It all started in Hearth, a small city in Arizona. There were a thousand cities just like it, and a hundred cities also named Hearth, mines wasn't even the only one in Arizona.
At just 18 floors, it was smaller than most cities of it's class but it was still a literal ivory tower compared to the surrounding farmland and wilderness.
It was the beginning of Senior year in my irrelevant little prep school. It was November and a Friday about eight minutes after 1pm. I was packing some of my lab supplies away. When she stood next to me.
The so-called 'demon princess', her locker was right next to mine.
Even in our school's boring grey uniform she was stunning. Her hair was like long black silk, parted down the middle as usual. She had deeply tanned skin and hazel eyes.
She was tall with an athletic build, but not lacking in feminine charm. She was given a spot on the volleyball team for her physique alone.
I wasn't religious but I thought it had to be divine intervention that we were locker neighbors; I wasn't usually this lucky.
Our eyes met, she was one of the few girls tall enough to look me in the eyes. Other than a brief smile and wave she pretty much ignored me.
I tried my best not to stare while she walked away. Our relationship was friendly even though we hadn't talked much, because admittedly I was a coward.
I felt a slap on my back, "Oh, it's just you.", I turned around.
Ed was quite short for his age so I had to look down as well.
"Wow, some best friend you are.", he crossed his arms, "You know a man that neglects his friends, is a man who will have a neglected grave site."
"I hardly even want to be friends with you now, I would hate to still be friends after I'm dead."
He chuckled, "It's a miracle you have any friends at all."
"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy."
"Busy doing what? Obsessing over Savannah, again?"
"I'm gonna ask her out today."
"You've been saying that since she transferred here last year. I bet you a hundred big ones, you lose resolve again."
"You're on."
"If you do bag her, can I like… you know, tag in every once and a while?"
"Ed, you're disgusting. And crazy too, why would either of us agree to that."
"Lucas, some men are lucky while others are not, therefore it's a sin to allow your fellow man to starve."
Those were some of ed's famous words of wisdom, we didn't call him the lusty monk for no reason.
The three of us shared a chemistry class. They were focusing on class, I wasn't, instead I was playing games on my laptop.
All this stuff is on the internet anyway. It's not like I've ever failed a science class in my life, I'll be fine.
Class ended and we couldn't have cleared out of the room faster. It's club time, I was part of the 'going home club' so it's basically my free period.
This was the perfect time to ask out Savannah. She was part of the fencing club. I wasn't stalking her or anything. I know because her rapier always slips out of her locker.
I remember first time I saw it happen, she begged me not to tell anyone, she was practically on her knees.
She would definitely be kicked out of the club if the teachers found out she was handling a sword so recklessly. And this was a private school, meaning we used real swords. Because unlike the public school kids, we can afford the hospital visits.
Maybe I should have reported her actually?
"Ah!", I heard a raspy feminine scream in the distance.
I rushed to see what was going on. It was Savannah. A boy was holding onto her wrist forcefully. Everyone was just standing around watching.
The boy was tall and muscular, so I don't blame them. He was like twice my size. He barely fit in the blue linen shirts we were assigned as uniforms, even though our clothes were all costume tailored.
"I said let go of me, creep."
"Come on, just give me your number, stop being a bitch."
Something suddenly came over me, "Hey, leave her alone.", my voice even cracked a little, what was I thinking?
He turned around and walked towards me, "What did you just say?!"
"Um… you heard me." I couldn't have sounded more pathetic if I tried.
"Why's a loser like butting into my business."
"You're acting rude, please stop."
The crowd starts to giggle. They took out their phones and start recording, I felt like I was living my worst nightmare.
"And what are you gonna do about it." he pokes me in the chest.
I stood defiantly. I knew he was looking for a fight, and the only way out of this was to give him one. I clenched my fist; I raised my arms and… a loud smack echoed across the room.
My body launched backward and bounced off the lockers behind me, then finally landed on the ground. Did he punch me? It was so fast.
The crowd broke into hysterical laughter, they got the whole thing on camera. But my assailant wasn't laughing. I guess he didn't expect me to fall like a sack of potatoes. He panicked for a moment, eventually deciding to flee the scene.
Through the laughter I heard the feint sound of footsteps.
They sounded desperate. Once I opened my eyes and saw Savannah's face, for a moment I thought I was dead and being greeted by god's most elegant angel. She kneeled down to hold me.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?!"
"Wow, you look even better from this angle."
"Someone call an ambulance."
"Nah, I'm fine.", I murmured , "Hey, you know what? How 'bout I buy you a coffee sometime."
Maybe I did have a concussion, maybe it was the adrenaline. But for the first time, I finally felt like she was within my reach. Maybe I was the hero of this story after all. But I was promptly put back in my place, humiliated even.
"Wait a minute… you're a guy?", her soft yet raspy voice was like a dagger in my heart.
