FRICTION

(Aaron's Pov)

Desperately, my sword found her left side, and I stabbed her, with only a few seconds left on the clock.

Yes!

A small smattering of enthusiastic applause and even a cheer echoed through the room as our Coach, and referee, called out a point for me.

I took off my head gear, grinning. Marilyn, my opponent, one of only six in the entire school, did too. She mustered up a smile, even though I could tell she was a little disappointed. She'd been the first rated fencer for a year now, I'd heard.

She nodded at me and walked off. A warm glow had begun in my chest and was spreading all over me. I felt like I could walk on water if I tried hard enough. Beating Marilyn, even if it was by a close call, was a great achievement and it puffed up my chest.

It was just fencing… but I felt invincible.

Kyle walked up to meet me, with a grin mirroring mine. “Congratulations Double A,” he started, as I began to walk to the changing room, “I'm not sure what happened exactly but apparently you did great. Lunch is on me.”

“Thanks,” I chuckled, as we walked into the room. 

“Anything for the birthday boy,” he nodded, and waited a few paces away as I stripped out of my whites and put my shorts and shirt back on. Then we left and made our way to the cafeteria.

I couldn't stop smiling. I'd already gotten a gift being the top rated fencer in the school. Kyle had promised his gift would blow my mind later tonight, that it was of epic proportions. I knew my partners would have also decorated my room with theirs too, hopefully from the host of hints I had been dropping all month.

It was a good day to turn seventeen.

After getting our lunch, we sat down across from each other to eat. I was almost done with my burger, listening to Kyle vehemently defend a shitty movie we watched weeks ago, one I didn't even remember the name anymore, when I felt wetness on my back.

“The fuck?” I exclaimed, turning back to see what or who had caused that.

At the moment I wasn't thinking. Maybe if I had, Kyle’s face would have stopped me as the expression on it changed to one of fear. But all my mind was focused on was getting to the bottom of the wet mystery.

My eyes met with none other than Jack Pierce and I knew I had made a big mistake. “What the fuck did you say?” he growled, stepping closer.

The way Kyle didn't understand fencing was the way I didn't understand hockey but if there was one thing even I knew it was that Jack was exceptional at it, had been for years. That, combined with the money that the Pierce name afforded him, made him basically a law unto himself.

My family did well for ourselves but not as much as The Pierce Vineyard. They were a global wine powerhouse run locally and made him something of royalty within these four walls, walls I was sure his family built at least one.

So I was in trouble and I should step back. I should roll over, show my belly and let it be over and done with. The apology was on the tip of my tongue… but there it stayed. 

Because… fuck him, really.

He had tormented ever since the beginning of school, with the hurtful names and sometimes, physical pain.

His family was rich, so what? 

We were all just students! And he was a seventeen year old boy, just like I was now! Just like a lot of us were. Why did we keep letting him lord over us?

Not today.

No more.

So opened my mouth and did what I had never done in the years Jack Pierce had existed beside me. 

“Your water touched me.”

Shakily, yet still defiantly, the words floated around the full but quiet cafeteria. There were tiny gasps of surprise all round, eyes going comically wide but I ignored them. 

Touched was even a soft word. The water bottle must have fallen out of the designer bag somehow as he passed me, shattering on impact. Both of us were in the splash zone and got equally affected. My back was soaked, and so was his front and expensive shoes.

Half twisted out of my seat, and focused on Jack I saw the exact moment, a cruel look took over his face. My heart rate sped up as I struggled to keep my emotions off my face.

The bag, one I’d seen an influencer make an ad about just last week, dropped from his hand, his face mask of barely concealed anger.

I swallowed, struggling to hold on to my bravado with both hands. He stepped forward, and our eyes met for a moment. 

It was one of the toughest things I'd had to do but held his gaze. He should understand that this was me telling him we were getting too old for this, next year we'd be adults and in college. This whole thing was stupid, and I wasn't going to stand for it.

It felt like the cafeteria itself was holding its breath. A second passed, then two. My shoulders were beginning to relax.

Then Jack's hand shot out, grabbing me by both skin and the fabric of my T-shirt.

A surprised yelp escaped my throat as he pulled me out of my seat, pain flaring from the point of contact. Everybody seemed to lean away from me, another gasp going through the crowd.

Immediately my body was tossed to the floor and I wasn’t able to catch myself, slipping. My knees stung as they scraped against the jagged plastic shards, my head slamming against the floor in a way that made me groan.

Before I could even process it, Jack was on top of me, his hands holding my wavy brown strands in a punishing grip.

“Get me water.”

I heard the harsh command groggily. What? Why? What for? I did know that I would rather not find out though.

I bucked under him, trying to throw him off with all my might but his legs were clenched around me like an iron vice, and the hand in my hair didn't waver. 

It was barely a few seconds later when he tugged my hair, making my neck arch backward and he poured water straight into my face.

Fuck!

I spluttered, hands flailing about as the water just kept on coming, sliding into my nose and mouth. When it felt like I might actually drown, the water stopped, and I took a noisy, frantic breath.

Then he did it again.

It was even worse this time, because I barely finished exhaling when the assault started all over again. By the time he allowed me to breathe again, tears had mixed in with the water soundlessly because anytime I opened my mouth it was filled with water.

I cant… I… Stop! 

“Now let's try that again,” he announced loudly. “I said, ‘what the fuck did you say?’”