It's been a while. I used to update this like every other day, lol, but I have other stuff to focus on. And I did warn you uploads wouldn't be frequent or consistent. Well, enough of that. Go on and read. Enjoy!
Courtney walked out of the room a bit happier then she'd been before. In fact she found herself sporting the tiniest of smiles. Even so, she knew it wouldn't last very long. Sure he'd protected her, yes everyone in the class had seen, maybe they would tell everyone of the bad boy punk gone 'soft', but no, it wouldn't make a difference. One incident with someone as bipolar as Duncan wouldn't be enough to do didly squat for her. She sighed softly, hanging her head as she walked briskly down the right side of the hall.
Just as she'd predicted a group of boys were quick to swarm her. Picking at her with mean words and touching her inappropriately. She shied away from them as best she could, but there were to many of them and they easily surrounded her and kept her from moving much of anywhere.
She didn't cry this time, but she didn't fight back like she should have. She was still stuck on being different from her mother. Although she did try her best to push her way through them despite the odds. "Get out of the way." she grumbled miserably. "I need to get to class!"
The tallest one pushed her back easily, laughing along with the rest as she hit the wall and cringed.
Courtney glared coldly at them, eyes narrowed and mouth a flat line. She was about to bark something to them too, only she stopped mid-action. Instead something else found it's way to her lips and slipped from her tongue like turpentine. "Duncan!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, not understanding what had possessed her in that moment. She even lost her hateful expression, blinking with confusion as she stared blankly. She was feeling extremely stupid in the aftermath of her sudden spill. There was no way he would bother coming back here if he even heard her. A minute ago was nothing more then a fluke.
The boys believed this as well as they instantly broke into mocking laughter. "Are you stupid?" one of the smaller ones said, grabbing her arm.
"He doesn't care about you!" another cried, shaking his head in disbelief as he continued to cackle at her and how naïve she was.
Courtney frowned deeply, lowering her gaze. She fully believed them no matter how much she wished they were wrong. "No." she grumbled, scowling.
The leader snorted. "Sorry? What was that?" he leaned in closer as if it would help.
She growled softly, trying her best to keep her face as far from him as possible. Not that this would work for very long. "You're…right…" she muttered.
"Exactly." he hissed, caressing her cheek gently.
She shivered, shutting her eyes tight. "Don't touch me!" she snapped, tears working their way into her emerald eyes once more. She didn't know where they were coming from this time though. She wasn't sad or upset really, mostly pissed. Perhaps it was the fear. Maybe. As she continued to fight her emotions back as well as the boys advances she heard a cough like noise and slowly opened her eyes. She took in a sharp breath, eyes widening quickly and a disbelieving smile forming on her lips. He'd come.
He had his arms crossed firmly over his chest, a cold glower plastered on his face as he stared them down. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." he hissed.
They all jumped, the ones with their backs to him turning about to look him in the eye. "Excuse me?" the ring leader spat, daring Duncan to challenge him. He didn't care how much power Duncan managed to have over the students or how strong he was, he didn't like being told what to do.
"You heard me." Duncan growled, raising his brows and smirking conceitedly.
"Make us." he returned with the same tone.
Duncan snorted, rolling his eyes. "Fine." he lashed out in the blink of an eye, taking one of the guys by their throats and squeezing hard. He even started to lift him off the ground so as to gather more attention for himself.
All the boys and even the passerby's stared at Duncan with wide eyes full of fear. The leader didn't show it as plainly, but anyone looking at him could see he was scared. It didn't help that the boy he had a hold of was the guy's brother. He wanted so much to say something, but his pride was getting in the way. He was frozen as his brother struggled to breathe, pulling at Duncan's strong hand fruitlessly.
In the end it was Courtney who ended this pointless battle. "Duncan!" she screamed with panic.
Duncan looked lazily over to her for an instant to take in her expression before looking back to his victim, waiting for her next words as he continued to squeeze harder and harder.
"Stop!" she snapped, running forward and pulling at his arm much like the boy had tried and failed to do. "You're gonna kill him!"
Duncan jerked his fiery gaze over to her, looking sternly down at her and her frightened face. She wasn't quite as beside herself as she'd been before as the insults flew through the air like the wind, but she was still highly frantic. He didn't understand her. Why would she even think of defending these punks when they so willingly tortured her? What in the world was wrong with the way her mind worked? He didn't know if there was something more to her lack of logic, all he knew was that it was stupid.
