Page 11

Isis

“Well this is just great,” I said to myself as I stood outside of the school grounds. Just outside of the iron gates where all seven of my brothers stood, including Quan. I was missing time with my own friends because I now had to entertain my brothers lingering around the school like monsters. I kept my distance, letting the boys talk as I watched Quan being inducted into the brotherhood with ease. He was the tallest amongst them, easily one of the tallest of our kind but the way they loved up on him was sick.

Quan knew I was irritated at the thought of him being close to my family. Play the boyfriend role, fine. We both knew that’s not really what it was between us, but all of this just felt like he wanted to get in with my family.

“The guy hasn’t shown his face for two days now!” I called out. “Y'all can go home! I’m sure he knows what he did was wrong and is afraid to come to class!”

Nobody turned to look at me. Not even a glance. Irvin and Ian were laughing at something Quan said. Imari was showing Ishann something on the phone. Idris and Ismael were talking about sports and the plans for tonight. Isaiah was wandering off on the phone, probably with another one of his hoes for the night. Ugh !

“Are y'all even listening to me?!” I yelled out. Quan glanced back at me with the only one having vertical cat eye pupils before he turned back with a shake of his head.

“How do you deal with that lil’ brat, bruh? Honestly?” Imari asked as Quan laughed. “I know my sister is giving you hell.”

“Mannnn, you have no idea what she’s putting me through.”

“I’m not putting you through anything!” I argued. I wanted to yell out he’s playing you all for a damn fool, and Quan was just a little too comfortable in this boyfriend role. “The man isn’t showing up, and I don’t remember who the others were! Can y'all please go home before I call Mom?!”

All eight men turned to look at me with the same identical double blinking eyes. The fades, and locs, ranging in height and body types all faced me like I was suddenly the problem before Quan turned back with a shake of his head.

“How did y'all survive growing up with her?”

All seven brothers began talking at once as I reached down to swipe my bag off the ground.

“Well, I’m gonna be late for class! Y'all can continue to linger around or not! I don’t care! ”

“Aye, Isis! This is the one!” Ishann nodded in approval while pointing at Quan. “We like this one! Don’t bring another mothafucka around us if it’s not him!”

Quan grinned as he teasingly winked at me like got ‘em !

“He’s not even…We’re not even–––”

“She doesn’t want to admit it to y'all because y'all are her brothers but she most definitely said she loved me first…”

My mouth fell open as my heart pounded. This was why I didn’t deal with my own. Nymphs were toxic, liars, and cheats, and Quan was no different! He was no different!

“Baby sis in looooove! You know Daddy is gonna love him!”

“He’s not going to meet him!” I shrieked like a spoiled child.

“We’ve already invited him out with us,” Irvin said, confused. “I would think you would be happy we like your boyfriend–––”

“He’s not–––Why aren’t you with Asha?!”

“ Who ?” Mael asked as he looked towards Irvin.

“Asha! The pretty siren with the locs! My best friend that he’s been fucking since the beginning!” I accused. All the attention turned towards Irvin. They immediately poured into him with questions but he silenced them with something I wasn’t expecting.

“I dumped her,” he said with a flat tone. “She knew about you being attacked and said nothing. I don’t like that.”

“Uhh, yeah…Duh because I told her not to tell you! Look how y'all act! Standing outside of my school like bums, talking to every girl that comes out, harassing students and being disruptive! She was trying to call you when it happened but I begged her not to because nothing is worse than how the seven of you act!”

“So, you want us to leave?” Imari asked, confused.

“Yes! Please!”

“As soon as we beat his ass, we’re out and you can go back to ignoring us and we can go back to ignoring you.”

I turned and started for the gates, officially done with it.

“Isis! You were never able to take a joke! Look at you! I bet you she’s about to go cry–––”

“FUCK ALL OF Y'ALL!” I cried over my shoulder.

I kept walking, storming through the lit pathway of Cedar Park, passing up students as the evening grew darker by the second. The view of the school building in the center was just up ahead and the closer I could get on The Grounds, the further away I would be away from my brothers. They were overwhelming in the worst way possible and the first set of bullies I never knew how to deal with. Still, ‘til this day, I didn’t know how to stand my ground with them and even though I knew they ultimately had my back when it came to something like this, it would be nice… For once—For once in their lives to treat me like someone they actually respect and not just something to pick and poke at.

This was thankfully my last class of the day and the one I shared with Ronan, the one who set me up during the date. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since it happened and frankly, good riddance. The trash took itself out. I just hoped he wasn’t preying on another girl.

