Chapter 2
885 Words
2:00 PM. St. Lawrence Academy Main Building, Third-Floor Corridor.
Only an hour had passed since the encounter at the fountain. Selena stepped out of the administrative office with her freshly stamped enrollment file in hand.
The corridor was crowded with students moving between classes. As Selena reached the stairwell landing, her pace slowed.
Without lifting her head, she caught sight of the corner of the ceiling in her peripheral vision. A security camera was aimed directly at the stairs, its tiny red light blinking.
Working.
She looked away. Just as she stepped onto the first stair down, someone blocked her path.
Chloe stood at the top of the stairs, her usual clique of girls behind her. She had clearly been waiting.
"Wait, let's talk," Chloe said softly, standing in her way.
"Move."
Selena didn't stop.
Instead of stepping aside, Chloe began backing down the stairs in front of her, matching her pace. She retreated all the way to the edge of the first flight.
"I know you hate me." Chloe's eyes reddened instantly, and her voice rose just enough for everyone nearby to hear. "But what happened three years ago was a misunderstanding. You can't blame me for everything just because you ended up in the Exile Zone..."
Students in the corridor slowed and turned to look.
Selena stopped on the stairs and watched her performance.
The moment Selena stopped, Chloe caught sight of someone hurrying up from below. Gritting her teeth, she let the heel of her right shoe slip off the edge of the step.
Her body tipped backward in a textbook fall. From this angle, she would go tumbling down the stairs, and Selena, standing directly above her, would be the obvious culprit.
But before Chloe's back could even hit the steps, a hand shot out and caught her by the collar.
Selena moved fast. She grabbed Chloe's jacket, yanked her upward, and left her dangling there off balance.
Chloe froze.
The collar bit into her throat, forcing her head back, while her feet kicked frantically against the edge of the stairs.
At the noise, students rushed over. More leaned over from the floor below.
Chloe adapted instantly. She grabbed the handrail and let tears spill over.
"Lena, why did you push me?!" Chloe cried, her voice trembling with sobs. "If I hadn't grabbed the railing, I would've fallen!"
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
"Move."
The icy voice cut through the edge of the crowd.
Damon pushed through the students, taking the stairs two at a time. He had clearly come straight from a corporate event; his black suit jacket was still unbuttoned.
He saw Chloe, red-eyed and clinging desperately to the handrail, and Selena holding her by the collar.
Damon's expression darkened. He crossed the distance, pulled Chloe behind him, and used his tall frame to shield her completely from Selena.
"You've only been in the academy for one day, and you're already causing trouble. Don't think I won't punish you just because you're the person my mother brought back!" Damon stared at Selena, his tone sharp and cold.
Selena let go. She stood where she was and looked at the man in front of her.
Three years ago, inside a mangled car frame out in the wilderness, she was the one who dragged Damon out when his legs were pinned.
She saved his life, and got her own shoulder impaled in the process. She carried him for ten kilometers. Even now, the old scar from where the twisted car door tore through her shoulder is still there.
And now he was protecting the woman who had stolen her watch and murdered her father, questioning her like a criminal.
Selena took one step forward.
Damon frowned and instinctively raised an arm to stop her.
Selena ignored it. She turned sideways, slipped past his arm, and reached out. Her hand clamped onto Chloe's shoulder, and with one hard yank, she dragged Chloe out from behind Damon.
Chloe let out a startled cry as she was hauled into the open.
The next second, Selena lifted her boot and drove it into the back of Chloe's knee.
"Ah—!"
Chloe screamed. Pain shot through her leg, destroying her balance. She pitched forward and tumbled down the stairs.
The fall wasn't high. She rolled down five or six steps before crashing hard into the metal railing of the mid-level landing.
Her expensive uniform was covered in dust, her hair in complete disarray. Chloe sprawled on the ground, whimpering, unable to get up for several long seconds.
The entire stairwell fell silent.
Everyone stared, struck dumb by the sheer brazenness of it.
Damon whipped around, fury flashing in his eyes. "Lena, have you lost your mind?!"
Selena stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at Chloe on the landing below. She brushed a speck of dust from the hem of her windbreaker.
"Didn't you claim I was about to push you?" Her voice was completely even, devoid of any inflection. "Take a good look. This is what pushing you actually means."
Damon clenched his fists until his knuckles whitened. Just as he stepped forward, a timid voice spoke up from the bottom of the stairs.
"Um..." A girl in black-rimmed glasses pointed at the ceiling. "There's... a security camera right there."
- Writer
