C H A P T E R 7

E A G L E R E I N F O R C E M E N T

( Part I )

Author: Raven Orthodox

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend, just as you said, so thanks for these." I checked out the ring Dominica gifted me. "I've become the outcast monster just recently."

"All monsters are humans. But don't get caught off guard, 'cause that includes the both of us."Dominica lectured me on a quote on the phone.

I smiled as I forked a slice of Canadian bacon, savoring the fresh-cooked meat. "Yeah, ha-ha. What a terrifying revelation; I must have heard it from a horror show."

"What's happened to you now? A friend told me you've been switching sides right from then on." She changed the topic, and I was reorganizing my thoughts, and I must only come up with the shortest explanation to cover up all the disaster that just happened today.

"Hiss, hiss. The Lion's Den's freak!" Vulture shouted.

What a bummer. I served my middle finger at her to leverage an insult, and proceeded to engage back to Dominica. Everywhere I look, I see eyes pointing at me like prowling predators ready to pounce and bite.

"If you were here, you could literally see to whom they were pointing those malevolent eyes are." I made a hint that people here hated me. I wasn't even at the cafeteria since Lion's Den's lunch bar is affordable, and Rhaegal's VIP card could get me any food I wanted.

"Seriously? Diana made everyone hate your guts?." She told me. "How dare she!"

"I know, I know." I wanted to tell her about the outcast humiliation part, but I couldn't since I didn't want her to worry about me while she was still running an errand for her father.

"You know I could have stopped everything else and kick their behinds, right?"

"Yeah, Dominica, that's why everyone loved you." I chuckled and almost choked on my yogurt.

She cleared her throat while talking to somebody on the phone. And finally, there were a few clicking sounds, and she got right back to me. "Anyways, I know this would surprise you, but I'm coming back tomorrow morning. Daddy told me my job was done, so here I am, already loaded and bundled to get to the airport."

"What?" I said, shocked and excited all at once.

"Yasss. . ." I could still hear Dominica's voice laughing despite the busy crowd. "And guess what, I'm having an exclusive Friday party at my house. I'll get the station ready with my own cash."

"That's awesome, Raven needed an escape from this wildfire too, she needed that."

"I'll be the ringleader, and I want you and Raven to get the best attention and uplift your status."

I took a Byzantine multivitamin and gulped a cold glass of water. I sighed in relief. Despite the bloody rumors expanding about me, moving and shifting everywhere a damned blood circulation through every wall in Lion's Den, a trusted friend still cared to call me.

And an ultra-rich one at that.

"Dominica, that would be wonderful. Are the people invited diverse, or you only let the Eagles available to enter?"

"Are you kidding? This party is gonna be lit. Of course, it's diverse. I'm not some snob rich retard like Cheryl Orlando or Akita. Although I must say that not everyone in Arkskye can fit in my mansion, so we'll just see how much we could bring."

"Cool, girl. You are the best. "

We talked about the red box she gifted me, and she explained how evil it would be if I had opened it. We hung up, and I took out my trash without any food left uneaten. Splash

Just as I stood up from my seat, in hindsight, a guy with a brownish hair with gray highlights appeared and sloshed a can of coke on me all of a sudden and then left as if nothing happened. Although he didn't had the guts to look back at me as he walked away, he did a high-five with one of his friends to ridicule at my wake.

This harassment wasn't even a spur of a moment; he calculated the risk to humiliate me the same way I did to Diana. So just by that realization, I accepted the destination of my fate and took the responsibility of my actions. "Well, this is all my fault anyway." Despite the brewing rage and hunger for vengeance inside me, I reminded myself that this is just an aftereffect and chose not to fight back.

Yet. . .

My shirt was soaked hard with dark tint from the soda. Students from their tables were laughing, but I've already cried in the bathroom. I ain't got tears left to cry out anymore, which is a good thing, because I already dealt with bigger monsters before. This simple act of torment was just minimal in comparison to what I've suffered before.

I looked around. There were countless large tables, each full of students either munching God-knows-what or taking Instagram snapshots. Just then, my eyes darted on that large guy, a few tables away from me. Calixon, although being low-key hidden at the moment, hada great torso to which I notice him with less effort. Obviously, he was already staring directly at me with that goofy grin.

Even from afar, with that jawline made from the gods, he's undeniably symmetrical and perfect. I'm not denying the fact; I've met handsome boys in my early years trying to date me even though I was still so young at the moment. But Calixon was untouchable, I hadn't had a plenty amount of contact with him to try to really get to know him. He could be the most aggressive guy on earth or the sweetest one in disguise. I wouldn't know.

