Marked By the Hunter's Daughter

Chapter 13: I'm a what

The counterattack hit Douglas both mentally and physically, and the pain was more than he expected.

It had happened so fast from Douglas’ view. But for Alex… something wasn’t right.

Alex had been able to dodge the punch out of reflex but the kick? He hadn’t expected that. And yet somehow, he blocked it… in several ways.

Why was that?

For some reason, he saw the kick coming at him in a slightly slower speed compared to normal. His own speed was faster. And after the kick he launched at Douglas, he could feel his strength had increased.

Douglas even felt light when Alex kicked him.

“I didn’t kick a ball, right? ’Cause that douchebag felt light,” Alex muttered.

Turning around, he noticed nearly half of the hallway and staircase were now occupied by students.

As usual, he didn’t care about the stares. He turned toward Layla, who had picked up her bag and books that the three idiots had thrown away.

“Are you okay, fire girl?” Alex asked, dusting imaginary dust off his black leather jacket.

“Fire girl? What’s that about?” Layla stroked her hair and fixed her braids back into place.

“Don’t ask me ask Ray. He says you spit fire and you’re hot.”

“Whatever. I was handling that. Your help wasn’t needed,” she barked a short laugh before composing herself.

With a raised eyebrow, Alex smirked. “Oh really? That wasn’t what”

His senses kicked in. Out of reflex, he turned just in time to see Daniel rushing at him to crash him down.

But Alex’s reflex speed was much faster.

He tilted, shifted, and stuck out his foot, tripping Daniel and sending him crashing face-first into the floor. Bang!

Alex stepped on Daniel’s back, then leapt slightly to punch the second friend, Joshua, who was also thrusting at him.

He landed a second later with a dull thud.

“Kick his butt!” Ray shouted two seconds earlier, which had helped Alex spot Joshua in time.

“Oh no, Superman punch,” Ray muttered under his breath, covering his mouth as all eyes turned toward the scene.

Still, he cared less.

Ray rushed through the crowd toward Alex. “Coach is coming. We can’t let him see this,” he informed urgently.

Alex’s eyes widened in shock. He quickly grabbed the three boys he had just beaten and forced them to stand up fast.

They had to act like nothing happened.

Coach, unlike the other teachers, was the only one who could suspend them from sports. And that would be like slicing their hearts in two and asking them to survive with it. It was f*****g hell.

How dare you beat us and help us stand to face more disgrace. You shameless rascal.

“What is going on here!?” Coach’s deep voice echoed through the hallway, like he had a speaker glued to his throat.

Alex thought fast before speaking.

“Oh, Coach… nothing much.”

He turned and stared at the five others around him, who were forcing fake smiles on their faces except Layla, who looked completely blank.

Coach folded his arms across his chest and grunted, unconvinced. “Explain. Now.”

“s**t,” Alex whispered, then gave Ray a slight shove forward to help.

“Ahem. Coach, this is what happened…” Ray started. “That fire girl I mean, that hot girl over there and those boys were fighting.”

“WHAT?!” Coach roared.

So did the rest of the group.

“What?!”

“No, Coach!”

“Excuse me?!” Layla choked.

Ray grinned and kept going. “Quiet, I’m telling the coach everything.”

Coach frowned hard, clearly thinking of how to deliver a harsh punishment. “Continue.”

Ray cleared his throat and went on.

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…” He gave a fake death-glare to the others. “Coach, they started a beauty contest. A beauty fight battle, gathering all these poor students to vote for who was the most handsome guy.”

“But Alex and Douglas tied. So I and the hottie had to judge.”

Layla chose Alex. And, well… I voted for myself, because it’s so unfair how can these two be more handsome than me?”

Ray turned to Coach, smiling. “Coach, be the judge and tell me: who’s the winner?”

Coach blinked three times before facepalming himself, disappointed that he’d wasted time listening to this nonsense.

“This is outrageous! None of you are worthy of being called”

“Coach, I still remember your make-out with Ms. Jennifer,” Ray whispered.

Coach choked on his words and swallowed them deep down.

“…Ray is more handsome. Now get your ass away from here and head for sports!” he shouted, turning and storming off.

Only then did everyone sigh in relief.

