Koi finally looked down at Adam. The boy showed no rage. No smugness. Just... nothing. As if the library incident had been wiped from his memory. But Koi knew better. Something had happened. A memory buried beneath the surface, and a showdown that resulted in Special Ed never messed with him again.
Professor Diaz, however, was not Adam. He didn't forget. He pulled out a tan folder, thick with paperwork and opened it.
Meanwhile, Koi remained standing in the Principal's office while everyone else sat. He felt like he was some kind of servant or something awaiting orders from the 3 masters before him. "Awkward" didn't begin to cover it.
"If I recall," Diaz began, flipping through the file, "you, Adam, and a few others had a scuffle in the library. You were new and showing off your magical ability. Bullying Adam and his friends, throwing your weight around!"
Koi blinked. He didn't deny it. It was too absurd to even argue. He glanced at Adam, wondering how he had the audacity to play victim.
Truth was, Adam and his crew had started in on Koi in the library. Mocking his clothes, his quiet nature, his very existence.
Koi tried to pack up and slip away. It was the only peaceful solution he could see, but-
"Where's he goin'?" Charles asked, just loud enough for Koi to hear.
"He's a witch, ain't he?" Adam snorted. "He's probably going on a beach somewhere to worship the moon." The gang erupted in laughter.
Koi froze.
"You faithless are mean!" Charles added, half-joking. "Why come to the library to cause chaos? I'm just tryna do my work."
"Anyway, I ain't beefin' with the Creeps. Don't you know they be putting hexes on people?"
"Omigawd!" Buck mocks, nudging Eddie. "Look at this Punk-ass vampire slayer. What's all that kickboxing and stuff you guys practice for if you ain't gonna use it?"
The slayer plugged his ears. "I'm ignoring yoooou!"
Koi sighed, stuffing his books into his bag. He was always the easy target. But why? What made him so... punchable?
He knew better than to fight back. He was new. Violence would only make things worse.
"All you spirit school kids need a science book and a Prozac," Adam called out, reclining in his chair like a smug villain.
Koi continued to pack up, but his eyes met Adams. And anger, not fear, was burning in them.
"Aye, cabrón!" Charles barked at Adam.
Eddie smirked. "Since we're talking spirit classification…"
He bowed his head in mock prayer. Buck followed.
"To the almighty bitch slapper in heaven…"
"Amen! Slap them hoes!" Buck cried, arms raised like a televangelist.
"Help this poor warlock repent and find the light…"
"…And some decent cloooothiiiing," Buck sang, eyes skyward.
"Blasphemers!" Adam shouted, laughing hardest of all.
Koi felt heat rise in his chest. He slammed his book bag onto the table.
Silence.
Eddie locked eyes with him, hungry for retaliation. Buck's grin widened. Charles tried to look innocent.
"Ooooh! Y'all gonna get it now!" Charles whispered "He's gonna shrink your heads!"
"I think this warlock's ready to show us what he's got," Adam said. "You guys ready?"
And suddenly, Koi understood. Adam wanted a show of his power. He was baiting him.
Fine.
Koi's eyes met Adam's. The tension between them crackled. Adam's smirk faltered as the table split down the center. Cracking like an egg.
Eddie and Buck flew back into the bookshelves. Tomes rained down, thudding against the broken table and their heads.
"Ow!" Charles groaned. "Screw you, man! I was defending you!"
"No, you weren't," Buck muttered, dazed. "The bitch slapper sees all."
"Shut the hell up, Buck!" Charles snapped.
Adam stood with his fist clenched and his jaw tight, ready to storm over to the other side of the table. He cast his eyes down and saw the grotesque images exploding from the open books. Mutilated body parts, aborted fetuses, and other things Adam wrote off as demonic jargon covered the glossy and matte pages of the books surrounding them.
Adam's face twisted, and he felt a pressure build in his gut like he was going to vomit.
"Sick freak!"
Koi would never forget the look on Adam's face—pure disgust, tinged with fear.
Before anyone could react, Koi was gone. Bolting through the library doors, back to the safety of his dorm.
Now, in the present, he winced at the memory. Okay, suuuure! Maybe there was a better way to handle it. Charles probably still had nightmares about those aborted fetus picks. But desperate times called for desperate measures, right?
He was not the villain. Not that day.
Ethan yawned dramatically, offended that attention had drifted from him for six whole minutes.
Diaz closed the file and tucked it away.
"I've been thinking about what to do with you three…"
"It's simple," Ethan said. "Use the tech lab's rocket ship to launch Adam to Mercury. Problem solved."
"I second that," Koi muttered.
"We can't," Diaz replied. "His parents are shareholders in Menzai Island."
"Ha!" Adam barked. "You brokies wouldn't know anything about that!"
Diaz leaned forward, a conspiratorial smile stretching across his face.
"But here's what I'm going to do…"