He was smiling then, with a middle finger specifically made for me. "Splashed in the boobs, am I right, Lexi?"

Calixon is a bully.

His group of circle turned towards my direction and laughed louder than expected. They were overreacting even to my own judgment, just to increase the audience and attract attention. Calixon chuckled. He knew they were laughing at me through his command. He knew they were hating on me through his own social power.

"Serpent trash." A retarded underage girl shouted.

"Python rebuff," A bald-shaved teen interjected.

Hiss! Hiss!

People from behind me made hissing sounds, and more others joined the hysteria. What the hell?

I took a deep breath, and draw in all the cloudy emotions inside me, refusing to look weak.

This time, I'm stronger than ever. I looked back at Calixon, and without hesitation, I gave him a thumbs down, and stick out my tongue, expressing my disapproval and lack of care from his or anyone's verbal assault.

"Serpent trash!"

"You suck, Alexa!"

"What a bore."

Constant discrimination flung over the room like hydras spitting flesh-corrupting venom. I took a another deep breath for the last time to calm myself down from reacting because that's what those people wanted from me. They wanted me to have a breakdown, and it's not easy to not give a damn about the words they're saying. Although it's oh-so inevitable to acknowledge the mean things they utter, it still pierced my heart like bloody fish-hook barbs.

"Boo!" Calixon's husky pitch of a voice boomed, and so as the others echoing his own remark. He said to me silently, "Game on!" which was a reminder of the most dangerous deal we had ever agreed to since our second meet.

Out of desperate need, I really need my sister right now. My lips made a slight twitch under the influence of fear and social oppression.

The crowd's despicable scorn remained unstoppable. No other guys try to halt the frenzy delirium since they would face absolute shame too, not even the football quarterbacks or the basketball point guards defended me. Not even the snack bar staff cared to stop because if they do, they lose their customers.

"Hey, stop it," A brunette girl shouted in hopes of cooling down their violent agitation, yet to no avail. "Can't you see that's too much?"

I made a small smiled at her for helping me. Although her bare effort told me she's guilty of being futile, it's unfair because only she had the guts to try. Thanks, sister. If they won't stop, that's just fine.

I cast my hair over my shoulder and grabbed my bag to leave the room with a bit of grace. I must stop acting emotionally today. If I have to cry, I must do it alone.

I made my walk like a real woman; my chin head on forward; my posture made confident and straight; my heels clack with every perfect strut.

Some girls slowly nodded their heads to me. They were offering their own support for me despite everyone gnashing their teeth at me because I guess they knew what it felt to be different. Not the other-girl-cliche different, I mean the pariah-girl-outcast different, because that's my status as of the moment.

Yet I smiled back at them and mouthed a 'thanks' since it might be great to have had a few friends. Even if they didn't have to fight for you, but at least you had someone by your side just for emotional and closure support. An aid that would make you feel as if you're not alone.

On shutting the door out, I opened my locker. There was a bunch of enveloped letters and even sticker notes with hate speeches about me and obscene sexual depiction of the male private parts that I would choose not to describe in such an elaborate and elucidated way.

I went to the girls' bathroom to check myself in the mirror. "What the hell?"

My eyes had a slight reddish tinge, and it only took me to look at my reflection to realize that I was already in tears as the event had happened. "My poor Alexis what have they done to you," I spoke to myself, tears falling; I'm being emotional again.

I closed my eyes and pressed my eyelids with gentle ease to stop the tears in a way that mature girls do. There was a pad of tissue in my handbag to not let it ruin the light foundation I applied.

Calixon had made the lambs turn into something not just fearsome cubs, but grown-up beasts.

Should I continue all my schemes, my ambition, my diabolical plan on taking control of the whole academy and be the baddest witch in town . . .

or. . .

should I. . .

stop. . .

all this mess. . .

and live like a doormat. . . ?

or a hermit. . . ?

or a weak helpless critter who can't even make a solid decision inside campus. . . ?

for the rest of the year. . .

and then the sophomore year. . .

and then the junior year. . .

and then the senior year. . .

Seriously? Is this really where this is going? Should I let Calixon Reaver Dayne decide my life?

. . .

"Nah, I'd rather have revenge." The darkest and most beautiful smile draw straight upon my reflection. Reaching to a all-knowing, eye-seeing revelation of a groundbreaking epiphany, I reassured myself. "Breathe, queen, breathe. . ."

I'm not backing down like a draggy deadbeat princess.

Ha-ha, no. I'm a queen, and I will fight!