The dance was everything Serenah dreamed it would be. Dancing with Romeo made her heart race and her face flush. Best of all she was having fun. She happily stared into his eyes enjoying this moment of happiness.
Her joy was broken by the arrival of Nicholas and the rest of Amanah's crew. She blinked, surprised at how fast Romeo had moved to stand in front of her. Tension radiated from him. She stayed behind him, not wanting to be in his way if he needed to move. She had seen the look on Nicholas's face. He was spoiling for a fight.
"Nick," Romeo said, his tone cordial.
"Romeo, you need to work on the company you keep."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you keep hanging out with that whore." Nick pointed at Serenah.
She gasped in surprise. She felt pain, fear, and embarrassment at Nicholas's words. Why did he keep calling her that? She had never had sex. She was a virgin and was proud to wait for her fated one. Her fated mark burned, and she felt rage. She shook her head, confused for a moment at the unexpected emotion before she realized it was Romeo's emotions she was feeling.
"You know, Nick, I warned you," Romeo growled, taking a menacing step forward. "That if you didn't watch your mouth, I'd fix that bad habit of yours." He popped his knuckles and moved into Nick's personal space. "You'd better apologize."
"No. I have nothing to say to a slut," snarled Nick.
Romeo glanced over his shoulder at Serenah. She could feel her cheeks heat in embarrassment at the situation. Romeo pulled back his arm as he turned and let fly a right hook that sent Nick staggering back, blood spraying from his nose.
"What the hell! You stupid…," Nick shouted and charged Romeo.
Horrified at the shocking turn of events, Serenah gasped and took a step toward Romeo, intending to stop him. She didn't get far. Suddenly, she was surrounded by Sasha, Cassie, and two other girls.
"Leave me alone!" she snapped, not wanting to deal with them.
"Bitch1" Cassie retorted and then slapped Serenah hard enough to make her dizzy, pain radiating up her cheek.
Her hand flew to her stinging cheek. She froze and that was all the other girls needed as they jumped it and began hitting, slapping, and pulling her hair. Serenah screamed and tried to protect herself. She hurt everywhere. She heard the rip of fabric and felt cool air blow across her chest. She prayed that her body wasn't showing. She wanted to cover her chest but was too busy protecting her head from blows. Why did it have to come to this? Why couldn't she have just one peaceful, happy day?
"Sera!"
Dimly, she heard someone calling her name and the blows falling on her lessened. She opened her eyes and saw Liz and Penelope taking on her attackers. The two girls were fierce and within minutes had knocked out her four attackers.
"Sera!" Liz rushed to her side and gently touched her arm.
Serenah didn't know she was trembling until the contact of Liz's hand touched her arm. A sob escaped her throat and then she cried in earnest as Liz held her in her arms, rocking her gently, and crooning soothing noises.
"Miss Holland! What in the world happened here?" roared Principal Greenwood as he hurried toward her and Liz.
She wanted to crawl and hide away from the situation. She stammered, "They jumped me." She pointed a shaky finger at her sister's unconscious minions.
"It's true!" asserted Liz and Penelope.
Mr. Greenwood frowned and looked over his shoulder. He nodded at two male teachers that Serenah didn't recognize. The teachers helped wake her attackers and then escorted them away.
"Miss Holland, I'm disappointed in you. I thought you'd be better than this."
Serenah dropped her head. Here was another adult unhappy with her. She just couldn't win. His next words made her heart freeze and fear filled her chest.
"We have a no fighting policy. You will leave now, and your parent will be contacted tonight. A parent conference will be scheduled for Monday morning."
Tears pooled in Serenah's eyes. Her father would severely punish her for this incident. It didn't matter that it wasn't her fault. All he would care about is the family name being dishonored. Her chest felt tight. She wanted to cry to the heavens about the unfairness of it all. Liz helped her to her feet, and she glanced down at her dress. The front was torn, and she threw her arm across her chest to hide it from view.
Liz walked her toward the exit. Serenah spied her twin hiding in the corner with a gloating smirk on her face. She had fallen into her twin's trap. Why had she even gone to the dance? She should have known something like this would happen. Liz hurried to their table, grabbed their stuff, and with a silent Alastar following her, took Serenah outside.
Alastar opened the door and Serenah slid into the passenger seat. He got in, glanced in her direction, and gave her an inscrutable look before starting the car.
They stayed silent all the way home.
~***~
Fidelis pressed his advantage in the fight as Nicholas started wildly swinging his fists at him. He was not impressed by this human bully. All Nick knew how to do was pick on others to mask his sense of inferiority. It was pathetic. He had the same thought when he first met the human last year. Nick believed himself to be better than others and was quick to put down any who showed skills greater than his.
"Weakling," Fidelis muttered, easily dodging Nick's swings.
He watched for an opening and landed a solid punch to Nick's stomach doubling him over. He followed the move with a kick to Nick's left knee, effectively taking out his base of support. Nick howled in pain and fell forward, hitting his face on the floor.
"Do you yield?" Fidelis asked, trying to do the right thing.
"Never, Bastard! I'm going to get that slut, use her, and then toss her aside," spat Nick as he struggled upright with a smirk.
"You really should've given up," Fidelis said calmly before letting fly a left hook to Nick's face, knocking him unconscious.
He shook out his fist and stared down at the human. Winning felt hollow. There was no happiness in being the victor of such a fight. The return of sound surprised Fidelis, who blinked hard and glanced around at the crowd that had formed.
"What?" he asked as he saw the frowns on Sodalitas's and Blainel's faces.
Before they could respond, Principal Greenwood pushed through the crowd and glared at him. "Mr. Lancaster, I'm very disappointed in your behavior this evening. You are one of our best students, why in the world are you fighting at the dance?"
Fidelis straightened up and gave the principal a stern look. "Nick has been bullying and sexually harassing my girlfriend and one of your best students. I've warned him several times, but he wouldn't stop. So I decided to deal with it myself. And," he raised his hand to stop Principal Greenwood from responding. "No offense but reporting it to the teachers and school administration does not always work. I'll take my leave now. Feel free to contact my father. I'll be looking forward to the parent conference on Monday."
He waved bye and turned to leave, his eyes studying the crowd trying to find Sera. He frowned when he didn't see her, Liz, or Penelope. He hurried outside, jerked out his phone, and called Liz.
Liz picked up immediately. "Romeo! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Where are you guys?"
His anxiety rose when she didn't answer right away. "Liz?"
"Al took her home. She got hurt, Romeo. I'm sorry. Penelope and I jumped in to help but a bunch of Amy's minions beat her up pretty good. She seemed freaked out about Principal Greenwood calling her dad."
Grimacing, Fidelis ran his hand through his hair, frustrated at this turn of events. "Liz, thank Penelope for me. I'm sure Sera appreciates the help. As do I. I'll call her tomorrow and see how she's doing. I'm sure she's too upset right now for me to speak with her."
"I agree. I gotta go. I'll talk to you Monday."
She hung up and Fidelis spent the rest of the ride home brooding about the events of the night. He would speak to his father and see what could be done. Sera didn't deserve to be punished for stuff she didn't do. Resolved in his course of action, he settled into the passenger seat and retreated into his thoughts.