003: Offensive Speech

Lilieth

"What the hell is going on?" Larena asks as she watches the drunk omegas who were staring at the two guys a few moments ago step toward them, caging them in.

"They're not from here," I simply tell her.

"What?" she asks, horrified. "Oh no, there'll be trouble."

"Lots of it," I agree, watching them still. I don't know why I care so much. That guy hurt me, didn't heed my advice, and has now walked into the trouble I warned him of.

I should look away the way everyone else probably will and try to enjoy my evening.

But I can't.

Dammit, I can't. And I don't even know why.

"Hold this," I tell Larena before handing her the cup of water she bought for me. "I need to try to stop this before it gets out of control."

"Lilieth," she says, using my full name, which is something she never does, "don't be crazy. How are you going to stop them from getting jumped? You're crazy!"

"Just hold it," I tell her impatiently before stomping toward the group. I see Daryl at the head of the group. He's the farmer's boy, and he tends to be sensible even though he becomes a monster when he's drunk. I know he has a small crush on me, so maybe he'll listen to sense.

"...don't know who you're talking to!" I hear the arrogant guy say, pointing at a fuming Daryl's face. "I can be here if I want to. Who are you to stop me? Do you think I'm afraid of a bunch of omegas?"

"Hey!" I say before Daryl can say anything in response to that. His face is a worrying shade of red. "Daryl. Can we talk?"

"Stay out of this, Lilieth!" he slurs. "This is between us and these guys who think they can trespass into our territory without permission. I know you like to stick your nose into things, but not this!"

"You're acting like this place is a palace made of gold and not a damn slum!" the guy spits. Daryl's entire friend group protests this, and before I can say anything else, they start to attack each other.

I step back, horrified. I can try to use words to calm a situation down, but I can't physically stop a fight. I watch as mugs and bottles are thrown. The two guys stand their ground, but they're outnumbered.

Unless they shift, they don't stand a chance.

"Daryl!" I exclaim through the noise. "Come on, think about it!"

Nobody is listening to me. I know this will cause trouble. If these guys are high up in the ranks, then their families won't take such an attack lightly.

I won't even mention the consequences of them killing someone!

Someone grips my arm and spins me around. I come face-to-face with Corey. His bushy red eyebrows are drawn together, and when he speaks, he sounds angry. "What the hell are you doing, getting in the middle of this!?"

"They'll kill someone," I argue. "Do you know what happens then? They're ruining the festival!"

"That's none of your business, Lilieth," he insists. His breath is fanning my face and smells like liquor completely. "Why do you want to get in trouble when you have to be at the academy early tomorrow? Stop being so nosy."

"Oh, so you heard?" I ask before tugging my arm hard to free myself of his grip. "Glad to know you're still a part of our family."

He gives me a look before saying, "Just stay out of this. Go home."

"Stop the fight and I will," I negotiate. "I know you can. These guys all kiss the ground you walk on."

Corey stares at me for a few beats, and at first, I think he'll say no, but then he walks past me, his shoulder brushing against mine, and just like that, he stops the fight. He holds Daryl back, says something in his ear fiercely, and he just stops fighting. The other guys follow suit.

Just like that.

I watch as the two guys look up at their attackers, confused. Then, they stand up. I think the one who let me fall will say something—especially when he turns his head to stare at me—but he turns to his friend, says something to him, and they both start toward the end of the field.

Daryl yells at their backs, "Yeah, you better run! Come back here again and we'll shred you!"

Larena catches up to me. "I see Corey stopped the fight."

"I asked him to," I proclaim. "At the expense of my evening, of course."

Corey shoots me a look from a few feet away. A warning. Because I keep my promises, I'll leave, but not before finding out if those guys are okay. I just want to avoid trouble.

I look at Larena and say, "I have to head home, but we should make sure those guys are okay."

We start after them. Since it's the general direction of our homes, Corey doesn't come after me to remind me of our deal. They're several feet away, and I wait until we're further away from the festival before saying, "You two! Wait up!"

They stop walking right away. When we finally catch up to them, I see that the one with the big mouth is wiping his bleeding nose with his sleeve, and his left eye is starting to swell shut. The other one is even worse.

"What were you guys thinking?" I demand to know. "I warned you to leave!"

"We didn't know, okay?" he replies grumpily. "Goddess. We just wanted to have some fun. Nobody celebrates the Harvest Moon like the omegas do. Everyone knows that."

"Really?" Larena asks, amazed.

He nods. "I guess we were just curious."

"You ran your mouth a lot," I chide. "We do have feelings, you know? We don't like it when our bodies are called slums."

To my surprise, he smiles, but I wince when I see that his teeth are stained red with his blood. "Now I know that. The more you learn."

"Where are you both from?" I ask gently. "Truly?"

Before he can answer me, someone calls a name sharply, and I can only guess that it's his. Timmon. He snaps his head in the direction of the shadowed figure approaching us, and I watch him tense up before he curses. "Shit."

His friend echoes the curse.

The figure becomes a man, storming in our direction angrily like he wants to fight someone. He stops before the guy I was talking to—Timmon, apparently—and rages.

"What the hell were you thinking coming here!?" he demands angrily. "What did I say?"

"I'm sorry," Timmon says before lowering his eyes.

"You sneak out for this?" he asks, disappointed, right before he gestures around. The festival can only be seen from a distance, but the lights are still stunning. The man thinks otherwise, though. "Is this the pile of shit you were so eager to come to?"

I frown, feeling anger rising in me.

"No," Timmon says, not sounding at all like the guy who was fighting Daryl a few moments ago. "I'm sorry."

"Start walking!" the man barks. "Goddess, look what they've done to your face! See what you've done? Do you see it now? Why? To drink cheap beer and fraternize with omega whores?"

"What!?" I burst out. "Excuse me?"

He cuts me a glance, his fury palpable. I can't believe he just said that. I step forward and say, "I'm not a whore! I was trying to help him!"

"Oh, I know exactly what kind of help that is," he spits, looking at me up and down. "I can tell from the way you're reeking of beer that you have a lot of experience in the matter."

My mouth falls open and Timmon cuts in. "She tried to help me! She never—"

"WALK!"

Timmon cuts me an apologetic look before trudging forward. The man gives me one more hateful look before turning around and stalking away.

"Well," Larena says, "it's not every day you get called a whore."

"I can't believe that asshole," I say in disbelief.

"Whatever," Larena sighs. "Let's go home. Who cares?"

She starts to walk and I have no choice but to walk behind her, thinking that if I'd reacted quicker than I did, I would've slapped him across the face.