“Everyone, come in and take your seats!” Dr. Horace called out as I rushed down the dim lit hallway of one of the elemental buildings. My class was just on the corner but I could already hear him calling out the roster and no matter what I did, I always managed to just barely make it in time to be seated. “Take your seats, please! Class will be quick today. I have an appointment to get to tonight.”

I turned into the room with a loud exhale before freezing in place when I saw him. Ronan sat next to the only empty seat available at the two-seater table when he smiled and chucked his chin towards me. The sharp ears were bright red at the tip when he sat up, adjusting his gray tie to match the gray pants. His fresh haircut glistened around the edges with tiny waves, and the small silver chain he wore draped against the white button up shirt. He pulled the chair back and took his backpack off the seat as the door to the class closed shut, causing me to jump.

“Isis, please take your seat,” Dr. Horace said. “Apparently, Ronan has saved it for you–––”

“Ahhh don’t do that, Doc.” Ronan laughed coolly. “Isis know she’s my favorite…”

He doesn’t remember? Is this a joke?

Ronan’s smile slowly fell as he stared at me before nervously licking his lips. He thinks I don’t remember…he hopes I don’t remember…

“Isis?” Dr. Horace called out as he scratched at his gray beard. “Any time, now.”

“Right,” I said, swallowing the lump of nerves. I slowly walked towards the chair and scooped my gray skirt against my thighs. When I sat down, Ronan leaned in close to whisper against my ear.

“What’s up with you? What happened to us and our date?”

I stared at him. Was he playing stupid on purpose? How could he even fix his mouth to ask me that? Maybe he didn’t think I remembered… I tried to smile but my cheeks were burning, and my ears felt like tiny, pinched nerves at the tip .

“Turn to page 394,” Dr. Horace said as he snapped his fingers for the lights to shut off. The large projector was bright against the white screen ahead as a clip of moving trees played. “We’re going to do a brief discussion about walking trees in the forest and how it relates to sunlight.”

I leaned over my desk, pretending to stare at the pages of the book when Ronan leaned in and whispered close against my ear, “We good, baby?”

I slowly turned my head to look at him. His hand reached between my thighs, burying deep beneath my gray skirt. I froze, stiffening in place as I looked straight ahead.

“I’m sorry about this past weekend,” he whispered again in my ear.

I clamped my thighs shut, squeezing his hand away from the center. He paused before pulling away as he stared at me. He was starting to get nervous. Without looking at him, I smelled the salty sweat pouring down his skin. Just a few beads of sweat would have been enough for me to take his perverted ass out but my confidence always fell short at the worst times.

“Isis?” Ronan whispered.

I couldn’t look at him. My eyes darted towards Dr. Horace, who was too busy looking at his phone. Everyone else was either texting or staring at the screen where someone documented trees moving on their own and what it could possibly mean. Ronan turned his focus straight ahead as he placed both arms on the table and clasped his fingers together in thought. He was getting nervous. He suddenly reached down for his phone from his pocket to text. I grabbed mine from the bag, feeling my heavy hands shake as I caught Ronan’s head turned to the side like he was watching me.

Shit, shit, shit!

If there was ever a time I needed Asha’s loud mouth to come bursting in to save the day, this was it.

“Aye?” Ronan whispered again as I flinched. Just his hot breath breathing against my neck did it but I turned around to stare at him. “Can we talk?”

“Why?”

Nervously licking his lips, Ronan’s eyes darted around before he leaned in close.

“I don’t want it to be any issue. I got you mixed up with the job and I shouldn’t have done that,” he said.

“ Job ?” I repeated.

His tongue slithered out like a lizard, licking his drying lips as he leaned in even closer .

“They pay me,” he said, voice ever so low. He quickly tore a sheet of paper and grabbed the pen to write something down. While he was doing that, I sent a text to Quan saying that he was sitting right next to me. Just then, Ronan slid the piece of paper towards me.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he whispered before leaning in close against my ear. “I actually really fuck with you, and I really do want to get to know you on a deeper level…What happened that night was some dumb, ignorant shit. I shouldn’t have gotten you mixed up with that.”

“ Ahem, hem ,” Dr. Horace coughed, clearing his throat on purpose as he glared at the two of us.

Ronan leaned back in his chair as I slid the note underneath my book, refusing to read it out right. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of thinking he could write his way out of what he did.

The video continued to play throughout the class as I picked and pulled at the pages of the textbook. Nervously, I would glance at Ronan from time to time, seeing his knee jumping underneath the desk. His skin was becoming damp with sweat, leaving imprints on the table where his arms laid. I stared at the foggy spot before slowly stretching my fingers to pull the tiny drops of sweat. Dragging the tumbling balls of salt water towards the edge, there was a sudden knock on the door. Dr. Horace yanked his glasses off as he cut through the projection, motioning for us to stay put in our seats. It was rare that somebody would knock, which usually meant something was wrong or someone needed his immediate attention without disrupting his class.

