A Warm Welcome

Hunter:

Groaning through the pain, which was followed closely by the metallic taste of blood, I yelled. “What the fuck?” and swung back on instinct.

My fist connected with someone’s cheek, and he stumbled back into a locker.

Then everything went to hell.

I was grabbed from behind, and even though I twisted free and drove my elbow backward, catching whoever it was somewhere in the ribs, they kept coming at me.

“Fuck you!”

The words left my lips as a fist caught me right in the temple.

My vision flashed white, and a ringing noise filled my brain. Another punch hit my ribs, and then another and another.

I’d taken self-defense classes when I was younger. Mom said I was too pretty and I needed to learn how to protect myself against bullies. Dad didn’t agree and only enrolled me after a security scare.

I guess my parents' paranoid decisions had actually been useful.

I knew how to throw a punch. I knew how to protect my face. I knew the fucking basics, okay?

What I didn’t know was how to fight fifteen fucking guys at once.

This wasn’t Bollywood, and I was no fucking Shah Rukh Khan.

Before long, my legs were kicked out from under me, and I landed hard on the ground, barely biting back my cry of pain.

As the kicks kept coming, all I could do was curl into myself, throwing my arms over my head and keeping my knees tucked in.

“Fucking arrogant asshole.”

“You’re not better than us.”

At some point, I tried to get up, but a skate-covered foot was slammed into my ribs, and I went back down with an internal scream because holy shit, it fucking hurt.

The blade must have sliced me because I felt a little warmth pouring down my side.

As the red-hot pain burned all over my body, my vision began blurring, and their voices stretched strangely around me, fading in and out as if I were underwater.

Then suddenly, a strong voice cut through everything.

“Enough. Y’all are gonna kill him.” He didn’t sound remotely scared or worried. In fact, his words were mocking.

But the beating stopped, and I lay there, gasping, one eye swollen shut against the cold floor I pressed it to.

I heard footsteps approaching, slow and unhurried, until finally a pair of sneakers stopped directly in front of my face.

Tristan Reeves crouched down, and even through my double vision, I could see that fucking smirk.

Cold. Devilish. Satisfied.

This could be a scene from a mafia movie, honestly. Yes, if you haven’t guessed so far, I was a sucker for TV dramas. Courtesy of my mother.

“If you want to survive here, princess,” he said quietly, cutting into my thought. “That mouth of yours needs to learn to shut up. You already have quite the enemies in Raven Hill, bro. Your reputation as an asshole precedes you.”

I stared at him, wanting more than anything to tell him exactly what he could do with his advice.

Unfortunately, my tongue felt three sizes too big for my mouth.

Tristan straightened.

Then, loud enough for everyone else to hear, he said. “You should get checked out in the school’s infirmary. Falling down the stairs can cause so many injuries, yes?”

He paused, then added. “I don’t care if you need surgery for all this. But if you skip out on training tomorrow, you’re off the team.”

And just like that, he walked away.

The others followed him, slamming the door shut behind them, and silence settled over the locker room. 

I remained on the floor for several seconds, staring at the ceiling.

Out of the blue, a weird-sounding laugh tore out of my throat.

Ow.

It hurt. Every fucking breath hurt. But I couldn’t stop.

The laugh came again, louder this time, over and over again, until my ribs screamed.

What the fuck was this? I was a shithead, yes, whatever. But who wasn’t? They were just as bad as I was on the ice. All I did was shit-talk them and call them exactly what they were…for the past three years.

But it was normal hockey shit.

Losers, I swear. All of them.

The laughter cracked somewhere in my throat, turning into a sob so abrupt that I choked on it.

Wiping at my face, I stared at the blood smeared across my fingers through blurry eyes.

“Fuck.”

I gritted my teeth and rolled onto my side.

Getting up took considerably more effort than I would’ve liked.

My legs shook as I grabbed the bench and hauled myself upright.

Okay.

Infirmary. 

I could find it.

I made it out of the locker room and into the hallway, leaning against the wall whenever the floor tilted beneath me.

After turning down the wrong hallway twice, I finally spotted a girl coming toward me.

She had blonde hair, dark eyes, and a face that looked vaguely familiar.

Her steps slowed when she saw me.

“Oh My God!”

I probably looked terrible.

“Do you know where the school clinic is?” I forced out.

Her eyes widened as she took me in. “Yeah. Are you okay?”

“Fantastic. Clinic?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

Swallowing hard, I followed her down the hallway.

As we took a couple of turns and climbed a set of stairs, she kept glancing at me like she wanted to ask questions, but just held back.

I really appreciated that.

When we finally arrived at the clinic, she pointed toward the door. “It’s right there.”

“Thanks.”

She turned to leave, but then hesitated, looking at me from over her shoulder. That face again…why was it so familiar? It almost made me pissed staring at it.

She was cute though.

“You’re Hunter, right?” Her voice was soft and nervous. “Captain of the Ice Reapers?”

I looked at her. “Yeah.”

She looked uncomfortable for a second, and then she said. “When my friends told me you’d be joining our school and the hockey team, I didn’t believe them because it made no sense. But…is it true?”

Flashing her a bloody smile, I pointed at myself. “What do you think?”

The blood drained from her face, and she swallowed. “Oh. They did this to you?”

I said nothing. She gave me another concerned look before stepping back. “Get checked out, okay?”

I forced a smile. “That’s the plan.”

As she walked away, I turned toward the clinic door and pushed it open.

The instant I walked in and the pretty dark-skinned nurse saw me, her eyes widened, and she exclaimed. “Oh, dear! What happened to you!?”

“I…I fell down the stairs.” The lies tumbled out of me, and she clearly didn’t buy it one bit.

“No. Save it,” she snapped, leading me towards the examination bed. “Sit down and listen to me. We have a very strict no-bullying policy at Raven Hill, and I am to report any suspicious incident. You better start talking, boy.”

Who would have thought RatHill High School could be so cool?

My fingers curled against the edge of the bed. I didn’t want to say it.

But this woman was going to get to the bottom of this with or without my compliance.

Fuck.

“The guys on the team.”

The nurse’s face twisted, and she picked up her phone. “Those animals. They never learn.”

Oh?