Her words deeply hurt me but I tried to play it off, "Not just any guy, the guy who's gonna sweep you off your feet."
"Are you seriously doing this? And at a this like this?"
"Hey, isn't how it goes in all those movies? Ya know, get into a fight, get the girl."
"You usually have to win the fight to get the girl.", she snarks, her muted laughter sounding like a pig's snort.
"Well, following those movies beat for beat would just be cliché."
"If I just say yes, will you let me take you to the sickbay?"
"Deal!"
"Okay, Howie Mandel, let me help you up."
"No, it's fine. I'll just… crawl."
"Who the hell is Howie Mandel?", Henderson asked.
"I don't know either, just be quiet until the tape is over."
I woke up the next morning. My body was still very soar. Jesus, that dickhead really did a number on me. I'm gonna be feeling that for weeks. I crawled out of bed, my button had apparently been ring for the past 30 minutes.
I clicked my button, transforming it into my phone, it was nearly 9, I had overslept. I sigh in frustration.
"Luke! You missed the bus." My dad yells.
I sighed; I walked downstairs to find my dad. My mom wasn't there, she was deployed with the pacific fleet. Mom, the navy seal, and my dad, the accountant. How the hell did that happen?
"You know I'm a busy man, it's gonna be a real hassle to wait for you to get ready and drop you off to school."
"I love you too, Dad."
I got ready as fast as I could, took me about fifteen minutes, a new record.
He drove me to school, our neighborhood was just outside of the tenth floor, on the roof of the shutter gate.
My school was also on the tenth floor, hanging from the ceiling like a bat in a cave. After a two- minute drive I was able to get there just as first period started. When I stepped into school, I saw kids loitering around, as I walked past, they laugh at me.
What's going on?
I found Ed and a few of my other friends.
"There he is, Mister famous."
"Huh?"
He showed me his phone, "That video of Thaddeus knocking you out, got 10k loops."
"In one day?"
"Ya, everyone in town's watched it."
"My reputation will be in shambles."
"What reputation, everyone already hates your guts?"
"This can only make things worse.", I stomp my feet, frustrated, "My life is over"
I heard someone shout in the distance, "It's about to be, Ackerman."
I saw Thaddeus marching towards me, my heart sank. His giant stature parted the crowd as easily as a normal man's foot pushed through dirt. Everyone stepped away from that angry behemoth, not far enough to miss the action though.
"This is gonna be good." A random passerby comments.
I didn't even understand what was happening. Why was he mad that I got my ass kicked… by HIM!
My loyal friends, who I deeply cherish, took the opportunity to run with their tails between their legs and left me behind.
They wouldn't have been much help anyway, Thaddeus tipped the scale at 250 lbs. of pure muscle and bone mass. More like destroying the scales, actually. No one could stand against a tailored organism like this.
He stepped over to me, ready to pound me again. I still wasn't even sure why. I heared a loud squealing noise in the distance.
Savannah, lunged forward, stabbing his sides with her blade. A deep bloody gash consumes his love handles. He fell on the floor gasping for breath.
"What's wrong with you? A school princess like you shouldn't be behaving like this." Thaddeus murmurs
Savannah snappily replies, "And you're supposed to be suspended, get out of here."
Thaddeus stood up, grasping at his sides in pain.
She clearly had some experience fighting. But it wasn't gonna be enough to beat him, and Thaddeus was no gentleman.
He looked about ready to deck her. His reach was much larger than what she had anticipated. He swung a punch, Savana braced for impact, but the punch never reached her.
I stepped in front of his fist, luckily we were close enough to each other to prevent his arm from stretching out fully.
That slowed the impact, but the sheer mass of his arm was enough to knock me to the ground. The kid just wasn't natural. As Thad looked over me, I dreaded my faith.
But something strange happened. A red mist covered his ribs, right where his injuries were. He fell to the ground moaning in pain.
As I sat up, I noticed a girl was behind him. Brown hair, short, her left hand was covered in the same red mist. She walked away, disappearing back into the crowd.
Thaddeus crawls away. And everyone immediately lost interest, which I found strange.
Savannah turns and looks at me. Her face was still expressionless and fierce. She looked very intense in that moment, as she wipe the blood of her blade.
I wasn't afraid of her per say. It's just that, her usual grinning smile made her more approachable. Her supermodel-like beauty was less apparent that way.
She grabbed me and helped me back on my feet, her sweet innocent smile returned. We were basically the same height, so when we were standing shoulder to shoulder our faces were close enough to kiss.
I thought of taking my chance but came to my senses with a disappointed sigh.
"He just fell over.", I murmured
"Yeah, I must have hit him harder than I thought."
It was what she said, combined with the crowd dispersing unceremoniously, that forced me to come to that realization. Oh my god, no one else saw what I saw.