“Aye, can you let me make it up to you?” Ronan whispered as he gripped the back of my chair. “We don’t have to leave The Grounds. We can just kick it at my dorm. Just you and me.”

“Why was I a mistake?” I asked him. His brows came together, confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why was I a mistake? That night when you pulled to the side of the road, the man said I was a mistake. I want to know why.”

Ronan dragged a nervous hand down his face, realizing I probably knew a lot more than he was comfortable with. He suddenly reached down, using his pointer finger to tap the table.

“Read that note–––”

“Why was I a mistake?” I pressed again as Dr. Horace opened the door.

“Can I help you, sir? Are you looking for someone?”

“Yeah. I see him right there.”

I whipped my head around to see Quan's entire body and height block the door before he moved around my teacher and charged in. Everything happened so fast, and Ronan must have realized he was caught because he shot up from his chair. At the same time Quan came and yanked the table to the side before reaching over to grab Ronan and jerk him towards the floor.

“Excuse me?!” Dr. Horace screamed just as the lights burst back on in the classroom. “Somebody call security! Now!”

I swiped my things off the table, snatching the note up to shove in my bag as the class erupted into complete chaos with another student from the back jumping in to help Ronan who began to scream out.

“I didn’t touch her! It wasn’t me!” he shrieked with his feet kicking in the air. Quan dragged him out of the classroom, turning the corner as everyone followed, watching this man who was almost seven feet in height drag a body half his size down the hall.

Nobody knew what was going on but out of nowhere, a few girls who watched, shouted, “BEAT HIS ASS! HE ABUSED AND TRIED TO RAPE MY ROOMMATE!”

That was all that needed to be said as the entire crowd of students turned on Ronan getting tossed like a doll by the largest nymph known to this school. Quan yanked his body up and shoved him against the wall as the two began to fight with two other men trying to jump Quan from behind .

“ISIS! TELL HIM!” Ronan screamed as I shook my head, mortified that my name was even being mentioned. “TELL HIM WHAT I JUST TOLD YOU! PLEASE!”

Quan shoved the doors open as he dragged him outside while the rest of us followed.

“Quan!?” I screamed, wanting him to be careful because all I could think was this would be the worst time to shift back into his cat form but when I saw my brother walking in the distance, I knew it was just getting started. Imari pinched at his nostrils with a sniff as he picked up the pace. His chain around his neck bounced up and down when he started running towards the growing crowd as three men fought Quan.

“Let him go! Let him go, Quan! I got it! I got it!” Mari shouted as he shoved students out the way with a hard yank and push. “Move out the fucking way! MOVE!”

Mari burst into the growing circle with his boot hitting Ronan’s face before he reached down and grabbed him. I dropped my things, no longer able to stand to the side and foolishly ran into the circle to try and grab Quan to pull him away.

“Everybody, MOVE OUT!” Irvin’s commanding voice shouted as he appeared out of nowhere with a military badge held out .

Mari gripped the back of Ronan’s head to pull up while keeping his foot on the back of his neck to pin him to the ground.

“You see that one right there?!” Mari pointed towards me. Ronan’s face was beyond recognition as the small gold chain hung low from my brother’s neck, dangling just inches away from Ronan’s face. “You see her right there?! LET THAT BE THE LAST GIRL YOU EVER FUCK WITH!”

“Security!”

Imari reached in his pocket, no doubt squeezing the black soot powder he probably picked up from the market. Without hesitation, he whipped the same blackened hand, swooped down to clap the last living breath out of Ronan before the two disappeared completely in thin air, leaving nothing but a wisp of black smoke that dissipated.

For the love of all things below, they just kidnapped a damn student!

I saw my brothers in the distance running until they too disappeared while Irvin cleaned up the mess by talking with security. Quan was separated from the others who tried to fight him as teachers from the building all stood out, trying to recant what happened .

I knew I was about to be dragged into the office and I was prepared to fully come out with my story in order to protect Quan. I didn’t think he would barge into the damn class and drag him out!

“Fuck, where is everyone?!” I hissed, trying to desperately text the group chat for the girls.

“Ma’am? You need to come with us to the office…”

I might be on the verge of getting put out as soon as I saw Irvin talking with police, who were now involved.

WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!

QUAN AND I MIGHT BE KICKED OUT!

HUGE FIGHT! CALL ME BACK ASAP!