for my quarry. The throng clears without any sign of the tiny human who should stick out like a sore thumb.
And then, I hear it. That raucous, collective laugher that, when made by a group of unsupervised teenage boys, is a universal signal that they’re up to no good.
I head toward the sound, filled with an inexplicable certainty that those laughs are the reason Stone hasn’t made it here yet.
I round the corner of a building and find myself in a service alley that’s lined with garbage dumpsters. All the way at the end of it, four boys stand in a huddle with their backs to me.
One of them is holding Stone up against a wall, his spindly legs dangling, while the other three seem to be trying to undress him.
He doesn’t make a sound or move. His eyes are closed, his expression devoid of emotion. Like he’s playing dead.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I call out and the outrage burning in my chest turns my voice into a menacing growl. Stone’s eyes pop open and he blinks a couple of times before he seems to believe his eyes. He stares in stupefied amazement as I prowl toward the group of boys who have all turned around. The one still holding Stone watches me over his shoulder, wide-eyed with surprise and suspicion.
“Get your fucking hands off him,” I snarl.
He relinquishes his quarry with a sadistic smile that I want to wipe off with my fist. Stone lands on his feet, stumbles slightly and steps away from his tormentors He straightens his uniform and keeps his eyes trained on me.
“Are you okay, Stone?”
Instead of returning my attempt at a friendly smile, he glowers at me like I’m the one who was holding him against the wall. “What are you doing here? And, ho- how do you know my name?”
The boy who was holding him against the wall shakes off his fear, puts on a cocky smile and crosses his arms over his chest as he steps into my path and blocks Stone from my view.
He’s an inch taller than me and tries to look down his nose at me. But I’m not scared of him. Bullies are the lowest hanging fruit. So pathetic and easy to take down once you recognize them for the cowards they are.
“Who the hell are you?”
“You don’t get to ask me questions, motherfucker,” I growl.
One of his friends snickers and he shoots him a quelling glare before he returns his smug gaze to my face. “This is a private campus. Stone doesn’t know you, and so you better leave before we call security.”
I laugh, but my eyes harden, and I enjoy watching his self-satisfied smirk disappear when I pull my phone out and hand it to him. “Go ahead. I can’t wait to hear you explain why you were trying to undress a boy half your size.”
He scoffs. “Our word against his and his...nanny or are you his maid?” The boys share a round of chuckles that stop abruptly when I join in.
“What’s fucking funny?” the ringleader barks.
“Your joke,” I say, wide-eyed with feigned bemusement.
“What joke?” he demands.
“The one where the school takes your side over the one of the boy whose family’s name is on that building.” I point back to the library.
For all the academic smarts these boys have, they’re remarkably lacking in common sense.
He tries to stare me down, and only lasts two seconds. “Whatever. This is lame, We’re outta here. We’ll see you later, Rivers,” he tosses the thinly veiled threat over his shoulders and shoves past me.
I grab him by the collar and drag his face to mine. “No, you fucking won’t see him later. If you look at him again, much less touch him, I’ll be back, and I won’t be alone. And what my friends will do to you, will make you wish you’d been expelled,” I warn through gritted teeth.
His face pales he yanks his collar out of my grasp and scowls at me while he smooths it back into place. “We were just fucking with him. This is high school. If he can’t handle it, he should go back to the baby school.” He shoves past me and his friends, who I’ve named Pathetic and Predictable, follow him.
I turn to Stone, who is standing there looking like he wants to kill someone, and I sigh.
“Did I just make things worse for you?” I ask
“Hello, Captain Obvious, good to see you haven’t changed.” He quips,