Chapter Seven
QUIVER

Mara had been walking Aisha to class all day so that she wouldn't have to be alone. Well, that's what she told her. Mara didn't want to admit that she didn't want to be alone either. People had been making pig noises at Aisha all day and were calling Mara bones and charity.

     She was sick of it but of course, she couldn't do anything about it. She was leaning on a random locker while Aisha was grabbing her books from her next class. She had been texting Eli to make sure he was ok while walking to class by himself for the week. The girl had apologized to her best friend multiple times but he just waved her off and told her Aisha needed her more right now. He was amazing.

The two hadn't talked about their almost-kiss at the dance, but at least things weren't awkward. They both decided to forget it ever happened. Mara didn't know if she wanted to forget though.

"Hey." Mara looked up to see that Sam LaRusso had approached Aisha. "How are you feeling?" At least she cared how Aisha was feeling.

"I've gone viral. How do you think I am?"

"Look, they're mean, but they have short memories. They'll forget."

Oh hell no.

"Yeah. Well, I'm not gonna forget." Aisha slammed her locker closed causing Sam to flinch. She brushed past her and walked around the corner, ignoring the people who continued to oink at her.

Mara pushed herself off the lockers and approached Sam. "You know I get that you were trying to help but what you said was really insensitive. Just because the bullies forget doesn't mean the person bullied will. We carry that with us for the rest of our lives and it constantly affects us. Trust me I would know. Maybe next time before you talk you should think about what you're gonna say first." With that she walked past the LaRusso girl too and speed-walked to catch up with Aisha.

She eventually caught up with the short-haired girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around. "Hey, she meant well. She just worded it wrong. I can tell she cares, even if it's just a little."

"If she actually cared she wouldn't have hung out with my bullies in the first place. She just tried to make up excuses for them. She didn't even try to apologize." Aisha brushed Mara's hand off her shoulder and walked away from her.

     Mara guessed she was right. Sam didn't even try to apologize. But that got her thinking. Moon had actually tried to apologize but Mara constantly brushed her off. But Moon was still hanging out with Yasmine. To Mara, actions spoke louder than words and if Moon wanted to make things better she had to show it.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Mara walked into the library where she was meeting Eli, Miguel, and Demetri. When she got to the table she noticed all three of them already had their books out and were working. Eli smiled at her when he saw her approaching and pulled out her seat.

She thanked him and sat down placing her bag on the floor next to her. "Sorry I'm late."

Demetri shrugged not lifting his eyes from his textbook where he was scanning the paragraphs. "It's ok. We didn't even notice you weren't here."

"Thanks, Demetri. That makes me feel so much better."

"Always here to help," he saluted her.

She rolled her eyes but she couldn't help the smile on her face. Demetri was one of a kind. She looked over at Eli's books and saw he was doing his math homework so she pulled hers out too so they could work together. 

     "So that's it? No more karate?" Demetri questioned Miguel. Mara was confused. Did the dojo close down? She looked between the two boys and that's when she finally noticed the bruises and bandaid on Miguel's face. What had happened at the dance last night? She knew Eli and Demetri had left early since the former had texted her apologizing and saying his mom picked them up early. She didn't know where Miguel was though. Had he gotten into a fight?

Miguel shrugged in response to Demetri's question, "I guess so."

"It's probably for the best. It was starting to boost your confidence."

Miguel looked confused, rightfully so, and slowly looked up from his textbook to look at Demetri. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"No. What has confidence ever gotten anybody except for a black eye and their backpack thrown in the trash? Or clothes in Mara's case." Demetri instantly cringed at what he said and looked up to see the brunette glaring daggers at him. "Sorry."

"You know if you're mad that you lack confidence Demetri, just say that."

He gave her a really look and turned back to Miguel. "Anyways, my point is having confidence never works out in anyone's favor."

Eli spoke up now causing their table to all turn to him. "Well, I thought it was kind of cool how you stood up to Kyler." Mara dramatically pointed at Eli and waved her hands in the air. She leaned over the table closer to Demetri and mouthed, "He gets it."

"Are you insane?" Demetri yelled. "All of you! Let me ask you. What is the best superpower anyone could have?"

"Super strength." Miguel said confidently to which Demetri immediately said "Wrong."

"Invisibility," Mara answered. She always wanted the power to be invisible. It was cool.

"Wro—actually, you're right." Demetri looked genuinely confused.

"Why does that surprise you?"

Demetri rolled his eyes. "Invisibility is right. A distant second would be super speed, to run away fast."

"Run away from who?"

Mara turned around to see Kyler place his hand on Eli's shoulder with a smirk on his face. Brucks and Ryan stood behind him, the former leaned closer to Kyler and corrected him. "Whom. It's the object of the preposition. Remember English class."

Mara and the guys quickly got up and tried to leave before things got bad. "We were just leaving," Miguel said hurriedly as he rushed to pick up his stuff.

     Unfortunately, Eli was the closest to Kyler so the Asian boy just pulled him back and gripped his face tightly. "Oh, look at this freak. Oh shit! What kind of girl would ever kiss this shit?"

     Mara stepped forward and glared at Kyler. "Leave him alone."

     Kyler smirked at the girl. "Of course you would bones. I saw you two almost get it on at the dance last night." He slapped Eli's face away and pushed him to the side. He approached Mara slowly and reached up to run the back of his hand down her cheek. "Let me show you what a real man can do."

