in the room in which I had painted stars on the ceiling. I painted the room to look like a grassy meadow at nighttime, to match the above stars. I managed to do about half of the wall to the left of the door, before I had to clean up and get ready to go to dance team tryouts.
The tryouts were actually quite simple. They taught us all a short routine, and we memorized and performed it together as a group. Afterwards, they announced we had all gotten in, as not too many people were trying out, maybe fourteen or fifteen people. They also announced that I was the only new member not returning from a previous year of team. We spent the rest of the time talking and introducing ourselves, something they always did on tryouts after they announced who made it, even when it was the exact same girls as a previous year.
Kiernan was again in my room when I got out of the shower. I grabbed clothes and changed behind my dressing screen, not that I didn't do it even when people weren't in my room, and then we talked a bit before working on our song. When we were done, the song was pretty far along. We probably only needed tomorrow to finish, and then we'd have a week to rehearse. I also gave Kiernan my portrait to hand in for me tomorrow, seeing as I couldn't go in. He said it was really good, and I blushed, waving away the compliment.
After he left, I spent the rest of the evening sleeping, because, why not when you can get up at whatever time you want the next day?
This chapter's just more of a filler chapter, but, hey, who doesn't love glimpsing the little things in life as well as the big events? Only makes it more realistic, at least, to me, it does.
Also - I've never taken taekwondo. (Actually got the idea from my friend - she's a second degree black belt and helps teach some classes for the younger kids, and she's only fifteen.) Everything in here is from research, so feel free to tell me if I messed anything up and I'll be happy to correct it.
Thank you to anyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited! You are not inclined to do any of those things if you do not wish, but it would be much appreciated! I send my love to all of you!