Leila turned around looking at her surrounding, the place looked familiar, although it was much darker than what she was used to seeing it as. They were at the basketball court, her and all the other beggars on the floor lined up sitting on their knees. Looking around seemed like most of the school was in the stands staring at them.

She turned to look up, all the lights were off, that's why it seemed so dark. Leila tried to loosen the grip of the ropes on her hands, but they were tied too tight. She could see Justin just a few feet away from her, but he didn't look as scared as she did. This was probably not the first initiation week for them she guessed. She looked straight ahead and saw Zach and Xavier both had the only chairs on the basketball court. Leila didn't get it, they both seemed to enjoy hurting people so much, they got along so well when they were both part taking in this twisted 'hobby' of theirs, what had happened to their friendship ?

"Good day Ladies and Gentlemen...once again welcome to Initiation Week....!" Zach talked smoothly through a microphone. His words were met by wild cheers, and thumping of the feet by the students in the podium. Leila could feel the vibration of their cheers through her body.

"I'm sure you are all wondering what are we going to do with our newest addition to Royal High school Scholarship student?" Zach said. The whole stadium went silent. Leila noted how he didn't call her a beggar – just yet.

"Well...just to inform you.......Mr. Johnston and I have decided to share her....for now..." he smiled a wicked smile, and his dark eyes looked directly at her. He made a hand gesture to someone in the stadium, and as he did, someone came along with a chair, and placed it deliberately in the centre of the floor. Zach clicked his fingers, and suddenly a spot light came on, which illuminated the chair. Leila had a really really bad feeling about this, she turned to look at Justin, and he too seemed to have a very worried look and just shook his head slightly at her.

"Ms Adams, Kindly join us..." Zach said softly into the mic, pointing his hand deliberately to that empty chair.

Leila didn't dare move, she stared in horror at him. She felt someone come and grab her roughly and drag her to the chair where she was placed .

Zach had eyes only for her, she couldn't make out his expression, it was a mixture of awe and some type of sadistic pleasure. She turned to see Xavier who was sitting on the chair next to Zach's. He too had eyes only for her, but his face like always... was a poker face.

Zach approached her and gently loosened the ropes around her arms. He was incredibly close to her, Leila wasn't sure if he was doing that on purpose but she could feel her strong sense of dislike for Zach starting to form inside of her again. She didn't look at him, and took her arms out the ropes completely. Looking down her arms were already starting to get a red line where she was tied. Zach noticed too, he grabbed her arm gently and saw the red marks, his eyebrows went up with surprise. Leila quickly grabbed her hand out his reach, Zach smiled.

"Ladies and Gentlemen....Ms Adams is Hot..incredibly hot..she has been burning the men of Royal High wooooooo.....I know myself..I've been burnt by her heat..."Zach chuckled as he continued "-We thought it was only fitting to cool her down...don't you agree folks?" He finished.

His statement was met with cheers, and once again his face broke into a mischievous grin again. "So we begin !" Zach clicked his fingers, and all of a sudden Leila could see people bringing buckets of water with them down to where she and Zach were. She sat horrified on the spot, turning around she could see more and more students with buckets kept walking down and she could just make out now, that it wasn't just water...it was ice water. Some buckets still had ice blocks in them, she gazed up at a Zach who too locked eyes with her..they were gleaming . Evil .

She hated him in that moment. She looked at Xavier, he too stared at her ...no expression on his handsome face. Hate . She hated him also. There was a sick excitement in the crowd as they too were waiting in apprehension to see what would happen to her.

Finally when it seemed all the students had arrived with their ice cold buckets, Zach put his hands up so as to silence the crowd.

"I sincerely hope this cools you down........or rather..this cools down the heat burning in me .." Zach said with a dramatic wink to Leila. Leila closed her eyes and crossed her arms around herself, waiting for the cold water to hit her. From her side eye she could see Zach bend down, and then the cheering started again, he poured the ice bucket down onto her. It froze her to the bone. It was cold. Leila kept her eyes closed. She instinctively knew she would have to go through all the buckets.

The next one came onto her with more cheers, and the next, Leila started shivering frantically, her hair was soaked, her clothes were wet, her socks, her shoes, everything. She kept her eyes closed and face down, she had started to lose feeling now in her hands, and face. She lost track of how many buckets she had poured on her. They just kept coming and coming. Her body did a violent shiver after each bucket hit her and she felt as though she would go into a violent spasm.

And then suddenly it stopped, she waited with baited breath..after a few seconds she turned around slowly to see all the empty buckets of ice water ...her head was spinning, and Leila was still shivering violently. She felt Zach's body come closer to her, she closed her eyes again she didn't want to see his jeering face she might just be tempted to punch him.

"Want a hug?" he whispered to her. Leila shuddered, she didn't have the energy to reply to him.

