Putting him down

KAI'S POV

I made it back to Northcrest Hall without getting lost this time. Small victories.

Camille was waiting outside my door with her arms crossed and an expression somewhere between amused and concerned.

"What the hell was that stunt you pulled?" She didn't wait for me to unlock the door. "You challenged Dante Ashford in front of the entire freshman class. Are you insane?"

"Probably." I unlocked the door. She followed me in.

"This is Silvercrest, Kai. Not your public school where you can say whatever you want and face minor consequences. Here? Here you just painted a target on your back."

I dropped onto my bed. "He was being authoritarian. Someone needed to call him out."

"No. Someone needed to shut up and learn the rules before breaking them." She sat on Riven's desk chair. "Dante isn't just a student council. He's—" She stopped. "He's important, powerful, well connected and you just humiliated him publicly."

"He grabbed me first." I retorted.

"Because you challenged him! What did you think would happen? That he'd say 'oh you're right, Kai, let me change centuries of tradition because the scholarship kid has opinions'?"

"As long as I feel like rules are being used to control people, I'm going to challenge them. Dante, the school whoever."

Back in my old school, there was freedom. You could go to class and leave school in the dead of the night after studying late but how was I supposed to pull an all-nighter here?

Camille stared at me like she wanted to give me a dirty slap then she started laughing."I hate you. I genuinely hate you but I also—" She stopped. "I also respect the hell out of you for having the balls to do what everyone else is too scared to."

"So we're friends?"

"We're not sure what yet." She stood. "Word of advice—gym duty tomorrow? Don't be late. Dante will use any excuse to make your life hell and Jax Rivers is usually the one running gym sessions. He's worse than Dante."

"Worse how?"

"You'll see." She walked to the door then paused. "Also—people are talking about you. The new kid who challenged Dante. Some think you're brave, most think you're stupid. A few think you're something else entirely."

"What else?"

"Dangerous and you're worth watching." She left before I could respond.

I sat alone in my room and my stomach began growling and it then dawned on me that I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

With the help of a few students, I went to the dining hall, grabbed my food and returned to the room to eat.

Riven was back and he was on his bed, reading something on his laptop. "Heard about your orientation performance," he said without looking up. "Impressive self-destruction. Really speedrunning the 'how to get expelled' process."

"I was just being honest." I took a big bite out of my sandwich, talking in-between mouthfuls. “This is a school not a prison, yes there should be rules but some of them are bizarre.”

"Honesty gets you killed here or worse." He closed his laptop. "Get some sleep. You have gym duty in the morning. You'll need energy."

Yeah, the gym. How thoughtful of everyone to remind me. I finished up, took a bath and went to bed.

Sleep came fast and with it—the nightmare.

I was running in the forest all around me, it was dark and the moon impossibly bright overhead. Behind me, I heard footsteps of three wolves that were massive with eyes glowing chasing me.

I quickened my pace while darting my eyes around for a place that I could hear but they only got faster and I could feel hot breath on my neck.

The lead wolf lunged—

And the next thing I woke up to was pain across my face. Riven was standing over me with his hand raised. He'd slapped me.

"What the hell?!" I sat up, heart racing.

"You were screaming loud enough to wake the entire floor." His expression was somewhere between annoyed and concerned. "Nightmare?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I—" I checked my phone. 9:32 AM. "Shit. SHIT. I'm late!"

Gym duty started at 9. I was thirty-two minutes late.

I scrambled out of bed, grabbed the first clothes I could find—old hoodie, worn jeans, sneakers that had seen better days and ran to the bathroom, having the fastest shower of my life.

The athletics center was across campus. I made it in eight minutes. The gym was massive and we'll equipped and in the center—

Jax Rivers.

The same psycho who'd slammed me into a locker yesterday. Who'd dumped iced tea on me. Who looked at me like I was something he wanted to break.

And behind him, leaning against the wall—

Dante Ashford.

Perfect, both of them were together.

"You're late." Jax's voice was cold. "Forty minutes late."

"I overslept. I'm sorry—"

"I don't care. Get on the mat."

"What?"

"Gym duty means sparring. You're my partner for the morning. Get on the mat!"

I walked over. There were no other students, it was just me, Jax, and Dante watching. This was going to suck.

"Rules are simple," Jax said. "Pin your opponent or make them tap out with no serious injuries. Everything else is fair game."

"I've never done this before—"

"Then you're about to learn." He moved impossibly fast. He grabbed my shoulder, and threw me hard on the floor and raw pain shot through my back.

"Get up." He growled and I did, only for him to come at me again and pin me so hard on the mat I thought I'd lose my ability to ever sit.

"Pathetic. Again." He smirked.

We went five rounds. Every time I ended up on the floor. Every time he made some comment. "Is this the best the scholarship program produces?" "Maybe you should stick to books." "I've fought toddlers with better form."

My anger built slowly and by the sixth round when he grabbed me, I twisted, used his momentum against him and swept his legs.

Jax stared up at me, shocked.

I stood over him with a smile of victory on my face. "Want to go again?"

His eyes changed, pupils dilating like that same weird expression from the locker incident.

He got up and came at me harder but I put him down again harder this time. I pinned his arm behind his back while my knee was in his spine.

"Tap out," I yelled.

He didn't, so I applied more pressure. until he went completely limp like I'd flipped a switch and I let him go.

We went two more rounds. Each time I put him on the floor. Each time harder than the last. The fourth time, he was fighting like his life depended on it. All technique gone, he was just desperate for survival.

I got him in a chokehold, it wasn't dangerous but firm.

"STOP!" Dante ordered, coming over to where we were.

I held on for a minute, letting him see the gates of hell before letting him go and i stepped back.

Jax was on the ground, gasping for breath while staring at me like I'd just done something impossible.

Dante walked over. "Get out."

"What?"

"Get out. The gym duty is over."

"I was just—"

"I said get out." His voice was dangerous. "And Morrison? Stay away from me or next time I won't be so polite."

I looked at him then at Jax still on the ground. "You want to try your luck? See if you end up like your friend here?"

Dante's jaw clenched. His hands curled into fists.

Jax and Dante exchanged a look. Something passing between them I couldn't read.

"I'll see you around Jax." I picked up my bag and began to walk away with my head held up high.

Behind me, as the door closed, I heard Dante's voice: "His eyes. Did you see them? They changed color."

Jax: "I saw."

Dante: "He's not ordinary. He can't be human."

Jax: "No. He's definitely not human."

The door closed completely and I stood in the hallway with my heart racing and my hands shaking.

What the hell just happened?