True Intention

Ch 10- Come at me, I dare you...

Soren POV

Once the teacher arrived and our little display and declaration was out there, I felt better. I know it was a stressor for Naomi, but it was important that not only me, but Archer and Enzo, announced we had her back. And of course, that she was mine, and it was me who liked her, me who was pursuing her. I really hated this dumb thing you saw girls do where they somehow blamed the person a guy liked when, yeah, it was all him doing the liking. I also loathed the concept that a person was "public property" and therefore their choice of partner was up for discussion by their "fans."

Fuck that s**t. Nobody was telling me who or how to love.

If I wanted to be gay with Archer, f**k them, I would.

If I wanted to be in a bisexual throuple, quartet, or otherwise, f**k them, I would.

It's my business, nobody else's.

I wanted Nao, and that was the end of it.

I may have been an art nerd my whole life, but I was fine with it. My parents were fine with it, and so were my actual friends. Even if they weren't, and I was alone, I'd feel the same way. My current popularity was entirely unsought, not to mention annoying. My style has never undergone some dramatic makeover. I'd always worn what I liked based on what I enjoyed. If it was cool, well, that wasn't really my concern. I didn't like untidy things or appearances, so I did have a certain standard I held myself to, but it was just me. I didn't give other people a hard time or judge them if I didn't like their choices, the same way I would expect them to leave me the hell alone.

That dynamic was vastly altered if someone wanted to start s**t, though.

In the interest of strengthening Nao's support, Archer was walking with her to lunch. I hung back for a minute packing my s**t, when some dude, who thought sportswear in a blinding yellow and orange combo was a fashion statement, came up to me. Oh joy, I sense a metaphorical pissing contest in my immediate future. I imagined his backwards baseball cap covered a mop of unbrushed and possibly unwashed hair. I could not even identify what color it was. Ugh. It's fine to have no concept of style, but the least you can do for your fellow humans, is basic hygiene. You know, bathe, brush your teeth, and use deodorant. That would be much appreciated.

This guy? Probably completely forgot about it because his mom wasn't here to make sure he remembered. He crossed his arms.

"Hey." Was all he said. Ooookayyy. Sharp-witted, this one.

Right.

"Hey." I replied shortly. Two could play this game. I didn't want to talk to him anyway.

"Hayes, right?" He asked, and I nodded. "So this Naomi chick. You guys a thing?" I internally rolled my eyes. How this person was taking art classes with a mind to be a teacher was beyond my comprehension. I actually felt sorry for his future students.

When you go to college, really try to pick something that suits you, you know? If you struggle with life basics, I'm not sure having a role in the formation of tomorrow's leaders is a good idea. Basic manners and basic hygiene, I'd hope, would be requisites to gianful employment in any school district, but I could be wrong.

"We are friends, and I am pursuing her romantically. I think that is what you were asking, right?" I hope that was clear enough. I wasn't going to lie. I couldn't rightfully make claims on Nao, not yet.

"The thing is, bro, you've got all the girls in class that want you. I want her." He said, as if she was the last box of his favorite cereal and I picked it up before he did at the grocery store. Naomi deserved so much more than being thought of as... inanimate. Because this guy was implying that she had no independent mind that she could use to make a decision about who she spent time with. f**k that. My spicy Nao wasn't going to let anyone do that. I'd bet she kicked him in the balls before he got out whatever asinine statement he thought would win her over.

"I don't give a s**t how many girls have googly eyes for me, I'm not interested in them. Who I do give a s**t about, is Naomi. And by the way, she decides who she spends time with. She allows me to be next to her because I treat her like a human being with these things called, you know, thoughts and feelings. I care about what she wants. Obviously, bro, you don't." I squinted at him as I ranted and then sniffed. "Also, pretty sure she cares if someone washes before she gets within three feet of them. Might wanna work on that." I spun on my heel and walked off.

Well, at least, I tried to.

But this... person... grabbed my arms and turned me back to face him. Wow, his overall smell was unholy. Like, you could bottle it and use it for combat. I raised a brow, looking at the hand on my arm. Remember what I said about body cams? This s**t right here was exactly why I did it. People trying to corner you alone and pull shenanigans they'd deny later. Pretty sure most Americans know just grabbing a person is technically assault. Especially if the recipient doesn't want to be touched. And I think I'd made my message pretty clear to f**k right off.