     "Leave her alone, Kyler." Miguel bravely stepped closer to the scene, not liking the way Kyler was talking to Mara.

     "What'd you say? You haven't had enough, Rhea? Huh?"

     What did that mean? Was Kyler the one who beat up Miguel. Did Ryan help him too? Mara glared up at her brother who was trying his hardest not to look at her. She thought he said he wouldn't mess with Miguel.

     Kyler pushed Miguel back by his head and the boy just made his way out of the library. Eli and Mara followed after him. Demetri was on his way out too when Kyler pulled him back by his bag. "Hey, you don't want this shit." He held Demetri's bag above the trash can and the boy pleaded with him not to throw it in.

     "Please not the trash I just threw a," he was cut off by Kyler dropping it anyway. "Yogurt in there." He pulled out his bag that was now covered in yogurt and left the library silently, his feet dragging on the floor.

     Kyler and Brucks laughed with each other and turned to Ryan to high-five him. The boy slapped Kyler's hand away and glared at him. He grabbed Kyler by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer until their faces were inches apart. "If you ever touch my sister like that again, and listen closely because I will only tell you this once, I will make you wish you were never born. Do you understand me?"

Kyler tried to push Ryan off of him but Ryan just gripped his shirt tighter. He clenched his jaw and spoke through gritted teeth, "Do I make myself clear?" Kyler nodded quickly and Ryan pushed him away aggressively. He adjusted his bag on his shoulders and looked at Kyler who had a fearful expression on his face and was straightening out his clothes. "Now," he smirked. " I think we should get to class."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

The four teens eventually made it to the school lobby, panting and out of breath. Well, the boys were out of breath. Mara was perfectly fine. "Miguel, what did Kyler mean by 'you haven't had enough'? Was he the one who did that to you?" she pointed at his bruised up face. "Did my brother help? I swear I'm going to bash his--".

"No! He was there but he didn't do anything. He was the one who got me help. I'm not completely sure why though."

Mara frowned. "That is weird. I mean he did tell me that he had no intentions of messing with you."

Demetri, who had finally stopped wheezing, interrupted with his own opinion. "That doesn't change the fact that he didn't stop it from happening in the first place. He was there and he let it happen. That makes him just a responsible as the rest of them. He's a dick and will always be dick. Simple as that."

"Can you stop being negative for one second Demetri? At least he did the right thing in the end. That pessimistic attitude you have is gonna come back and bite you in the ass if you don't get rid of it.  Learn to find the positive side of things sometimes."

"I am not a pessimist! I just tell it how it is."

"Yeah, well maybe you shouldn't." She stepped closer to him and he backed up. "Sometimes it's better if you don't speak."

She felt someone grab her arm and she looked back to see Eli pulling her away from Demetri. "Please don't fight."

Her eyes softened and she nodded. The final bell rang then which meant school was over and Mara had to get to cross country practice. She grabbed Eli's hand and turned back to Demetri. "Your mouth will get you in trouble one day Demetri. I love you but I need you to realize that what you say always has consequences." She turned to Miguel and gave him a small smile. "I'll see you later."

She turned around and she and Eli started to make their way to the field outside. He always stayed to watch her practice and today was no different. Once they got outside Eli found his usual spot on the bleachers and sat down. "I have to go change ok?" Eli nodded and Mara kissed his cheek before running down the stairs and back into the building to get changed. Halfway through getting dressed Mara paused and realized what she did. She had never kissed Eli on the cheek before. They had only held hands and hugged. He probably thought she was crazy now.

She took a deep breath. She knew this changed things now. She just hoped it wasn't in a bad way.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

     Luckily Eli didn't mention the kiss. He even seemed happier. It was a rare sight these days and if giving him cheek kisses meant he always smiled liked this then she would give him many more. After practice, his mom had picked him up and he hugged her goodbye as usual. She had pecked his cheek again and his face had turned bright red causing her to giggle and gently push him towards Mrs. Moskowitz' car.

     Mara was at home now and as usual, no one else was there. She grabbed a protein bar and plopped down on the couch to watch some tv.

After an hour of watching random cartoons and scrolling through Instagram, she heard the front door open. Looking over the side of the couch she saw Ryan enter the house not looking very happy.

She shut off the tv and skipped over to her brother who had entered the kitchen and was searching the fridge for something to drink. She boosted herself onto the counter and sat down observing him. "Why are home so early?"

He looked at her for a second and then turned around to grab a cup from the cabinet. "Because I felt like it."

"Oh. Well, I just wanted to say thank you for helping Miguel last night."

He turned to her and took a sip of his drink. "I didn't do it for him. I just didn't feel like getting in trouble because Kyler didn't clean up his mess."

He left the kitchen and went to his room. Mara heard him slam his door and she let out a sigh. She knew he was lying about the real reason he came home early and she knew he was lying about the reason he helped Miguel too. He always balled his hands up into fists when he wasn't telling the truth and his right hand had been in a fist during their entire conversation.

She just wished he would tell her what was wrong.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

So we got a little more Ryan in this chapter and we saw Mara and Demetri kind of have their first argument.

What do you think is up with Ryan?

Make sure to leave a vote and a comment telling me what you think! Remember I try to post everyday so please don't only comment update especially if that's the first time you've commented.