"Duncan!" she repeated, her even breath wavering as her lip quivered and eyes did much the same. She was so afraid. She didn't know what went through his head or how he reasoned all this out, but he needed to stop. No matter what a person did they did not deserve death. She only hoped she would be able to convince the green haired boy to listen to her. Although she seriously doubted herself. "I said to fucking let go!" she spat, hitting his arm as hard as she could.
Duncan was mildly surprised by her resort to violence, but it wasn't this that made him finally release the boy who he held the life of. It was more so the way the tears laced her eyes and that strange fire danced in her emerald eyes. So with a roll of his eyes he loosened his grip, allowing the boy to drop down to the floor and gasp desperately for the air he had been deprived of for far to long.
Now that his brother was free the leader was free to grow as angry as he pleased and react accordingly. "Bastard!" he shrieked inches from his face. "I otta kill you!" his whole body shook as he went on, fists clenched tight and his teeth grit.
Duncan didn't flinch as this guy, who looked much stronger then him, had a cow and a half over his brother. Duncan merely looked at him as if this whole situation was boring him to tears.
Courtney brought a hand to her mouth, which was agape, sucking in a sharp breath. She'd seen her mother display these signs of hate many times in the past and nine out of ten times it ended with her throwing things or hitting someone. "Duncan!" Courtney cried as if he would know what she knew just by the uttering of his name.
Just as she spoke the boy threw a punch right at Duncan's face. Amazingly enough Duncan was lightening fast in blocking it. He caught his fist in his hand, smirking darkly at the stupefied boy before him. He then started to slowly twist his arm around in an unnatural way, the boy moaning from the increasing pain level it caused.
Courtney stared on in amazement. She could scarcely believe how fast Duncan had reacted to a strike that had started so close to him. She didn't think such speed was humanly possible. It was as if he practiced every day to be so incredibly good at it or was psychic. It was her intense investment in figuring out how he did what he did that kept her from saying anything to Duncan about what he was doing. Besides, the guy he tortured now was almost as much of an ass as Duncan so she might not have said anything anyway.
"Let go!" the boy yelped, finally crying uncle. He wanted nothing more then to keep his arm from breaking. He needed it to be alright if he was going to keep on playing football.
Duncan snorted, doing as he wanted for once. "Pathetic." he scoffed as he watched every one of them scramble away in a different direction. Only after they were clear out of sight did he look back to Courtney, smug expression going blank. "What?" he snapped.
Courtney shook her head swiftly in the negative, finding herself unable to speak all of a sudden. His stern face and his display of how easily he could hurt anyone he chose was what she attributed this to when she really thought about it.
Duncan rolled his eyes, glaring icily to the crowd that had formed around them. "What!" he spat with absolutely no feeling. "What's so damn interesting!" he lifted his fists in the air threateningly. The kids moved in unison back a foot or so. Duncan was not pleased with this. "Do you want me to knock each and every one of you out? Huh?" he stepped forward to make up for the length they'd gone back.
Not a one of them could believe or understand what was wrong with Duncan, but they didn't care enough to stick around and find out. They scattered much like the group of boys had, the bell moments away from ringing.
Duncan rolled his eyes, stepping back towards the brunette girl. He looked her over, taking in her confused expression, but not caring much as he grabbed onto her wrist. "Come on." he growled.
Courtney made a little noise of surprise as she was dragged along the now empty halls, the bell ringing around them. "Um…" she started, trailing off as she found nothing to say about this. All she could do was stare at the back of his head covered by jet black hair.
He wasn't entirely sure where he was headed, but he went by the direction he saw her go whenever she left Spanish, which was up the stairs. That combined with the fact of the wing they were in at the top made him figure she was without a doubt having social studies right about now. All he was forced to ask about was which one it was. "Which one?" he grumbled gruffly, turning to the side so he might see her.
She jumped slightly at the sudden sound of his voice. "I-I'm sorry…what?" she muttered tentatively.
"The room." he sighed irritably. "Which. one. is. yours." he said through clenched teeth, each word sounding as if it were it's own sentence as he spit them out.
"Oh, no." she spluttered sheepishly. "You really don't have to take me all the way there. I know where I'm going, and I'm sure no one will be out here since the bell already-" she stopped abruptly, catching Duncan's expression that said 'Are you fucking kidding me?' She dropped her gaze to the floor, sighing softly.
