You Again Reese

The double doors of the senior boys’ hostel didn’t just open; they banged against the concrete walls as I kicked them through.

The communal lounge area smelled exactly like what it was: a containment grid for hundreds of exhausted, aggressive teenagers. Stained linoleum floors, peeling paint, and a permanent cloud of cheap body spray hung heavy in the air. This dismal building was a far cry from the glossy brochures Blackridge Academy sent out to the public.

Dozens of heads snapped toward me. Boys lounging on the saggy, vinyl sofas stopped mid-sentence. A ping-pong ball clattered across the floor, completely forgotten.

"Where is Cassian?" I demanded, my voice ringing off the low ceiling.

Silence blanketed the room, thick and heavy. No one answered. They just stared at me with a mixture of disbelief and mocking amusement.

"Look who it is," a varsity rower whispered from a corner booth, leaning over to nudge his friend. "The walking dead."

"I told him several times," another voice murmured from the back of the room. "I told the kid his anger would get him into serious trouble. You can't just go around swinging at a kingpin's son and expect to stay here."

The whispers rippled outward, a cascading wave of judgment. The air in my chest binder felt tighter than ever, the heavy fabric pressing against my ribs as my heart hammered in a rhythm of pure fury. The sheer injustice of the expulsion letter burning a hole in my pocket erased every shred of caution left in my brain.

"I asked a question! Where is Cassian?" I shouted, stepping further into the lounge, my hands curling into tight fists.

A door at the end of the main corridor clicked open.

Julian Dante stepped out, drying his damp hair with a white towel. As Cassian’s permanent shadow, Julian carried himself with the same unearned arrogance as his best friend, though his features were sharper and far less patient. He threw the towel over his shoulder, his cold eyes landing on me with absolute disdain.

"Are you slow or something?" Julian asked, his voice dripping with condescension. "Don't you know Cassian doesn't stay in the boys' dormitory?"

I froze, the momentum of my anger stalling for a fraction of a second. I forced myself to walk straight up to him, stopping barely two feet away.

"That's right, you're his best friend," I snapped. "What do you mean he doesn't stay in the boys' dormitory? Is he not a student here? Or does the rulebook only apply to the people who actually work for their place?"

Julian looked down at me, a slow, ugly smirk spreading across his face.

"Oh, so I get it," I laughed, a bitter sound that echoed through the room. I gestured at the stained floors and the leaking pipes. "He gets the special treatment while we are left here rotting in this dump? He’s too good to breathe the same air as the rest of the team?"

Julian’s smirk vanished, replaced by a clinical disgust. He slowly looked me over, his eyes traveling from my mud-stained sneakers to my face.

"Well, obviously," Julian said, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register. "Because you have absolutely nothing. You're a scholarship student, Reese. A charity case we let through the gates because you can run. Cassian’s family practically runs this entire school. They built the stadium you play on. So, do you understand it now?"

The blatant cruelty of his words hung in the air. Around us, the other boys shifted uncomfortably. I didn't blink. I let out a sharp, mocking chuckle.

"You all are exactly the same," I said. "Always stepping on everyone else as if you are above us. You hide behind your family bank accounts because without them, you wouldn't even make the reserve bench."

Julian's jaw clenched. He took a predatory step forward, invading my space. He raised a hand, pointing a heavy finger directly at my chest, burying it into the fabric covering my hidden binder.

"Yes, we are above you," Julian hissed, his finger digging in harder. "You are beneath us, Reese. Look around you. Without our money, there is no future for you. You exist here because we allow it."

I looked down at his finger on my chest, the anger in my veins turning into something volatile. I slapped his hand away with a loud smack.

"I don't have time for your lectures," I growled. "I need your leader. Or should I say, the person you follow like a lapdog."

Julian froze. The silence in the room fractured as several boys gasped.

"What did you just call me?" Julian lunged forward, his face twisting into a mask of rage. He grabbed the collar of my jersey, twisting the fabric into his fist.

"I called you a lap dog," I sneered right into his face. "Because you're always following him around. He snaps his fingers, and you fetch his towel. Everyone here sees it."

Julian roared, pulling his fist back. I didn't flinch; I braced my feet, ready to swing.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold him back!"

Before he could connect, several players lunged forward, grabbing Julian's arms and pulling him backward. At the same instant, others grabbed my shoulders, dragging me in the opposite direction.

"Let me go!" I shouted, kicking out.

The lounge was a chaos of shouting and overturned chairs as the boys struggled to keep us apart.

"What is going on in here?"

A booming, authoritative voice exploded from the entrance. The boys holding Julian froze.

Mr. Harrison, the hostel master, stood in the doorway. He marched into the room, his heavy boots clicking ominously. He pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an exhausted breath.

"Reese," Mr. Harrison said, his voice dangerously low. "You again? You haven't even been here a full term, and my desk is buried under your incident reports. What are you doing in the senior wing?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Julian cut me off, straightening his shirt.

"He came in here looking for a fight, Mr. Harrison," Julian said, his voice smooth and calculated. "He's unstable. He attacked Cassian, and now he's threatening the team."

Mr. Harrison didn't look at Julian. He kept his eyes locked on mine, pointing a thick arm toward the doors.

"Out," the hostel master ordered. "My office. Right now."