"No!" A scream erupts from my throat as I see Zane pin Cal to the wall by his throat, his feet off the ground. My heart drops and I rush to his side.

"How. Fucking. Dare. You" He presses Cal further into the wall with each word. I don't know what the fuck to do, so I grab his arms and try to pull him off. It doesn't work.

"Zane, stop it!" I dig my nails into his biceps, but that only makes him turn his head towards me. His hands remain fixed on Cal's throat.

"Don't" His deathly tone causes shivers to run down my spine.

He turns his attention back to the figure currently pinned to the wall, and I notice his fingers dig deeper into the flesh of Cal's neck.

"No one" He says, and slams his head against the wall. I scream and cover my ears.
"No fucking one touches what's mine and lives"

"Zane, please. I'll talk to him. Just let him go!" I scream and meet Cal's eye. I can't even bear to look at him. I know how many questions are running wild inside his head right now. He didn't even know I was friends with Zane, let alone the fact that I was dating him.

He doesn't listen to me, and continues bashing his head on the wall with almost no effort. Finally, when I've had enough, I scream.
"Zane Elias Aleksander, you let him go or I swear to God you'll never see my face again!"

A few moments pass and when I think that he's not going to let go, Cal falls to the ground with a thump. I run over to him and cradle his head on my chest, my eyes filled with tears. When I touch his head, blood coats my entire hand. I can't help the scream that I let out.

I don't even realise when the ambulance arrives. I keep pressing my hand tightly to the wound, my bloody hands shaking. The ambulance stops a few feet away and they take Cal, placing him on a bed inside. Tears still flood down my cheeks as it rushes away.

Now that the commotion is over, it's just the two of us in the parking lot.

My hands tightly clench at my sides, I take a deep breath, and I storm over to him. He doesn't look at me, but at my blood-covered hands.

I don't have the words. I can't form straight sentences without my throat giving up. I just look at his face for a few seconds. He finally raises his eyes to look at me. They almost look sorry.

"Astraea-"
"Don't" I recite his words from earlier. He sighs and closes his eyes, his hands reaching over to hold mine. I step back.

A sob finally leaves my throat. It's almost relieving. At least now my throat doesn't have a massive rubber ball stuck inside. I lift my bloody, shaky hands to wipe my eyes, the blood smearing on my cheeks.

He takes another step forward and gets ahold of my shoulders. I thrash until he releases me.

"He kissed you" He speaks, his voice flat. I swallow thick over my sobs and nod.
"You knew how I'd react" I breathe heavily. He tries to kiss me, but I push him away.
"You KNEW how I'd react and yet you still did it!" I scream, the cold air of the parking lot blowing my hair away from my face.

He runs a hand down his face, then his expression turns serious.
"He shouldn't have done it" That's all he says. I laugh.
"He didn't know that we're together. He had no fucking clue, Zane! Instead of letting me explain, you almost killed him!" I push him away. He doesn't react, and takes a few steps back.

"I know this is how you are, and that you're not going to change for me" I run a hand through my hair. "But until you get your shit together, don't fucking talk to me" I turn my back, rushing out of the lot, to the location Felix texted me.

"Astraea" He calls. I don't turn back.

I storm into the weird-looking place, tears running down my cheeks and dried blood all over my clothes. My cheeks feel wet with blood, even my hands feel numb.

"Oh, thank go-" Bianca walks over to me, but once they notice the condition I'm in, I practically see the rug get pulled from under their feet.

"The fuck? Are you okay? Why is there so much blood on you?!" Felix runs over to me and cups my cheeks in his hands. I shake my head.

"Your boss is a fucking dick"

Everyone in the room sighs, and I use the back of my hand to wipe the newly formed tears. Felix drags a hand through his hair.

"Who did he kill?" I look up at him with a sharp look, shooting daggers through my eyes.

"He didn't kill anyone. Just almost murdered Cal in front of my fucking eyes"

Royce groans into his hands.
"Really? At a time like this?"

"What?" I bring my eyebrows together in confusion as I look at them all, gathered in a small, grey room.

"What are you talking about?" I plop down on the half-broken chair behind me.

"Tyril and Mal have a meeting at Malcolm X in an hour. If we want to kill them, this is our chance" I sigh and rub my face.

"Do I wanna know why or how you know this?" I look directly at Royce, he shrugs carelessly.
"Don't look at me like that, it's my job"

"You look badass" Roxy says from nowhere. I crane my head to look at her in the very corner of the room. A whistle automatically leaves my lips.
"That's a honour coming from you"

"Alright, enough of the women power moment, can we get this over with already?" Felix rolls his eyes, Bianca scoffs.
"You don't have anything better to do, anyway, Felix"

"My favourite TV show starts sharply at 11:00 pm, and I want to be done with it by then" He crosses his arms, stubbornly.

"Fine, then. But first, Astraea, show us what you've got" Roxy raises her eyebrows at me. I gulp.

Ah, fuck.

All that training rushes into my mind at once, though I don't remember a thing properly. This is gonna be embarrassing.

Maybe I can fight with a sword or something.

"Here" Roxy tosses me a gun. I almost drop it due to the weight. Okay, focus. I close my eyes and take a deep breath even though my hands are shaking. Bianca gets behind me and outs air plugs into both my ears.

I get in the firing-ready position and steady the gun with my other hand. Taking deep breaths, I aim at the far wall of the room. After fixing the target, I drop my hands and load the gun.

Then, my breathing steadies itself and I shoot, with accuracy, at the small poster on the wall.

"Atta girl!" Felix whoops from behind me. I smile and roll my eyes. He casually slings an arm over my shoulder, almost knocking me off balance. I take the plugs off.
"Of course! After all, I was the tutor. God, they should put me in an art gallery" He grins at me.

"Felix, you're going to crush me" I croak when he shifts his entire body weight onto me. Bianca sighs.
"Alright then, who's ready?"

With one last high five, we walk out the door, because you might be an arrogant, disrespectful murderer, Zane Aleksander, but I still love you.

A/N

Badass if you ask me.

My best friend is mad at me and I have no idea why. What the fuck do I do now?

Anyway, be sure to vote, comment and tell me what you think!

-Author.