Duncan bit down hard on the words that were inches from spilling from his vulgar mouth. He had to control it. No matter that he couldn't stand her, this was one of those times where he had to put what was right before what he felt. The only scary thing about this was that the two nearly collided in his jumbled up mind. The only thing keeping them separate was the fact Duncan refused to let himself believe he no longer loathed her as he said he did. There was hate, definitely, it was just the hint of another emotion tacked on with it that made him cringe. "No." he growled. "I'm not letting you go alone." he paused, wondering how she'd interpret his words. "It'll be like the deer heading into the lions den. And it won't be pretty." his face was set hard, nothing but seriousness present in his teal orbs.
Courtney flinched as a picture was painted for her. She imagined herself walk into her class, the teacher staring her down for being late, all the students appearing as vicious lions, their paws placed anxiously on the desks as they leaned forward drooling over her. She went forward anyway and the whole group pounced at her, taking her down and attacking her. As it played through her mind she was oblivious to Duncan's voice as well as to her shaking body.
"Hello!" Duncan snapped, annoyed that she was ignoring him.
Courtney jumped, snapping her head to attention. "Yes!" she cried. "I can't do it." she shook her head furiously back and forth, bringing a hand to her mouth to bite nervously at her nails.
Duncan rolled his eyes at her pathetic demeanor, but remained silent all the while. He dragged her along blindly until she said he'd gone to far, at which point he let out an irritated sigh and begrudgingly asked her where exactly they were going. "I'm not psychic." he growled, scowling darkly down into her emerald eyes.
Courtney pointed over to the door on their left, a slight blush working it'd way to the surface of her face.
He held in more hurtful words he planned to say, deciding that it was better to use these phrases once in the room, directed toward all the snot nosed brats watching the two closely. The idea made him smirk darkly as he reached out for the handle, slowly turning it before pushing. As expected all eyes in the room darted toward them, the sudden shift in otherwise constant scenery being a lure for the kids unentertained minds. This random event of entering late was further made intriguing by the mere fact of it being Duncan the delinquent and the new school slut. All had to wonder what was going on and whether he had officially claimed her as his own.
As they stood there before the class her heart beat faster. Duncan had been right. She would have died of fright if she had walked through this door alone. Even as it was she was finding herself rather lightheaded, moving closer to the boy beside her as she nearly lost her balance and fell. All that keep her on her feet was her quickness to latch on to Duncan's shoulders.
Duncan's eyes narrowed as he shot her a deadly glare. He already knew what all these lifeless punks were thinking and he sure as hell didn't need anything solidifying their convoluted beliefs. So it was instinctive for him to send a warning out to her in the best way he knew how. "What's wrong with you?" he hissed in her ear. "Do you want to be screwed with. Cause believe you me that would be a hell of a lot easier for me to do then baby-sit you."
She lightly shook her head in the negative. "N-No…just…dizzy." she muttered in return, swallowing hard.
He shrugged, gripping her hand tighter. "Come on." he grumbled, leading her across the room in large strides that she was only keeping up with due to the fact they were basically conjoined. And despite the intense stares they were being given all was strangely quiet, none daring to move. Only when they were a couple of seats from the back was Duncan forced to use force. Some guy he'd never seen before in his life reached his leg out across the aisle to purposefully trip him and Courtney up, so Duncan did what he had to. He came to an instantaneous halt, Courtney slamming into him, as he sent an icy glare at him before he lifted his foot and slammed it down hard on the boys leg.
The boy yelped painfully, yanking his leg back in to its proper space and up close to him so he could gently rub the afflicted area. And, much to Duncan's disbelief, he didn't utter a word. He merely returned the sentiment of hate with his coal colored orbs.
Courtney frowned lightly at Duncan's resort to violence over something so trivial but she was sure not to voice her opinion. All she cared about was that now, with things as they were, she had Duncan on her side. Anything that might jeopardize this was not worth saying in the least. She wasn't stupid. But as she allowed Duncan to seat her she couldn't help but wonder, why the sudden change?
"Ah, Ms. Manning." The social studies teacher said with a hint of amusement. "So you decided to show up after all?"
It was a rhetorical question, everyone knew by her tone, but for some reason Courtney felt compelled to answer. "Y-Yes…" she lowered her head, laughter filling the silence that followed.