"I feel a lot cooler now...Let me hand the floor over to my...ex bestie" Zach said into the mic. He did a dramatic bow into the direction of the stands, and the crowd laughed and cheered him on. Zach went to sit down passing the mic down to Xavier.

Leila opened her eyes slightly, her arms still wrapped closely around her chest, she was breathing heavily with her mouth open. She turned slightly to where the chairs of Zach and Xavier were. Xavier was still sitting, Zach was trying to give the mic to him, but Xavier flung his hand away and the mic dropped onto the floor.

Xavier got up from the chair and headed to the direction of Leila. She turned her head away from him, looking down again. Feeling as though she was going to be sick, Leila didn't want to know what torture he had in store for her. Xavier arrived at her chair, he bent down till his face was at the same level as Leila. Still she didn't look up to meet his eyes. "Take off your t-shirt" he said to her. Xavier didn't say it in a rough manner, but no doubt it was still very much a command. Leila felt a shock run through her body. She shook her head slightly while still shivering.

"I said take off your t-shirt Leila" Xavier said. Leila crossed her arms across her chest even tighter. Xavier took something out of his pocket, Leila didn't recognize the small instrument in his hand, it looked almost like a big metallic pen. However the crowd seemed to recognize the instrument in his hand, students started pointing at it..and soon the whole court was filled with an excited buzz. Leila didn't move an inch. She could hear a chant had started from the crowd "TATTOO ! TATTOO ! TATTOO ! TATTOO !" With a slight gasp Leila looked again at the instrument in Xavier's hands, and it dawned on her...he was going to tattoo his horrible name onto her chest...the same way that it was done to Thomas, and all his other beggars.

******

Xavier couldn't understand specifically what he was feeling as he stared down at Leila. Small ...wet ...shaking but yet she still had enough fight left in her to try to stop Xavier.

"I wont let you do it" she whispered softly looking down on the floor.

"what did you say?"

"I sa...sa...said...I w-w-w-wont let you d-d-d-do it.." Leila said shivering violently.

"whose going to stop me?" He asked amazed...."You?"

"take off your t-shirt"

"No.."

"this is the last time I'm asking you... Take. Off. Your. T-Shirt."

Leila crossed her arms around her chest once again.

Xavier rolled his eyes. This would be the first in his life to ever have to force a girl to do anything. No less a beggar girl. Ah the irony. Any other girl in this whole school would have loved, even been flattered if it was him asking them to take their t shirt off. But off course this was a whole different context.

He moved towards her, and with one effortless move, he grasped her arms, with his one hand, he held both her hands and with the other he took his tattoo pen . She was trying to wrestle her way out of his grip, but of course that would be impossible.

"Let me see you stop me" he said deliberately standing close to her. Leila was shivering, and still trying to wiggle her hand out of his grasp. He held his tattoo pen in his mouth. With his lose hand he took off her first button on her school shirt. She was shivering and shaking violently. She started to shake her head.

"Take it off ! Take it off ! Take it off !.." The crowd started cheering. Xavier got the second button off. It was enough to get a view of where he wanted to tattoo his name. From what he could see with his view, of Leila's body ....she was even more beautiful then he had imagined.

He took a deep breath, this was not the time to be indecisive, he had decided the night before that he was going to brand her, he should stick to his decision . Why was his hand shaking, he felt nervous, in fact he may dare say he was more nervous then even her.

She was still wriggling in his grip but it felt like a puppy in the grasp of a lion. He wanted not to stare, but she was a woman after all...a very beautiful woman. He could feel his resolve slipping away. Leila was beautiful the way she was, unscarred, his name on her chest would do an injustice to her beauty...and with that, he flung the tattoo pen onto the floor.

It hit the floor hard, spinning off into the distant darkness. And just like that silence once again descended on the crowd that had been cheering just a second ago. Still tightly in his grip, Leila finally looked up to him, her eyes streaming with tears, but yet full of questions...and full of accusations.

He let go of her hands, and she stopped struggling..it hadn't dawned on him just how close his body was to hers. He could feel her body heat..her cold breath on his skin. She delicately turned her wrists where she was being held, in the light, Xavier could also see his hands marks had bruised her skin. Still shivering violently she hastily closed her t shirt with both her arms her head bowed down as though in shame.

"I knew you couldn't do it" Zach's voice came, he had walked from his designated chair to them

"Don't worry ..no shame in there..I don't think I'd be able to do it too..." he finished. Xavier rolled his eyes. "Who said I wouldn't be able to do it..? ..I just decided I no longer wanted to.."

"yeah ...keep convincing yourself with that .." Zach said sarcastically. He bent down and bought his face close to Leila, she gripped her eyes shut shuddering , "don't worry we are done with you for now, little one.."

And Leila could feel then, she had never met two people in her life that she hated more then these 2 monsters who stood before her.