Ray had pulled it off. He actually managed to deceive Coach.

The remaining students who heard the backup story thought Ray deserved a Grammy for his acting.

Layla couldn’t take it anymore and walked off.

Alex stared at the angry faces of Douglas and his friends, who clutched their chests, backs, and faces where they had been injured.

“This isn’t over yet,” Douglas growled.

“I know. Ray, let’s get out of here.”

“You got it on camera, right?”

“Absolutely—from the beginning to the end.” Ray grinned, pulling out his phone.

---

Later...

Watching the video over and over, Ray, Alex, and Daisy still found it weird.

“How did you manage to beat all three of them in such a short time?” Ray asked.

It wasn’t weird that Alex could beat Douglas. That fight could have gone either way. But beating all three? That was something else.

Douglas was a black belt fighter he couldn’t be brought down easily.

“Seriously, I don’t know,” Alex confessed. “All of a sudden, I could attack and defend that fast. It felt weird for me too.”

“Man, I’m saving this video,” Ray declared. “I don’t know how you did it, but you were awesome.”

“And… please don’t do it again,” Daisy added as she waved goodbye and headed for the girls’ lacrosse pitch.

As for the video? She made sure to collect and save it on her phone.

Ray and Alex sat on the bench, facing the football field as the team practiced.

Coach had already gathered his players and grouped them into the same teams as previous years—Red Tigers and Blue Fox, signified by red and blue jerseys respectively.

Alex had once been in Blue Fox, and they used to dominate the Red Tigers.

But after Alex’s injury, Red Tigers took the lead and won the trophy in 11th grade.

Now that they were seniors in 12th grade, Douglas was likely leading the Red Tigers again.

“So… did you get in?” Alex asked, guessing Ray had applied.

“I didn’t apply,” Ray sighed, watching the ball being passed around. “What’s the point? I wouldn’t get in.”

“C’mon. We’re seniors now. Who knows Lady Luck might fall for your charm.”

Alex brushed his hair and pulled off his jacket.

“Well, I must say, my charm is really irresistible”

“Shut up,” Alex cut in.

“But the team is filled up. It’s not like someone’s just gonna trip and get injured and Coach will ask me to join,” Ray said with a sad tone.

Alex patted his back and leaned to rest, shutting his eyes.

He had two options:

Watch Douglas showcase his skills, score incredible goals, and make goalkeepers question their purpose.

Or sleep.

He chose the latter.

---

Later that day...

Bang! The locker slammed shut as Alex held his jacket in one hand and brushed his hair back.

The bell rang loudly and students swarmed out of classes.

Among the wave of faces, a familiar smiling one approached.

“What’s the expression about? You finally get your first kiss?”

Ray frowned, then grinned. “NO! I mean yes, I’ve gotten my first kiss, but that’s not what happened.”

“Hmm… then what is it?”

Before he could finish, Ray reached into his bag and pulled out a blue and white jersey with a fox head logo and a number on the back.

Alex’s jaw dropped.

“You got into the team?”

“Yup,” Ray dragged the ‘P’.

“How did you do it?” Alex asked, genuinely shocked.

“Well… you see, Josh injured his arm. Coach asked me to fill the spot. Ain’t it wonderful?”

“What the—” Alex was speechless. “What kind of luck do you have?”

“Congrats, bro.”

Normally, when Coach did these last-minute replacements, it was because he lacked players. And when the original player returned, the temp got benched.

So Ray either had to work his ass off to keep his spot or get ready for the bench.

---

School ended.

Alex and Ray met up with Daisy at the parking lot, ready to race out again.

But Daisy totally disagreed.

And Alex forgot his locker key.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up,” he said.

Since Ray was giving Daisy a ride, Alex didn’t want to delay them. And the pretty lady was already shooting laser eyes for even bringing up the idea of racing.

“Such a killjoy.”

Alex rushed back into the school building. Passing through the hallway, he turned and slid open the classroom door but before he could step in, a slightly shorter female slammed right into him.

“Ouch! What the hell? Can’t you see?!”

A girl with jet-black braids and eyes the color of a dawn sunset stepped back and looked up to see who had run into her.

Her next thought was 'Not you again.' Alex smiled.