Duncan growled lightly under his breath from his spot behind Courtney. He was an inch from spitting out all his usually dormant feelings just for the sake of making himself better. If it happened to aid Courtney then so be it. If not, then that was just to bad.
"You realize that you are late then?" the teacher pressed, finding satisfaction in seeing the girl squirm.
Courtney swallowed hard, clasping her hands in her lap as they started shaking without her consent. "Y-Yes…" she said again, gaze glued to the floor where her feet lay.
One particularly snobbish girl next to them found it fit to cry out then, laughing out loud, "You're pathetic! Why not just bow down and kiss the ground she walks on?"
Courtney was about to say something in her defense when Duncan's voice cut her off. "Oh shut up Brittany!" he snapped. "Why not do us all a favor and go back to sucking Daryl's face off so we don't have to hear your big fat mouth? K?" he sneered, bright white teeth gleaming as he smirked.
Brittany stared dumbfounded at Duncan, blinking a couple of times to see if this was an illusion before she shook her head violently from side to side and snorted conceitedly at him. "Whatever loser." she paused, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.
"Yeah, yeah." he grumbled, ignoring the quizzical looks he was getting from everyone, even Courtney herself every now and then. "Drama queen."
Another boy who sat behind the girl, her brother, spoke up. "What the hell is wrong with you! You're being a total prick!"
Duncan looked at him, ready to unless his contained hate. "Nothing, stupid." he snorted. "Your sister over here is the one being a prick." he nodded in her direction, receiving a heated look from her. "And she doesn't want to listen to me, so why not tell her that yourself. Or are you to bent on believing this selfish cow actually has a heart that you can't bear to do it?"
The boy's mouth was agape. "Shut up!" he yelled. "That's not true! She's one of the nicest people I know!"
Duncan snickered. "Well, damn do I feel sorry for you then. Cause if I was stuck with this bitch I'd have shot myself by now."
Courtney merely peered at them from the corner of her eye, having no desire to interfere, knowing from the teacher's angry expression that anyone involved was about to get beaten. And she was right.
"That's enough!" the teacher snapped, her straight blonde hair prickling to match her mood.
Both Duncan and the boy silenced then, never taking their eyes off the other all the while, not until the bell rang.
And with that not another word was said. Any time someone even thought of opening their mouth Duncan was quick to flip them off or mouth a threat that was easily enough to keep them docile. As such her second period class passed faster then she ever imagined possible with the circumstances encompassing her. So she was naturally beyond pleased. She even found herself smiling. And the best part, although she'd vehemently deny it if asked, was that Duncan, the initial cause of it all, was the reason behind her glimmer of happiness. She was rather amused by the fact that someone who had been so cruel to her no more then a day before was now fighting to keep all others from messing with her. Granted it confused her to no end, causing her mind to race around in circles looking for a plausible reason behind his change, but ultimately the reason mattered little. All that mattered was that he was undeniably on her side as of this moment. Perhaps he'd change by tomorrow, leaving her to deal with the few bastards left alone, she could never be sure. But she worried little over it. What happened happened. It was life.
"Hey." He muttered, breaking her thoughts.
She perked. "What?" it was one of the only words she spoke to him thus far that weren't full of malice or heartbreak, but she barely noticed.
"What's next?" He grumbled.
Her eyes widened marginally, "I'm sorry…?" she breathed, only slightly confused as to what he meant. More so she was merely pretending she did not realize his intentions.
"Don't be stupid." He sighed irritably, rolling his eyes.
Courtney frowned lightly, scowling up at his hard set face. "You're one to talk." She retorted with an air of superiority.
He snorted. "Whatever." He took a hold of her smooth skinned hand once more, not minding the implications the action held for all others who saw.
Courtney flushed a deep shade of red. "What are you doing?" she yelped, yanking her hand back away from him, looking about herself furtively to be sure that no one had seen. She preferred that more rumors not be spread about her and how slutty she was.
He looked lazily over at her red face, inwardly laughing at her embarrassment. "Trying not to have you late. Again." He added the last word as its own sentence.
She stared blankly at him, rubbing her hand which he had touched with her other untainted one. "Oh!" she cried after a time. "Oh, no." she started waving her hands about. "You don't have to do that. I'll be fine this time. I swear." She insured, smiling a big, wide, fake smile.