I was just about done being nice to this asshole. I already knew what would happen if he tried this s**t with my girl. She'd drop him faster than he could say "hey." Ugh. Unfortunately, this was shaping up to be one of those situations where she was probably going to have to confront him anyway, and even then, may not stop his bullshit. Thought the world owed himself or something equally asinine.

"Something else you needed, bro who neglected to introduce himself?" I hissed angrily. "Better release my arm right now." Seriously, I was more than ready to teach this fucker a lesson, but I didn't want to do it on school grounds, even if I had proof that he started s**t with me.

"Yeah there's something else, you and your buddies better back off from Naomi." He looked me up and down. "You gonna make me let go, pretty boy?" He sneered. Ugh his breath was rank. Like, distractingly rank. God, could he just f*****g let me go already?

"I'm sure I'll have more luck making you let go than you will making me back off from Naomi, that's for sure." I quipped back. "Now, let me go or we will have ourselves a problem." His hand squeezed tighter. Too bad he didn't know what he was doing. Pure brute force is nothing in the face of proper martial arts training. Great for both physical fitness and of course, self-defense.

"I'm gonna pound your face until you agree, you arrogant little shit." He said brutishly, pulling his fist back. Green light for me to defend myself, y'all. As he flung his right fist at me with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, I twisted and grabbed his left hand, which was on my right arm. I flung my right elbow into his face as my body rotated and threw my left elbow into his gut, dropping him immediately. As he lay writhing and winded on the floor, I dusted my hands off.

I warned him, more than once, but he just didn't listen.

"See, that's why I said to let go. You wanna give me, my friends, or Naomi a hard time? Come at me, bro. Happy to remind you why you don't deserve her, anytime." I walked off to join the others for lunch, since Archer had sent a group message for everyone to join up. I was the last one headed their direction because of this massive dumbass. I took a few deep breaths. I had to handle this immediately. I typed a quick email off to get the video from today and send it to the school right away. My other email was to get a file on this guy, pronto. The best defense is an immediate offense.

I used the walk to additionally cool my head a little bit. I didn't want to be full of rage when I saw my friends and my girl.

When I got my lunch and headed to where my friends all sat with our latest addition, I felt immensely at peace, despite whatever-his-name-was's attempt at coming between us. And then, it happened. Enzo was saying something dumb, so Heidi smacked the back of his head playfully. And Naomi smiled. She f*****g smiled, with her amazing perfect teeth and kissable lips, eyes sparkling. Thank god for my body cam. I was digging for that image later. It was like the clouds parted and angels sang. If I was a religious guy, anyway. Archer smirked, making me realize my thoughts were probably clearly on my face. She saw me and turned her face my way. I know the blue contacts aren't her real eye color, but she was still so expressive.

"Everything okay, Ren? You were a bit late." She said, blushing like it was going to be anything other than okay for her to ask me such a thing. As long as she kept looking at me, talking to me, spending time with me, the world was as it should be. I didn't mind it one bit, even if she was giving me a hard time.

God, no pun intended, I swear, but she was indeed giving me a hard time, on repeat.

Had to be careful or someone was gonna notice my near-constant state of arousal.

"Oh, yeah, some dude wanted to fight with me so I'd back off from you." I said casually, and she shot to her feet, fists clenched. Whoa. She was pissed.

"Who the f**k was it, Ren?" She demanded lowly, staring into my eyes. Let me just say, I wouldn't want to be on her bad side.

"I don't honestly know, but he smelled like he forgot to bathe once he moved to campus. I'll point him out to you if you wanna have your own conversation with him. But you're not doing it alone, okay?" I said cheekily, grinning. She nodded. As I sat down, I looked at her thoughtfully. "You mentioned martial arts before, what are your areas of study?"

"Ah, Muay Thai, Judo, and Kung Fu. Tried to kind of round things out, you know?" She said, slightly embarrassed. I don't know why, it's a good decision to have ways to protect yourself, especially given her environement of people encouraging others to hurt her for years.

"Oh hey, that's what Ren learned too. Small world." Steph quipped as she grinned.

"Good, given I was able to take him down in two hits, you'll be just fine." I winked. Naomi punched her left hand with her right aggressively. Yeah, not getting on her bad side ever, if I can help it.

"I love taking down guys that think being a brute is how you start a relationship." She sneered.

"That's my girl." I quipped, and they all laughed, even Naomi. Good.