He frowned, brow raised to further display his disbelief in her. "Uh-huh." He muttered. "Why don't I believe you?" He grumbled.
"Ah!" she moaned. "Why not?" she said with exasperation.
"I'm not stupid." He informed her.
Her fists clenched, body shaking ever so slightly from irritation. "Whatever!" she barked. "Just don't touch me. Got it!" she spat, eyeing him with a look of death.
He contemplated the pros and cons of doing as she said, figuring that no matter how much enjoyment he'd get from pissing her off it wouldn't be enough to surpass the pain he was sure to receive as payment. "Fine." He grumbled with a small shrug, waiting for her to start walking before following slowly after her.
She was fuming now, licking her lips as she fought to keep herself from saying another word to the delinquent. Besides, she knew that in a battle of wits he was sure to win despite her practice in the sport. It was just something he was sadly gifted at.
Not a word was uttered between them or anyone else toward them all the way to her third period class. Science. She froze then, her hand on the knob.
Duncan sighed softly, crossing his arms over his chest impatiently. "What?"
Courtney wanted to say what was weighing heavy on her chest, but no matter how hard she tried her mouth refused to cooperate with her. She just remembered, Zane had this class. She swallowed hard. She hadn't seen him since yesterday and honestly didn't know how he was feeling towards her at the moment. She'd said some pretty bad things to him and despite his sweet nature she didn't think he was one to let things go like that. That and Duncan was here. God knows that they couldn't be on good terms after all that. And for Zane to see her with him would more then likely give him a feeling of utmost betrayal. "I…" she trailed off.
Duncan shook his head from side to side. "Yeah?" he pressed boredly.
She remained silent, looking back at him warily while simultaneously trying to see into the classroom and spot Zane.
Duncan looked at the clock on the wall, seeing they had only a minute or two left. "Get out of the way." he growled. "Let me do it."
Courtney jumped as he reached around her for the doorknob. "No!" she cried, spinning around and stretching her arms out in front of the door. Duncan stared confusedly at her. She laughed nervously. "I-I mean…why don't you go to your own class. I'm sure it's way better then mine."
Duncan snorted. "Not a chance." he paused, prying her hand off the handle. "Now move."
"Duncan!" she yelped, helplessly falling back behind him as he pushed her out of the way and the door open. She was so scared of what he would do upon seeing Zane and even what she might do that she found herself holding her breath until, amazingly, she looked in to see that Zane was no where to be found. She blinked a couple of times, turning about to stare into the nearly deserted halls. He was…gone. Now she felt worse then before. She moaned lightly, slumping over. She had hurt him so badly he couldn't bear being in the same room as her. This was almost definitely the case.
"Girl." Duncan barked, having forgotten her name in that moment.
Courtney's face reddened as she turned to face him. "Excuse me! I have a name." she placed her hands on her hips and stuck out her lower lip.
He shrugged. "Whatever. Just get in the class." he ordered, moving to grab her wrist.
Courtney saw what he intended to do and jumped forward through the door to avoid the feel of his rough skin. It sent a shiver down her spine just thinking about it. "I'm going!" she snapped, sighing with annoyance as she stomped over to the back corner of the room, hoping that someone would fill the seat behind her before Duncan had a chance to make his way back there. But no one did.
Duncan was the last student to enter the class before the bell rang and he automatically filled in the seat closest to her. He not only did it for her though, he did it for himself as well.
As class began the teacher was the only one who wasn't staring at Duncan. She didn't seem to realize that he, like in the last class, did not belong. In a way it made this game of Duncan's all the more fun. And so the game began. For the next thirty minutes of class he made it his duty to do little things to get the teachers attention, whether that be interrupting class with paper airplanes, spitballs, or just to say hi, he did it all. He probably would have kept it up forever too if the teacher hadn't had to leave.
It was then that the fun officially started though. In the minutes following the teachers absence Courtney managed to draw all the attention of the world onto solely her with her stupidity. She fell right out of her seat. She yelped softly as she caught herself, but her quick catch did no good in keeping her classmates from hooting and hollering. It was one remark after another then. "Nice work you klutz!" one kid yelled, hands cupped around his mouth, from across the room. "Smooth! Are you planning to try out for the I'm a balanceless troll contest!" someone a row over at the front turned to scream, dying of laughter along with the rest of the class shortly after. The list goes on and on. But the only one that really mattered in the grand scheme of things was what was uttered by the boy next to Duncan. "Hey dipshit! I hope you're better in bed than you are at life!" It wasn't really what he said that got Duncan to speak, more so the proximity of him. Just knowing he was able to reach out and touch the bastard was enough of a push for him.
"Excuse me?" he said coolly, almost able to pass as not caring about the words uttered aside from the fact his mouth twitched slightly.
The fat boy snorted. "You ain't deaf." he scoffed. "An I ain't about to repeat myself to the likes of you either." he said it with so much confidence that Courtney had to wonder if he knew who he was talking to or was quite possibly on the stupid side.
Duncan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that so?" he breathed. "Well then let me tell you something." he paused, waiting for everyone to turn their gazes to him. It helped that the teacher was absent. "You may think you're hot stuff sitting on your perch and making fun of every one else's slip ups, but in reality you're nothing more then a whiny halfassed wimp who yearns for attention because your parents are to sorry to pay you any mind." he hesitated a fraction of a second, the sound of many gasps filling the momentary silence. The attention made him smirk devilishly. "So remember that the next time you think of opening that big mouth of yours. Because believe you me, it'll end up getting up killed." Duncan finished, folding his hands together just below his chin.
Courtney was amazed that Duncan wasn't all about rash actions and unnecessary violence. He really did have a brain up in that head of his which was miraculously capable of reasoning. Although she wasn't thrilled with how he went about knocking this boy down she still found a smile creeping onto her lips. Despite the harshness his words carried she could not deny seeing this asshole falter gave her immense pleasure. Even if it was but one of the many, at least it was better then none. He could be the example for everyone else. Screw with her and they screwed with the devil. She even made an involuntary giggle.
The boy was an instant away from turning about in his seat to face the front once more when her soft laugh hit him. He froze, eyes widening greatly as a fire possessed them. He slowly turned his head back around to her, jaw tight. "You think it's funny, huh?" he growled, cracking his knuckles repeatedly.
Courtney's amused expression vanished, eyes wide with fear. Only her mouth wasn't willing to agree with the signals of her mind. It was acting on its own accord. "Yeah, actually! You getting what you deserve kinda is."
The boy shook with fury. "Oh yeah?" he snapped. "How about after I wipe that smug grin off your hideous mug?" he seethed. "Then who'll be laughing!" he was inches from hopping up from his seat and fulfilling his statement when Duncan saw fit to interrupt.
"Sit boy." he mocked. "You know that I'll have to break your flabby neck if you lay a finger on her. So why not heed my warning from a minute ago and avoid the agony I'll be forced to make you endure." he raised a brow, hoping against his better judgment that the guy might be an idiot and lash out so that Duncan would have a legitimate reason for knocking every last one of his teeth out of his mouth.
He growled, mouth twitching uncontrollably. "That conceited little bitch doesn't deserve your protection!" he snarled, pointing a finger at her. "She needs to be slapped around to learn that people like her have no place taunting us! Them and their perfect lives can't compare to what we go through on a daily basis!" he paused, breathing in a deep breath. "You know that better than anyone. Isn't that right?" he finished curtly, intending to leave a bitter feeling in the air and an ache in Duncan's soul.
Duncan flinched, his composed demeanor slipping. No matter who said it or what they meant by it the very mention of his personal life, no matter how fleeting, hurt him deeply. Even now, especially since he half meant to cut Duncan down, Duncan felt his insides twisting into knots. He swallowed hard, fighting to keep his breathing regular and eyes void of any emotion other then loathing. "Just don't touch her." he hissed, venom dripping from his words.
The boy seemed to be considering the notion for a minute, gaze lifting away from the petrified Courtney to the ceiling. Only the bliss lasted no more then a couple of seconds, his dull eyes flashing to life with an angry passion. "Not on your life!" he shouted. But before he could bounce to his feet and hop over the arm of his desk it was already over.
Duncan, for the umpteenth time, had the reflexes of a cat. One second he was sitting peacefully and the next he had leapt up over in front of Courtney as a shield of the sorts. And the instant the boy landed on his side of the aisle he launched a hard punch at the boys jaw. It landed square on, making him stumble as blood appeared on his lip, but Duncan wasn't satisfied. He proceeded to knee him in the stomach and, as a final touch, sweep his feet out from under him so that he fell to the floor, hitting his head on the desk on the way.
Courtney swore that the class would have erupt into joyous cries and claps if not for the figure standing in the door. It was the teacher, and all was quiet, the silence deafening. Courtney more so then any of the others was sure to remain perfectly still in case the slightest movement be counted against her. Her stillness was further insured as she felt a strange force grip her. It was not physical, but it might as well have been. She felt strangled as her eyes remained glued on the teacher whose eyes never left Duncan who was standing triumphantly over the other boys body, traces of blood on his hand.
"Duncan!" her sharp cry split the air, resonating long after the words died on her lips. "That's where I know you!" she spat, index finger pointed accusingly at him. "You punk! You were the brat I had in detention more then in class all last year!" her voice revealed her complete disbelief, but not because she was witnessing him standing in the aftermath of a fight, more so it was the fact she'd been oblivious to who he was all this time. Courtney figured it was the scene itself that fit the pieces together for her.
He grunted with amusement. "The one and only." he said it with pride, like he was more then happy to be caught with his hands in the cookie jar, so to speak. He even offered her a smile, eyes gleaming.
The teacher clenched her hand at her side into a tight fist, groaning miserably. "I don't care what those idiots that head this school say! You may not be in my class, but you're still under my jurisdiction when in my presence!" she barked.
"Even at the mall?" he playfully whined, finding great entertainment in pushing her buttons. This was the case primarily because he had had her the year before. He could barely stand her then, knowing anything he did he would swiftly be punished for by her majesty with her superiority complex. But now, out of range of some of her worst punishments, he found the taste of torturing her all the sweeter.
She growled under her breath. "Detention!" she shrieked. "NOW!" she directed her finger toward the door, signaling for him to hightail it out of her eye and earshot.
Duncan rolled his eyes, shrugging his shoulders lightly as he turned away from the scene. He made sure to stomp on the kids legs as he went too, chuckling in a near sinister way as he did so. His state of apparent bliss was furthered by the fact that he lifted his head in the air, eyes closed, and allowed a soft smile pass his chapped lips. It was sad, but he was at his best moments after hurting someone else.
Courtney stared at him with the slightest of smiles. She found it kind of adorable seeing him brimming with happiness when he was usually so hard.
"Move it!" she spat, stomping her foot like a child would have when being denied their wish.
Duncan came to a slow stop before her. "Are you sure this is allowed…ma'am." he uttered the last word in a laugh, everyone seeing it was void of any real respect. "Last time I checked you weren't allowed to do shit unless I'm apart of you're class." Duncan smirked.
She stared him down, returning his devious look. "Well this time I have good solid proof of why you deserve it." she glanced over at the boy who was just starting to get to his feet with moans and groans abound. "And I intend to use it to its fullest." she hissed.
Duncan snorted. "So be it death warden."
She shook, grabbing him by the wrist. "Enough!" she cried, dragging him along. "We're going." She was about to step around the corner when she remembered her class, a glare forming. "And I better not come back to another scene." she said through clenched teeth. "Got it?"
There was a collective nod, all holding back snickers with their hands so as not to invoke the wrath of the beast. She was, after all, the nastiest teacher in this school. With that she turned her attention back to her prisoner, daring him to try anything.
Duncan smiled deviously, looking away from her and over to the brunette who he had foolishly stood beside minutes prior. His gaze hardened considerably, mouth drawing into a flat line, yet somehow there was a certain fondness that was absent from him ninety-nine percent of the time. This oddity was accompanied by his action. Just before he went out of sight he made a motion that Courtney interpreted to mean, 'see you later.' or perhaps, 'don't worry.' She wasn't sure. But in the blink of an eye he was gone from her sight, headed to trouble.
Courtney had stared right back at him as he held her in his intense gaze, unable to break free. And in a way she was glad she could not. She rather liked how distant and cold his eyes were while their color remained so tranquil and peaceful, a wonderful contrast. And then she sighed, content with how things were playing out even with all the violence Duncan carried along. She was just happy to be feeling at ease. So happy that not even the image of Zane's miserable face was enough to ruin it. Not then, and not any point after.
Well...what do you think? The whole Courtney being pushed around by guys is getting a bit old imo, but I had to do it again. ^^'' Hopefully it wasn't to repetitive as far as that goes. I rather liked making Duncan protect her and just writing with Duncan in general. As I said before I l-o-v-e anything concerning him. His character is beyond awesome. Anyway...review please! :D